Three strong and consecutive knocks from a nearby compartment half awoke Theo. He stretched his limbs and turned his body over, looking up. An electrifying tingling started running through his forearm once he stopped using it as a pillow, and it took several seconds before he could move it with total control. His eyes remained heavily closed as he listened to the exchange of voices mixing and overlapping outside those four walls. From the seat next to him, he felt no movement or sound.

More lucid, but no less tired, Theo sat down and rubbed his eyes to awaken himself. Almost immediately, Hayden, who had been sitting with his legs on the seat and facing the door, stood in front of him, placed one hand on his shoulder, and signaled him to be silent. Hayden hurriedly scanned the cubicle and looked at him hesitantly before sliding one of the windows open, thus leaving a considerable space through which an airstream charged in.

The voices stopped, and Theo noticed how the muscles in Hayden's arm that was extended towards the window became tense. He turned his head swiftly.

“Don't make a sound," he whispered. “Follow me.” He put half his body out the window and, sitting on the frame with his legs still inside of the train, looked at Theo, and then at the door, after hearing the insistent knocks on the door. He raised his arms and held on to something. His hair was waving wildly, and the amount of effort he put into not losing his balance and falling at those altitudes was notable. It took Theo one glance at the railroad tracks and beyond to step back.

"What are you doing?" exclaimed Theo. "Are you out of your mind?"

Another three knocks resounded in the cubicle.

"Excuse me," said a deep voice from the opposite side of the door. "We're doing a general revision."

Hayden ignored it and gestured to him to hurry. Theo shook his head in despair.

"Hell no," he whispered, "it's just the inspector, get inside!”

"They never do a revision without a reason. They must be looking for us." Theo's eyes were filled with confusion, and he began biting his lip at the wizard's expectant attitude.

"Aren't you being a little paranoid?"

"I have reasons to be. Would you rather stay here?" he said trying to keep his cool. "C'mon. I will go first and then I'll pull you upwards. Okay? Theo?"

He was picking his lips as he glanced through the window.

"Is there no other way out? Something that doesn't involve a potential fall into the void?" His legs were shaking so much that he thought at any moment he wouldn't be able to support his own weight.

Hayden looked at him compassionately.

"It will only be a moment. I won't let you go, you just have to hold onto me," he said in a soft, reassuring voice. "You can close your eyes."

The knocks, now stronger, echoed again and Theo instinctively jumped away from the door. In front of the window, the cold and humid morning wind managed to move some locks of his hair.

"I'm going up, okay?" Hayden asked again.

Theo nodded with his eyes tightly shut and put his hand on the window frame.

"Fuck. Fuuck", he mumbled as he saw Hayden climb up and disappear from his field of vision. He looked out of the window with trembling hands and turned upwards, sitting carefully on the frame, with his back to the abyss. Kneeling on one knee, Hayden extended one hand from the top of the train.

"You've got this," he said.

Theo loosened one of his hands clutching to the window and stretched it up extremely slowly. Hayden took him by the forearm and pulled him while Theo stood on the frame with his help. From inside the compartment, he heard a beep and the sound of the door giving way, causing him to lift his head and open his eyes in alarm. Immediately, as a desperate and unconscious response, he grasped Hayden with both hands and leaped upwards. He put one of his legs on first and, having managed to place his whole body on the roof, he hugged the arm of Hayden, who helped him stand up.

Even with his eyes closed, Theo could feel the vibration of the train on which they were standing and its instability. His stomach dropped, and his eyes began to water.

"Now what?!" he raised his voice so that the wizard could hear him over the rumbling noise.

"Are you doing okay?" asked Hayden, resting his hand on Theo's arm, to which the boy answered by nodding vehemently.

"We are going to jump so don't let go of me!" he said, starting to speed up towards the edge, dragging Theo along as well.

"What?!" His eyes widened as Hayden pulled him closer. "Are you insane?!"

"Most of the time." And they jumped.

It's not too much to say that his heart shrank. He saw the railroad getting smaller as they descended. Theo inhaled heavily as if he was going to dive into water, before stiffening all his limbs and clinging as much as he could to Hayden. He didn't scream, mostly because of the fact that it caught him by surprise, and because, on the other hand, everything happened way too fast.

A few yards from the ground, a warm air hit Theo's back and began to wrap them up as it slowed down their fall. It was only then that Theo dared to open his eyes, with his nails still digging into Hayden's jacket. As soon as the wizard's shoes touched the ground, the wind dispersed in all directions, and gravity pulled them down.

"We landed," Hayden said, patting him on the back.

"Right, sorry," he got a grip on himself, his heart pounding on his chest. "You are really something."

"I'll take that as a compliment," he smirked.

