Verunt ran confidently through the familiar streets with a heavy bag of bread and apples over his shoulder. The sun shone from a bright sky as he carelessly zig-zagged forwards on the crowded street, away from the trouble he'd caused. Taking a sharp turn to the left he entered a dark alleyway he didn't recognize. He slowed to a walk. The sun vanished behind a thick cloud and cold shadows crept upon him, weighing him down in the dark, making it hard to breath.

The pressure didn't ease until he was put in a chair. Confused he looked around, thousands of faces, some of them familiar, but all of them emotionless, stared down upon him from rows upon rows of benches standing in a circle around him. 

Don't you see how wrong this is?! he tried to shout, but not a word left his lips. The faces looked at him with contempt and then slowly turned away, leaving only black shadows.

Darkness was all around him as he tried to move forwards. It seemed that for every step he took he'd end up going two steps backwards. Tiny voices from afar called desperately for help as he walked amongst tall twisted trees and jagged rocks. But he could only keep walking. I tried, I tried, I tried... he whispered.

Covered in a cold sweat Verunt fell out of the bed. His heart bolted as he stumbled amongst the sheets laying in a tangled heap on the floor with him. His skin was covered with embers and his head was oven-hot. Trembling, he managed to get on his feet. Draped on him was what looked like a knee-long sheet with short arms. Supported by the bed, he scanned the vaguely familiar room. The marvelous lamp still hung were he had first seen it and behind the door stood a similar shadow, but the chair in which Antheia had sat was empty.

Verunt took an experimental step away from the bed and noticed with relief that his legs kept him upright on their own. Walking barefoot around the bed on the cold stone floor he noticed the absence of windows and the slightest scent of garlic and lemon in the air. His own clothes and possessions were nowhere to be found.

Muffled voices drifted through the glass door as he cautiously moved towards it. He stretched out his hand to open the door, but watched with his hand in midair how the lock clicked and the handle moved down on it's own. Instinctively he pressed up against the hard wall next to the door and waited breathlessly for the door to swing open, the images from his nightmare still fresh in his mind. Moments later he had moved up behind the incoming, black dressed guard, pushed him inside the room and shut the door behind him with a deafening bang.

Along the white halls Verunt ran unsteadily, not chancing a backwards glance. What am I doing?he thought. He didn't know were he would find an exit, or what he'd do if he managed to get outside. Without shoes and only dressed in an useless sheet, he wouldn't get far. He needed his things before he went anywhere. The thought of once more being out in the snow made his knees weak.

His wobbly sprint slowed to a steadier walk as he came closer to a slightly open door. Out from it came a light, excited giggle.

This can be a good place to hide, he thought feverishly, the kids won't notice I'm there until I'm gone again.

He slipped inside the door, closing it carefully behind him. 

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A/N: What are your thoughts of Verunt so far?