The town was... "This way? No, that way! No...Dang it, which way was it?" I was lost. Again. And those stupid doors just won't shut up!

"Come here! Open me!"

"No, no, ignore that! Come over here!"

"This direction! Open me, Alexis!"

"No! I don't wanna open you, so therefore, I won't open you!"

"Open me!"

"No!"

Why was I out in the woods, do you ask? Well, it started something like this.

I was pacing around the couch and tables Nightmare had in his room as he worked, completely bored out of my mind and driving him insane with the endless tap-tap-tap I was making as I walked. He suggested that I should find something to do, and when I asked what I could do, he said that I should hang out with Gray. Well, Gray was busy, and he told me to go play with one of the servants. Well, I told him that I didn't want to "play" with one of the servants, and that caused him to suddenly remember that I needed some "formal" attire. Apparently the dress he bought me wasn't good enough.

I had made a face at his comment, and blinked when he had shoved money into my hands. He told me to go to the town and buy some suitable formal wear.

By myself. A directionally-challenged fifteen-year-old teenage girl who had to wait ten years before she finally figured out which hand was her left and which one was her right. A girl who still had trouble deciphering north, east, south, and west. A girl who nearly got herself killed trying to ask a certain white rabbit a freaking question!

Anyway, before all this happened, I found out that one of the servants washed my "worldly" clothes, so I put those on after I passed out after my bath. So, now I was wearing a purple T-shirt, my gray jacket, and black jeans with my dirty red sneakers. I put clips in my hair to hold a small part of my bangs back, finding it irritating to brush the strands behind my left ear all the time.

But, either way, I was now heading towards a town (or attempting to) in an effort to go and buy formal wear. Which was going to be tuxedo. Why? Because I've always wanted to wear and/or own a tuxedo, with a bowtie, and a tophat. Will Gray send me back to buy a dress? Probably.

But...then again, it wasn't like it was my money...Maybe I should just buy a few dresses and get it over with... I don't know! Argh! Why do I keep thinking!?

"I don't know what I'm supposed to do! Where the heck is the stupid town anyway!?" I demanded, glaring at a random tree with a talking door on it, decorated with rainbow mushrooms. I really didn't trust those mushrooms. Though, I did kick a few tops off their stems because I was bored and evil, and it was entertaining. Out of sheer boredom, and loneliness (though I don't think that involved much with my actions other than my sighing) I kicked another mushroom top, sending it flying.

Why couldn't Nightmare or someone have come with me...? I hated being by myself. But nope. Nightmare was actually doing his work for once, and Gray was too busy doing other things such as keeping an eye on Nightmare and cleaning.

However, I thought back to my conversation back with Nightmare and Peter and flinched, hating myself. God, damn it, I was so stupid! Why did I have to go and breakdown in front of him like that? He probably thinks I'm a weirdo now... Well, great. There goes one of my friends in this crazy world-I paused. Did I...consider Nightmare and Gray friends? I mean, yeah, they were nice and all, but...

Yeah. I trusted them. They were my friends.

Normally, I didn't trust easily, but I've spent enough time with them to know that they weren't going to kill me. However, I did know one thing...

Even adults couldn't handle dealing with a teenage girl 24/7. Poor guys. Must have been annoying them endlessly...

Do they hate me now? I quickly slapped a hand onto my face at thought, shaking my head furiously. No! No, no, no, no, no! They don't hate you! They're your friends! Yeah, you didn't know them long, but they like you! ...I think.

"Ugh!" I groaned, running my hand down my face. I couldn't feel any shoulder pain. The medicine was like magic. "Why do I torture myself like this...?" Sometimes I wondered if I was a masochist or not, because all I did was just cause myself more pain with my thoughts.

I wish someone would just pop up (preferably someone nice and friendly) and alleviate me of my fears and boredom. I waited in the same spot for a minutes, waiting for a cliche anime moment, before feeling the pain of loneliness again as I trudged through the annoying mushroom forest.

This wasn't an anime. This wasn't a cliche otome game, or a manga... This was real life...

No one was going to save me here. I would have died if I didn't run away from that knight, and those people who were shot? They weren't coming back. They were dead. Good, gone, dead. Peter had killed them. That knight, Ace as I was later informed, killed the men who had attacked him.

Reality was a cruel mistress, and the truth was like a cold kiss.

