"Ah am afraid ye ur mistaken, Bridgit." Looking into her sad eyes, I knew she was telling me the truth as she knew it. I flexed the fingers of my left hand around her neck, the delicate skin already darkening into a speckled plum. She remained pinned against the wall by my hand, a dank-smelling fog creeping up from the street causing me to look quickly over my left shoulder toward the mouth of the alleyway. The street beyond had cleared out with the arrival of the dense moisture that blanketed the lower city. "Lucky fur ye, thocht, Ah dornt hae time tae deal wi' ye reit noo." The girl understood, and I watched the knot in her throat bob as she forced a hard swallow, her head jerking up and down against the curl of my fingers. Before I released her, however, I narrowed my eyes at her, acting as though I was debating on ending her life right there. As expected, she shook even harder than before. I smirked as I released her, stepping back and waving toward the street. Like a frightened deer, she surged forward, but I caught her left arm in my grasp, whirling her around to face me one last time. "Aam nae dain wi' ye yit." 

Again, I could practically hear her swallow, before that dimpled chin nodded at me, her eyes wide. I let her go again, and this time I only watched as she fled the alleyway in search of shelter. Already, the noxious fumes of the fog were making me dizzy. I took a step back, pivoting on my heel, and wrapped my hand around the brass doorknob of a shop's back entrance. My palm tingled as the spell inked into the lines was activated, and with a twist of the handle, I stepped from the alley into the abandoned warehouse a block over. Safe. I was safe from the fog again.


– The rest of the journal page has faced some kind of fire damage, the edge of the page curled, particles of ash brushing off with the gentlest touch.