𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐃; rio v.

lll

"What exactly are we looking for?" Theodora asked, her freezing hands buried in her furry jacket. "The first trail. Keep up, won't you, Calderu?" Jennifer sassed. Theodora bit her tongue to keep herself from brewing a snarky response as she imagined she was throwing daggers at Jennifer's head.

The image made her giggle, obtaining a series of confused looks from the others. "You know what this is?" The woman, who Theodora had learned was named Sharon, called out. They all turned to look at the blonde who had been whispering to herself in the far back and urged her to continue. "This is a kidnapping, and I think it is high time we involve the local authorities!"

Theodora turned to look at Agatha and raised an eyebrow. "What a witch she is, no?" Agatha rolled her eyes and pulled on her coat. "Are we gonna ignore the fact that something just chased us down here?" Jen advised. "No, really, Jen? I didn't notice. Must've been your powers calling— oh wait, you're bound! Talk to me when you do things other than make potions." Jennifer narrowed her eyes at Theodora, and a part of the raven hoped she would fight.

If she was gonna be here for a while, she might as well have some fun.

"Okay— no cell service!" Sharon shrugged as she aggressively clicked on her phone. "To be clear, that thing was chasing Agatha." Alice pointed out. Theodora couldn't help but feel Alice's eyes linger on her too, and she was grateful she didn't point out they were there for the both of them.

"Well, whatever chased Agatha down here, it's our problem now." Lilia included. "Is that because covens share blessings and burdens alike?" Teen was extremely curious and it made Theodora uncomfortable. "Okay, someone really needs to call this kid's parents." Jennifer said.

"I'm 100% percent positive they're asleep. Unless... is this like perpetual night? Like, as a vibe?" Theodora looked at the kid through the corner of her eye and studied him closely. His curiosity was so familiar to her.

"Okay. I am a member of the Westview Historical Society. All I would've expected to see down here were remnants of our failed public transit system."

"Oh, don't you see this vision, ma'am?" Theodora gripped her shoulders, making the woman jump and gasp. "See this road right here? It's the train tracks of the 'public transit system' you are talking about— and that very shadow over there is the train coming to run us over." Sharon looked at her with wide eyes. Theodora could feel the blonde's pulse under her skin, a mischievous grin pulling at her lips.

"Okay, Agatha, whoever this woman is— whom I believe has clearly no magical powers— has no business being on the road."

"Hey! She has a name. It's Mrs.Hart—"
"Sharon." Agatha shrugged Sharon from her embrace and cleared her throat. "This is completely stupid. You have brought a woman with clearly no magical qualities and we don't even know what we're up against!" Jen cried out.

"'Tame your fears'." Lilia murmured. "That's what we're up against. Our worst nightmares." Theodora gulped, suddenly feeling as if the non-existent walls were closing on her and her lungs were running out of air. She hates nightmares.

           Theodora laid in bed, dampened in sweat as she panted and gripped the recently hand-washed sheets in Rio's cabin. She quivered and jumped up from bed in a hurry, her hand gripping Rio's shirt that she had been wearing.

Tears brimmed in her eyes as she wished the memories of her dreams would face away. Rio had been collecting bodies for days and ever since the brunette left, Theodora was sleepless. The only time she slept, she woke in the middle of the night in terror.

The front door opened, alarming the raven in bed. "It's just me, my love." Rio yelled. Theodora threw the covers off her body and ran into Rio's arms, tears streaming down her face and sobs escaping her lips. "Woah, woah. Hey, baby, it's okay. What happened? Did someone hurt you? I'll fucking kill them, Theo—"