Black Swan

7

The night before going to Loona's place was restless. Jae couldn't get a minute of sleep because of the unfamiliar surroundings. Everything felt weird to him, from the sounds around the hotel to the feeling of the matrass he was laying on. The matrass and the room itself were nice. The internet was nice – even though Jae had nobody to talk - the bed was nice and so was the hotel service. But he just couldn't get himself to sleep. So instead, he had grabbed his books and had read. Because if they were really entering a witch's place, you couldn't be enough prepared, could you?

Jae had always had an interest in witchcraft. Even though nobody believed that it exists, Jae was interested. There were people who were "witches" after all. He had read into that when he had been a teenager, but he wasn't really interested into it. He had read so many articles about how witchcraft could be true and the evidence about witchcraft being true. When he shared the theories with Quinn, he didn't buy much of it, but he let Jae believe in it and listened when he wanted to share something.

Jae learned from the books that if being faced with a witch, do not outrage him or her. That is the last thing you wanted to do. Even better, you don't want to do it at all, not even as your last choice.

After getting two hours of sleep because of exhaustion, Jae ate breakfast alone since he was the first who had woken up. After waiting for Quinn, Mavi and Kane to get ready, they were off.

'Are we going to bust through the door?', Jae asked Kane and Mavi as they were driving through the city. 'Because I don't think that's a good idea.'

'No, we are not.', said Mavi. 'We are just going to search for her house and knock on her door, asking to talk. I don't want to piss off a witch that can kill you with a snip of your fingers.',

'I don't think they can do that, so don't worry.', Jae reassured her. 'If they wanted to kill you, I bet they have more painful ways.'

'I'm sorry?'

'I mean- they are magical beings after all.', said Jae with a shrug. 'If you piss her off, do you really think she can kill you painlessly? I don't think so.'
Mavi was quiet for the rest of the trip.

They arrived in a small town, far away from the city. When they got out of the car, Jae noticed instantly that there were no cars in this whole town. There seemed to be no electricity either, since the streetlamps weren't filled with light orbs, but with candles that still managed to light the streets. As they walked to the town, they noticed that it was extremely quiet. There was no living soul on the streets. The only thing that could be heard were their footsteps. Kane seemed to have no comment on all of this for once in his life. As they walked further into the town, Jae saw a few small houses attached to each other. There were no more than twenty houses as they walked through the city. The wind blew through the city, making Mavi's curly hair wave through the hair and knock Jae's hair over his forehead and tickling his eyes.

'I think it's a little unsettling this all.', Quinn said after they had walked through the town for a few minutes.

'I agree with you.', Kane said, patting Quinn on the shoulder. Mavi nodded in agreement.

'Do you have any idea where to go?', Mavi asked Jae. 'What did that woman say?',

'She said she lived here.', Jae said. 'The only unnamed town in Peru. But I don't know if we can just knock on someone's door and ask; "do you know where Loona Riddle lives?"'

'No, I don't think we can do that.', agreed Mavi.

They continued walking through the town, until they finally saw a building other than a house. It looked like a bar. The windows were lit and there was finally some noise. Jae was the first to approach the bar and walk in.