Doctor Strange: The Eternal Flame *DISCONTINUED*

Chapter 3

"I swear I left her right here," I said, scratching my head.

Wong and I were in Samrah's new room. Everything looked the same as I left it. The only exception was Samrah. We had looked all over the two stories and we had found nothing. The thing that made me the most irritated was that I told the Cloak of Levitation to keep her only on the first floor. I had half a mind to finally explore the third and final floor just to find a fourteen-year-old girl.

"Stephen, she's young and curious. You really didn't think she would explore?" Wong sighed, lifting up a pillow just in case she had shrunk herself (what? It could happen!).

"I didn't take her for the curious type," I said truthfully.

Wong shook his head and exited her room.

"I told you that when I left I wanted Samrah still in this Sanctum," Wong said sternly. I followed him and crossed my arms. How was I supposed to know she was going to explore? Besides, I hadn't left her completely alone. The Cloak of Levitation stayed behind to watch her. Either they were both lost or Samrah was just really good at faking being shy. Maybe she was some sort of evil demon disguised as a helpless teenager. I could definitely get Wong to drop the whole apprentice thing if that were true.

"I don't understand why the Cloak didn't do what I said. I told it to not let her over the first floor." I grumbled, entering the main hallway.

Sometimes I was afraid of tripping over something in the Sanctum. Especially at night. It was dark enough during the day, the night was a whole new monster. Wong had lit all the candles but that didn't necessarily help a lot. I was thinking about getting someone to install an electrical system for the lights but I didn't really want some normal person snooping around a dangerous Sanctum.

"The Cloak of Levitation is not your dog, Strange. It thinks for itself. I'm sure it wouldn't let Samrah get herself killed or lost." Wong explained turning a corner and passing the hallway with the doors that took you to different places in the world. He took a left and led me to a place in the Sanctum I'd never been to before. It was a rather small room-ish place, there was a desk behind me and a couch. There were no windows to let in the moonlight or starlight from outside and it was deathly quiet and almost completely dark.

I snapped my fingers and a ball of sparkling energy formed in my palm, illuminating the room fully.

I frowned and huffed.

We had found Samrah. She was sleeping peacefully on the couch. Her chest slowly rising up and down. She looked rather happy but it didn't keep me from feeling frustrated and relieved at the same time. The only thing that made me feel better about the situation was that I could see the scarlet outline of the Cloak of Levitation. It noticed me and rose up, gently carrying Samrah with it in its folds of velvet like fabric. Samrah sighed and twitched but didn't wake up.

The Cloak of Levitation had kept Samrah from killing or shrinking herself but that didn't stop me from being angry at it.

I glared at it and pointed in the direction to Samrah's room. It did what I told it but rudely bumped me on the way past. I flicked it and looked back at Wong.

He was standing to the left staring at a staircase that rose in a spiral. I walked over to stand beside him. He was just staring up it with his eyes sad and somber. I decided not to ask why he looked sad. That was his business, not mine. Although, I was interested in what could make my stone-faced former mentor nearly shed a tear.

The staircase spiraled up higher than the other one. It seemed to go up really high and then level out. It looked like it led to another story.

"What's up there?" I whispered, hoping to not disrupt whatever he was thinking too badly.