A Bond in the Dark

Chapter Ten

Chapter 10

(Hope)

She was not going to let that damn hag disappear without a fight. Gwyllion was the first monster they'd encountered that might actually have some useful information. There was no way she was about to watch her only chance at answers vanish into the mist.

She lunged for Gwyllion, but the old woman was sprier than she looked. She tried fruitlessly to grab hold of the faerie's dark cloak with her teeth, but it was no use—she was only being led further and further into the mist.

She distantly heard Clarke shouting something at her, but he would just have to wait.

Gwyllion moved back another step with that strange lilting gait of hers, but this time a swath of mist blew across the path obscuring her completely.

Damnit!

She readied her muscles to make another leap, but a wave of dizziness suddenly overtook her. She swayed, watching the trees around her bend and move strangely. She closed her eyes, willing the strange sensation to abate.

When she opened them, she felt better, so much better.

But her relief didn't last long, she was no longer in the woods; she was on the streets of New Orleans.

What the hell?

She looked around her in a panic, this wasn't right. She shouldn't be here. She should be...

Wait, where should she be exactly?

She tried to remember where she had just been, it had been somewhere important, but not here.

It was the French Quarter; there was no mistaking that. It was midday and the sun was shining hot and bright above her. The air was thick with the smell of magnolia blossoms and cajun spices.

A chorus of ruckus laughter made her turn—she saw a group of tourists making their way towards her, swaying slightly, drinks in hand. She could hear a street musician playing the saxophone somewhere nearby, a familiar tune carried on the air.

It was all so familiar, so perfectly New Orleans .

She was standing in front of an old wooden door, the sign read "Fortunes Read Here."

Was this where she had been going?

She opened the door, causing a shop bell to chime cheerfully overhead.

The shop was small and smelled strongly of herbs and old books. She could definitely feel an authentic hum of magical energy in the air. She figured a witch probably owned the store, earning a little money from tourists by reading fortunes.

"Hello?" she called, peering towards the back of the store where a curtain hung behind the counter.

"Hope!" a friendly voice answered her from behind the counter, followed by a familiar face.

"Aunt Freya?" she asked in disbelief.

"Who else would it be, silly?" Freya asked giving her a grin.

"I—I don't know," Hope stammered. Nothing about this felt right, but she didn't know why. Something was wrong, but if Freya was here, it couldn't be that bad, right?

"What are you doing here?" Hope asked, reaching out to hug her aunt.

It was so good to hug someone familiar.

"What do you mean?" she asked, returning the hug with equal enthusiasm. "I own this shop, you know that."

"Oh, yeah, I guess you do..." she said. That sounded right, didn't it?