Theo stretched out his shaky legs and would have wanted a few seconds to stabilize himself, but Hayden prevented him from doing it by pulling his arm and forcing him to run with him into the grove. If it weren't for Hayden's firm grip, Theo would have already found himself on the ground from so many times his feet got tangled up trying to keep up. They made their way into the maze of tall trees, whose crowns crumpled together, leaving little or no room for light to pass through. Inside, there was no audible rattling of the wagons on the railway, only the rustling of the branches because of the wind, and their own breaths. Stepping in puddles and dodging thick roots, they advanced towards what seemed to be an open, illuminated space traversed by a large, flowing river. Theo rested both hands on his thighs and bent over to catch his breath.

"What was that for?" he exhaled.

Hayden took out the same electronic device that Theo had seen previously in the alley and started doing something with it. Theo frowned and waited for Hayden to respond, a little annoyed by the blatant lack of attention to his question.

"Hey," he said, stretching the word and approaching Hayden. "Are we going to cross the river?" he paused but got no answer. "Should we follow it? Maybe we'll find something at the end of it." He folded his arms.

Theo remained silent, doubting whether he should worry about how reckless his partner had turned out to be or how easily he had followed his orders.

"Can you at least tell me what you are up to?"

"Wait a second," he said without looking away from the device.

Theo uncrossed his arms and took a deep breath. He then turned around and walked to the riverbank to sit down. He immersed both hands in the crystalline, icy water and washed his face. Doing that awakened him and made him more alert than he had intended to be. On the other side of the current of water and the constant splashing, there was a forest with the same dark and isolating appearance as the one they had just passed through, and over which, in the sky, the vibrant and intense orange color characteristic of sunrise rose and spread.

Theo remained in that position, kneeling and leaning towards the non-rocky area of the river with quieter water. He had become engrossed watching the almost clear reflection in the water of the sky mutate in color as the minutes went by when he heard a buzzing sound close enough to attract his attention. He looked around and fixed his inquisitive gaze on Hayden, who for the first time looked up from the gadget. Given the grimace on his face, the eyebrows slightly curved upwards, and the paused movement of his head in search of the origin of the sound, Theo could deduce that he was in the same state of ignorance as he was. The sound was getting closer and closer. In Hayden's face, a series of emotions were unleashed, one after the other, such as the vibrations of a calm water surface when a drop falls. Theo stood up when he saw Hayden rushing after him, and followed him behind one of the nearby trees.

"They really are trying their best," whispered Hayden to himself, watching the sky through the branches.

The sound had gotten so close that Theo could tell it was coming from above them, several feet away.

"Listen," Hayden took a step forward. "When I say so, we'll run to the river, understood?"

Theo nodded intimidated by his sudden change of attitude.

"And don't let go of my hand," added Hayden before turning his back on him.

A violent wind began to shake the crests of the trees, and several leaves were blown away. Something was above them. Theo could not distinguish the figure, which could be seen in the gaps between the branches, from what he supposed had chased them there, but he figured out he would find out in no time if they could not successfully escape.

"Are we going to jump to the other shore?" he whispered loudly to Hayden, who had raised his arm in the direction of the river with his palm open.

Theo followed with his eyes to where Hayden's arm was pointing and saw with difficulty and a certain skepticism how a part of the water sparkled as if the rays of the sun bounced off thousands of tiny diamonds at the bottom of the river. A whitish light emerged from the surface.

"Better yet," he said and turned his head to face him. "Now!" Theo noticed the red glow that Hayden's eyes were giving off before he took him by the arm and started running. By the time Theo realized what they were about to do, it was already too late. Hayden had led him to the river, and in one jump they had submerged themselves in it.

Unlike the other time, Theo did not lose consciousness at any time. The coldness of the water tensed his body immediately, and he could feel nothing but the water surrounding them. Even the buzzing had stopped. Theo, with his eyes closed, grasped Hayden's arm even more firmly and let himself be guided until they emerged to the surface again.

"Oh my fucking god," he said right after he took a breath. "It's freezing"

Beside him, Hayden, without releasing his grip, swept his dark hair back and turned to him.

"Sorry, I forgot to ask you if you could swim," he said, small drops of water running down his neck and collarbone.

"It's fine. I can swim," replied Theo and quickly averted his gaze from him and stared at his surroundings. They had reached a lake hidden amidst tall grass and thick trees that bordered the margins. Theo swam to the edge and walked heavily out of the water. He lay on the grass and watched Hayden follow him out of the water in a more graceful way and then take off his dripping wet jacket.

"You really ought to tell me when you do this sort of thing," sighed Theo, struggling to get his sweatshirt off. "Are we safe now?"

"Yes," he glanced at him. "At least for now." And he looked away as soon as Theo directed his attention to him. "Let's go"

The boy ran his hand over his face and took a breath. Deep down, he found it alarming how quickly and easily he had become accustomed to that new environment. Without quibbling, he followed Hayden.