Crystal Kingdoms • Book 1 Of The Crystal Trilogy | ✔️

-| 23 / third wheeling hard |-

Scott, Phoebe and Crystal stayed at the cabin for a couple days. They found it would be too dangerous to be out and about while Alastor was after them. After a few days, the search parties would mostly die out and traveling would be safer.

They'd take turns with the couch, if Crystal let anyone touch it. She slept there every night because she thought that Scott and Phoebe needed better sleep at night, which made little to no sense, but she wouldn't hear a word.

Hiding in the cabin wasn't hard. It looked really old on the outside, so anyone who saw it would think it too dangerous to live or hide in.

Looks deceived, though.

The seemingly dilapidated cabin was really comfortable and well-preserved on the inside. The outside, on the other hand, had been left to  rot on purpose. This way the cabin was so into place and fit in with the landscape, that it went by unnoticed.

The kids' food was running out, though. The have to leave soon and Scott wanted, once again, to leave his sister somewhere safe. Phoebe, of course, knew all about her brother's plans and utterly disagreed with him, but there wasn't much she could do.

Scott had a tendency to do irrational things with no explanation, and this usually had the outcome everyone wanted but no one was expecting. Phoebe concluded that whatever was going on with Scott at the time would end and things would be back to normal- hopefully not the old normal.

The day after they arrived at the cabin, Crystal woke up last, which was a surprise to the Harrow siblings, since she'd been the first one to go to sleep the night before.

I guess you can't overpower exhaustion.

Scott was still in bed, awake, but too bored to get out of it. He wanted to rest some more. Soon they'd have to be on the run again.

Phoebe had gone out with a tablecloth and was sitting outside on the grass, keeping watch for anyone who might approach.

As Scott was staring at the ceiling, lost in thought, a loud bang startled and made him sit up.

"Ouch...", Crystal groaned, sitting up on the floor and rubbing her sides.

"Dammit, princess! You can't even sleep right!," Scott rolled his eyes.

"Shut up...", she muttered sleepily. "You know what? I don't have the courage to get back in the couch... Goodnight!", she added and lied down on the rug.

"You have to be kidding me.", Scott got up, sighing, and approached the couch only to see that Crystal had, indeed, fallen back asleep on the floor. He rubbed his forehead, then picked her up to lay her on Phoebe's bed.

"What do you think you're doing?", she mumbled again.

"Taking you to Phoebe's bed to sleep."

"Don't be stupid! The floor was comfy! Put me back where you found me!", she protested.

"Nope."

"Come on! I want the floor! The rug is soft...", she started giggling.

"Have you been following on your brothers footsteps and gotten into drinking?", Scott stopped walking, raising an eyebrow.

"No!", she punched him lightly on the shoulder, still laughing.

Then Scott had the brightest idea ever and started spinning around. Crystal, startled as she was, clung to his neck for dear life and started giggling hysterically. Scott burst out laughing too.

"Put me down!", she laughed.

And then the door opened and they froze. Phoebe raised an eyebrow when she saw them.