BEYOND

16

'Should I have talked to him?', Gienne's mind was filled with this one thought

She turned toward Mrs. Higgins, who was sitting opposite to her in the carriage

"Why would the general want to talk to me? Maybe he had something very important to speak?" , asked Gienne to Mrs. Higgins.

"I don't know dear, maybe it was something important, but it is better not to get involved with the king's soldiers", said Mrs. Higgins

'But still why would a soldier, no not a soldier but a general search for her', thought Gienne.

She turned towards the window; Ottingel was completely different from the mountain covered Skinera, being a port city the place was crowded and the streets were filled with various shops, she could see a lot of different people, wearing different costumes, people walked from place to place.

The carriage took a right turn and slowly moved towards the less crowded regions of Ottingel, the more the carriage moved the less crowded the regions became. Suddenly the carriage came to a stop.

She stepped out of the carriage along with Mrs. Higgins, in front of her was a building, which is about four stores high it had a massive arch shaped door, the entire building was covered in green vines, and some parts of the building was covered with yellow flowers, surrounding the building was huge pine trees which seemed about hundred years old, it seemed as if no one lived there.

Gienne felt both scared and astonished at its sight, it had a cone shaped roof, which gave the building a look of an ice cream cone held upside down, but what caught Gienne's attention was the fact that despite being a huge building it did not have any windows, there was only one door.

Gienne followed Mrs. Higgins towards the door, the instant they stepped their foot on the stairs, the atmosphere began to change, the vines slowly started to creep down and the flowers began to fall, slowly she was able to see the tiny windows that were hidden beneath the thick green vines and yellow flowers, it was as if the entire building was shedding its outer skin. It reminded her of snakes.

The door slowly began to open , it was when she reached close to the door she read the big sign that was written on top of the building Rinley's school of witchery, the writing was not visible due to the thick vines and the yellow flowers. it made her realize something after coming to this world its the first time that she was able to read something.

The moment she stepped inside the building she was surprised, the interior was completely different from the exterior, it was as if she entered into a new world, the entire place was like a garden, filled with flowers and trees, there were trees and you could see birds flying down to rest on the branches a few girls can be seen walking and chatting.

Gienne could not believe her eyes, it was as if she had entered into a forest, when she looked upwards she could not see the ceiling; there was only the sky shining in bright blue , showing that it was early morning.

'What the heck is this place, Hogwarts', thought Gienne, 'this is great, not only I have entered another world, I am also living in a magical one, everything here is strange'

"Stay close to me Gienne, you don't want to get lost here", said Mrs. Higgins

"Yes, have you been here before Mrs. Higgins?",asked Gienne

"A few times actually, once I got lost in a maze here, I had to shout for about a day to get out; this school can be very strange sometimes, after all, it's a school of witchery, you may never know when you get jinxed"

"Jinxed?"

"Last time when Mr. Higgins returned home from here , he could not stop kicking his legs, it lasted for about two days, he kept on kicking his legs, I am sure one of the students here must have jinxed him"

"Well, well Mrs. Higgins, if you are telling something should not you tell the whole thing, no one gets jinxed here, only punished"

Gienne turned around to look who it was talking this time, walking towards them was an old lady wearing a black gown , she had green rimmed spectacles and on her shoulders was a beautiful sparrow, she looked very old, as if she had been living for millions of years, something about this old woman made Gienne feel uncomfortable.

"Good morning, Liera", said Mrs. Higgins

"Good morning, rose, what brings you here?"

"Lady Cavendish has sent me", telling this Mrs. Higgins handed over the letter to the witch.

"Oh, I see, why don't you all wait here, while I get your things?"

"Sure", said Mrs. Higgins.

Suddenly the witch turned towards Gienne, and spoke

"Don't worry dear, only people who either steal or breaks my trusts gets jinxed, so you can relax, you must be Jane's friend right?" asked the witch

'Now what should I reply', not knowing what the witch is talking about, Gienne simply nodded a yes.

"Well I will call for Jane then, she will be happy to see you", telling this the old witch disappeared into the forest.

Gienne saw a few students dressed in green colored gowns and black overcoat walking hurriedly into what seemed to be a large thick forest, when Gienne looked to her right side she saw a group of boys and girls sitting near a small lake.

'This place is weird, how can anyone find their way around, and if it's a school shouldn't there be classes, but this entire place looks like a big park, I may need a map to understand this place'

Gienne turned to look at Mrs. Higgins, who was clearly not happy at the unexpected encounter with the witch, 'Mrs. Higgins must really hate her, or maybe she is afraid of her, whatever its not of my concern', thought Gienne.

"I absolutely hate her, a crooked little witch that's what I would call her", said an irritated Mrs. Higgins

"Is she really that bad?"

"Not bad, I will not call her bad, but mad that's the better word suited for her, a very mad tricky witch"

"She recognized me"

"That witch you saw now, knows everything about everyone, but no one knows anything about her, she is a mystery, do not involve with her too much", said Mrs. Higgins

"Yes"

But Gienne felt the opposite, if she had to find a way back to her world, to know about what was happening to her, this witch Liera Rinley is her only choice.