Hail The Apocalypse

9 - Run Away

~Y/N POV~

I didn't want to say goodbye to Henrik and to the amazing day we had, but I had to eventually. My mother was very impressed as we took the bags to my room. After my day out, I just wanted to sleep and dream of Henrik. My mother told me that I had to be a good daughter and entertain Mr. Steele. But all Mr. Steele would do it sit in the parlor all evening. My mom would chat away to him, and he would barely respond. When I had cleaned up the house a little and decided to go to bed, he was still in the parlor. He was one creepy man. But who was I to judge? I made up fake people with my mind.

I woke up to the rustling of paper and clothing. At first, part of me wanted to keep laying down, but another part needed to know what was going on. I felt lethargic as I rubbed my face and sat up.

And there was Johannes, standing by the trunk at the foot of the bed. He was packing up my belongings into a suitcase. I recognized a shirt that Henrik had bought for me a day earlier. Johannes looked up at me, placing a finger over his lips in a shush motion.

I understood, slowly climbing out of my bed. I watched my feet with an odd intensity. Just trying to avoid the normally squeaky spots of the floor. When my foot hit the ground, after long seconds of hesitation, the wood plank whined with a big groan. One that didn't stop even after I retracted my foot. There was silence for a few moments; neither Johannes or I moving. Once the sound soand I let out a sigh of air I didn't even realize I was holding in.

I grabbed a pair of shoes sitting next to my bed, tying them on. I looked at the floor, trying to figure out where to step.
Johannes picked up my suitcase, took a step towards the window, and then gracefully tripped over air. I lunged to the foot of my bed to try to help him keep his balance, but he had already fallen. He sat there, his palm against his forehead.

I heard footsteps pounding downstairs, then on the staircase, obviously coming towards us. And the booming voice of Mr. Steele, "Y/N!"

I was finally on my feet and had absolutely no clue of what was going on.

Johannes quickly grabbed me, pulling us both out of the window. I don't know quite how we scrambled out of it, or if we jumped, or what happened. I certainly don't remember us hitting the ground, but we were both standing on the lawn.

I looked up to my bedroom window. It felt as if I had blacked out for a couple of moments, but I hadn't lost consciousness. I was just confused and startled.

A hand on my shoulder brought me to attention, and I was looking at Johannes. His left hand was resting on top of his crank box. He lifted it off, presenting his hand palm side up to me. I looked at his hand, seeing a tiny version of my suitcase. Miniature. "Johannes?"

"I'm so sorry for this."

With a flourish of his hand, I stood there for a few seconds, more confused than anything else. Cool night air filled my lungs as we looked at eachother, his hand still up in the air. I could hear Mr. Steel in my room, pacing and yelling, ringing through the crispness of the nighttime.

And then I began to ache all over and Johannes rushed forward to catch me.