Chapter Seventeen

Aria

Bastian took me on a winding path through the city, past the parts that were pretty and into the parts that were anything but. We entered an area that looked abandoned, and I suddenly started to question the wisdom of wandering quiet streets with a stranger. Who was he? Why was he helping me?

“We’re nearly there,” Bastian suddenly spoke, jolting me to the present. He was climbing through a broken door of an old warehouse. Wind whistled through the cracks in the broken windows and the air was damp and full of old, dead things.

“Nearly where?” I muttered, following him slowly. He smiled at me, and didn’t respond. We walked across the cement floor and Bastian found an old rickety staircase that led downwards into a dark space. I paused at the top.

“I’m not sure I want to go down there,” I confessed.

“You have to. It’s too cold up here to sleep, and besides, I can be dangerous to sleep out in the open. I promise I’m taking you somewhere legit. Don’t worry so much.”

Bastian swung down