The hallway was quiet as the night sky fluttered in through the windows. The tile floor was cold and hard against the soles of her feet. Every curtain seemed to drift away in fear as she walked down the path towards a large ebony door. Even the crickets grew silent as she drew closer to her destination. The world seemed to hold it's breath in the presence of such a figure. The luxurious nightgown she wore that bore a deep red seemed to highly contrast the bareness of her feet. No fancy slippers nor socks were worn. Every step she took seemed to leave a trace on the floor once her foot lifted, the color disguised due to the amount of items of the same color. The curtains, the paintings, the fixtures, were all a deep shade of red.

  She opened the door in front of her and the world's silence continued. The door did not creak nor make any similar noise. Not even her feet upon the floor made a sound. Moon light has flooded into the room she stood, illuminating the luxurious nightgown in tatters. As if a knife was dragged through the fabric. She looked out onto night sky as rain started falling. The sound of the rain covered up the drips of liquid falling on her floor, same color as her clothing. The knife in her hand stained and darkened, she let it fall to the floor with a clatter. She was cursed. Cursed to deal with this. The window open, the rain fell straight in and soaked her from head the toe. Her hair dripped with water as she fell to the floor exhausted.

  Rinaye woke up exhausted. She had such a big day yesterday and she was still tired. Who knew being paid by the town to put on a performance in a was that exhausting? Who would have thought? Rinaye had finally reached the age where she could get paid for her services and it was fun. She got money for doing what she loved. She made her way upstairs, still not hungry from the amount of food she ate the night before and headed straight for the library. She grabbed a stack of books from the pile Allison dropped off for Rinaye's birthday two years prior and headed straight out the window.

  Yes. The window.

  One of the spells that was meant to trap Rinaye was a literal bubble around the tower. Now, if Rinaye wanted to, with some effort she could probably get through, but why would she? It was the perfect spot for reading! Just imagine it. Hovering just under the point of an upside down tower, laying down on a comfy layer of magic, just a few meters above the forest floor. It was beautiful. Rinaye had even learned it bit of magic too! Light magic made such a good reading light. Using some magic that Allison taught her Rinaye now had the equivalent of a a magical music app that transcended dimensions. All of the music that Rinaye listened too before she (basically) died was on it along with all of the music that would have been, if, you know, the world didn't die. She wasn't the only one who could hear it if she wished it. This thing had amazing speakers for being nonexistent.

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  Most of the books that Rinaye had read so far were everyone's recommendations but her aunt's. Rinaye was too scared to even start on that pile. She had read the bread one almost ten times over now. It was hilarious.

  Rinaye whittled away time reading the hours away. The stack of books she brought was slowly diminishing, bit by bit. Rinaye was in the middle of her seventh book of the day when she was startled by a voice below her.

  It was the day of the vault check and Cassion's father still hadn't woken up. What was he supposed to do? It was now his responsibility to do the After hyperventilating for a solid five minutes he worked up the courage to pack his gear and head out into the forest.

  The forest was as creepy was he remembered. He was glad to have the artifact that repelled the forest's disorientation magic because even without the magic he was still getting lost, He had the travel all throughout the forest to test the defenses for weapons on par with nuclear or atomic bombs. It was rather stressful. He even had to look at the artifacts his mother owned. Those things were creepier than a forest could ever be, tenacles and all.

  Eventually he made his way to the last stop of the day. Honestly it couldn't get worse than trudging in the forest just hoping nothing went wrong.

  Then he saw his sister for the first time in ten years.

  "Uhhhhhhhhh." At least she can't get out of the bubble, right? RIGHT?

  "Oh! Cassion! I haven't seen you in ages! Hold on lemme drop down."

  She dropped down from the bubble and immediately, Cassion fainted.