The Mystics Of Valenthia

29. Caught!

"Where to now, Eva?" Bex hissed while taking cover in the dark alley.

"Um...we could go to the north or the north east..I'm not sure," Eva whispered back.

Nova turned to look at me questioningly. I sighed as I thought about our possibilities of (A) Getting caught. (B) Finding Daphne (C) Both and (D) None.

"Let's just keep walking and you know,......" I trailed off.

"Call out Daphne's name? Like, 'Hey Daphne, come on out! And if there are demons then we got 'em chocolates!' " Bex said.

"Sounds like the best plan ever!" Nova shot back.

"Guys, this is not the time," I said gravely.

"Okay, got it. How about grabbing some corn dogs and thinking about our next move?" Nova asked.

"No," I said immediately, remembering my experience with corn dog. And corn dog sellers.

"Ooh, look! That store has a mirror door!" Eva exclaimed. (May I add, out of nowhere)

"Good observation. Now let's go get some corn dogs!" Nova said.

"I always wondered what colour the mirror actually is," Eva said with a far off look.

"Good question. Let's reflect on this!" I snapped, not realising my unintended pun.

Bex and Nova burst out laughing and it was all Eva and I could do to gape at them.

"Oh shut up you two!" Eva said and marched out of the alley into the flood of neon lights.

We follow her when she turned around unexpectedly and said, "I think we should split up."

"No," Bex, Nova and I said in unison. It was already bad that we were out alone late at night. But splitting up? Not happening.

"But that will be faster. 20% faster!" Eva insisted.

"No, Eva. I don't think that is wise," I said, shaking my head.

"And I don't think sneaking out of the school is wise either," another voice chimed in.

My body turned rigid and a sudden coldness swept over me. I slowly turned to see.....

"The Enchantress?" Nova gasped.

I heard Bex gulp and felt that Eva might faint any moment.

"Yes, it is me. What are you girls doing here out so late? As far as I know, you're supposed to be off to bed," The Enchantress spoke with a tone of lightness which was kind of relaxing. But everything about the Enchantress was not relaxing.

"We were just..um...we thought..and then we could have...," Eva stumbled for words.

"Follow me," the Enchantress said and started to walk the other way round.

We followed her silently while she weaved her way through the crowded streets. It was almost unusual that the crowd parted wordlessly. As if she was the queen and they were her subjects. Maybe it was something of that sort. Who knows?

She lead us to a secluded street and stopped in front of a small cottage.

"Recludam," she whispered and cottage door squeaked open. "Get in."

And get in, we did.

The cottage was cozy and of the kind that totally reminds you of home. The living room was clustered with all sorts of books. Papers were strewn everywhere.

"Opem," the Enchantress said in a grumbling tone waving her sceptre. The books flew back to the shelves and the papers collected themselves in a bunch. Harry Potter style, I thought.