Opposites: The Staff of Light [Book One]

32. I'm So Not Ever Gonna Think of Colton Again

Annabeth

"Hey, Manny," Jacob's voice came from inside. "Someone would like to see you."

"Yeah, someone," Jonathan agreed cheerfully.

As the conversation went on, my gaze darted to the second floor of the cavern. I wasn't so sure about Charles. The creep was still asleep on the floor, unconscious due to my knockout which I take full responsibility of, and tied up several times. That'll give him a piece of his own mind, I remember thinking to myself as I furiously worked on the knots. As I stood in front of Manny's store, I looked up to the heavens to witness a black sky glittered with stars. It looked about eight in the night but I couldn't really tell in that world.

The hair on my nape stood on end. I turned. I saw nothing but lines of knotted trees. He was there. I was sure. He was the dark evil that shrouded around me. I held on to my bracelet while I hid it behind my back. He's looking for the Staff of Light. Hide it. Don't let him see. Don't let him sense it. My heart began hammering in my chest just in time when Jonathan walked out the door and faced me, "Miss, you're up." I nodded in gratitude, glancing back at the vast darkness beyond the trees before entering the shop.

It was a well-lit room for one that was lit by a chandelier. By the counter was Manny who looked at me with greedy eyes. "These two men have told me you would like to purchase a few supplies for your journey before traveling into Alledore and to be bedded with a local nobleman, perhaps of Lord Cassius," he began with a playful glint in his eye. "Go ahead and weave your way, choose whatever you want as long as you can pay for them."

I gave one quick nod at Jacob and Jonathan to signal them in guarding the door. It had been hard to play charades with those two but somehow they weren't as moronic as Charles had called them. The two weren't imbeciles, they had high enough IQs. I only had to act out a few rounds before they could guess correctly. How I found it hard, well, let's just say charades and acting out aren't my specialty.

I weaved my way through shelves, searching for supplies. Although the shop wasn't much for selling magic items, I got myself a satchel and filled it with things I could find—empty vials about two centimeters tall, a map, a three-meter length rope, a dagger and a sheath that I automatically wore into my belt, three loaves of bread, towels, and a canister I can fill with water (I wasn't sure why, but somehow I did have a feeling that I needed water although I didn't drink much. Training with the professor made me control my powers by almost ten percent, and now I could drink about a glass of water without killing myself. After one glass, however, I needed a break before drinking another.) With the help of a dressing room, I was able to dress into a pair of leggings hidden under a new black cotton skirt to match my corset and long-sleeved top. Along with them, I wore a black cloak, not as if I didn't wear anything else outside black and white. That one time I had to wear a red shirt, too.

If anyone took me as a female pirate in a world of knights and lords, I wouldn't argue. That seemed pretty much true.

As I made my way outside the dressing room, I caught sight of a WANTED poster nailed into a wooden shelf. I tore it off and began reading. The piece of parchment said—'WANTED: WITCHES'—and under it was a painted picture of a witch with a wand and a wisp erupting from it. My eyes widened. Oh no. I knew exactly what was to happen in a few days. I tried to gulp down my fear. Relax, Annabeth. All you have to do is find some answers about the hideous evil that will slowly drive you insane, find the exit, go back into the normal world, talk to the teachers back at Camp Haven and try to turn over the Staff of Light to them—assuming you aren't crazy... yet.

Taking off my bracelet and placing it inside the pocket of my leather belt, I paced back to the counter and locked eyes with Manny the salesman, who I would have killed already if he hadn't owned a bloody shop. I eyed him carefully, waiting for him to say something. "Where's the money?" he demanded when he realized I had nothing in my hands to pay him for. I shrugged, mouthing, I don't have any. His face morphed from calm to angry. "Hand me back the products, then! You are not to leave this store without returning them!" I burned four letters on his wooden desk: D-E-B-T. He read it and cocked a brow. "How did you...?" Manny snapped back into reality when he read the word. "A debt, eh...? You're willing to pay for that?" I nodded. "And if I don't trust you?"