Noel had only gone about two blocks before she realized she had no idea where she was going. She had thought to go back and retrieve Azrath so he could show her the way. But no, even if she did return for him, what help would he be? He was completely useless! And a danger to her.

She had made her choice. Even so, the anger dissipated as she walked, only to be consumed by the rest of her storm of emotions. Somewhere in there were feelings of regret. What was worse was that as she crossed the street onto the third block, there was a sudden flash of light. Noel blinked a few times, then looked around. Where the hell did that come from? It took her a moment to realize the light had come from her.

The dress, which had mended itself by the time she had made it one block, was now gone to be replaced with her blouse and shorts. And she was once again shoeless. Her bare feet were already starting to get cold.

Noel hugged her arms as she began to shiver. Why had she chosen to go with sleeveless and shorts today of all days? The day had started so warmly.

She sighed and continued walking. She could complain all she wanted, but that didn't change anything. All she could do was keep going and think of some way to get home.

Maybe she could find a convenience store and buy a map? She was close to the Rainbow Bridge, which was enough of a landmark to go off of. Wait, did they have maps at convenience stores? And were they even open? Noel realized that she didn't know what time it was. She looked around for a clock on one of the signs or buildings, but there was nothing.

Feeling helpless and alone, Noel walked and walked, hoping to see some passerby on a late-night stroll. There was no one. Whether because of the curse, she didn't know. The silence was deafening. At least the streets were lit.

It felt like Noel was walking in circles. All the buildings looked the same. She had to keep going. And hope that the curse let her out of its grip. The more she walked, the more her exhaustion weighed on her. Noel worried that she might end up collapsing on the sidewalk where she was.

Then she heard a noise. The sound of crunching gravel, of an engine. A car! Finally! She didn't care who it was, just as long as it was someone that wasn't trying to kill her.

She turned toward the sound and began to wave. The car was approaching fast, but it began to slow as she stepped onto the street to intercept. Just by looking at its black and white body, she could tell it was a police car. Her heart leaped. Thank god! She didn't know what she'd do if she had to ask a complete stranger for a ride.

The car stopped right in front of her. The window rolled down, and the officer, a man that looked to be in his late thirties, poked his head out.

"Young lady, what is someone your age doing out at this hour?"

Noel blinked; she hadn't thought that far. "I…uh…got lost on my way home."

The officer raises an eyebrow, "Lost? A foreigner like you would probably be—" He gave a start. "Wait, a foreigner?" He ducked back into his car before popping back out with a notepad. It was covered in Japanese scribbles.

"Are you," he paused as he read his notepad, "Noeru Mira?"

Noel was too shocked at hearing her name—as botched as it was—to answer, so she just nodded.

With that, the officer opened his car door and got out. As he did so, he pulled out his radio.

"This is Officer Nishimura reporting in. I have found the foreigner, Noeru Mira. Repeat, I've found Noeru Mira."

There was a mumbling answer on the radio that Noel could not quite hear. Then the officer answered back. He looked back at Noel and smiled.

"Your aunt's been worried sick about you. I'm glad I managed to find you so quickly. But look at you!" He looked her over, lingering on her bare feet. "You must be freezing!"

Noel looked at her feet, which she saw were turning slightly blue. She nodded again.

"Well, you're going to catch a cold like that. Come inside my car and warm up. I'm going to take you home to your aunt."

 Noel obeyed without a word, following the officer who led her to the passenger seat on the left side. He opened the door for her, and she slid in. The car was so much warmer. She dug her toes into the car mat, feeling the fibers scratching her frozen skin back to life. Noel leaned back into the seat and sighed in relief. For the first time in a few hours, she felt safe.

The officer got back into the driver's seat and made a U-turn. He drove in silence, only speaking to answer his radio. He was talking about her. Noel knew it. But she didn't care. She was just glad to be away from…

"Miss Mira?"

Noel jerked awake. She looked around.

"Sorry to wake you. I have a few questions I want to ask."

She couldn't have been out for very long; the officer was still driving down a highway. Noel grunted groggily.

The officer's eyes were on the road, but he kept glancing at her from the corner of his eye. "May I ask why you snuck out of your house?"

What should she say? Noel couldn't be honest and tell him that she went to battle with a demon king. She'd be committed for sure. She wished she hadn't fallen asleep, so she could have had time to think of a lie. So, all she did was shrug and say, "Don't know, I just felt like it."

"Oh?" He chuckled pleasantly, though his laugh never reached his eyes, "I get it, I get it. I was young once, too. Sneaking out to see my girlfriend at the park, hanging out with my friends. It's like the law didn't matter. What's his name?"

Noel could tell what he was doing. No matter what he tried, he would never coax the truth out of her. This was a secret she would take to the grave.

He kept probing her for the rest of the car ride, with Noel giving vague, half-answers. It was a relief to finally stop in front of her house. Except there were two other cop cars parked in front of it. Noel groaned internally. There would probably be more questioning when she got inside.

