Young Writers Society

"Not really," Rana answered, smiling at her. She gestured down a street to the right. "It's just up this way a little bit."

"Ohh," said Susan, stopping to consider. That wasn't a good sign. It would be too close to the crowded she'd been trying to leave. On the other hand, it wasn't like she had any idea where she was headed. Maybe this place wasn't crowded. "Umm, uhh, this is going to sound silly, but will it be crowded at this time?"

"Oh, uh..." Rana hesitated, considering the odd question. "No, I don't think so. It's not mealtime and not evening so... I doubt there are many people there. Why?"

"Well," said Susan, stopping to think yet again. This conversation was taking a lot more effort than conversations normally did. Now that she'd already committed to telling the truth, she decided that might as well tell her the real reason. "I kind of don't want to be around people at the moment."

"Are you safe?" Rana asked, glancing over the girl's shoulder to see if she could tell whether someone was following her or not. If she needed to go into hiding, Rana was going to have to think up a better spot to take her than an alehouse.

"No." Susan didn't have to consider that question. She was definitely not safe at the moment, not with everything having failed quite so conveniently. Maybe this was some sort of blessing in disguise from the universe. She'd heard enough stories from the ones who caused such blessings to know they were often very real.

No? Rana felt her stomach lurch on the girl's behalf. She glanced around more urgently, then thought of the little hideaway that she shared with some street urchins when they needed to get out of sight. "C'mon, I know a place you can hide."

With that, she turned and started down the side street next to them.

Susan stared after the girl for a second, trying to decide between trusting her or not. For all she knew, this could all be a ruse for her to be dragged to wherever Daphne and Jessica were. For some reason though, Susan felt she could trust this girl. She set off after the girl.

Rana glanced back and was glad to see that the girl was following her. She ducked between several vendors' stalls and eventually down a narrow alley that was barely wider than their shoulders. She walked until she got to a window about head-height and then hefted herself up and through it, then turned and reached back down towards the girl. "Here, take my hand. I'll help you up."

"Thanks," said Susan, concentrating hard as she took the girl's hand. Last thing she needed to do was freak out the person that had offered to help her by going invisible.

Rana leaned backward and pulled upward, hefting the girl towards the window and trying to help her get inside.

Susan wasn't usually the best at most things athletic, but the last few years had made sure she could at least survive. With help from the other girl, she managed to scramble up and through the window.

Rana took a step back to make room for her, then took a deep breath. It was harder to make this trek while helping someone else. But it was worth it.

Around them was a darkened, abandoned building. There was a plank of wood off to the left that led across an unfinished basement, and on the other side of the narrow plank was an opening in the far wall.

"This way." Rana started over the plank easily, like she'd done it thousands of times before, then glanced back at the other girl. "Careful."

Susan looked around the place they'd jumped into. It was the very picture of a creepy abandoned building. She didn't know what to make of that one. As much as she felt like she wanted to trust the girl, this was also a rather creepy place, and people that invited you into those usually weren't doing it out of the goodness of their hearts.

Putting those thoughts aside, Susan looked towards where the other girl was gesturing towards a plank off to the left that led to a opening in the far wall. It was a precarious bridge of sorts across an unfinished basement.

Heeding the girl's advice to be careful, Susan made her way over the plank cautiously and managed to get to the other side without anything going wrong.

Rana was pleased that the girl was able to keep up. That was good. She led the way along a narrow plank along the wall in the room over from them, and then, finally, through a crack in the wall that sunlight was streaming in through.

It opened into a small, isolated yard. There were various broken crates and trash strewn around, but a grassy patch had been cleared just below them, and Rana dropped down on it and gestured for the girl to sit. "You'll be safe here. No one has ever found us here."