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"I WAKE UP SOMEPLACE... DARK. Then it appears. Then eventually, I wake up, and I know I turned into... that thing." Eda tells the healer who stood a foot in front of where she sat on her bed.
He furrowed his brows, nodding. Reaching into his small pouch, he pulled out an amber gem. "I see. Here, take this." He held out the gem, and Eda hesitantly took it. "It will tell you when the beast's energy is bubbling to the surface. Also, I hear gems are quite fashionable for young witches." Eda, now more downcast than before, gently ran her pointer finger across the gem.
Eda's mother, Gwendolyn, spoke up from behind them. "Oh, what a beautiful little stone." Her smile was forced as she placed a hand on the healer's shoulder, beginning to pull him out. "May I speak with you outside? Just a minute, hun!" She shut the door, leaving it a crack open as she left.
Eda quietly scampered to the door, pressing an ear to it to listen to her mother. "What the heck was that? I thought you were in the healing coven, not the Bauble Brigade!" She exclaimed.
"Missus Clawthorne, we have never seen a curse quite like this. I'm not sure it can be healed." He speaks calmly. "Perhaps if we consult the Potions Coven, they may know a way to keep it at bay—"
"Keep it at bay?" She scoffs. "Oh, no! My daughter is suffering and I want that thing out! Cut it out if you have to."
Eda gasps loudly, but slams a hand over her mouth, backing away from the door. She whimpers hopelessly, clutching her hand to her chest before noticing her open window. It sways with the wind, a creaking sound emitting from it.
A few moments later, Gwendolyn comes back into her youngest daughter's room. "Edalyn, I'm taking you to someone else." She notices Eda isn't in her room. "Huh?"
Outside, Eda sprints through the woods behind her home, desperate to get away from the burden of her mom coddling her. She stops after a few more minutes, resting her hands on her knees and panting heavily. After catching her breath, she forges on, now walking and curiously glancing around.
"I never knew this was back here." She mumbled under her breath, looking around the new terrain. She suddenly trips over something poking out of the ground, and when she turns to see what it was, she was surprised to see what looked like the corner of a brown suitcase sticking out.
She tugs it out of the ground and wipes the dirt out, revealing a big yellow eye with a crack in the center of it on the case. It glows brightly and Eda jerks up, now standing as the case flips open a door to the human realm.
