Kingdom of isolation - you can't hide

Twenty ~ Aurora

Like a bug, I'm plastered onto the wall. If I don't look down, the height won't make me dizzy, right? By some miracle, I manage to swing my legs over onto the bannister and land on my neighbours' balcony. Why didn't Albert just give me this room that has a balcony? Oh, that's right..he fucking hates me! I just need to get to the fire escape that's going to lead to my freedom. 

The problem? I need to continue pretending to be a bug, two balconies worth to be exact, with my luggage weighing me down. I put a curse on your future generations, Albert..you heartless bastard. With a sharp intake of breath, I bridge the small gap between the final two windows and latch onto the fire escape like my life depends on it. Literally. 

With a euphoric giggle, I climb down the fire escape, practically skipping the last few steps and unbuckle the bag strapped to my front once I land. My skin prickles all of a sudden, a sensation akin to being watched, and I break into a sprint in an effort to put some distance between myself and whoever's watching me. You know who it is. 

"Doesn't mean I have to acknowledge it!" I chide myself, no doubt looking like a complete lunatic to passersby. The sound of traffic does nothing but rattle my senses even more. Is he following me in a car?

I continue running until the prickling sensation and my paranoia is subdued, opting to speed walk after a while. But, it seems that tonight might be the beginning of a pattern of some kind—the pattern of bumping into people, I mean. Because why am I staring up at my friend, the one I'm pretty sure I left in Club Hades not too long ago?

"Mia?" I breathe after having the wind knocked out of me. 

I hold onto her forearms as she does the same with mine, my bag left stranded on the ground since we collided like two freight trains. The girl stares at me, startled at first but realisation soon dawns on her pretty face and she smiles. I wish we'd met under different circumstances, I really do. 

Growing up, I only ever had Aunt Clara to talk with but it would have been really nice if I also had someone like Mia too. I notice that her eyes are slightly glazed and movements rather slow. She's tipsy, I think. I saw her take a few sips from her drink and make funny faces before she abandoned it altogether. 

If anything, she's the kind that would be considered a lightweight. I'm not familiar enough with the effects of alcohol on her in particular but I'm going to guess that she's slightly intoxicated.

"Where did you disappear to, missy? I've been looking all over for you! You should have seen that loon trying to flirt her way through security. Good thing her personal bodyguard was there to stop the tomfoolery." She snickers, swaying side to side. 

I hold her tightly but she continues swaying, taking me along with her. Street lights behind her create this beautiful halo around her head while goosebumps line her tan skin but she doesn't seem to pay much notice to it.

"How'd you find me here?" I ask her, realising how close I am to the train station now with a quick glance of my surroundings. 

What is she doing here when Club Hades is quite literally the other way? She doesn't respond. Instead, she peers over to look at my backpack and asks, "Are you running away again? Don't go, you're safe here. You have..have people here."

I blink in confusion at her words. What people?

"Ooh..I love your eye colour! Have you been wearing eye contacts or something?"

Yep, she's definitely intoxicated enough. She knows I wear contacts because she's the one that plucked them off my eyeballs not too long ago.

"Oh, no. These are contacts."