Instead of warming you, it froze you to the bone, leaving you to rot with the painful truth of reality...

I could just imagine anime tears streaming down my face as I looked up at the sky with closed eyes, crying out, "Why am I so negative!?"

However, just as I said that, a pair of arms reached out and wrapped around me, causing me to turn my head in alarm and see the mouse-boy from before, Pierce, looking at me with a smile. He exclaimed, "Found you! You're mine, now!"

"Wait, what? No, I'm not!" What the heck? Okay...this boy was insane. Cute, but insane. I really hoped he wasn't going to kill me, too... I watched in alarm as tears suddenly welled up in his one visible eye, and tensed as he turned his head to get a better look at me, his nose just barely grazing mine as his face was so close. I wasn't sure what happened, but I gained that feeling in my stomach-the one you get when you're nervous and about to perform on stage in front of millions of people. It wasn't a bad feeling, but I didn't know if I considered it a good feeling or not. It was like that feeling of embarrassment you gain after someone beats you in a playful argument.

His face was right there, and I could see his eyes clearly-even the one he had hidden beneath his hair. The forest green color was actually rather pretty. Aaaand I'm hallucinating... I tried to lean my head back, feeling my face heat up a little in alarm. At least, I think it was alarm. W-Why...are you...so close? I didn't know what to do. I was frozen.

The boy looked upset at my words, pouting with tears in his eyes. "But I found you," He protested, his breath brushing across my face. It smelt like cheese and coffee-a weirdo combo, but I kind of liked it. "You were lost and I found you! You're my rare lost item!"

Damn it, he had to pull out the waterworks. I felt a bit disgusted at myself, but he was...so... cute! I couldn't really think-torn between freaking out and yelling at him to stop hugging me and being so close to my face, or hug him back and tell him to stop crying. My brain wasn't really working properly at this moment in time, switching rapidly between being blank and trying to think of responses.

"F-Fine!" I quickly pushed the boy away, causing him to look at me in surprise and confusion. "I-I'm your "lost item"! Just-Just stop crying already!"

He looked down at me with wide eyes, brightening as he smiled happily and hopefully. "Really!?"

I scowled, looking up at him and locking eyes, still wielding that embarrassed/nervous feeling from before. "Y-yeah..." I let out a shocked gasp when he suddenly lunged forward and wrapped his arms around me, hugging me tightly as he exclaimed,

"Yay! You're my lost item! That means I can kiss you, right?"

"Wh-What!?" My voice squeaked a little as it went up an octave, barely lifting my head in time to avoid losing my first kiss. Pierce's lips came in contact with my chin, and I could feel the blush spread farther across my face. "H-hey, what-what are you doing!?"

"You're so cute!" Pierce said and pulled way, but frowned with teary eyes. "Do-Do you not like me? Am I not allowed to kiss you?"

Okay, now I felt guilty, but this was-I think-sexual harassment! No, dear sir, you may not kiss me! "It-It's not that I don't like you-I-I like you plenty, but," Damn. How was I supposed to explain this? Oh, I know! "You're not my boyfriend, so therefore, you can't kiss me! Only boyfriends and girlfriends are allowed to kiss each other! Unless the two people are like brother/sister and have a totally platonic relationship. Then the-the person is only allowed to kiss the other person on the forehead."

Pierce pouted at me, still having his arms around me.

I wondered if this awkwardness of being hugged by random people was how Sarah felt when I tackled her all the time. But, we're both girls, so it was probably much less weird, not to mention that we're best friends.

"So...I can't kiss you unless I become your boyfriend?"

"Right! Which, you can't be my boyfriend, since I don't love you or anything! And-And vice versa! So, therefore, I can't be your girlfriend!" I noticed he left out the "Brother/sister" thing, which confused me, but figured he was just being lazy.

"...Can I kiss your cheek?"

"Wh-Wha-?" I was stunned at the sudden question, and could only squeeze my eyes shut and lean my head back when I saw his face come close to mine at an alarming rate. I didn't like it when things came close to my face. My eyes shot open at the feel of something warm and soft brush against the side of my face, before moving and touching against my forehead. "H-Hey!"

I tensed when Pierce suddenly hugged me, smiling to himself. "You're so cute! And you're mine, now, too! So no one else can have you!" C-Cute? It was different hearing it out of Pierce's mouth than when Jack called me that-as Jack was merely joking and making fun of me. I didn't know Pierce, so I had no idea if he was joking or not. B-But, cute?

