Holly didn't know for how long she was left falling through emptiness, but it felt like several lifetimes. She screamed until her throat was raw and until she had no more left in her.

She didn't know when she would hit the bottom, or if there even was a bottom. Would she die here? Would she die falling, never hitting the end of this pit? She hated this feeling. She had no control over herself.

Holly slowly lost hope and lost sight of the light. She continued to fall, the only source of light was a faint red glow, as if she was just out of reach of something horrible.

She sighed but eventually noticed a change in the air. It used to be hot, like a swamp, where whispers, screams, and terrifying wails were the only things she heard, other than the wind screeching in her ears. Now, it turned cold as death, and the ghostly sounds faded. Replaced with slightly less frightening whispers.

Holly shivered, "Goldfinch" was not used to working in cold environments. It wasn't much better, but she welcomed the change, however slight. She saw a different light beneath her, approaching rapidly. She was still in her Goldfinch getup, so with years of experience finally kicking in, she slipped her mask off and took out the tightly rolled up backup clothes.

She put her shirt on, it was baggy enough so no one would notice the clothes underneath, and some sweatpants. She took her gloves off, and rolled them up neatly, along with her cloak.

It was incredibly difficult to get the clothes on and off without losing them to the howling wind. Holly nearly lost her clothes twice, and her cloak kept on getting in the way. It didn't stop fluttering into her eyes, and tangling in her limbs. Her hair was no better, the thousands of strands going everywhere that they shouldn't.

Seeing as she still had some time, Holly took her shirt off and took off one part of the Goldfinch uniform. She instantly put the shirt on, shivering as the cold wind bit into her exposed skin. She proceeded to do the same for her pants. As soon as she had put on her clothes, she rolled up the fabric. She put them in the biggest pockets in her utility belt, which she hid under the bagginess of her t-shirt.

Holly looked around once more, hoping to see a change of scenery. She saw the lights wink out.

The tingling in her stomach didn't cease, and neither did the wind. Suddenly, a rip in the abyss appeared. It was blacker than black, and seemed to suck in the little bit of light that came from God knows where. She felt a strong pull, like a current, and was swept in.

Holly screamed again, not knowing what she was expecting, and not hoping. But her voice was so raw that it came out as a desperate croak, like a dying frog. She closed her mouth, remembering that she needed air, and screaming wasn't helping.

She was pulled in, and for a split second, saw that she was no longer falling through an empty abyss, she was falling through the air and promptly fell into a pile of snow. It wasn't fluffy, as the movies portrayed, but cold and hard. She realized that a t-shirt and sweatpants would do her no good in this frozen wasteland.

She was freezing her fingers off! She got up and shivered, hugging herself in a pathetic attempt to retain some warmth. She looked up and gasped. It wasn't a frozen wasteland as she had thought. She was on the outskirts of a city. But not just any city.

It was Songbird City.

But it wasn't.

It couldn't be.

It never snowed in Songbird City, it was never quiet, it wasn't broken. And this city looked like a mixture of the future she imagined, and the worst parts of Downtown. Holly refused to believe it, her city wasn't broken, it couldn't be. Or at least it wasn't before.

Buildings had several broken windows, houses had wooden boards over their windows, and the streets were cracked in several places, making for a dangerous drive. But there seemed to be holograms, and there was not a single plant in sight. Everything was grey, silver, black, and metallic. Almost no sign of Holly's home remained.

If she didn't know her home so well, she would never know that this was the same city she grew up in. But even from afar, she recognized the bakery at the edge, it was now made of metal instead of wood. The way the buildings were clustered together, and the way the streets twisted and turned. It seemed to be unorganized to most people. Most couldn't navigate them because just as a pattern started to bloom, it turned directions. But she still recognized all of it.

Holly blinked, and her mind took some time to process it all, but she knew that something must have happened. She didn't know what, but she was sure that it had something to do with the Hourglass. With the weapon that the man had.

Holly felt sick to her stomach, seeing her city in near ruins broke something inside her. She felt hot tears welling in her eyes and tried to hold them back. She gulped and took deep breaths.

She decided that she had to do something. The city wasn't going to magically change while she stared, though some foolish part of her held out hope. So she stood up and started her long trek towards her once beautiful city.

The snow crunched underneath Holly's boots as she stumbled through the newest drifts of ice. She tried to smooth her hair, in case she met anybody. So at least then she wouldn't look as bad as she felt. Her breath frosted the air, and she was sure that her nose was a bright stop sign red. Her fingers were little more than numb pieces of her. She blew into her frozen hands, trying to warm herself, obviously failing miserably.

The walk took longer than she expected, over half an hour by her internal clock. When she arrived, she only walked into the very first streets, not willing to take chances. Her eyes saddened at what she saw.

There were tents pitched up on the sidewalks, and people walked quickly, not sparing a glance at anyone or anything. Almost all of them wore the same clothes. It was gray and looked a bit too much like prison clothes for her liking. They also all wore collars around their necks, there was a red blinking light on the right side of each of them.

The second group of people was dressed immaculately. The women wore fancy and stylish pants, blouses, skirts, and/or dresses. Each of them wore equally beautiful shoes to match with their outfits. The men wore suits or something casual that looked good on them.

The people clothed in gray walked with their heads down, with their hands in their pockets. Though she couldn't see their eyes or faces, Holly knew that they were fearful.

Of what, Holly didn't know, but it had to be horrible. Every one of them, young and old, tall and short, all of them had the demeanor of a broken person. Of someone who had accepted their fate, and had long since lost hope.

Holly sighed, her breath forming flames, and the fire in her heart dimming the longer she looked.

She continued to walk, sharp and sad eyes taking in her surroundings. 

"What happened?"  She murmured to herself.

THE END 

(or is it?)

A/N: Yeah, sorry for such an abrupt ending, I kinda ran out of time. This is also way shorter than it was before. Rest assured! I will continue this, but it won't be for the contest, I kinda wanna see what happens next! HERE YOU GO Stardipped_Ink this is for her contest and she's an amazing person. Go check her out! Until next time!

~Empress of all berries, Angelica Schuyler.