“Aaaah! What the hell!” Luke cried, sliding to a halt and releasing Mia’s waist to pry her hand off of his forearm, muscles tensed from the sharp pain - a drop of blood sliding down from where her middle finger pierced through his skin in symbolic fashion.

Her wrist still locked in his hand, but body free to move as she pleased, Mia shot the hard leather front side of her size 7 boot straight into the taller man’s shin with every ounce of strength she could muster in her lithe frame.

“Ooow! Why?!” Luke released her completely, clutching at his leg and falling to his back on the lumpy grass below. His shin throbbed, rubbing it to soothe the discomfort and bringing his hand up to see if she had drawn any more blood, of which she hadn’t.

“Who are you?!” Mia yelled at Luke, her eyes drilling holes in his skull, sliding back in case she needed to run. Her hair, disheveled in places now as the ribbon she had used to tame was lost to the mist. “You’ve got two seconds before I scream…”

“W-what?” Rubbing his shin a final few times, Luke made to get up, stepping gingerly on his throbbing leg. “I don’t think that’ll be very effective out here—”

“1!” Mia threatened, raising an index finger in a flair of dramatics.

“OK, OK! Relax!”

“Relax?!” Her face scrunched in anger.

“Wait, no, I didn’t mean it that way! Uh, look, I was just trying to help and get you the hell out of there, alright? I don’t know what’s going on, but whatever that thing was, It doesn’t look normal.”

“Help me? You were hurting me!”

“Was I? I think I came out worse…” Luke swept his forearm on his dark shirt, smudging most of the blood away.

“What?!”

“No! Um… Sorry, it wasn’t my intention to hurt you. Believe me, I would never hurt someone who can’t defend themselves. Really. You looked… terrified, and I just wanted to get you out and away from that thing. That’s all. I promise.” Luke pleaded, genuine in his response to the hysteric girl, but also desperate to preserve physical integrity.

Mia’s eyes widened, offended at being called terrified and defenseless, but it was truth, hard as it was for her to admit it. If he hadn’t dragged her away, who knows what would have happened to her. And as much of a stranger as he was, he at least looked human, unlike that woman.

“I wasn’t… scared,” she pouted. “Just… confused.”

Perking up at her more civil tone, Luke was eager to agree. “Hey!” He spouted, surprised at the hint of desperation in his voice, typically the ever monotone and collected speaker. “I get it. I’m the same. One minute I’m out walking, minding my own business, then next I’m surrounded by… whatever this is.” He pointed around at the fog. Mia nodded back to him, affirming she had experienced the same. “After that, I heard you fall—”

“Ahem! In my defense, you can’t see anything in this stupid fog.” The blond interrupted, crossing her arms tightly.

“That’s not entirely true.” Luke motioned back and forth at himself and the fiery girl while Mia tilted her head in confusion. “We can see each other just fine. No matter which way we walk…”Luke stepped several feet around, the mist partially blocking his sight, but quickly clearing between them and closing where they once were. “The fog clears between us, and shuts behind us. Did you really not notice me running around you when I tried to distract that thing?”

Mia’s cheeks flushed, furrowing her brow as embarrassment was quick to spark an angered reaction, but Luke interrupted smartly.

“And understandably so! I mean, you were a little preoccupied dealing with more immediate threats!” Luke saved, beginning to comprehend how little control this girl had over facial expression when emotions got the better of her, which appeared to be often.

“I’m not a kid! I won’t get mad at every little thing you say!” She exclaimed, angrily.

“Yes Ma’am!” Luke straightened up as Mia continued.

“Ahem,” she cleared her throat once more. “So, you’re saying we’re connected right now? That’s why the mist clears between us? By what, fate or something? Maybe someone cast a spell on us?”

“I don’t pretend to know much of fate and… magic?” Luke was a bit confused by that statement, though no more than by the situation he was in. “Yeah, not my forte. But being able to keep track of each other like this - inside of this fog - I hope whatever, or whoever, is allowing us to do that is benevolent.”

