I was running, running as fast as my legs would take me. I needed to get away, somewhere where she could no longer hurt me. But I was trapped within the walls just like the rest of us. As the wall came into view my sprint slowed. What was I thinking? That magically there would be a hole in the wall that I could just slip through or a way for me to climb over. I approached the wall searching for any flaw, any way to escape.

For all I knew she was right behind me. All I had really done was corner myself. As soon as she found me I knew I would be in a world of pain, more than I was even now. Tears brimmed my eyes, there had to be a way! I punch the wall in frustration waiting for the harsh impact of my fist to the hard stone, but it doesn't come. Instead my fist goes right through the wall as if nothing is there. I try touch the wall but my hand goes right through again. Could this be some sort of portal?

"Sscaarrlleett!" I tense up at the sound of my name being called. She must be close.

I slip my hand through the wall up to my elbow trying to feel if there is anything on the other side. It must lead somewhere, right?

"Scarlet! You can run but you can't hide!"

I can't stay here and with nothing to lose I slide through the wall. I am blinded for a moment but as the light fades I am met by a beautiful site. The sun shines down on large castle like buildings encircle a garden with a large stone walkway. The garden and walkway are enclosed by a magnificent decorative iron fence. I slowly step closer to the gateway and realize how dizzy I feel. I stumble, my legs feeling like jello, I need to lie down. I try to get closer to the gate wanting to read what the sign above it says. Havenville Prep, that can't possibly be right. I hear the gate open with a creak. Havenville Prep this must be a dream. My vision starts to go blurry, oh no, I'm going to faint.

"Are you okay?" A male voice asks. But I can't seem to answer, everything is spinning and before I slump to the ground I feel strong arms encircle me. I see a pair of ocean blue eyes before everything goes black.

I wake up to the sun streaming in. I cringe away from the light, it's something I wasn't accustom to living within the wall. The wall, I jolt upright and regret it immediately. My head spins and I lie back down. Did I really escape?

"You're awake." I tense up. "It's okay your safe here." I look to where the voice is coming from but am blinded by the light shining in from the window. I cup my hand over my eyes trying to shield the light.

"Oh sorry." The voice draws the curtain, and the room fades to a comfortable shade. My eyes adjust and I look to the person who is now standing at the foot of the bed. He is a very handsome young man probably around my age with black messy styled hair and ocean blue eyes. He's tall and seems to fill up the room with his elegance and confidence, but yet has a sort of roguishness to him.

"How are you feeling?" He asks.

"Um who are you? Where am I? How did I get here?" Before I know it a trail of questions come out.

The guy seems a bit startled for a moment but then composes himself again. "Well my name is Alaric. I'm the son of King Eric and Ariel. You are in the infirmary at Havenville Prep. I found you at the gate 2 days ago and you were in pretty bad shape, so I brought you here."

I take a moment to process the information, I really did it. I escaped the wall. I'm safe.

"So who are you?" I look up and meet Alaric's gentle eyes.

Should I tell the truth? How else would I try to explain the wild events? But what if he sends me back? Technically I'm not really allowed to be here, the whole point of the wall is to keep us in. But maybe if I tell him about why I left, he'll feel bad and let my stay. No, that's stupid, people don't care. Though I did here that people outside the wall are all loving and caring, but that could just be a myth.

"It's okay you can tell me." I really want to believe those kind looking blue eyes, but I really can't risk being sent back.

"Um I'm Ivy. The distant relative of Sleeping Beauty. I was on my way to Havenville Prep when there was an accident. In the um forest…"

"The forbidden forest?" Alaric asks suspiciously.

"Y-yes, we were taking a shortcut through the forbidden forest when we were attacked by… something."

"Mmh it could have been a dragon or maybe a griffin, they can get pretty territorial. Were you traveling with others?"

I nod my head, allowing myself to tear up. I am so bad. I let the tears run down my cheeks as I answer, "Just a driver, b-but he, he was…"

I feel a hand on my back, "It's okay, I understand."

I wipe the false tears away with the back of my hand and give a small smile. "So you said I've been unconscious for 2 days?"

"Just about. You were pretty badly injured and probably exhausted from your journey."

"Injured?" What kinds of injuries did they find?

"Well when I carried you in your shoulder was bleeding pretty badly, and I saw the nurse stitch you up."

I looked down at my shoulder and noticed the bandage around it for the first time. The injury had been no accident, I had noticed that it was sore but I hadn't noticed that she had broken the skin. I'm just hoping that Alaric and the nurse didn't noticed any of my past "injury" marks, that doesn't exactly speak goodness.

"Don't worry the nurse said you would be able to leave either tomorrow or the day after. Did you want us to contact any family members?"

Oh damn, this lie is getting more tricky to keep up. "Um no, I don't want to worry them. I got where I needed to go. So…"

Alaric gives me another suspicious look but doesn't say anything. "Well I'm going to go straighten out your paperwork, so you can start classes soon. Is there anything you need?"

"No I don't think so. Thank you so much for all of your help Alaric." I smile as sweetly as I can.

"It's no problem at all Ivy. It's what heroes do, right?" Alaric says with a wink.

I force a laugh, "Of course." This place really is nothing like the land within the wall. As a child living within the wall we had always heard stories from the adults, of the time when the wall didn't exist. When villains freely roamed the land and got to do terrible things and spread evil and all that crap. But then one day the heroes had had enough and rounded up all the villains and put them inside a magical boundary known as the wall. It's truly a terrible place to live, dirty and unsafe. Everyone is unhappy, which if you're evil is a good thing I guess, but I had always felt out of place. Unlike some of the other kids I had never had the urge to do terrible things to people, and that always upset my mother, the Queen of Hearts. I tried my best but disappointed her often, and when I disappointed I was punished. I shiver ran through me with the thought.

"Are you okay?"

It was then that I noticed Alaric hadn't left yet. "Oh yea fine. Just a chill."

"Alright," Alaric's silent look seemed to last a second too long, and for some reason it made me want to blush, something that had never happened before. I looked at my hands, avoiding his eyes. "Well I guess I'll go then, try to get some rest Ivy."

"I will, bye."

With one last glance Alaric left the room.