The pipe creaked ominously as Astrid scaled the wall. The patches of rust rubbed against her palms, flaking off in brittle bits that floated down. Just a little bit farther...

Astrid froze just below the edge of the roof, muscles burning, fingers numb. With the sky darkening rapidly, her time was limited—once it started raining, she would have no choice but to go back. Gritting her teeth, Astrid bent her legs and shoved upward, scrabbling for purchase on the rough concrete of the roof's edge.

She bit back a scream at the pain running from her armpits and down her sides. Forcing herself to take deep breaths, Astrid gathered her strength. The roof of the house was flat, with a low concrete wall running around the edges, which she currently was hanging on; planting her feet against it, she inched up, tumbling over.

"Ah," she hissed as her right shoulder and both her wrists started throbbing.

Astrid stood to her feet and something wet landed between her eyes, sliding down the bridge of her nose. It was unnaturally dark now and the wind was much stronger, the strands of her hair whipping around her face. She brushed them away.

To the left and the right were slightly taller buildings with identical flat roofs, separated by a narrow alley. Astrid took a deep breath and started sprinting, the slap slap of her shoes thundering in her ears.

My timing has to be perfect. A metallic taste filled her mouth as her teeth sank into her lower lip. Not yet...not yet...

Astrid leaped up onto the wall and time froze, drops of rain suspended in the air, heart pounding in her chest like a drum as she hung between the two rooftops. She blinked, and the concrete rushed up to meet her like a wave. There was no time to think about a proper landing as she crashed down, knees slamming painfully, pain radiating from her wrists.

"Ah, ah, ah!" She bit her lip harder, wincing at the added pain.

A bolt of lightning split the mass of swirling clouds, followed by a peal of thunder as a stampede of raindrops pelted her upturned face, matting her hair in a matter of seconds. Chest heaving, she started jogging, clothing clinging to her skin and pulling strangely.

Astrid didn't know where she was going, just moving from roof to roof and heading deeper into the city. Her arms and legs moved on their own and she was shivering; blood trickled from her knees and mixed with the rain and her palms were scraped raw. But she felt none of it.

I'm never going back.

The familiar words burned in her skull, but this time they were different. Different because she meant them.

"Just try and make me," Astrid growled, coming to stop.

She placed her hands on the metal railing enclosing the roof of the last apartment building in the strip, a soaring eleven stories to the three-story house she'd started at. The street was deserted, pieces of trash floating in the clogged gutter.

Pulling her jacket tighter, Astrid turned away. The building's roof entrance was just past the middle, but no doubt locked; she didn't even bother trying. Not that she needed to. Two long pieces of metal, no wider than her foot, stretched from this roof to the building across the street to her left.

No, don't do it, Astrid.

The invisible hand around her throat tightened as she shuffled over, clumsily climbing over the fence. Tremors wracked her entire body and Astrid touched her cheeks with icy fingers. She exhaled, drew in a shallow breath. One foot, then the other...

Thirteen stories stretched into forty, the wind battering her, howling for her demise. But the metal held.

Slowly—agonizingly, painfully so—she inched across, eyes glued to the scuffed tops of her red cloth sneakers. Even caked with mud, they were too bright against the washed out greys and blues of Astrid's world.

Her brain was screaming for her stop, but if she did, she'd stay there forever. Instead, she moved faster and faster.

Just a few more steps...you're almost there.

Something moved.

Astrid's head jerked up, eyes scanning the mass of thick pipes and what she could only assume were some sort of air conditioning units. There was nothing.

I'm truly going insane.

There was a clap of thunder, the first in twenty minutes, deafening to Astrid's sensitive ears. She yelped, losing her footing.

I'm going to die.

Gravity pulled her to the side and she flung her arms out, grabbing at nothing but air. Her mouth was frozen in a silent scream, staring unseeingly at the sky. Something wrapped around her wrist, jerking her in the opposite direction.

She slammed into something solid, smashing her nose and chin. Everything was spinning faster and faster to the point where Astrid didn't know up from down. There was a sharp sting on her neck but the sensation faded with her consciousness.

*****

"Mommy?" Astrid wiggled her new ears, confused by the beeps and humming of machinery. Her nose tingled from the smell of antiseptics and disinfectants,  the filtered air cool and dry. "Mommy! Mommy, where are you?"

The murmur of voices outside her hospital room grew louder and she shrunk back, pulling the sheets tighter. If she pulled them over her head, maybe they wouldn't be able to see her.

"Good morning, sweetie."

Astrid peeked out at the nurse who had entered the room. 

"Where's my mommy?" she whimpered.

The nurse tucked Astrid's silky pink hair behind her ears and smiled gently. "She's coming and she'll be here soon."

"Astrid!"

She looked up, eyes widening at the strange woman standing in the doorway, dark hair tumbling over her shoulders.

"See, here's your mommy." The nurse turned to leave, but Astrid grasped her scarred hand once more.

"That's...that's my mommy," she whispered.

The nurse's face froze, eyes darkening.

"Mommy!" Astrid screamed as the hospital vanished. Pulling her knees to her chest, she started sobbing.