"I-I'm not-I'm not cute..."

"Chuu!"

"Hah-?" My face flared red when his lips pressed against a spot near my mouth, just at the edge. My heart stopped and leapt up into my throat. This was...too much. "O-Okay, e-enough with the affection already!" I put my hands on the taller boy's shoulder and pushed him away from me, unable to look him the eyes. He tilted his head and looked at me confused, but with a smile on his face. "I-I need to find the town-"

"The town? Why?"

"B-Because...Gray-Gray wants me to buy some dresses..." I was rubbing my neck awkwardly, looking off to the side as I glanced at the boy out of the corner of my eyes. Oh, god, I hadn't felt this nervous since I had to play the saxophone solo by myself in Band class! If I screwed up, everyone would have known. Thankfully I did good, but it was still humiliating and embarrassing. I was a follower, not a leader. I bit my lip, not really wanting to ask for directions. "Do...Do you...know where it is...maybe?" My voice squeaked a little at the end.

Damn. This was embarrassing. And awkward. Very awkward. Ask the kissy-mouse-boy for directions. Very normal thing.

He nodded with a smile. "Yeah! I can take you there!" He seemed to get excited quickly. "Can I help you pick out some clothes!?"

"Uh, I guess..."

"Chuu!" I let out a startled scream when he leaped at me against and kissed my cheek, sending me stumbling and falling onto the ground with him on top of me. I quickly pressed my lips into a thin line to avoid having any first kisses stolen, and was more than relieved when he got off of me and let me stand up.

I had "stalkers" before, but didn't everyone? This was a whole different level for me. I was never used to this much...affection...before. I'll be honest-I had a boyfriend back in elementary school-one boyfriend in my whole life, who was a guy I really liked and used to be my closest friend, before he broke up with me and moved schools. Everyone had that one childhood "sweetheart" or whatever, but I was in Highschool now, and hadn't had a boyfriend since elementary. I just didn't like anyone. Yeah, I had crushes here and there, but those were mere infatuations. I never really liked anyone, nonetheless loved.

I think that my "Mr. Right" got shot or ran over by a bus a while back... Where's "Mr. Left"? Oh, right. He doesn't exist. Please allow me to call an Undertaker now, please.

I've never been kissed on the cheek, I've never been kissed on the forehead, I've never been kissed before, or smothered with so much affection before. Why was Pierce even doing that anyway? Does he just do that to anyone he sees or what? Ah, well, I wasn't given any time to ponder it as Pierce-to my shock-grabbed my hand and started to lead me away towards the direction of the town.

...

"What about this one?"

"Uh, no. That one's pink."

"Then this one?" I paused, actually thinking about it. It was green, and would probably bring out my eyes...which happened to be green as well, if you all didn't know that. It was a green chiffon sundress with straps at the shoulders. It was cute, but I didn't think that I would actually wear it without black leggings. Well, Gray told me to buy multiple, but... "I think you'd look cute!" My eyebrows twitched at the compliment as I grew embarrassed, refusing to look at Pierce.

"F-Fine... Whatever. I'll get it. But I'm still buying that one black one!" I wasn't too sure about what kind of dress it was, but it was black with longsleeves and flared out a little at the waist, as it framed the body all the way down to the hips, and stopped at the knees. Pierce merely smiled and kept telling me what dresses he thought would be "cute" and I could only go along. However, I had to agree with most of the choices, as there were a lot of cute ones. I doubt I'd actually wear any of them without an actual excuse to do so other than to "feel pretty".

Whenever I tried to dress up and make myself feel pretty, the people in my school-the ones that knew me-always asked if I was sick or something. It was like a crime for me to dress up. I hoped-a little, just a little-that I could dress up and feel pretty here without being questioned.

All in all, I bought two black dresses, a green one, a purple, and a blue-and-brown. I also bought a fedora-because, why the hell not? Pierce got an awesome hat, Blood's got an awesome tophat, why shouldn't I get an awesome fedora?

Hanging the bags off of my arms, I tried to remember the way to the Clover tower. When I told Pierce this, he looked surprise and asked if I knew Nightmare.

"Uh, yeah, he's my friend. Why? You know him?"

