Now, what the hell could I do to get out of this?

My options depended on whether they had been looking for me specifically. If they hadn't, then maybe I could get by without a fight. Fool them.

But no one seemed surprised by what had come out of the portal.

Ah, I couldn't believe I was seriously using that word. Portal. Magic, fantasy nonsense. This nightmare had been crazy from the first second and it was getting worse and worse.

I looked like an innocent child. Could I take advantage of that?

No. My voice would reveal the truth. But maybe if I used a high-pitched tone, if I acted a little.... Anyway. It was worth a try. Rather, I had to try something. I didn't know what their intentions were for me, maybe to make me some kind of exorcism so that I would disappear and not be a threat to the citizens, maybe they were even “the good guys”, but I certainly didn't give a shit.

Everyone had their own priorities. You couldn't take a step if you were worried about stepping on someone else's toes in the process.

“What am I doing here?” More silence. Maybe I overreacted, made it too shrill. Or at least that's what I thought at the time. My brain was racing a thousand miles an hour.

But all that power was being wasted, as I could only run in circles.

Why did it all have to happen to me?

“You don't need to know that, kid.” Someone finally spoke. I looked up. Perhaps the leader of these guys, he was sitting in the middle of the balcony on the second floor, legs crossed. His face was completely covered by a mask full of red lines like cracks in a glass.

For a second, I thought he was a woman, but then I noticed his Adam's apple.

He was quite thin and feminine, but of course. In a world of magic and fantasy, appearances could be even more deceiving than usual. And even if the only power he possessed was to exert dominion over others with money or something, nothing supernatural, that might be enough to finish me off.

To condemn me to oblivion.

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Time wasn't on my side. Every passing second was slowly killing me.

I wondered why he wore a mask - too conspicuous public identity, perhaps? Or was he disfigured? It didn't matter, but well. Curiosity.

“You don't need to know anything,” he continued, having to be at the mercy of such a pompous fellow was unpleasant, “except that we mean you no harm. Just stay where you are and this will soon be over. “

Yeah, right.

He wasn't going to bother explaining what this was, either.

“Why?”

More silence. Right.

The chains weren't on my wrists, but that didn't mean I wasn't trapped. Too many people, all the exits guarded. I could walk through walls, I could walk through any obstacle, that I knew of at least.

But how far would I get if I ran now?

Could the portal, and the chains, appear at any moment? It sounded logical, if they were so confident. Then I would be caught right away and lose any chance of escape.

No use standing idly by, but....

Shit.

Maybe the sensible thing to do would be to wait for a better opportunity to present itself, I thought and immediately chuckled inwardly.

What was so sensible about trusting that there would be a better opportunity in the future?

My situation was bad and would most likely get worse and never get better. That was the way life worked.

Yes, it was obvious that I had to try, no matter how slim the odds were, because if I sat idly by, they would soon be reduced to zero.

So I plucked up my courage and ran.

I wished I had gone to the gym more, exercised more, at that moment. It didn't make much sense, since my body was from many years ago, but I wished anyway. Like it would have made a difference.

A lot of men and women jumped on me to try to catch me, but they were no obstacle, that wasn't what I was really worried about.

I did well. Their hands just went right through me, they didn't even come close to grazing me.

Then what I feared, what I had seen coming from so far away, happened.

A hole opened up in a wall near me. Of course, it wasn't really a hole. It was that portal. Chains shot out from the unfathomable darkness at its bottom, to catch me again.

Fuck.

I hid behind one of the room's many pillars. From there I heard the chains clash and bounce against the pillar. I celebrated internally because it had worked out well for me, I had saved myself and gained a few seconds.

But I didn't waste time on that either, I ran away at once. Towards the window.

Yes, to the window.

There were many more exits available to me than for a normal person. At least I knew the fall wouldn't kill me. It would hurt, but life was pain and the pain would pass. Besides, it was worth suffering, I would suffer any pain just to see her again.

The chains followed me closely. I could hear them clearly cutting the air, no, no, hissing like snakes, as if they were alive. It wasn't hard to imagine something like that. That it was really happening. That it was really possible, in this world of madness.

But I escaped.

I was able to jump out the window. Against and through, making it explode into a thousand pieces around me.

Pieces that didn't sink into my body or cut me, for obvious reasons. And I flew. I flew through the night sky, falling alongside the broken glass.

As soon as I looked down, I screamed at the top of my lungs.