Ellie awoke in the dirt next to the tree, “Where is it?” She got up fast, glancing around before realizing it was morning.

“What happened?” She asked, half sure that she had fainted and it had all been a strange dream. 

“You fainted,” Skully lied, “One moment you were getting ready to dig, and the next moment you were out.” 

Ellie looked down at the shovel in her hands, “Huh, I guess I should have stopped earlier, and now it’s morning. Shoot. I hope my dad didn’t notice I was gone. What am I thinking, of course he didn’t notice. Was there a Sorrow here?” 

“No. Just us and the crows,” Skully lied again. He didn’t want to tell her what had happened, actually he wasn’t even sure what had happened himself. 

Ellie sighed, “We should get home, I’m so hungry, and sore. Must be from all the digging.” She picked up the lantern and her backpack before tucking Skully under her arm. 

“Yeah, don’t forget to eat,” Skully grunted. 

Ellie giggled, “Ok, old man.” 

“I’m not joking. Food is important. You’re just a kid, you can’t skip meals, or skip bedtimes,” Skully grumbled, for some reason he felt like this girl needed someone to look after her. 

Ellie nodded with a smile, “Yes, sir.” Though to her it felt nice to have someone care, even if it was a skull. 

The house was empty when they returned, Ellie knew her father had gone to work, or wherever he went during the day. She wasn’t entirely sure if he was going to work every day, sometimes he would come back smelling of booze and smoke. It didn’t really matter to her, he was absent either way. 

“Is your kitchen always such a mess?” Skully asked before Ellie placed him on the kitchen counter, next to a pile of dirty plates. 

“Yes, pretty much. My dad never cleans, and I only have so much time in a day.” Ellie rummaged through the cabinet. 

“You should at least eat something proper, like eggs maybe?” Skully suggested, though he couldn’t help but feel disgusted by the state of the kitchen, there were plates and cups everywhere, some growing fuzzy white hairs. It was filthy. 

“I don’t eat eggs, or anything from animals,” Ellie muttered and pulled out a pack of crackers. 

“Fudge. That’s what you’re gonna eat? Kid, you need to eat something more nutritious…” Skully grumbled with concern. 

“I was going to eat some apples too…” Ellie smiled and picked up two apples from the counter. 

She would have picked something else to eat if the fridge was working, but with a broken fridge her choices were few. She didn’t particularly feel like eating beans, nor did she feel like washing the frying pan. Her eyes wandered to the sink for a moment, the mountain was getting taller, and she knew that she should definitely get to that at some point. But not now. 

Ellie picked up Skully and headed back up to her room, into her sanctuary. She nudged the door shut with her foot and sank into the wobbly wooden chair at her desk. Swiftly she placed the skull down again, found a blank piece of paper, and started jotting down the events that had transpired. 

“I see you’re quite a writer,” Skully commented in a bored tone. 

Ellie nodded absentmindedly and kept writing, she had to get it all out of her head before it was gone. She felt like she had uncovered a whole new world with the discovery of the skull and the fact that vampires were real. What else existed out there? It reminded her of the bedtime stories her father had told her before her mother had died; stories of far away worlds, of demons, and a vampire that destroyed everything. 

She paused and glanced at Skully, but quickly shook her head. Her father was only telling stories, there was no way he knew anything about all this, was there? 

“That’s it,” Skully exclaimed abruptly, “You’re not even eating. Your fridge is broken. Your house is a mess. Your dad is not around. You need to take better care of yourself, kid.” 

“What? I’ve been doing fine for many years now. I-” Ellie swallowed hard, had she actually been doing fine? 

“Clearly you need some guidance… Who in their right fudging mind leaves a kid to their own devices, look at all the trouble you get yourself into,” Skully grumbled before continuing, “I’m gonna make sure you at least eat, and don’t get into too much trouble.” 

“You’re right… I don’t always know what to do, it’s not easy. I can’t exactly force my dad to do the things he’s supposed to do,” Ellie said softly before picking up the skull and giving him a hug, “I’ll help you find your memories, Skully, and maybe the rest of you.” Tears pushed through, dripping onto the skull. 

“You know I can’t fudging feel the hug, right?” Skully grunted, wishing he could comfort her better. 

Ellie pushed back the rest of her tears, “I’m actually working on getting the fridge to work again. I borrowed a book from the library about how fridges work so I can learn to fix it.” 

“That actually sounds like a worse idea than going out at night.” 

-5 years later-

“I think we can make it this time!” Ellie shouted, grabbing onto a branch of the old oak tree. 

“You’ll just fall down again,” Skully chuckled from her backpack. 

The crows cawed loudly again, cheering Ellie on as they always did every time she tried to climb to the top of the tree. For some reason the view from the top had eluded her all those years, and she had tried many times, falling again and again. This time felt different. 

She grabbed the last branch, they were always thinner at the top, snapping easily. But not this time, she made sure there was a thicker branch to grab onto, and it held her, the rough bark greeted her as she pulled herself up. Bartholomew waited for her, letting out a gentle caw as Ellie stared out at the view that had unfolded in front of her. 

“Skully… It’s beautiful.” She pulled the skull out of her backpack and carefully sat down on the twisting branch. 

The buildings twinkled in the distance, reaching for the blue sky. To her the sight of Dawn was like seeing the dawn itself. Bright and brilliant, it held so much of promise. 

She grinned wide, “That’s Dawn, the place I wanna go one day. And before Dawn is the Midnight Ravine, it’s like a deep cut in the landscape, isn’t it? Apparently it appeared after The Cataclysm.” 

“Always full of facts… I was expecting more from Dawn though. The skyline looks different. It looks less. I feel like it should be touching the clouds… Ah. Wait… I- I’ve been there before,” Skully said as he gazed at the city. 

“You’ve been to Dawn? Is that a memory?” Ellie asked excitedly. 

He didn’t reply. The view had pulled him in and for a moment he was there, looking up at a building so tall he couldn’t see the top. Though it was not any of the buildings he had seen. It was different, everything was different. 

“Skully?” Ellie shook the skull in her hands. 

“You don’t need to shake me. I don’t even feel it. Fudge. I was having a memory here, I was in Dawn, looking up at a tall building,” Skully huffed. 

“Then we need to go to Dawn. If I somehow get a part time job I can buy a bus ticket… I don’t think my dad will give me any money, he never does,” Ellie excitedly started rambling.

“You are good at fixing things these days… Maybe your neighbours have things to fix?” Skully suggested.

“It’s been five years since I found you, Skully. Five years of nothing. Now you remember Dawn. That’s huge. I’m not going to sit around and wait. Let’s make some money,” Ellie said with a confident tone before looking back out at Dawn, “It’s you and me now. All we have is each other, at least for the time being.” This time she had a real reason for going to Dawn. 

Again Skully wished he was more than just a skull, “Yeah, your fudging dad is a lost case. Might as well find a family to adopt you in Dawn,” he chuckled loudly. 

“I could drop you down from the tree,” Ellie joked, "But you’re right. I should leave him behind, at least when I’m old enough.  For now, like you said, I can fix things, and I'll make my own money.” Ellie’s face became serious for a moment, a new determination grew within her. 

The city of Dawn beckoned her, or rather both of them.