Small, chubby hands reached upwards in delight, stretching towards three iridescent tiny orbs floating right above a five year-old girl. Her dark blue eyes widened in excitement as she continued to reach for them. Even if she could’ve reached them, her fingers would have just slipped right through them.

“Come with us,” one orb said.

“Yes! Come with us, Kris,” the smaller one chimed in.

“This way!” the third one said as all three quickly floated away through the dining room. They took a right turn into the living room, leaving only laughter in their wake as a trail for the small girl to follow. The small girl ran after them but just as she managed to catch up, all three passed through a window.

“Where did they go?” Kris wondered as she placed her hands on the window sill, tiptoeing in order to get a better view, but all she could see through the window was nothing but pitch black darkness.

“I can’t see anything…”

“Kris, what are you doing next to the window?” her father said as he lifted her up and carried her away from the window.

“Daddy.” She rested her head comfortably on her father’s shoulder, and then took a moment to compose what she wanted to ask next. “What’s behind the window? I can never see anything on the other side. Why?”

Kris pointed in front of them. Her fathers eyes looked in the direction where her small little fingers were pointing, towards a blacked-out window that prevented any and all light from seeping into the house. It was just like the rest of the windows within their home.

“You can’t see anything on the other side because,” he said as he returned his attention to his daughter’s innocent eyes, which were squinting up at him in wonder. “The windows have special panels that are able to block off any and all light from coming in from the outside.”

“Can…I go outside?” she pleaded. She made her eyes slightly bigger while also pouting her small mouth, and usually this would make her dad budge in the direction she wanted, but not this time.

“No. Kristina please listen to me carefully,” he said as he held her tightly in his arms. He had used her full name. Her father only ever used her full name when he was being serious, and in that moment she had no choice but to listen to him as tentatively as she could. Of course he would…this wasn’t the first time she had asked that question.

“I don’t know if you’ll be able to fully understand, but going outside is not safe for you. It’s dangerous, and I can’t risk you getting hurt. You have to stay inside for your own safety, okay?” He adjusted her in his arms so that she was now pressed against him as they walked away from the window.

“Promise me you’ll never try to go outside, Kris.” He spoke to her in a gentle manner and avoided any harsh tones when it came to anything related to the outside.

“Okay. I promise.” Kris adjusted herself in her dad’s arms just enough to be able to peek over his shoulder so she could look at the window. It was slowly fading out of her reach the further they went into their home.

Kristina was a well-behaved child, always listening to her parents, never talking back, and never breaking any rules. But one always has a limit to how much they’re willing to sit still. So how could her father expect a child who’s so full of curiosity—and someone who’s never seen the night much less the light of day—to keep a promise she made at such a young age?

Four years later, after making that promise to her father, Kris found herself fidgeting on her feet in front of the foyer in the early morning. She stared at the security screen that was almost beyond her reach, and it read: 5:58AM.

The coat she had taken from her sister’s closet a couple days ago, along with the gloves and sweatshirt that she wore underneath, weighed heavily on her small frame. Even the boots she had also taken didn’t help ease her nerves because they were a bit tight on her. She didn’t know what she could wear outside, and she didn’t have the slightest idea if she was even dressed appropriately. All she knew was that she had to avoid the sunlight, so even if it felt wrong wearing things that didn’t belong to her, she was prepared. At least, that's what she hoped.

She still had time to go back to her room and not go through with her plan, but she had come so far, and it seemed a waste to throw away her efforts. With that in mind she tugged on the left sleeve of her coat to reveal the four digit passcode she had managed to get a week prior.

1…4…7…

Kris struggled to maintain her balance, standing on her tip-toes in order to punch in the last digit. The top part of the boots were digging into her toes as she continued to put all her weight on them.

7…

The control panel blinked green followed by the sound of the front door unlocking. Kris opened the door with ease, letting cold air flood through the foyer in an instant. The drastic change in temperature should have been enough to shock her but instead Kris was mesmerized by the outside. She was unfazed by the cold winter air kissing her cheeks.

