Star Crossed In Time

I watch as the old man begins pulling out item after item from the shelf and laying it all out in a precise way. Bai Lei stands next to me and silently watches as well. Guozhi, on the other hand, was very hands-on throughout the entire thing.

He reminds me of a child, placing cookies out the night before for Santa Claus. He eagerly listens and follows the little old man's every instruction. To be honest, in any other situation, this would be funny but I'm still uneasy about summoning this mystery woman. 

What if she's evil? What if she wants a soul in return for her help? Nothing every goes like it's supposed to but I keep my mouth shut and decide to let them do their thing. I look over to the walls with the large paintings and shiver. 

Quite honestly, I would prefer someone else to deal with these things. I need to focus on Eli, not these walking nightmares. Not only were they extremely large, their mouths nearly took up their entire faces. Come to think of it... 

I slowly step over to the paintings and narrow my eyes in on the creepy thing. Suddenly, I realize something. "They're blind... they have no eyes..." I say out loud, causing everyone to pause and look at me. The old man nods his head and says "That's why they're called the Unspeakables. They can't see so they follow the noises. They attack nearly everything that moves." 

Haaa... somehow that makes them ten times more creepy. "Okay! That should be it. We've gathered everything it said to and now we just have to light the candle." I turn back to find them trying to light an old, black candle.

I frown at the two as they try to light it over and over but because the candle is so old, the wick won't light. I sigh and take a seat on the ground as I say "I feel like this is just a huge waste of time." Bai Lei sighs and walks over to the candle.

With just a swipe of his hand, the candle instantly comes to life but the flame is white. Not a normal, white, orange, red, and blue mix. No, it's pure white and it looks odd on a solid black candle. The old man smiles and says "Good, very good. Now we need to wait." 

I frown at his words as Bai Lei comes back over and sits next to me. "Wait for what?" I ask looking back to the old man in question. He rereads the scroll before placing it down and saying "We wait for her to come. When she's received the summon, the candle will go out and she will appear." 

"This doesn't sound sketchy at all. Nope, not at allll." I say rolling my eyes but for the next two hours, we all sit around and watch this candle burn. If the white flame wasn't creepy enough, the wax never runs... it doesn't melt. No matter how long the candle burns for...

Suddenly, the candle goes out with a puff! The old man and Guozhi both jump up and run to the candle in excitement as Bai Lei and I watch from our places on the ground. I lean over to get a better view but after a few minutes, nothing happens. 

I sigh and say "Are you sure you did everything right?" The old man runs over to the scroll and begins reading everything again before reaching up to rub his bald head in confusion. "I don't get it... we did everything it said to do."

I lean over and prop my elbow up on my knee. I place my chin down on my hand as I say "Are you sure this person really exists or that she's even still alive? This happened a looooong time ago, right? Maybe she's no longer alive." Everyone gets quiet before we all suddenly feel a gentle breeze.

It was sweet smelling and pleasant but I couldn't seem to place the actual scent. A wave of strange power has Bai Lei and I both jumping up to our feet as the gentle breeze continues to fill the entire room. 

"It's in bad taste to say that someone is dead when in fact, they're very much alive." A soft but smooth voice says behind us, making all of us jump. Bai Lei quickly pulls me behind him as we spin around to see a beautiful, young woman with white hair.

She gives us a crafty smile as she says "Did someone call for me?" My eyes nearly fall out of my head when I lean around Bai Lei to get a better look. Long, white hair with silver-blue eyes... she was short like me but she was curvy in all the right places...

But what really had me shocked was the way she was dressed! A short black dress with red, corset strings running up the middle. Black half-moon earrings and some killer black combat books... Even her nails were painted black!! She looked good and she looked like she was from my old world!  

I push Bai Lei to the side and stare at the woman with wide eyes. "You... where are you from?" I ask with disbelief. She looks me over with a smile and says "New Orleans, my dear. And this place is..." She begins to look around her surroundings and I watch with a smirk when her face falls upon seeing the paintings.

"Damn... those things got out?" She asks turning to look back at me with a fierce look. I slowly nod my head and say "Someone blew a hole up there and released them. Can you help us?" Her black eyebrows draw together as she asks "Blew a hole? If I'm not mistaken, this world doesn't have explosives."

I give her a knowing smile and says "They don't. Someone from another world has come here and caused problems. Can you help us?" She sighs and gives me a helpless smile as she says "Yeah, those things are not fun but they are kinda dumb. My name is Eris Hallows, and you are?"

She sticks her hand out to shake and I can't help but feel like laughing. It's been so long since someone asked for a handshake in greeting. I instantly reach out and grab her hand as I say "Nova, and these are my friends. This here is my man, Bai Lei."

Bai Lei politely nods but I can tell he's still very uneasy with the woman as she looks him over and nods. Guozhi suddenly appears behind the woman and leans in to sniff at her like some kind of dog. I suddenly have the urge to roll up a newspaper and smack him in the nose.

Eris sidesteps Guozhi and gives him a look before saying "Personal space my dude. Okay, how long has it been since they've been released?" Guozhi begins moving closer to her again until Bai Lei grabs the back of his collar and drags him back.

Eris gives Bai Lei and I a grateful look as the old man comes running over with stars in his eyes. "It's a pŀėȧsurė to finally meet you! My family has guarded this temple for many generations. I'm blessed to be able to meet our great savior."

She looks at the old man with large eyes before slowly stepping to my side as she says "Haha... yes, well, I'm not a savior or anything. I'm just someone for hire. I just did a job, that's all." The old man suddenly claps his hands and says "That's right! I have all the herbs you asked for last time for payment." 

Suddenly, Eris perks up with a smile as she quickly says "Thanks! Okay, so how long ago?" I shrug my shoulders and turn to look at Guozhi who still hangs from Bai Lei's grip. He blinks a few times and says "Judging by the burns and tracks, I'd say... over a day ago now." 

She silently nods her head and taps her chin as she says "We'll have to lure them back. The sooner the better. Okay, I'm gonna need an herb called baby's flesh. Do you have any?" My eyes go round as I say "You're gonna lure them back with the smell of babies flesh?"

She nods her head and says "Unfortunately, that's what they really like. The faster we get them back, the faster we can seal them and save lives." She suddenly walks into the dark room with the glowing green writing. That's right!

I quickly follow her in and ask "You wrote all this?" She looks around at everything with calm eyes as she nods her head 'yes'. Bai Lei is quick to stay by my side as Eris comes to a stop in the very middle. "You can read and write in the dead language, Latin?" I ask with amazement.

She looks over to me and gives me a cute smile as she says "Of course! All witches know how to read and write in Latin. It was my original language." She suddenly slams her foot down, releasing a powerful wave of magic in the room. I watch in amazement as all the large stones begin lifting up and replacing themselves in their original places. Completely fixing the hole like it was never there. 

The glowing green words all turn white as everything goes back in place. She smiles at me again as she says "Let's go catch some monsters!"