She could see the Kuboues standing outside their front door. They watched as their car arrived with concern on their faces.

As she and the officer approached the house, the door flew open, and a fully-dressed Aunt Jillian ran out. Who immediately charged at Noel and threw her arms around her.

"Noel!! Thank god you're alright!" She buried her face in Noel's shoulder as she sobbed. Noel hesitated initially, then wrapped her arms around her aunt and squeezed back as hard as possible. She thought she'd never see Jillian again.

After a minute, Jillian lifted her face and grabbed Noel's shoulders, pushing her back at arm's length to stare her right in the eye. Even through the swollen redness of crying, the stern look on her face was unmistakable.

"Where the hell were you, Noel? I got a call from Mrs. Kuboue, who told me that she was woken up by a noise, and when she went to look, she saw you running off down the street."

So, she had been seen after all. Noel should have figured. She had been yelling pretty loudly. Noel refused to look at the old couple.

"Well?" Jillian was staring down at Noel, who averted her eyes. She had nothing.

The officer who had helped Noel spoke up, "She was like this when I found her. I tried to find out more, but I couldn't get a proper answer."

Jillian looked at the officer, "What do you mean she was like this? Where are her shoes?"

"She didn't have any, ma'am. She was walking around in her bare feet."

Her aunt stared at the officer for a few seconds, the gears in her head turning. Then her eyes snapped back to Noel with a look of terror. Her hands moved to Noel's face as she forced her face to look at her. Jillian's hands were shaking.

"Noel?" the fear in her voice was palpable, "W-were you…? Did somebody…?"

Noel knew what she was trying to ask. And it should have been easy to shake her head or say no because that was the truth. But Noel found herself struggling to do even that. Jillian's look of fear grew as she looked at the expression on Noel's face.

"Please tell me, Noel!" Tears were forming in her eyes again, "You can talk to me. I promise I will do everything in my power to help you! Just tell me."

But Noel knew that she couldn't tell her aunt. How could she? Noel found something within herself in that instant: she found the lie.

"I'm fine, Aunt Jillian," said Noel, pulling one of Jillian's hands from her face. Once again, her voice was cold and calm. "Really. I was being stupid. I decided to start running again and ended up getting lost."

Jillian's eyes narrowed. It was obvious she didn't believe that. "You were found over ten miles from here. Are you telling me you ran that far?"

Noel nodded, "Yeah, impressive, right?" It was easy to ask because it wasn't a lie.

"Without shoes?"

Noel shrugged, "It was pretty spur of the moment. And I didn't want to sneak downstairs to get my shoes from the doorway."

She could tell that her aunt still didn't believe her. But Noel took the opportunity to slip past Jillian and into the house.

But Jillian wasn't done, "Don't you dare walk away from me, Noel! I refuse to believe that you were just taking a run."

"Believe me or don't. I promise you, I'm fine," Noel lied. "But I did run over ten miles, so I think I'm going to go to bed. Plus, there's school tomorrow, right? Gotta be up bright and early for that."

"Wait!"

But Noel had managed to run past the four officers standing around the entryway and up the stairs. She didn't stop until she was closing the door behind her. She could hear several feet coming up the stairs: Jillian and the police.

She knew it wouldn't be that easy. So, she opened the door to see her aunt and two officers, a man and a woman, framing her doorway.

 Noel forced a smile, "did you want something else?"

Her aunt blinked in surprise, "I-I want the truth, Noel. Please, tell me the truth. I want to help you. So do the police."

The two officers bowed slightly, almost in sync.

"Honestly, Aunt Jillian," said Noel, "There's nothing to tell."

"But—"

"Good night. I'll see you in the morning." And she closed the door in her aunt's face.

Noel waited for her aunt to reopen the door and come barging in. But she didn't. Noel heard a quiet discussion behind the door. It was too muffled for her to hear, and she had no desire to move closer and listen. So, she waited for her aunt to make her move.

Eventually, she heard footsteps on the stairs and the voices getting quieter. She stood there and listened for a long while. At the voices, the front door closing, and the sound of the cop cars driving away. Noel hoped that Jillian wouldn't come up the stairs and try to talk one-on-one. Luckily, she didn't, as Noel heard her aunt moving in the direction of her room.

She sighed in relief. Whatever consequences of what she did would happen tomorrow, she didn't want to worry about that for now. Noel was so tired, not only from the night's events but from having to keep her cool even as the storm of emotions raged within her. Noel felt like she could sleep for years.

Noel turned to her bed and was about to collapse into it fully clothed when she glanced up at her window.

Her horrified gasp caught in her throat as she saw a dark purple face pressed against the glass. Darris's golden eyes narrowed as he exposed his teeth in a grin.

Noel fell to her knees as despair overtook her other emotions.

There really was no escape, was there?