Silence stretched across the old library.

  Gray blinked and realized that nothing had happened.

  Jerome was standing there with his right hand outstretched in a dramatic pose. He was also holding... a white wand?

  'Wait, what?' Gray thought the guy had a gun, but it was... a wand? A toy? The hell?

  Ross frowned. "Jerome. Your wand doing alright?"

  "Of course it's doing-" Jerome flushed and then scowled and Ross. "What the hell are you trying to make me say?!"

  "Nothin' Jerome." Ross shrugged. "Just..." He gnced at Gray and said, "Shouldn't that weakling be bsted into bits?"

  "I know that, dammit!"

  Gray let out a sigh of relief. 'Alright. A pair of idiots here.' Maybe it wasn't so bad. That Ross was clearly a bodybuilder, but that Jerome guy seemed to just be delusional. While Gray didn't know exactly what was happening, it seemed like he could at least take that Jerome guy...

  Did Jerome sense Gray's musings? Jerome's scowl deepened and he pointed at Gray again. "Argh, whatever! Ross! Smash him!"

  '@@#!'

  Ross stepped forward in a single bound, casually picking up a bookshelf with one hand before swinging it at Gray.

  Gray grabbed the silver-haired woman under one arm and leapt back.

  An explosion of dust and wooden shrapnel erupted. And then Ross brushed off his hands. "Hm. Pretty quick." He stepped forward again and picked up the table.

  Gray swallowed. 'Fuck. I am SO fucked.' He gnced back at the silver-haired woman.

  She was who the men wanted.

  Gray was just a guy in the way. 'If I make a run for it...'

  No.

  Gray rejected that thought. If he left her behind just to save his life, he wouldn't be able to live with himself afterwards.

  The men made it clear what the woman's fate would be.

  Leaving her here would be worse than death.

  But...

  Gray couldn't save her. Hell, he couldn't save himself right now. Not only that, risking his life for someone he barely knew... He promised. To not throw his life away. But if he left her-

  *tug*

  Gray blinked and gnced back.

  The silver-haired woman was standing there, her right hand on the back of his shirt. She tilted her head, those enchanting ruby eyes looking into his own...

  'Dammit.' Gray sighed and turned back around, gripping his pipe. 'Sorry Dad. Guess you were right about me being too nice for my own good. And sorry, John. Looks like I can't get you that Google Py gift card this year after all.'

  This was the end.

  Gray could sense it. But even if it was the end, he'd at least take one guy out with him.

  Ross took a step forward, holding the table.

  Gray stared at him, but in actuality, he focused on Jerome standing off to the side.

  Jerome was just watching. It was clear that he didn't know how to fight at all and had been relying on his gun... wand, thing.

  So Gray had a shot. Dodge the table and rush Jerome. Maybe he could take the guy as a hostage somehow. So he just had to-

  "LIGHT'S OUT!" Ross roared and then whipped the table at Gray.

  'Fuck.'

  Gray's eyes widened.

  That wasn't in the pn.

  Gray thought Ross would swing the table, not chuck it.

  Time seemed to slow to a crawl.

  Gray tensed. If he dodged, he could probably live. But that meant the woman would die. With how fast that table was flying, there was no way for her to react unless she was already moving. And she wasn't.

  The table drew closer, expanding to fill Gray's entire field of view.

  Gray grit his teeth and then quickly pivoted, holding out his elbow. He had read before that the elbow was one of the strongest bones, right? And the table should be decayed. Maybe if he-

  *CRASH*

  An explosion of dust, wood, and shrapnel. And along with it, blood and gore.

  ===

  Everything happened in an instant.

  And because it did, Gray couldn't comprehend it. "What... just...?"

  The sharp scent of iron- no, blood, filling the air.

  That was the first thing Gray noticed.

  The second was the crimson spraying the walls. Ross and Jerome were gone. And where they were, there was nothing but bloody smears and viscera.

  Gray swallowed back a gag at the realization.

  The final thing Gray noticed... was the silver-haired woman. Somehow, in that fraction of a second, she had moved in front of Gray.

  The scent of blood clung to her the most, Gray noticed. And then he saw why.

  The ragged shirt she had been wearing was now dyed a deep crimson from blood. And yet, despite that fact, not a single drop was on her face, skin, or silver hair.

  It didn't make sense. None of this made sense. Gray couldn't understand any of this. Once again, he gnced towards where Jerome and Ross had been standing.

  But there was nothing. Only crimson smears, bits of fabric, and... white powder.

  Gray slowly turned his gaze back to the woman.

  Her hand was raised, as if she had swung it through the air.

  And now that Gray saw that, he looked closer at the area in front of them.

  The aftermath of an explosion. No, that wasn't right. It looked like a monster had cwed through the space in front of them, gouging and crushing everything there.

  'What... is going on...?'

  The silver-haired woman turned around. She gently pced a hand over her chest and then let out a soft smile. Like always, she was staring at Gray with those ruby eyes.

  Before, he thought they were beautiful crimson gems. But after seeing the devastation, Gray couldn't help but think that they looked more like pools of blood.

  And yet. Even knowing that...

  "You don't need to be afraid anymore."

  ...Gray could only find them beautiful.

  A stone fell from the ceiling.

  Gray blinked and then realized this was no time to be spacing out. He quickly grabbed his ptop bag, which had miraculously survived. After that, he turned to the woman to tell her to run. But before he could do anything, she had already grabbed him.

  "Hold on tight." With just those brief words, the silver-haired woman flung Gray over her shoulders.

  "W-Wait a minute!" Gray's ears turned hot and he opened his mouth to argue. But then he felt a surge of wind bst against his face and the clear sense of freefall.

  A blur of dark colors, a violent wind... and then a clear blue sky and the emerald grass.

  Gray blinked as he was suddenly pced back on his feet. His stomach felt queasy, both from the gore and the sudden lurch of speed. But he somehow managed to hold on. After taking a few breaths to regain his composure, he looked around to see where they were.

  The silver-haired woman was standing in front of him, watching as always.

  But Gray ignored her for now. He had SO many questions. But the more pressing matter was where they were.

  It was still unfamiliar grassnd... but in the distance, that decrepit building they were just in was standing- Oh wait, no. It was colpsing. After a small cloud of dust, there was just a pile of rubble remaining there.

  But wait. It looked like they were miles away from the building. It was just like a small toy on the horizon. How the hell...?

  None of this made sense.

  Gray pced a hand on his face and ughed. "I must still be dreaming."

  That was the only expnation. Because none of this made any fucking sense.

  Gray remembered waking up. Finishing his project. Walking to school.

  That was normal.

  Gray also remembered getting a message on his phone while he was about halfway to the CompSci buildings. And then when he took a look around, he was suddenly in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by grassnds. So...

  This must be a dream.

  Gray ughed and then plopped himself on the ground. "Right. I must still be dreaming. So if I close my eyes here and sleep, I'll wake up back in my bed. Yeah. That's what's going to happen."

  Exhaustion, fatigue, and the mental stress took over.

  And before Gray knew it, he was fast asleep.