Mia couldn’t help but agree with him. He was making sense, rational sense, but she was not sure if that made her trust him more or less. “So, what now?” She wasn’t ready to leap into his strong arms and let him whisk her away, but she figured him to not be a complete liar, or so she hoped. And out here, with that blue-skinned woman and whatever the stone arm was, Luke was her best bet on getting out of here unharmed. “I’m Mia, by the way. Mia Kaufman.”

“Huh? Oh! Luke- or, Lucas Pereira!” He blurted out, remembering that she had asked for his name first. “M-most people just call me Luke, though.” It was odd for him to find himself so flustered. The life of a fighter didn’t allow him to express his emotions haphazardly, so he never had. It could have been the sudden change of setting, a fact he was still ignoring on account he feared a mental breakdown trying to understand it. Or it could be Mia herself. She was beautiful, in his opinion - though he was certain most people would agree. But there was something more to her. No matter which way he thought of it, she appeared to be a normal person, if a bit crass. Still, there was an aura about her that made him drop his guard, a feeling he shared with practically no one back home. She was trouble, he was certain of it. And though Jimmy had warned him to stay away from trouble, she was the kind of trouble he felt he would regret not getting caught up in.

“Well then, Luke. What’s the plan? Do we stand around here until another stone freak tries to snatch any more of my clothing?”

“A stone- huh? Doing what?” His shaggy hair bounced, shaking his head, bewildered as to what Mia was saying.

“You didn’t catch that part?” She added.

“No, I don’t think I did. I mean, I saw something disappear into the mist after you fell, but I only really saw you and the horned woman.”

“Oh. So, besides her, there are also floating arms made out of rock that come out of the mist and take your clothes.”

“Ah… Why?”

“I don’t know… Maybe because I’m pretty?”

She was brazen, Luke admitted. But he was astonished more by the fact she had recovered enough from her petrified fear to joke now than he was by what she was actually saying. “OK…”

“They might come for you too, so watch out.” Mia smiled, happy to use him as a shield if the stone arm came back.

Luke couldn’t help but feel her innocent smile was hiding something far more sinister. “…Thank you?” He questioned, still unsure as to where she was going with that conversation, and if that was meant as a compliment or genuine warning. Mia nodded back to him eagerly. “Cool. Why don’t we hold on chatting here and get as far away from this place as possible. Maybe look for some place safe, or out of this fog, preferably. A walk and talk sort of deal, you know?”

“Mhm, mhm.” She agreed. “We can follow the river down stream until we find a path. They usually lead right up to the water, so we shouldn’t have trouble finding it if walk along the river bank, and the closest one to here should take us back to town.”

“Town?” That was a strange way to refer to London in Luke’s opinion. “You mean the city?”

“The city? I guess the river would take us there if we followed it, but we wouldn’t get there on carriage before night fall, never mind on foot. No, I meant Haverton. It’s the nearest town. I guess you city boys don’t know much about the country side, do you?” She waited not for his answer. Instead, the ‘country’ girl stepped awkwardly towards the sound of the flowing river, careful not to trip on the tussocks below.

Carriage. Haverton. Floating arms and a ghostly tribeswoman. Where the hell am I? Luke understood that something had happened to him after he had stepped into that light. Maybe he had blacked out and come back to his senses somewhere along the Thames, sleep walked his way to some outskirt neighborhood. That was possible, though he did wonder if he hadn’t gone and died. This was some sort of messed up afterlife. Mia fit the appearance of an angel, though not the dress of one. Still, her attitude was more akin to a soul lost just as he was, apart from her apparent knowledge of the terrain.

Looking back at the girl, he watched a gnat buzz around her. She swiped at it a couple of times before striking it, pride swelling in her chest as she looked down at her hands and noticed its dead body stuck to her palm.

“Aah!” she yelped, brushing her soft hands quickly together in an attempt to dislodge the insect. Disgruntled, she wiped her palm on her shortalls, peering up and catching Luke staring at her. “Ahem! I-I t-thought I had gotten c-cut. Hehe… Heh…” she sighed. “Sorry, I’m fine.” Her cheeks flushed cherry red, eyes darting away from him.

Yeah, maybe not an angel at all. Luke walked up to Mia, the two of them nearing the edge of the riverbank, not close enough to see it, let alone risk falling into it should they misstep.

“You go first,” Mia eyed him, making sure he didn’t try anything strange.

