The narrow gap between the ragged curtains revealed the start of a new day. Hopefully quieter and more promising than the last. An endless fog of dark clouds filtered the brightness of the sun, and its warmth as well. A subtle breeze ran across the streets in these early hours of the day, carrying the unusual, heavy smell in the air with it, as if hinting at something rotten and corrupt in the small mining town. Gladly not remembering the bad dreams she had throughout the night, Grace opened her eyes to a new day. A shiver of desperation ran through her half-rested body when she remembered where she was and what she was doing across these wild lands. Not very eager to find out what this shady Wednesday would bring to her, she sat on the edge of the bed. Insignificant weight of her fragile body didn’t produce a distinct curve across the mattress. However, events of yesterday had dented her susceptible mental state. Beyond repair perhaps. There wasn’t much to glance through in the small room she called home for the night. Sleepy eyes still stared at the walls, inspecting the little imperfections on them as if they formed an indistinct puzzle. A maze Grace had to solve before she could escape her moody room at the inn. After dressing up, she headed to the bathroom to attend to her vanity concerns.<br/><br/>Unhurried steps of the young brunette brought her downstairs next. Considering the fatal stunt she performed yestereve, the inn couldn’t be considered a lovely place to spend her time for the woman. She was not deeply regretful of her actions, although still worried the possible consequences of them. Gentle thuds of her shoes stopped near the entrance of the sad building as Grace stood in the middle of the lobby. Her wide eyes failed to spot a soul other than hers. Given the recent passing of the old innkeeper, it was unfair to expect breakfast service this moody morning. A few more slow-paced steps taken towards the bar put the woman’s slim figure in front of the counter. Her modest height didn’t allow her to see behind the counter. She slowly leaned over the flat surface of the furniture to peer down. There was no dead body to be seen this time. It was a comforting sight, as if not seeing the old man’s cold body would erase what she had done. A subtle noise which sounded to be coming from somewhere behind her made Grace look back. Over her shoulder, she gazed back in the direction of the noise, if there was indeed a noise of course. With an unnerving tingle she felt on the back of her neck, the woman turned her head back to the bar. Frightened eyes widened up as she looked down over the counter again. Unsurprisingly, there was still nothing but empty space behind the bar.<br/><br/>Its origins unclear, another sudden noise startled the lonely brunette, almost making her jump on the spot. Grace raced towards the door, to leave the eerie lodging house at once. Just outside the building, a makeshift porch provided her cover from the drizzle. She was getting paranoid, more instable over time. The sounds from earlier were nothing but rain droplets hitting the ground. Solving this trivial mystery calmed the woman’s nerves. Many scared Grace, but she wasn’t afraid of getting a little wet. On the contrary, all things considered, a soothing dampness could have felt good to some degree. Just as she tried to step outside the porch however, a hand grabbed her from the shoulder, keen fingers crudely pulling her back and holding her in place. A head appeared above her opposite shoulder shortly after. “Hold there.” The new, younger innkeeper warned the woman. By then, the rain had increased its intensity, from a drizzle to a mild-heavy shower. He pointed out the horses in the distance, a pair of four legged creatures, disturbed by the droplets of rain falling upon their brown fur, neighing and kicking away. “It ain’t right. Smells like sulfur.” The man guessed the heavy scent in the air. It wasn’t a common occurrence, especially for a remote location in the wilderness, to rain down acid from the dark, ivory sky. Perhaps not deadly, but still an inconvenient phenomenon to worry about.<br/><br/>Without giving the discouraging weather conditions much of a thought, Grace freed herself from the man’s concerned grip and darted out. She just wanted out of the inn’s immediate vicinity, set herself free from its shadow. Soon, a barrage of little water droplets danced upon her figure. As if the clouds had been awaiting her escape, the rain poured down in torrents. It felt like little needles, poking her skin through the fabric of her dress, ants nibbling on her skin, slowly making her undone. Wherever the rain dropped, it melted. The sensation at first felt like a gentle tickling, an oddly satisfying scratch on her skin. It soon became worse, a nightmare in fact. Grace could see the red wounds on her hands when she looked down at them, growing in size like the ones over the rest of her body. Her dress fell off. And her birthday suit didn’t last long. Her skin began to peel away from her body in slobbery chunks, leaving its place to melting red flesh as if she was a candle, swiftly burning up.  “I can’t see! I can’t see!” The young woman screamed as acid dissolved both of her eyes, making them flow down her face like a thick stream of tears. “Help! HELP!” She shouted in terrible agony, running about aimlessly as if someone set her on fire. Her screams didn’t stop until acid burned her inners, like the very poison she used on others. Most of her hair gone, rain drops began to drill their way into the exposed spots of her skull. The face she adored so much was washed away by the rain as if the nature itself was decomposing her body in an accelerated pace. It was a nightmarish experience. And it was. With a deep breath, Grace sprang up in her bed after a few hours of sleep into the evening. Sweaty and anxious, but glad to be still alive.