It’s a lot colder than I expected…

Her eyes glistened with awe as she took in the sight before her. To any normal person it would have just been another ordinary night but to Kris…this was the first time in her life that she had access to an environment she had always been kept away from. Now, it was something that was within her reach.

Was that snow?

She smiled with glee as she took off running with a bounce in her step. She wasn't even fazed by the cold that was prickling at her skin. Her clothes weren’t enough to keep her warm but she didn’t care. The sound of the snow crunching beneath her boots as she ran into the middle of the property was music to her ears. New sounds, sensations, and smells flooded her senses all at once. It was overwhelming but she welcomed it with open arms.

When Kris finally came to a stop to catch her breath she looked up at the night sky.

Stars…

The sky was a black space speckled with stars shining through with dark blues, hues of purple, and vast ranges of other colors. There were hues up there that monitors couldn’t accurately replicate, and it made her almost want to cry. Snowflakes fell onto her face which quickly melted against her warm skin. This was a reminder that she really wasn’t properly dressed to be outside in such cold temperatures, but she couldn’t help remaining where she was. For years the only actual window she had to the outside world was through a computer screen, and through the books her dad bought for her. The night sky was far prettier in person. Nothing could ever compare to the real thing. If she could widen her eyes even more to take it all in, she would.

At the time, Kris still hadn’t fully understood that being kept inside twenty-four-seven had been done for a good reason. Even with all the warnings her dad had told her over the years, it still didn’t click in her mind. All she knew was to stay away from sunlight. So she stretched out her arms above her head without a care in the world as if to reach for the stars, and in that moment an even more dangerous thought crossed her mind. Once you got a taste of something, it was only natural to want even more.

How much more amazing would the sky look if I was seeing the sunrise instead of the night sky?

Kris wasn’t able to let her mind wander for very long before she felt a sudden cold wind rushing by her. She cried out in fear into the night.

“Miss! What? How?” A small glowing orb was now floating right in front of Kris; it was a spirit. Seeing a familiar friend made Kris feel even more at ease now that she wasn’t alone.

“Oh, it’s just you. Don’t scare me like that!” She scolded her small friend.

“Forgive me but you know you’re not supposed to be out here!”

Kris would have told the spirit to keep its voice down, fearing that they would be heard from inside the house, but no matter how loud the spirit might yell out into the open Kris was the only one who could hear it.

“Come on, you worry too much…and please stop calling me Miss. You know I don’t like being called that,” Kris said as she brushed away the hair that blew into her face. “I’ll go back inside in a minute.”

“Please Kris,” the spirit begged. “Besides the fact that you snuck out here after being warned not to by your father, it's almost morning—”

“You don’t think I know that?” Kris yelled out in frustration. “I carefully planned for this. How do you think I got out here in the first place?”

Kris grimaced at the harshness of her voice. Even if her friend was nothing but a small orb of light with no facial expressions, Kris was still able to tell that the spirit had flinched. “I’m sorry, I just wanted to be outside…even if it’s only for a couple of minutes. Is that too much to ask?”

“What do you mean? Do your parents never take you out at night?”

“My dad can’t take me because he’s always busy with work and my mom is supposed to take me but all the things she’s planned so far take place during the mornings and afternoons. That means she’s only able to take my sister, Layla. She’s always promising me that next time she’ll find something for all of us to do.”

Kris looked down at her feet, her hands tightly clenching into small fists because she was feeling frustrated. She recalled all of the false promises her mother repeatedly made over the years.

“It’s always next time. Well I’m tired of waiting! And besides,” she said as she gestured behind her. “It’s not like I ran away. The house is right behind me. If I really needed to do it, I could run back inside. I don’t know what all the fuss is about. I’m perfectly fine. It’s still nighttime.”

“Kris, no matter how desperately you might want to explore the outside world, it’s no place for you to go wondering about,” the small orb said gently as she got closer. The orb wished it could explain itself better, but it wasn’t in a position to reveal anything more. All it could do was be there for the little girl in front of her.

“Especially when the sun isn’t the only thing you should be wary of out here.”

