The Secret Land of Otrâlmondé [1 | The Other Realms Series]

Chapter Four

The next day had arrived. Stella had woken up much earlier than she had expected—at 4:42 a.m. to be precise—and so she went back to sleep. Her aunt roused her later in the morning.

"It's almost eight o'clock. Time to wake up," said Celestine. Stella yawned and nodded her head, stretching her arms and legs before doing her morning routine.

The women were ready in thirty minutes. Stella walked towards the door and placed her hand on the doorknob.

"Where do you think you're going?" Celestine asked her in Italian. Stella froze.

"Ehm, I want to explore the town?"

"Again? But you did that yesterday already."

"Yes, but," she hesitated, "I met some friends."

"Friends?" Celestine raised an eyebrow. "In this small town?"

"New friends," Stella clarified.

"Ah, I see. I'm afraid you can't meet them today because I have to take you somewhere."

Stella felt her heart sink. Gravity tugged harder at the corners of her lips. "To where?"

"It's a secret"—Celestine winked—"I'll tell you when we get there."

She gently grabbed Stella's arm and led her to wherever she planned to go—after locking the door to her house, of course. Stella followed her aunt down the path and through the town. She sighed inwardly. She, Jon, and Edmond agreed to meet at 10:00 a.m., but it seemed that she would not be able to make it. What if I never meet them again? she thought. She could have at least asked for their phone numbers before they split up. But she did not have her phone at that time. But wait, Edmond had his phone. Maybe Jon did as well. She could have given them her number, and had she done so, they could have texted her and asked if she would be able to make it. Stella silently shook her head and returned her focus to her surroundings. Celestine was leading them to a rather quiet part of town. To be fair, the whole town was quiet by Stella's standards.

Celestine checked her wristwatch. "Stella, we have to hurry up. We might be late," she said in Italian.

She took a right turn and began jogging. Stella followed her. She widened her eyes—ahead of her laid the forest that she was dragged through the day before. Was her aunt taking her to Otrâlmondé? A smile formed on Stella's heart-shaped face as she followed her aunt through the forest. To her relief, she was able to pass through the woodland without anything tugging at her body. Her smile grew wider as her eyes caught sight of an old, derelict building, sleeping just outside the forest's border.

They halted just in front of the metal door. Celestine wiped the sweat off her brow and checked her watch. She breathed a sigh of relief before turning her gaze to her niece.

"You're probably wondering why I'm leading you here, of all places," she began. "You'll find out later. First, we'll meet with an old friend of mine."

Celestine snatched a key from her bag and, to her shock, found the metal door to be unlocked. She pulled out her phone, called someone, and activated speaker mode.

"José, where are you?" she asked.

"I'm on the way to the warehouse," a male voice replied. "Why?"

"The metal door, it's not locked! I think someone went inside."

"Maybe Helene unlocked it."

"Maybe. But even then, she would've told us, right?" Celestine paused. Sounds echoed from the other side of the door. "Wait, I'll call you back."

She hung up. Stella and Celestine heard footsteps coming from inside Old Port Warehouse. The metal door soon swung open. A tall woman, clothed in a baggy, blue cloak, appeared before them. She seemed old, possibly in her late-60s, and her electric blue eyes looked more youthful than the rest of her wrinkly face. Her thinning, greying, platinum blonde hair was tightly tied into a short ponytail. She outstretched her right arm, her sleeve like a heavy drape hanging from a thin curtain rod.