An Attic filled with Birds [Completed]

11. Let me introduce to you: Nora

Felix
Damien and I manage to escape palace grounds, and we're now walking through the city. I have put on my face mask and cap, he only a cap. Instead of going north, which is where I go to go to the portals, we go south. Damien told me his friend lives there.

We intentionally don't take a cab or go by public transport. We simply walk through the endless streets. Even though it's the middle of the night, the streets are relatively crowded, and lights are on everywhere. Shops are open, and people dressed for work walk around like it's the middle of the day.

To put it quite frankly, I'm surprised. I'm surprised by how the city looks. Not only at night, but also how the south is so different from the north. They seem like different worlds.

When I go north for the portal, I pass by fancy terraced houses, shiny buses and people who are nice enough to give you a nod when you pass them. The streets are clean and hedges neatly cut. Here in the south, however...

There's not a single terraced house to be seen; the skyscrapers go on forever. The latter both in hight as well as down the streets.

I know the south is the poorer part of town, of the country even, but I never imagined this. Damien and I regularly have to step over people's legs on the ground. They're sitting there under a few blankets with a tin can next to them. Only a few coins fill them. The people's faces are hidden under brown smears.

The streets aren't as clean as up north. Sure, clean enough to walk around without trouble. But not pleasantly clean. Weeds are sticking out between the tiles, reaching past my ankles, and litter is on the ground. A big amount of trash bags create piles on the side of the road. The lamp posts spread a weak, yellow light.

I'm afraid to make eye contact with people. I hold on to Damien's arm with my hand. I trust him to take me to the right place. He doesn't say a word. Not to me, nor to anyone on the street.

After having walked straight ahead for what feels like an hour, Damien stops. Keeping my head down, I bump into him, realizing too late he had stopped.

'We have to cross the street,' he says.

I look up, and look at the street. The traffic lights seem to be turned off. Or broken. Every one to two seconds a car passes by. The street has four lanes. There's no clear path for pedestrians to cross.

'Are you ready?' Damien asks.

'How do we cross?'

'Using our feet. How else?'

'Yeah, no, I got that. Where's the pedestrian crossing? With working traffic lights?'

Damien chuckles.

'Welcome to the world outside of the palace,' he says. 'It demands a little more independence every now and then. The south of the city in particular.'

'So we just... go?'

'That's the idea. Ready?'

'I'm not sure.'

'Well, let's go anyway.'

He takes the hand on his arm in his hand instead. He pulls me a little closer to him, and I follow. Shoulder to shoulder we now stand at the side of the road. It's clear to me the drivers won't stop just because you want to cross the street.

Damien keeps looking up and down the street. He's looking for an opening. We stand there for another minute.

'Is there another way of-'

'Now!'

He drags me with him onto the street. My heart rate picks up and sounds like it's about to pump out of my chest. I'm terrified.