Room with a Hellview [Devil's Lair | Vega Estate]

[Esper]

The estate was immense. Esper craned her neck, curious at the walls around this self-enclosed world. She was still contemplating the options when there was a crack like a lightning strike, and then shouting. The boy fell like the ropes cut. With some alarm Esper saw the flashing muzzle of a gun in the doorway. It wasn’t his house? But it was Roza she went to first, her arms cradling comfort. She could parse the other girl’s emotions as if they were her own, and knew the line between feigned and real well enough to not be truly worried. It didn’t explain what happened, but between them they rode worse waves than this. The boy had mumbled awake now. Lights flooded them like a stage. It wasn’t hard for them to look small and vulnerable.

“What’s going on, Cruz?” Distress soaked her own voice. ”This isn’t what we expected.”