"Take a go at it. Make yourself hoarse."

I only spared a glance at him before I cupped my hands around my mouth, and screamed. After a while, I realized that I was saying something. What, I couldn't quite make out because of the whipping winds. "IT'S ALL SO ANNOYING. MOM, DAD, EVERYONE. ARGH! I WISH I COULD JUST SLUG THEM ALL AND DISAPPEAR!"

I kept screaming something, but my mind had completely left the situation behind, to be honest. I felt like I was standing alone, on the threshold of a huge, open door. I liked how empty the air felt. There were no words flying at me, expecting responses. There were no pressing needs piled up on top of each other, expecting me to attend to them. There were no parents, looking down at me from their plain, wooden thrones, telling me to get my life together. It was just me, the open sky, and the railing I was holding onto for support. It was refreshing.

I stopped screaming things all of a sudden, and enjoyed the quiet air. Then I breathed in deeply, trying to absorb the majestic and calm air into me to cleanse out any remnants of negative emotions. I felt like this was the first time in forever that I had been able to breath in so deeply. I let go of the railing, and flung my arms out, feeling some of the violent winds that were swishing though the trees above us.

This... was amazing.

"Soooo... can I assume that you've calmed down a bit?"

Ahh... right. The guy beside me. I briefly smiled at him, though I'm sure it looked more annoyed than anything else. He'd broken the spell, and suddenly, I was just standing a few yards from a road that curved around a mountain, near a college campus that had been the cause of all of my problems. I was only running away from them all, solving nothing. Soon, everything would change back into the muddled, cluttered life that I'd felt that I'd left behind for a small moment.

I laughed emptily. "Oh, right. I forgot you were there."

The place had lost its magic. I just wanted to go back. I couldn't run from my problems forever. Might as well go back before I felt too happy, or else later, I'd compare my life to this moment and feel even more miserable.

I backed away a bit, tucking some stray strands of hair behind my ear. "Wow, thanks for telling me about this place." There was a second of silence. I couldn't come off as ungrateful to him, so I decided to talk a little more with him before I left. "Do you come here a lot?"

His face suddenly darkened, and he turned away awkwardly. "Nah. Only when I'm feeling mad or angry."

"So all the time, then?"

He looked at me sharply, his eyebrows scrunched together in that scowl that I usually spotted him around campus with.

I held up my hands defensively, smiling. "Just kidding, just kidding."

I swore that I heard him growl, before he shook his head and smiled sardonically. "Yes, actually. I guess even you can tell I have problems with keeping my anger in check."

His hair kept whipping around his face, and the rising sun behind him made him look a bit like a foreign entity. I almost laughed aloud at the thought. The cold winds must be getting to my head. Foreign entity, hah!

"Well, I'll see you around, then," I said, waving at him and starting to walk up the road. "Good luck... with life."

I was mentally bashing myself for saying something so vague, but he laughed, waving me away. "Have fun," was all he said. Then he turned away and walked the opposite direction. As I trekked up the road, I glanced back curiously a few times, and saw his back receding farther and farther away into the distance, until he rounded the turn and passed out of view. What a weird guy.

I wouldn't usually talk to people like him: secluded, angry, and almost always suspicious-looking. But sometimes, I'd just glance at him during class, and he'd be zoning out with such a sad expression that, for a second, I'd feel sorry for him. But he'd immediately turn to look at me, as if sensing my gaze, and glare until I looked away. That's why I'd been caught completely off-guard when I'd run into him down the road. He'd told me that I looked miserable, and would feel better after yelling my head off.

I slowed my pace, and then decided to stay away for a little bit more, after all. I didn't want to go back yet. Despite my better judgement, I found a comfortable position in the thick scatter of trees on the left side of the road. This was better. I was really alone, this time, and I allowed myself to relax again. I wanted to take a nap here.

I pushed my fingers into the soil, enjoying the damp smell of earth and trees.

After a while, I thought I heard quick footsteps rushing up the road from the direction I'd come from.

"No, no, no!" I heard someone yell. "I won't, I'm telling you, so leave me well alone!"

I pulled myself out of my sleepy daze and poked my head outside the line of trees. I squinted at the figure running at full-speed towards me, and realized that it was the man from before. What was he doing, just yelling by himself?

Then I saw something flash behind him, and saw a horse galloping after him.

"Waaaaiiit. You are an Everafter, aren't you! I can smell magic on you! Come back and help a fellow out!"

The second voice hadn't been from the guy. I looked around, looking for another person.

"You crazy kelpie!" The man yelled, speeding up. "What do you expect me to do? You're the one who drowned an elf!"

"It was by accident, I swear! It's in my nature, I can't help that!"

"I'm not an Everafter!"

"Liar! Humans don't smell like you."

"You stupid horse, I've already told you! How can I be an-"

No. Way. Ha ha ha... the guy was nuts. How did he get a wild horse to chase after him? I didn't know where the second voice was coming from, but I could figure that out later. I jumped out of the line of trees, and waved the the guy. The man faltered for a second, then kept running towards me, a look of surprise on his face.

The horse was gaining speed, and had almost caught up to the guy. I ventured forward, and before the man could protest, I tackled him into the trees. The horse shot past us, not having enough time to register the turn of events soon enough to change its course.

"Hey, what's wrong with you?" The guy asked me, his hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath. "You tackled me."

"I saved your life."

He snorted. "That thing wouldn't have killed me. Well, if I'd gotten on its back, maybe."

"Are you kidding? It was charging at you at full speed. Of course it was going to hurt you. How did you get a wild horse around here, anyway? Do they even roam around here? The college never told us about this."

"No, it isn't- "

Just then, I heard rustling, and a long, brown face peeked at us through the trees. I stared at the horse, having an insane urge to pet it.

"'Ey, Everafter. Who's this girl? Your girlfriend?"

I stared at the horse in disbelief. The voice had come directly from its mouth. No way. No way.

"Ventriloquism?" I guessed.

"Ventri- what?" The horse asked me, pulling off a weird twist of its head. "Anywayz, I don't think you should be with this guy anymore. He's a jerk, a liar, and of a different species."

"I'm not an Everafter! And that girl's not related to me!" The guy protested.

"See? L-I-E-R."

"You spelled liar wrong."

I stared between the horse and the man. What was with this elaborate prank? The horse shook its head and neighed loudly.

"Whatever. I have elves on my trail. Protect me, Everafter."

"I'm a Grimm. That's why I smell like an Everafter!"

"Oh, that's even better! Didn't you start some kooky village somewhere, full of Everafters? What was it called again?"

"That was my ancestor."

"Oh, really? Well, Grimm, help me out. That's your job, ain't it?"

"I quit being a Grimm a long time ago. Leave me alone, or I might have to resort to physical violence."

"Testy." The horse commented, turning its head sideways to stare at me with one eye. "You tell him."

"Um... huh?" I said, starting to back away.

"Sorry for getting you involved, Veronica." The man said, not looking sorry at all. "Just go back to the campus. This is my trained horse, and I'm just practicing my ventriloquism with it, so forget about all of this."

"Who's your trained horse?!" The "trained horse" protested.

"Shoo, now," the man told me. I backed away , then turned and ran through the trees.

What a weirdo! Who was that guy, again? I thought his name was Henry. Henry Grimm. I'd found his last name interesting for a while, so I'd made a mental note of it when I'd first heard it. Who knew that he was this crazy? A trained horse and ventriloquism? As if. I'd sooner believe in magic than that unbelievable excuse for what had happened. I'd get the truth out of him later, when I was less creeped out by him. For now, I needed to stop being alone with him while being far from the campus. The guy was not normal.