Orange and gray filled the night sky of Erit like oil on a canvas. Painting the city of Sol in the color of its namesake. The loud rush of wind and screams drown out any other noises. But upon a hill not far from the city a dark hooded figure can be seen watching as monsters of the darkest black rip and tear apart houses, walls, and people alike in a hate-fueled rage. The figure looks out on the city and then up at the pale moon, slowly taking steps to slide down the hill and towards the city. As they move the smallest glimpse of their ears can be seen from the cloak, showing lengthy pale ears in an oddly similar color to the moon above.

Beep Beep Beep, the deafening sound of Alice’s phone alarm blared in her ears. The quiet peace of her dreams was broken by the noise. “Uhhhhhhhhhhh” she vocalizes at the world.

With the last of sleep dripping off her like a cocoon falling off a butterfly, she springs up out of the comfort of the bed and towards the bathroom.

And with a start, she gets ready to leave for work. So in a flash, she has a backpack, laptop, jacket, and a pair of headphones leaving out the door of her apartment. Onward to her college and also nicely her work. The best part was the closeness of the college letting her walk to both work and class.

She loved the feeling of wind rushing all around her in swirls of parabolic patterns. It took every problem, every issue, and washed them away. The past and future no longer existed only the now, only the present. The only problem was the inevitable crash back to reality because as all good things must do, it ends.

And she was standing in front of a wither brick building standing in the middle of the tiny town she called to campus. The building in question was her place of work or more importantly the college library.

It was a nice little place, on a bigger campus it might have been a larger center of the commotion, but as it stood it was mostly a quiet little place in the middle of campus where a hard-working student could find information for all manner of research projects.

That was the same reason she loved it. Not just the quiet peace of the library itself but the people who came to the library. From the scared freshman who doesn’t know where to find a book, they need for an essay or the graduate student who has the library memorized.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

And her favorite part of the library was the fact it was her job to help them find the books that would help them in these endeavors. She got to be that small part of their college story that she hoped would help them achieve a small semblance of their dreams.

But as she realized she was blocking the small amount of foot traffic in front of the building she hurried inside. Moving past the front desk and towards the back of the first floor so she could clock in and start her day.

And with that, her day went along its usual notes. Helping students find books, reorganizing some misplaced literature, and finally going to class.

The late classes were nice because she didn’t have to think about waking up early but at the same time it meant she had to walk back home in the dark at night.

Which for any other person or area would likely cause issues like anxiety and fear. But for her, the cold quiet of the night was a refreshing breath of life that kept her going. It was a time to unwind and de-stress from any of the hardships of the day. But it also left her open to her thoughts, unlike the rush of the day, the night had the peace that caused her to leave the present and fly to her future.

Alice like to believe she was at least average for what she was. Average at talking to people, average at math, average at spelling, and so on but sometimes and especially more recently it felt like she was falling behind all her peers. She just couldn’t find the motivation to even try at most of her schoolwork. It wasn’t even because of the boring nature of it because she was doing most of the subject she loved.

But it didn’t stop the feelings because the more she seemed to fall behind the more she lost the motivation to try. She thought that after she moved it would be different, that she would be different, but it all felt the same. She was the same kid in high school who would hide behind the persona of the educated because if she wasn’t smart then what was she. She was certainly not popular or even cursed with a sad backstory. She was just a student who hoped that standing out would finally make her feel complete. Not like she was a broken puzzle missing pieces fumbling through life.

And then like an angry god smiting a foolish mortal, she heard the screeching of car wheels desperately trying to stop.

At that moment she realized that in her moment of introspection that she must have left the sidewalk and wandered into the road. But that moment of personal clarity did not last long as the pain of a ton of steel crashing into her broke that concentration.

She landed with a thud on the very sidewalk she had wandered off. The only thoughts in her head were the cold feeling of the night-shaded concrete.

But like waking up from a bad dream she shot up, millions of different thoughts racing through her head. Was she in a hospital after being hit? Was it all a bad dream and she was just back in bed?

But the questions did not last long as she open her eyes to a blindly bright forest. She definitely did not live near a forest, so that left only one question and that was how did she get here?