"Yeah! He helps me sleep and stops the bad-kitty from getting me!" Pierce appeared ecstatic about the fact that I knew Nightmare. "Can I come with you!?"

"Huh? Oh, uh, yeah, sure..." As soon as I said that, I got attacked again, and cried out, "Stop that!" Pierce removed his lips from my cheek and pouted, tears in his eyes. Damn it...he cries easily, huh? Making me feel guilty...

"You...do you hate me now?"

Oh, god... R-Resist...urge...to... I gave in. I tackled Pierce with the bags on my arms. He looked surprised, but not as surprised as he was when we first met at the Assembly. "Stop being so cute!" I squealed, before cutting myself off abruptly when I realized what I said. I grew horrified at myself and quickly pulled away, realizing what I had done. "I'm sorry!" I quickly apologized, flinching at my horribly mistake, and quickly said, "I'm-I'm just-I'm just going to go now!" I pointed awkwardly at the direction where the Clover Tower was, having seen it after raising my head up, and walked off quickly before breaking out in a run.

Damn it. I had to go and hug him. And call him cute. Greeeaaaat, now he's scared of me. Wait, but he kept kissing me and hugging me and stuff before! So-So he might not be disgusted with me? I paused and stopped running, furrowing my eyebrows as I tried to make sense of the situation. So...wait, why would he be scared if I suddenly hugged him, if he kept hugging me first? Oh god, did I just make things worse?

"Alexis?" I jumped, letting out a startled scream as I whirled around to look behind me. It was the cat-Boris. He looked amused at my reaction. "What are ya doin' here in the woods?"

"Uh...shopping?" I replied dumbly, lifting my arms up. He raised an eyebrow, his eye widening in surprise. Suddenly he lurched forward and appeared right in front of me, leaning down and sniffing me. His eyes darkened suddenly as he commented,

"You smell like mice..." He looked hungry. Oh, great. I smelt like cheese. I mean, I love cheesy food and all, but, uh, I don't think I really wanted to smell like it...

As if on cue, Pierce came running, smacking straight into me as he wrapped his arms around my shoulders and knocking me onto the ground. "I'm sorry! I don't know what I did to make you run away like that, but I'm sorry! Don't hate me!" He was crying.

"I-I already said I don't hate you, Pierce!" I exclaimed, alarmed as I tried to push myself up. Pierce suddenly froze, horror striking his face as his shoulders tensed. He was shaking, and frightened tears started to fall down his face. "P-Pierce?" I then remembered something. Pierce was a mouse, and Boris was a cat... When we really actually first met when I was shopping with Gray, Boris was chasing Pierce around...

I quickly dropped the bags to the ground and pushed Pierce off of me, onto his back, and hovered myself above him as I sent Boris a look, saying loudly, "Don't you dare! Pierce didn't do anything, so don't hurt him!"

"I'm not gonna hurt him, Alexis! I'm just gonna...play with him a bit!" Yeah, right. 'Cause I totally can't see the knife and fork you're holding.

"Dude, you're holding a knife and fork. That basically screams, "Oh, look, a mouse! I'm hungry, and since I'm a cat, I'm totally gonna try and eat him"! Yeah, sorry, no Pierce for you."

Boris' ears twitched at my response and he scowled, frowning as he shoved the utensils into one of his pockets. I questioned him and his sanity-if he had any.

I let out a yelp when Pierce wrapped his arms around his neck and pulled me down on top of him, crying about how nice I was for saving him. I would've sweatdropped if I could, not understanding how I was "nice". I just didn't want someone I was starting to consider a friend to be cat food. I kept my hands on the ground, keeping myself off of Pierce as much as I could. Our chests were nearly touching. This was...rather awkward for me. And his face was right next to mine, too.

This boy was really clingy. Just how old was he? I couldn't help but ask, staring him straight in the eyes as I turned my head to look at him directly. Our noses just barely brushed, and I held my breath as I waited for an answer.

Pierce blinked at me, "Seventeen."

My arms gave out of me. Both from surprise, and from the fact that I had no upper-arm strength at all. I let out an "Oof!" while Pierce merely let out a small grunt from the sudden weight on his chest. I squeaked and let out a high-pitch, "Sorry!" and rolled off of him. We both sat up and Boris knelt down on his knees so that he could look at both of us evenly.

