Page 15

Once Emily had put the child to bed that night, she came to Elle in the living room. “We will need to do this before my husband comes home.” She said, motioning for Elle to follow her. Elle nodded and rose from the couch. The two made their way up the first flight of stairs, and then the second. Once there, Emily pulled a flight of stairs out of the ceiling through a trap door. They climbed up, and once Elle was up, Emily pulled the stairs up behind her.

 

Elle took a moment to look around; at first glance, it looked like an empty, long forgotten attic. It probably was, but when Elle looked closer, she could see all of Emily’s magical belongings, as well as Conley’s. Emily walked past Elle, and made her way over to the middle of the floor. She sat down in front of a single candle. Elle walked over, and sat down across from Emily.

 

Emily stared intently at the candle for a long moment. Elle was about to speak when Emily put up a finger in silence. After another long moment, the candle lit, then quickly went out. The smoke that rose from the candle swirled in the air above. To Elle, it looked just like any other smoke that came from a blown out candle. However, Emily was intently examining the smoke, and her hands had found a pad of paper and pen. She was carefully writing something out; it appeared to be several letters and numbers that were in no particular order.

 

When the smoke disappeared, the candle re-lit, and Emily held the pad of paper close, starting to unscramble the letters and numbers. When it appeared that Emily had unscrambled the letters, Elle looked, and the letters still did not make any sense to her. She then realized it was in a different tongue. Then, Emily ripped the piece of paper from the pad and held it to the candle. The paper caught fire quickly, and burned in Emily’s hand.

 

When the paper finished burning, a gust of wind blew out the candle. Elle looked around, trying to figure out where the wind came from; not a window or door was in sight, let alone any that were open. Elle looked back to Emily; her eyes were closed, and her head was hung down, as though she were staring at the floor. Elle was about to reach over and touch her, when Emily’s head snapped up, and a loud groan escaped her lips. Elle jumped back, her hands protecting her face from the horrid sound.

 

Elle watched carefully as Emily’s head remained slung back, her mouth open as if she were still making that noise, but there was silence. “… Emily?” Elle asked cautiously, her voice barely a whisper in the room. Emily’s head straightened, looking Elle in the eye. She stared back, a shiver running down her spine.

 

“Elle. You’ve found me.”