AJ closes her eyes tightly.
"What do you see?"
"Nothing." She scoffs.
Cordelia rolls her eyes. "That's because you're not relaxing!"
"Sorry, it's hard to relax when you all put so much pressure on me." AJ opens her eyes with a scoff.
"Find Queenie!" Cordelia demands "AJ, I know you can do it, there's this power in you. It burns, you can feel it. You need to stop holding it back, you need to stop being scared of it or it will take over."
AJ stares at her hands. "How do I control it?
"You don't. You work with it, not against it." Cordelia's eyes momentarily soften. "Just breathe in and out. When you breathe in, think about finding Queenie, when you breathe out, just let it happen."
AJ wipes her hands at her jeans. She's got this. She closes her eyes, clears her head, only thinking about finding Queenie. Then AJ breathes out. A stream of blood drips out of her nose and mouth as soon as she passes out.
"No," Cordelia mumbles, "it shouldn't have happened like this."
—
AJ's POV
I wake up on the floor.
"My, who is this?"
I turn my head, confused as hell, only thinking about how mad Cordelia will be. When my vision refocuses, I notice that I'm in a hotel lobby. An old hotel. The man in front of me looks straight out of the 1920's-1930's.
"Where am I?" My tone is defensive.
He grins deviously. "Hotel Cortez, though most people make reservations."
"Sorry." I apologize while standing up. I don't really know what the protocol for this is, but I feel awkward just standing there. "I'm AJ."
"March, James March."
"Your hotel is very interesting Mr. March."
"Thank you, now what are you?"
I stare at him. "Just a person, who is going to be in a lot of trouble if she doesn't find..." I gasp when I see Queenie talking to some random man. "Queenie!"
She turns her head. "Do I know you?"
"Um...no." I trail off, god why am I so awkward? "Cordelia sent me, well kind of, she told me to figure out where you are, and I don't know...I'm kind of New at this and I accidentally came here, and I just..." Internal screaming. "We're going."
"Hold on, so Cordelia is only coming to get me because she needs me, but meanwhile she's training a new generation of bitchy witches?"
"Um...no." I sigh. "Just, please, let's go."
"You came here by accident what makes you think you can get us out?"
I smile smugly. "I've got a secret."
"Don't listen to her, your supreme failed you, and now she's sending little girls she's brainwashed."
"Excuse you," I snap at the stranger. "I'm not a little girl, okay, I've got my shit together, and Cordelia's getting a handle on things. So do me a favor, and back off."
He seems amused. I kind of want to slap that look right off his face. Now that I'm really looking at his face, he's attractive. He has short blonde hair with a strawberry tint and piercing blue eyes. He stares at me for awhile, and I stare back, refusing to look away first.
"Can you guys stop having eye sex?" Queenie interrupts us.
I'm not going to lie, I'm slightly mortified by the situation and the fact that my face is now red. I cover it up by just looking at Queenie.
"Come on."
"Sorry, Ana Julia, she's not going with you."
"Yeah, well," I trail off. "How do you know my full name? And who even are you?"
"Langdon." He smirks. "I know everything."
"Be vaguer, please."
"I didn't account for you being here." I don't like the way he says that. "You can come with us."
"Why would I do that?" I shrug.
"You've already decided to, You're too curious not to, I can see it in your eyes."
We walk past Mr. March. "You can't leave, Queenie, you've tried it, just because The Saviour is here doesn't mean she can help you."
"Fuck You March." Queenie tells him. "AJ is a badass Puertorican chick and she's got this."
"I'm not Puerterican, I'm Cuban." I correct. Then I turn to Mr. March. "What did you call me?"
"Is it familiar?"
"I-I think so."
Before I can think about it too much, Langdon grabs my hand and pulls me away.
I hear Mr. March say something about playing solitaire.