"Stop makin' moves on the foreigner, Pierce! You gotta give us other guys a chance! Blood's already taken Alice!" Pierce let out a terrified squeak and dashed to hide behind me, grabbing my shoulders as he poked his head out from behind mine. I made a face at the fact that I was being used as a shield.

"He's not hitting on me." Though I could beg to differ on some accounts..such as the multiple times he kept flipping kissing me! Why was I defending him anyway? Oh, yeah, 'cause I'm apparently "nice". I thought myself a jerk, actually.

Boris looked surprised at my comment, and exclaimed, "Seriously!? Are you telling me that he hasn't been hitting on you at all?"

"Uh, no...He hasn't really been directly flirting with me. He's just been calling me "cute" and stuff..."

Boris reached over and poked me in the forehead, causing Pierce to let out another terrified squeak as the Cheshire cat drew closer to him. He said slowly, as if I were stupid, "Calling a girl cute is considered flirting, Alexis."

"He meant it in a platonic way!" I think. I hope.

"Are you sure about that?"

"He hugs and kisses everyone, doesn't he?"

"Not me."

"That's 'cause he's scared of you!"

"You're point?"

"Well, name other people he does that to?"

Pierce spoke up hesitantly, eying Boris frightfully, "E-Ellie, and-and Peta, and A-Alice! C-Cute things! I-I kiss cute things! Please don't eat me!"

I turned my head to look at Pierce, alarmed to see how close his face was to mine again, and said firmly, "He's not going to eat you. Right, Boris?"

The cat scowled and crossed his arms, sitting down crosslegged in front of us. "Fine. I won't eat you. You can come out of hiding now." Pierce reluctantly did so, still scared of the teenage cat-man, but sat down close to me, hugging my arm.

I seriously wondered if I was this clingy with Sarah. 'Cause as much as I hugged her, I didn't kiss her (That was Jack's job) and I don't think I was this clingy. It...was kinda cute, though, the way Pierce kept clinging to me. I felt him lean his head against mine, and I blinked, turning my head to stare at him. I felt a small smile tug on the corner of my mouth, and I could still remember how it felt when Pierce kissed me there. I blinked at my thoughts, and groaned in my head, realizing what I was thinking about.

Pierce's shows of affection were confusing my brain. I just met the dude. I was not going to deal with this. I was a teenage girl, these thoughts were normal. Pierce was a boy. I was obviously going to be delusional about some things.

He was cute, and slightly adorable, but that was all. He was potential friend. He seemed to like me enough. I remembered him calling me "nice" and pondered on what he meant by that, but smiled anyway. Pierce was the nice one here.

I looked at Boris, realizing he was the same height as Pierce, and asked, "How old are you? I'm fifteen."

"Hm? Eighteen."

"So...Fifteen, eighteen, and seventeen?" I asked, pointing at each one of us respectively. I then asked, frowning, before laughing, "Where's the sixteen?"

"No idea, but I do know the twins are fourteen."

The twins... "Oh! You mean Dee and Dum?"

Pierce's grip on my arm tightened at the mention of the Tweedle twins. "D-Don't go-go near th-them! Th-They'll chop you up!" I blinked and turned my head to look at him, but stared in surprise when Boris reached over and pulled Pierce off of me, an annoyed look on his face.

"She already smells like mice, rat! Stop suffocating her!"

"I...Huh?" I had no idea what I was supposed to say. "He wasn't-He wasn't suffocating me..."

"Seriously?"

"What?"

Boris looked exasperated.

"Open me, Alexis! Open me!" I let out a startled scream and jumped, lunging forward as I whirled my had around trying to figure out exactly which door the voice came from. "Open me!"

"Are you alright?"

"A-Alexis?"

I didn't want to ask, in case I was the only who heard them and sounded crazy, but... "Do-Do you guys hear the doors talking to you, or-or am I just crazy?"

Boris and Pierce looked at each other, thought Pierce looked like he was going to cry from being in such close proximity with the cat, and looked back at me.

Boris said, "You're not crazy, but we definitely don't hear the voices."

"Then how do you know I'm not going crazy!?"

"Because the doors are speaking to those who are lost," Pierce explained, scooting away from Boris nervously. "Th-They're just being kind..."