“Shouldn’t you lead the way, country girl? I don’t really know where we’re going…”

“And trust a city boy with my back? No, thank you. I’ll be safer keeping an eye on you. Just follow the bank until we see path perpendicular.”

Luke wasn’t sure about that. Not only because he had no interest in harming her, but it would be easier to keep her safe if he could watch over her. “Are you sure? I’m really not going to hurt you. I promise. Plus, if you lead, you won’t have to worry about the mist being at your back. I think you’d be safer that way.”

“I’ll take my chances.” Mia pondered for a moment, remembering her uncle. “I don’t keep promises with city folk anymore,” she mumbled.

“What was that?” A pin-prick in his heart at how wary she was toward him, understandable as it was.

“I said we should get a move on.”

“Right. Well, if that makes you more comfortable then, sure, I’ll lead. Just let me know when we hit the path, in case I miss it.”

She nodded back to him.

“Oh!” he continued. “Do me a favor. Hold the back of my shirt and pull it tight. That way I’ll know immediately if something’s happened to you. Can’t be too safe out here.”

She pulled back for a split second, hesitant to get close to him considering he had so roughly taken hold of her, and she would prefer not to be carried around like a helpless little girl again any time soon. She had intended to follow from a distance - gaining, at minimum, a 15 foot head start if she needed to escape. Mia was a stubborn person. She didn’t want to trust this oddly dressed man. But what she wanted and what was best for her were two very different things. Ultimately, he had not shown any sign that he was there to hurt her since they had talked. On the contrary, stuck in the very same, utterly terrifying predicament as she was, he had acted - against all desire for self-preservation - to save her. Maybe, just until they were safe, she could have a little faith in this stranger. Wary, and guarded, but perhaps some trust in him was necessary.

“Fine, but don’t you dare start dragging me around like you did before!”

“I promise. Put some tension in my shirt, but don’t pull me back. If you do, or if the slack goes loose, I’m going to assume somethings happened to you.”

She strode up to him, leather boots digging shallow into the damp mud. Drawing little circles in the air, she signaled him to turn around. She gripped his black shirt between her thumb and index finger, pulling it taught against his hardened frame.

“Stay close.”

“This is close enough.”

“Fair.” Luke stepped forward, feeling the shirt pull tighter against him, then relaxing as she stepped with him, tightening back again as she matched his pace.

The pair crept through the mist, following along to the sound of the river - its pleasant splashing a saving grace to the otherwise awkward silence between the two. Luke pushed through the still fog, alert to anything that might disturb the sheets of white cloud around them.

Behind him, Mia laid green eyes on the tall, young man. She wasn’t lying when she had indirectly told him he was handsome, though she wasn’t about to fall for him just because he was chiseled and easy on the eyes. On the contrary, her mother had always warned her about the ‘pretty boys from the city’ and their honeyed words. Still, she did admire a nice set of strong shoulders - and his were broad as could be, making his back look impossibly wide despite how fit and trim he appeared in the normally loose shirt and baggy pants. She felt the cloth between her fingers, smooth and without imperfections. Though the cotton shirt was thin and simple in design, she had never felt such a smooth and soft material worn in such a fashion. She gazed at how it hugged the v-taper of his abdomen, wondering how the tailors in the city were able to produce it. He was mysterious, almost as much as monsters in the fog, and had appeared just as suddenly.

“What brought you out of the city and down these parts?”

Startled by the sudden break in silence, Luke did his best to hide the fact he knew nothing about Haverton. It wasn’t that he was afraid of how she would react to him believing he had died, or perhaps been transported somewhere unknown. Luke was afraid for himself, that he had gone insane, because that was how his own thoughts sounded to him. That is how he would react if someone else had told him the same. For his own sanity, he wanted to ignore the topic, at least until they were out of harms way.

“I’ve never seen you or heard about you from anyone in Haverton. Not to say that I’m in a position demanding of that knowledge, but Haverton isn’t a huge place. Aside from the markets, there’s no reason for a someone as young as you to come out to the boonies.”

Luke’s mind raced, settling on the first thing that came to his mind that made any sort of sense. “I’m a fighter… just sort of wandering right now, looking for a place to work.”

