Chapter 1: Crimson
It was the darkest night, but the moonlight shone, lighting the way. A tall and slim teenage girl dragged her feet on the ground while groaning in pain. The wind stirred her dark brown straight hair and her white shirt and black pleated skirt were covered with sweat and mud, but she did not mind how messy she had become. She could not stop groaning as she could feel the aching of her feet as if telling her to stop. Her almond-round amber eyes looked around, wary of her surrounding.
"I want to go home," she muttered while sniffing, preventing tears from falling. The 15-year-old girl named Eirin could not stop regretting the decisions she made.
The empty city on a night made the teenage girl terrified. She ran nonstop, making her breathless, and her legs were ready to go numb. Her black loafers were covered with dirt and mud, and she doesn’t remember where she left her school bag. Despite that, Eirin could not stop moving or it would cause her life. As she ran and ran, she reached a dark alleyway that the moonlight could not reach. The damp smell lingered everywhere, mixing with it was a stinky scent she could not fathom. Eirin’s eyesight adjusted to the darkness, and she noticed piles of garbage surrounding the alleyway.
’Maybe this place is the dumpster,’ she thought.
Eirin could not take a deep breath due to the foul smell covering the place. "Isn’t this place abandoned?" she talked to herself while wondering what could be creating such an awful smell as if like dead rotten animals. She held onto her nose, grazing the mole on top of her nose bridge. Despite how horrendous the smell was, the fear that she might see those people again made her endure the stench as she shivered in fear.
’It’s just dead rats,’ she assured herself.
Only the sound of the wind and the squeaking of the rats filled her ears. They must have been famished and are now searching for food, just like Eirin, who has not had her dinner yet. Who could have expected her to lose her way in the city she grew up in? Everything happened so fast that even Eirin could not comprehend how she ended up in a completely different place.
The cold air touched Eirin’s fair white skin, making her realize how alone she was. She rubbed her palms and breathe into them, keeping herself warm. ’I need to leave as soon as possible, but where do I go?’ She has been finding her way out of the abandoned city, but it was futile. ’If those people catch me... they might do something insane,’ Eirin thought and sighed.
Eirin could not take any steps further due to her aching feet. She looked around to see if any people were wearing those black cloaks, and after seeing no one, she decided to rest in that alleyway. The teenage girl sat down near the trash bags, hoping to cover her scent from those monstrous beings, and hoping that she could survive the night.
"I just want to go home." Eirin sniffed with tears almost falling out of her eyes as she hugged her knees. The ground was damp and hard. It made her bottom hurt, but she did not have a choice. This made her miss the comfort of her house and the warmth of her soft bed.
The exhaustion’s starting to catch up to her, making her eyelids feel heavy. Her phone’s out of battery, and she does not know where she was. ’Maybe... I could sleep here even for a little,’ she thought, but the howling wind made her unable to calm down and she kept trying to keep her eyes wide open.