"Wait, so all this time I could've just asked the doors for directions!?" I came to the sudden realization, and then acted like I was going to bang my head off a tree. Leaning against said tree, I groaned while acting like I was about to cry, "Then I spent hours wandering aimlessly for no reason! No-o-o-o-o..." My shoulders shook as I complained. "I could've just asked which way the town was! Why didn't Nightmare or Gray tell me this!? THIS IS TREASON I TELL YOU! TREASON!"

Boris laughed at me, while Pierce blinked. Pierce tilted his head and said, "B-But the doors can't tell you where to go...They just bring you to the place you want to go to most."

I then remembered something Nightmare said and my gaze shot over to Boris, who looked at me in surprise when I suddenly turned to look at him. "You!" I quickly crawled over and sat in front of him, asking, "Nightmare said you can open doors and teleport places right!? Is that true!?"

"Uh, yeah...I can create and cut spaces." I'll pretend I understand what that means.

"That's so cool!" He grinned at me.

"Ya think?"

"Yeah! All you need to do is be like "Wow, I'm hungry. I'm gonna go to McDonald's even though it's a mile away-" BAM! Open a door and you're inside the restaurant! One yummy cheeseburger coming right up!" I clapped my hands together excitedly, grinning like a child who was given candy. Though, I don't really eat candy unless it's chocolate... "You don't even have to walk! That is so boss!"

"I know, right?" Before anyone could say anything else, Pierce suddenly tackled me from behind and pulled me away from Boris, frowning. "Hey-!"

"She's my item! I found her!"

"It's amazing how your brain processes things incorrectly," Boris responded, glaring at him. "Alexis doesn't like you, so leave her alone! She's my friend!"

Pierce started to cry again and I freaked out, smacking Boris upside the head and trying to convince Pierce that I didn't hate him. "Stop arguing with each other already! I don't hate either of you! Pierce, stop crying, Boris-stop being a jerk to Pierce!"

"Why do you keep taking his side!?"

"Because he's nice and saved me from my boredom of being lost in the woods!" He's also utterly adorable. What the heck started this argument anyway? "And-And, well, he's-I consider him a friend, kind of, and I'm not taking anyone's side! I'm just trying to stop you from making him cry all the time! He's been crying since the moment I met him!"

"He's a cry-baby! His brain doesn't even function properly because he doesn't ever sleep!" Huh. All I ever do is try to sleep-but when I'm awake I generally try and stay up for as long as I can without passing out. But when I'm asleep and I wake up...I just lay in bed trying to stay sleeping.

"I-I don't sleep because of you!" Pierce argued, tears welling up in his eyes as he tightened his grip on, pulling me back and into his chest. I blinked and tensed, feeling awkward and nervous at the same time. "If I sleep, I'll wake up as a bag of bones and skin!" Ah, so that was what he meant when he said Nightmare kept the nightmares away.

See what I did there? Haha! I'm so proud of myself...

"There's no need to worry, Pierce," Boris said, his only visible eye glinting hungrily. "I'll help get rid of those bad dreams..." Pierce let out a terrified squeak and pulled me onto my feet, causing me to let out a surprised shout when he suddenly started running at full speed while dragging me along, his hand gripping my wrist tightly.

"RUUUUUUUN!"

"GYAAAH!" I screamed as I nearly tripped over my feet, trying desperately to keep up with Pierce. He was fast.

"Hold on, Pierce!" Boris called out after, chasing after the two of us with the knife and fork back in his hands, "Why do you keep running from me!?"

"SCARY CAT!"

I could do nothing but keep moving my feet as Pierce dragged us through the woods. As we were running, the evening changed to morning, and I think we lost Boris somewhere a while back. We somehow ended up at the Clover Tower, hibernating in one of the hallways as we gasped for breath.

"I...am never...running with you again!" I then realized something and let out a small scream, causing Pierce to look down at me in alarm. "The bags!" I was about to race back out the doors towards the woods to fetch the items I had dropped, but Pierce grabbed my arm before I could run off.

"Don't! He-He'll eat you!"

"It wasn't my money I spent, Pierce!" I snapped, trying not to freak out. I didn't want to get yelled at by Nightmare and Gray by losing the items I bought with their money. I lost what they bought. I had to get it back. "I-I need to-I need to get it back! So let go already!" I tugged on my arm, trying to get him to let go. Ignoring his protests, I ripped my arm away from him and ran out of the tower and down the steps, trying to remember which way I had come from. Going left, I ran again and into the woods.

This was going to be a long few time periods.