“Fighter? Like a warrior? So you’re a mercenary. What sort of weapon do you use? A knife? Maybe you could fit a short sword in that bag?” She directed his attention to his training bag, curiosity building from its odd design.

“I don’t use weapons. Just my fists.”

“How do you beat anyone with your fists? Do you use magic?”

“Magic? No. I’m well-trained and I hit hard. That’s pretty much it.”

“Hmm… Well, you do look very strong.”

“Thanks.”

“You’re welco— Oh!” Mia, felt the tussocks give way to flattened dirt. “The path is here. Turn there! Ten or 15 minutes along that and we should be at Haverton.” Her eyes lit up at the sight of the dirt replacing the grass beneath them. It wasn’t just easier to walk on, but her way home was set now, relief kicking in.

The tension on his shirt disappeared, Luke turned immediately, feeling her hand touch his back as Mia pushed him forward.

“Go! Come on! We’re almost there!” Excitement plain on her face, Luke felt his worry melt away as soon as her small hands touched the small of his back.

“Oh! Right.” He hurried along, shirt pulled behind him once more, his long strides a comfortable pace for him, albeit quick for her.

Mia’s thoughts focused now on her mother, Agnes, Amir, and all the others in Haverton. If the Mist had made its way to the town, confident though she was that the hunters in town were plenty strong to protect it, she couldn’t help but worry.

They moved along, keeping a brisk pace along the path. Luke continued to watch the surrounding mist for any unknown entity within. Mia, on the other hand, looked out for a sign that they were coming upon Haverton - or even headed in the right direction.

Luke noticed the mist ahead of him clearing, similarly to how it did between himself and Mia. The path below was much clearer than before, the ground beneath them visible for the first time. Ahead, the wooded boards of a rough, abandoned-looking cabin became visible, the fog a good 10 feet all around it fully cleared, along with the path extending towards them and a little behind. Approaching it, Luke wasn’t sure if this was a part of Haverton, or if Mia had lied to him about this town existing at all.

“Is this—”

“No.” She responded, cutting him off before he dare finish his question. “This doesn’t make any sense…” Mia peered up at the thick tree line disappearing within the fog. “We’re in the woods…”

“Is that bad?”

“It’s in the opposite direction from Haverton!”

“Uh… Did I take us down a wrong turn…?”

“No! That shouldn’t be possible. It can’t be.” Mia let go of his shirt, stepping in front of him and closer to the cabin, the taller man following close behind her. She stared at the cabin, heart racing as her mind focused on the sound coming from it. A droning, low hum audible only to her, it was the same sound of inevitable end she had heard from the masked woman before. But there was something else within the sound scape, a second noise playing behind it, far less intimidating than the oppressive sound of death. Together, Mia found the sound rather… beautiful. Combined, it was terrifying, but in a mesmerizing way.

“Why? Mia. Is something wrong?” Luke could sense that same fear within her, watching her recoil within herself, her body language was obvious to him. She turned to him, a pale expression glaring at him through a waxy, conflicted stare.

“We can’t be here.”

“Is it dangerous?!” He looked around, stepping closer to the thin girl. She grabbed him, clammy palms gripping his muscled forearm, and pulled his attention back to her.

“No! I mean we physically cannot be here.” Luke tilted his head in confusion. She recalled his limited knowledge of the area, clarifying. “Luke, did we cross the river?”

She wasn’t making much sense to him. If the woods weren’t dangerous, then why was she so scared of them? Still, seeing she was speaking with urgency, he responded in kind. “No. Not that I know of. We stayed along the river bank. The only time we changed direction was when we moved away from the river along this path.” Her questioning stare was beginning to make him doubt himself, however, though he was nearly certain of the fact they never crossed the river. He was very preceptive with directions. “Right?”

“Right!” She affirmed, much to Luke’s relief. “We never did. When I left Haverton earlier today, I didn’t cross it either.”

“OK…”

“Ah! How did you get here without knowing basic geography?! Luke, focus! Haverton and the Great Woods are on opposite sides of the River Norde!” Mia’s gaze pierced him with an exasperated expression, watching the gears begin to turn beneath the bed of unkempt black hair falling down toward his dark eyes. “If we never crossed it, how the hell are we here?!”