Elias' phone should have been thrown away after the incident. Despite that, he kept it with him wherever he went. Even when the cracked glass cut up his fingertips.

  It reminded him of Sofia.

  A month has passed since the incident. They were attacked by a beast that tore through their car and Elias' shoulder.

  During their fight with the monster, Abel died twice and came back to life each time. This was due to him using “black magic,” as Ezra described it. That same magic allowed them to teleport all the way to Dr. Shaw's house in Redwillow.

  Dr. Shaw, a former military doctor, was able to treat Elias, but he was unconscious for two days after the incident.

  They eventually had to leave Dr. Shaw's home, and Ezra and Abel began to take on jobs to pay for their rental home.

  Abel decided to work a temporary factory job, which paid him decently for his work. During the night he'd work as a bodyguard for whoever would hire him.

  Ezra unsurprisingly played more than the guitar. He was able to convince Dr. Shaw to lend him his violin before they left. In exchange, Dr. Shaw demanded a small cut of the profits. Ezra spent his days and most of his nights working gigs at nearly every party or event. He'd even DJ at less formal events.

  Out of the three, Ezra had the highest chance of leading a stable life.

  Despite a month passing, Elias’ chest still ached like it did that day in his dreams. Going to sleep was a gamble nowadays. He'd relive the attack almost every night now.

  Seeing Abel die twice.

  How helpless he was.

  The freezing cold.

  He began to learn to fight properly from Abel and Ezra, though Ezra was much more helpful. They tried to get him to learn magic, but Elias always refused.

  Redwillow was the name of the town they were currently staying in. Unlike Greyharbor, this town had rain, became sunny, and had cloudy days.

  He didn't notice how long he'd been sitting on the bench until the light from the sun was blocked by an unfamiliar figure.

  His heart skipped a beat.

  “Are you new here?” She asked, letting her words drag on.

  “Uh, yeah?” Elias responds, letting his eyes focus on her green eyes and warm olive skin.

  There was a slight pause. She looked at Elias, expecting a follow-up question, but nothing.

  She glanced down at Elias’ severely cracked phone “Do you need, like, a phone repair shop? I'll take you there?”

  “Oh yeah, thanks, yeah,” Elias said, dusting his knees and putting his phone out of sight.

  “But, actually—”

  “Come on,” she said with a smile, signaling Elias to follow.

  I guess.

  Elias followed close behind while she strolled without a care. It reminded him of how well he knew his old town and all the ways to get to each building.

  She quickly glanced up at Elias, the warm sun bouncing off her short, curly black hair.

  “I'm Sylvie."

  “Oh… I’m Elias.”

  “Hey,” she smirks.

  Elias unintentionally raises an eyebrow.

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  She giggles and turns back around. “You’re funny,” her voice drifting again.

  “My parents are from Syria. You?” She says not looking back.

  “Oh yeah, cool; my parents are from Europe.” Elias responds with his mind blanking on the country.

  “That's vague,” Her voice trailing off into a new thought.

  Elias stayed silent as they turned a corner. The faint sounds of a party loomed in the distance. More and more people began to show up around the wide streets. As they passed by, Elias noticed Ezra in the crowd making his way through the people towards the exit.

  “Elias, hey!” Ezra called out to him, finally exiting the crowd.

  “Hey!” Elias called back his smile widening

  “What are you doing here, and who's this?” Ezra asks with a smirk growing ever so slightly.

  “Oh yeah, she's taking me to a phone shop,” Elias said, looking back at her as she politely waved.

  His lewd smile grew wider. “Okay then, have fun, you two.”

  Weirdo.

  Sylvie begins walking again, this time facing back at Elias. “Who was that? ”*

  “He's just a guy I'm traveling with,” he said as his eyes darted away from her eye contact.

  “You’re still vague,” she mumbled under her breath. “The place is just on our left.”

  The shop was disconnected from the rest of the buildings. Its roof hung low with steps leading up to the grey-colored interior. A cloth overhang reached out from the edge of the building.

  As they walked in, the scent of magic leaked into Elias' nose. A smell like heated plastic.

  “Omar, where's Baba? I have a customer.” She calls to the man at the register.

  Wait.

  “He went to his house; I'm covering today.” The man responds with a slight accent, “What can I help you with, sir?”

  Hold on.

  “Oh yeah—here,” Elias said, grabbing his phone from his pocket. “I was in, like, an accident.”

  The man closely examined the phone, checking each corner. He sat it down on the table, hovering his hands over it.

  The air close to the phone heated, and the screen began to gravitate towards his hands. Small ticks and clicks echoed from the phone. Elias' face winced at the sight, but he tried his best to hide it.

  “I'm sorry; I'm afraid I can't fix this. The most I can do is salvage some of the data. Would you like that?” He said, the screen going back to its original place.

  “Thank you, I’ll be coming back here later. Thanks.” Elias' heart dropped. He knew it was likely, but he hadn't prepared.

  “How am I going to text her back?” He muttered to himself as they walked out of the store.

  Wait.

  He turned around to face Sylvie, who was already grinning.

  “Did you bring me to your own shop, dude?” He said, a big smile growing on his face.

  She was already laughing before he finished his sentence, “Yeah, it's good business, you know.”

  “Sorry you couldn't get your phone fixed, Elias,” she said after they both finished laughing.

  “Nah, it's fine; don't worry about it. I'm flat broke anyways,” he admitted, his hand drifting to the back of his head.

  “Unbelievable.” Her voice slowed down like a decrescendo. “I'll walk you home if you'd like.”

  “Yeah, I don't know where to go from here,” Elias said, the knot in his stomach fading away.

  They walked together without a word shared. Past the party that only seemed to get brighter and in-between rows of buildings.

  Redwillow was a lot nicer and cleaner than Greyharbor. Maybe it was because it was day, but no dark alley hid between rundown buildings.

  The people were even nicer.

  “Hey, so what is there to do around here?” Elias asks, cutting the silence.

  “Uh, not much really. There are some good food joints, and, uh, there's a mall like further down from the plaza.” She said, looking at Elias and then up.

  “It's like my old town, huh?” Elias recalls thinking of past memories. “Oh wait, I recognize this place; we're almost here.”

  “What was your old town like? It doesn't seem very fun.”

  “Yeah, it was really boring; not much to do, really.” Elias responded with a small smile.

  “Still mysterious” She muttered again under her breath.

  “I heard that, Sylvie.”

  “Yeah, I wanted you too, Elias.”

  “Unbelievable.” Elias laughed

  “Don't steal my words already,” Sylvie giggled.

  “Anyways, what's your family like?” Elias asks, hoping to find somebody to relate to his confusing situation.

  “You know what, how about we talk about it tomorrow over food? The place we just passed by like a minute ago at like noon.” Sylvie asks this time, avoiding eye contact with Elias.

  “Yeah, okay, the yellow building, right?” Elias followed up, almost unable to contain his grin.

  “Yeah, I'll see you there. Don't be late, and don't be broke either. See ya!” She says, walking away from Elias.

  Elias again forgot he'd made it to his house.

  “Bye!” He yelled out to her. His eyes drifted downwards as she walked away.

  As he got inside the only thing he could do was shout

  “Yes!”