Chapter 4: In a stranger's room

Elize was quite annoyed at her brother. He insisted on driving home first. He wasn't ready to leave his stupid car out in the forest. She had to put up with her grandmother's glare throughout dinner just because of her brother's stubbornness. Elize knew that if that old woman possessed magic, she would have already willed her granddaughter to disintegrate right then and there. Already without it, she never missed a chance to spray her granddaughter with holy water every now and then. The self-proclaimed exorcist activities did not take place that night since thankfully Elize had no slips of magic during the time.

Elize tiptoed across the huge hall towards her brother's room at midnight with her bag. She was all ready to travel in her black t-shirt, jeans, and converse. She sported a red bandana on her head, not wanting to mess her hair up during the journey.

Alex and his sister mutually agreed that they wouldn't let the other people in the house know of their plans. If someone woke up and heard of their plan, they wouldn't have a chance to leave. Magic was a taboo in the house- thanks to her very Catholic grandmother.

Elize peeped inside her brother's room to see if he was done packing. No luck. The man was still busy shoving clothes and what not into his leather duffel bag. He was walking throughout the expanse of his entire room while doing it. She rolled her eyes when Alex shoved his phone into the side pocket of his bag.

"You know that electronic gadgets don't work where you're going." She remarked impatiently from the door.

They had to leave soon if they were to reach the Island before sundown. It was the witching hour already. She knew that transporting two people to such a long distance would take enormous energy, only possible to a novice witch like her only during this hour. In fifteen minutes, that window would close.

"I'd rather take the chance." Alex shrugged.

"Oh God, how much longer will you take? We need to leave- like now!"

Alex laughed at his sister's remarks. The sound echoed from the huge room to the corridor of the dark house. She hoped that sound didn't wake the practicing Catholic in the house.

"Shhhh! Don't laugh so loud!" Elize hissed at her brother.

Alex came forward and handed his sister a bowl of water. She took out the invitation from the back pocket of her washed-out jeans and immersed it in the liquid. Both strained their eyes into the bowl, hoping for some sort of spark to erupt from it.

Nothing.

"You sure this is going to work?" Alex asked, looking up at his sister, who had her eyes still in the bowl. 

He was not sure how this stuff worked, but he knew that something was supposed to happen.

"There!" Elize exclaimed.

The letter was slowly dissolving itself in the water as if it was made of sugar instead of paper. In a few minutes, it disappeared entirely without leaving any trace of it behind in the crystal clear water in the bowl.

"That's it?" Alex asked curiously.

His sister nodded her head and motioned him to come close. Alex moved closer to her, clutching his bag to his chest. It was a weird posture for a big guy.

Elize bent down a tad bit to carefully pour the contents of the bowl into a circle around them. She straightened up and threw the glassware to Alex's king-sized bed. Perfect landing!

"Nothing is happening Ellie," Alex said, letting out a sigh after two long minutes."Maybe you did it wro-"

The circle she drew started giving off a small glow. "It's starting. Brace yourself!" Elize exclaimed.

The light grew bit by bit to envelop them.

Suddenly, a big steel spoon struck Elize on her head.

"Ouch!" She exclaimed.

"Witch!" The sound came from across the corridor. 

The grandma was awake. Shit! She could see the old woman armed with more utensils, ready to hurl it at her.

"This is bad" Elize whispered to herself.

She could see a plate flying straight at her. Then it all went blank. The last thing she felt was falling.

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It felt wet. Someone was sprinkling water on her.

Elize shielded her face from the disturbance. She slowly opened her eyes. A pair of brown eyes looked down at her. She could hear a lot of people murmuring around her. She rubbed her eyes and focused on the person who was standing over her. It was a boy of a very slim build and dark skin. He must be at least four years younger than her. Elize thought to herself.

He smiled at her and offered her his hands as she strained to get up. Ignoring the little kid, Elize sat up and looked around. She was on what seemed like a beach and there was a bunch of men and kids standing around her with no shirts on and holding torches. They were all looking at her weirdly.

"She's awake!" She heard someone shout.

"Where am I?" She asked.

No answer. The crowd kept staring.

Where did she land up? And where was Alex? She thought nervously.

"My brother? Alex?" She prodded.

Still no answer. Who are these people?!

She started to get up, slowly balancing herself. Whoah! She was quite weak and groggy. She swayed around left and right until finally, the ground gave away. She braced herself for the impact. But it didn't occur.

Halfway through her fall, strong arms caught her and lifted her. She struggled to open her eyes. Through the least minimally opened eyes, she managed to catch a glimpse of a painfully sharp jawline.

"Alex," She murmured before she passed out in the arms of a stranger.

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When she woke up again, it was morning. The sun shone through the windows straight onto her face. Elize slowly got up, holding her head in her hands. Her head was throbbing. She found herself sitting on someone's king-sized bed. She looked around.

The room was massive if anything. Creme paint covered the four walls of the room which connected to a teak wood ceiling. The wall on the right side of the bed had a huge window, taking up half it's space, covered in white dreamy curtains. It must have been left open since the wind was softly making the curtains dance. Now and then the curtains parted, pushed by the wind. She could see the tall trees outside swaying ever so slightly during those short moments. The wall adjacent to it had a big two paneled wooden door. Judging from another door close to the bed, she doubted either was a way out.

To her right, was a study table also made of teak, complemented by a matching chair with white silk cushions, similar to the bed covers. Apart from the bed, that was all the furniture the minimalist huge room held. Where was she again? Elize pinched herself, hoping that this was a dream.

"But how did I-"

Memory flooded back to her head. She. Passed. Out. In. The. Arms. Of. A. Stranger.

She got up from the bed. Where did her shoes go? She looked down at her naked feet on the wooden floor. She looked down the window. The room was easily three stories up. Walking ahead, she caught her reflection on a large mirror. Her hair was disheveled, her clothes were wrinkled as well as sandy, and she had huge dark circles under her eyes. She looked like a gray-eyed panda. As she shook her head and walked towards the double paneled doors, she could hear people arguing from the other side.

Shock turned into fear. She needed to get out of here. Heaven knows what kind of people held her hostage. She reeled back at the memory of the numerous half-naked men staring at her while crowding around her.

She rubbed down her body- feeling around if all her articles of clothing were intact as if the visual confirmation was not enough.

As she drew closer to the door, she could hear two men bickering, "I swear if you lay a finger-"

Deep breath. Elize repeated to herself as she pushed the door open.

Two heads whipped towards her direction from the corridor to which the door opened. The conversation between them seemed to have died down with her presence.

One of the two tall men stepped towards her. An animalistic growl emanated from his body. Elize narrowed her eyes and was about to say something when she noticed it. Those eyes. Those same blue eyes!