Kris snorted in disbelief. “Really? What’s the worst thing that could happen to me out here?”

No sooner had those words left her mouth then a pair of hands grabbed her shoulders. The force was strong enough to make her lose her balance, making her fall onto her back against the snow.

“You! What the hell do you think you’re doing?” a voice above her shouted down at her.

Even with her eyes closed she could feel hands on either side of her face caging her in. She blinked rapidly, trying to clear the small droplets of snow that landed in her eyes. When she opened her eyes again she could feel that something was different, but she couldn’t exactly pinpoint what it was. Her vision just seemed better, clearer, and the world seemed much brighter despite the fact that it was nighttime. It was so clear that she was able to make out the person in front of her as clear as day.

“You’re not supposed to be out here!” yelled a boy that seemed to be around her age. His tanned face was scrunched up in annoyance and she noticed that he also wasn’t dressed for the cold. He was wearing nothing but a black sweater and matching pants. Kris wasn’t put off by his sudden presence or by the fact that he was scolding her. Her curiosity kept her quiet because this was the first time she’s seen anyone around her age besides her sister. She glanced down at the left side of his neck, noticing an intricate geometrical tattoo that covered a good portion of it.

The moonlight created a halo that outlined his frame. The moon should have been the only source of light but the boy’s eyes glowed bright and clear; they were the color of a blue sky during the summertime. This was something she only saw in the travel magazines her mother would leave scattered on the living room table. She had never seen it in person, but she knew that a summer sky was the best way to describe his eyes.

The boy’s eyes widened as he stood up straight, his hands coming up to partially hide his face. “What…did I just do? I just started and I already fucked up.”

It was in that moment that Kris realized who he was, or rather what he was to her. She didn't know how she even knew, but his reaction to what she said next made her all the more confident of her sudden realization.

“You're my death angel, aren't you?” Kris sat up with her knees beneath her and her hands splayed out in front of her to help keep her balance.

The boy visibly flinched at her words. He let his hands drop from his face and turned to look at her. “How do you know what I am?”

She didn’t answer him and instead threw her own questions at him.

“Why are you here? Are you the reason why I can’t go outside?” Her eyes pleaded desperately, hoping to get any answers from the boy in front of her.

He pursed his lips, not saying a word before he turned to walk away.

“I can’t answer that. I made a mistake, so please forget you ever saw me.”

Upon hearing his departing words to her, Kris was left sitting in the cold snow in disbelief. Just as suddenly as he appeared he was already walking away.

Forget I ever saw you? Are you kidding me right now?

“Hey!” she yelled after him. “You can’t just appear right in front of me like that and not tell me anything!”

Kris got up on her feet and started to run after him, forgetting that she was on a timer to get back inside the house. She might have planned for everything, but one thing she didn’t know was when, exactly, the sun would rise in the morning. To accommodate for that lack of information, she was going to keep an eye on the sky, noting when the night sky would start to flood with pretty colors like that of the bright orange and yellows of the morning.

“Wait!” She begged and began to panic as his figure started to turn transparent. The background was becoming more visible through his body as he walked away from her.

“I said WAIT!”

His body instantly came back into full view as soon as those words had left her mouth. She had almost caught up to him because he had frozen in place as if he was waiting for her, but he seemed too rigid for that to be the case.

Just as she was inches away from grabbing onto his sweater, to keep him from trying to disappear again, she felt her legs become warmer. It felt as if warm water was engulfing her at her feet. She froze in her tracks and recalled her father’s warnings.

“You have to stay inside for your own safety, okay?”

Kris turned to look up at the sky. Her heart began to thump faster against her chest as she realized that the sky was no longer speckled with stars. It had started to shine with morning light.

“Promise me you’ll never try to go outside, Kris.”

She had broken the only promise her dad had ever begged her to keep. She couldn’t even move her feet to try to run for cover, not that there was anything nearby for her to hide behind. Fear had locked her feet in place.

The morning sunlight was mere inches away from touching her face, which was the only part of her body that wasn’t covered. Suddenly, everything around her went completely dark.