Kelthi lived alone. She didn't know why, but she knew ever since she could remember, she was the only person living in Resden. The streets were quiet, as usual, except for the raindrops relentlessly slapping the pavement after a long fall from the clouds. Looking upward, she realized the sky was particularly pleasurable that day. Normally the clouds were so dark and heavy it caused her to feel rather dreary and gloomy. But on that day, they were not so gray; actually tinted green, which she figured was the color of the sky. Resden received rain during all the twenty-four hours there were in a day. The only reason she knew there was an existing sun was because she had seen how bright it was the day she woke up for the first time.

She remembered that day as if it had happened yesterday, even though it really happened exactly five years ago. It was hard to keep time where she lived; only a large clock on the sole extensive skyscraper in the small, abandoned city of Resden told her what the day was and the time. Her gaze flitted toward that skyscraper, and she read for the umpteenth time the enormous red letters that spelled out "Resden Tower." That was why she named this city Resden.

For five years, Kelthi had to deal with ignorance to whom she was. When she first gained consciousness, the thunder had spoken to her, saying something she couldn't quite remember as well as the rest of the things that had happened that day. Kelthi Ahlia was what she thought it had said, so that, she figured, must have been her name. From that time on she had called herself Kelthi, even though she thought there was no good reason to. But it was nice to give herself a name like she had the city.

However, though she lived alone in Resden, she couldn't say she was alone. It would happen on nights when she was not inside. They would come out, they would somehow know where she was every time, and they would show her how unfriendly they were. It had happened three times in those five years, and after the third time, she swore it would never happen again. Those things were horrible; she never wanted to deal with them again. It was okay for her to wander the city during daytime, but after a certain time, all doors locked. Like clockwork.

Walking in the endless rain, Kelthi was used to getting wet. In fact, she wasn't sure if there were ever times when she was dry. But it never bothered her; it was how she lived. An innocent smile curled her lips as her boots splashed through the puddles, some ankle deep; some no higher than her heel. The puddles were the best part of the rain. They were everywhere, and sometimes she wondered why they didn't cover everything in an unrelenting flood.

Screams! Screams like those of the most troubled souls caught Kelthi's attention and was certainly quick to wipe the smile off her face. She heard those screams every night, and knew when they sounded, she should have been inside. Her head whipped around so to see the time on the Resden Tower. She had just been looking at it, how could she not have seen the time!? Sure enough, the smaller hand was pointed at the six and the large hand was just barely approached the twelve. Horror rapidly struck at her heart, and from there she wasted no time. She immediately turned herself around and ran for the place she called her home. Ran toward safety, ran away from the screams. Ran for her life.

She knew it didn't matter how fast she ran; the screams were faster than she could ever be. They approached with a merciless speed, and she could hear them clearly behind her, even through the soft rain. They're wings rushing and flapping against the wind, they're iron talons clanking together as they hasted greedily toward her. She didn't dare look behind herself at them. Nothing inside her ever grew curious as to what they looked like. She didn't know, and she didn't ever want to know. Ignorance was bliss. In this case, ignorance was bliss.

Ignorance was bliss.

Her home was approaching, and so were the awful creatures behind her. Her heart thumped and crashed and collided into her chest out of adrenaline, and out of racing fear, fear, fear.

The moment she reached her home, she jolted into her door, trying to turn the knob, praying to any existing high power above that the doors hadn't locked yet, that she wasn't stuck outside to deal with the monsters, that she could escape this time into the safety of four protecting walls. The things were coming, they were gaining speed with every passing second, and the only sane thought in her mind was to get away from them. Almost expecting a locked door, she was surprised when it flew open with ease and she fell clumsily inside.

She was scared she wasn't moving fast enough. She was inside, but the door was open, and it was going to lock in any second. If it locked while it was open, the lock would prevent it from shutting all the way and the things would be able to come into her home, and she did not want to think of what would happen after that. They were coming, closer, closer, closer, and, so numb from the adrenaline, Kelthi placed both her hands on the door and shut it with such unnecessary force, the slam echoed throughout her dark, empty home. Something thumped savagely against the other side of the door, causing an uncontrollable scream to escape the lungs of horrified Kelthi.

The door locked.

She didn't know how many creatures there were outside her home, but they must have all been shrieking in anguish with their horribly high-pitched tones. A terrible noise that drew Kelthi to her knees, her hands clasped tightly over her ears until it would finally stop and they would fly away, realizing it was just another night where they could not kill this helpless girl.

And as they departed, she heard them scream out the two words she had not heard in five, long years:

"Kelth ahlia!"