🔥 Book 2 Howl's Moving Castle trilogy 🔥
Six months after moving to Ovela, Sophie and Howl have successfully hidden in plain sight in a country where magic is despised. Though they must be cautious of whom to trust, they aren't taking any chances...
The tears flooding from her eyes raged of a violent pain that he had never known and wished to never be familiar with.
Dark clouds covered an even darker sky, while light posts failed to brighten her surroundings. The city was a ghost town, a shattered memory of what once was pristine. Everyone abandoned this wreckage save for one person. She didn't know where she was or where she was going.
All she knew was that she needed to run.
Her heart raced against the speed of the pouring rain as they splattered like bullets onto the stone pavement. The sky roared in anger and the droplets pelted harder. Puddles formed in the low dips of the street and she tried to avoid them at all costs. She didn't need anything slowing her down, though her racing thoughts were already doing so.
Get out, now.
Leave before they find you.
Save yourself.
These words would haunt her dreams and nightmares.
"Wait!" That man's voice again. It sent pangs of fear throughout her body, pulsating with every beat of her heart. How he continued to find her everywhere she turned was still a mystery. She couldn't be safe as long as he was trailing her.
Be stronger, she thought to herself. Be stronger, faster, braver.
The sound of his heavy footsteps against the puddles increased. She turned a corner, but there was nowhere left to run. In the middle of a dark alley, she was trapped.
She turned around, only to find the man mere inches from her. She jolted back and fell to the cold, wet ground, pushing herself back away from him. He knelt to her level, his vibrant hair nearly glowing underneath the darkness of his hood. He reached one hand forward, but she pushed him away.
"No!"
"Please." He begged. "You know me."
She widened her eyes, wondering if it could be true, but immediately shook her head. People lie, and he would be no different. "I don't remember you, so how can I know you?"
"Before this. Before I was like this." He removed the hood from his head, revealing his true self. His features were a beautiful reminder. It was like seeing color in a black-and-white film for the first time - all she could do was stare. "Remember me."
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Calcifer blazed proudly in the rounded fireplace, his strength at full power. He warmed the tiny cottage in the town of Magnol with love and fire. No ashes surrounded him, though he was accompanied by a fresh set of logs to choose from. Days like today were his favorites, as Sophie spent her time cleaning the cottage and organizing things. She always spent too much time on his fireplace, determined to give him the most comfortable sitting.
Calcifer's view of their home consisted of the main living area. The kitchen was open to the living room with a long dining table for the family between the two rooms. A pot filled with water started to boil steadily. Family portraits lined the walls and side tables, showing any who entered how the beauty of the Jenkins family. Of course, photographs of Calcifer were sealed in the bedrooms. If they showed any proof of magic, they would be banished.
