It was later now, much, much later, and I was itching to go on an adventure. So, this is how I found myself outside of Holly's door at 1 am in the morning, fully dressed and ready to leave for a little while.
"Holly!" I called softly, knocking on her door. She didn't have a room mate. I mean, no one in Dymphna's did. You had to be more aware of the teachers prowling the school, and the occasional security guard.
For a long minute, I didn't get an answer, and then Holly pulled open her door, mid-yawn. Her hair was messy, but to my surprise she was still dressed, the only thing she seemed to be missing was her shoes. None the less, her green eyes still bugged slightly when she saw me.
"Alex? What are you doing?" She frowned, leaning against her door frame with crossed arms.
"I'm bored, we're going on an adventure. Put your shoes on." Holly opened her mouth as if to object, then let out an airy laugh and shook her head.
"You're unbelievable." She turned her back to me and disappeared into her dark room, reappearing with one sneaker on. "Coming to my room, in the middle of the night," She hopped slightly, attempting to pull on and tie her other sneaker, "Just to drag me off to who knows where!" She stumbled forward, then regained her footing.
"So," She blew hair out of her eyes with a loud puff, "Where are we going?"
"To the roof, then where ever else I feel like." I set off. My pace was quick and hurried, and Holly struggled to keep up with simply walking. It didn't take us long to find the stairwell up to the roof of the building, and to my surprise the door was unlocked.
After a short climb, we found ourselves pushing the door open to the embrace of the cold night air.
"Why'd you want to come out here, Alex?" Holly questioned, skirting around me and strolling out onto the roof. She glanced over her shoulder at me, and I simply pointed up.
"Full moon tonight." Holly followed my finger and stared up at the sky for a while. Then, she sat down and looked at me, patting the spot beside her.
"Gladly." I sat down next to her and in silence, we both just looked up. The moon was bright , and there were a surprising amount of stars in the sky. It seemed almost rude to break the silence, but I couldn't help it.
"Holly, do you ever feel like you don't belong?" I stole a glance at her. She seemed to be looking at the sky with almost..respect?
"Sometimes. I don't feel like I belong here." She admitted, her eyes still trained on the moon.
"Pft," I blew air loudly out of my noise, "I agree with that. You're too nice." I flopped down dramatically, staring up.
"I don't know, I just feel like...no matter where I go, it's not where I belong. Like..I'm supposed to be.." I struggled with my words, then sighed, "Somewhere else, you know?"
"I think you should be too. You're very special, Alex." When I looked at her, Holly seemed entirely serious. Her eyes were hardened and her lips were pursed slightly. I pushed myself up.
"Yeah, me. Special. Right." I rolled my eyes. "I'm just a screw up, Holly." I pulled my knees up to my chest and hugged them, staring ahead.
"No, you're not. You exist for a reason, and someone bigger is watching over you." If I wasn't crazy, I swore I could see her eyes flicker to the sky for just a second.
"You know I'm not religious, Hols." She gently laid a hand on my arm.
"That's not what I meant." It wasn't? She was being confusing right now. I furrowed my brow, my lips turned down at her.
"Well, then, can this 'bigger person' direct me to somewhere where I feel like I'm not on the outside looking in?" I wasn't proud to admit it, but my voice cracked and I could feel tears spring to my eyes, threatening to look over.
"You'll get there soon." And Holly sounded entirely sincere. For the first time in a while, I almost felt like everything was going to be alright. Unfortunately for me, the worst possible thing happened at that moment.
"Perhaps not." That was a different voice, and I shot to my feet, spinning around. Lithad was standing there, her face in a sneer. Holly looked nervous. I guess I didn't blame her, she wasn't used to getting in that much trouble. But it didn't look like that kind of nervous. It looked like...fear.
Holly was scared. It didn't take me long to join her as in front of our eyes Lithad began to morph into some kind of bird woman. Deep rusty red wings burst from her back, and a plumage if similar color appeared out of seemingly no where. She looked incredibly wicked, with talons sprouting from her fingers and her face becoming more grotesque.
Holly grabbed my wrist.
"Run!" As if I needed to be told twice?