Hawthorne

When Elizabeth woke up, Trey was already up. She sat up, looking around her open concept apartment, and found Trey standing in the kitchen, cooking something. Breathing deeply, she caught the scent of bacon frying in the pan.

Without turning to see if she was actually awake, Trey spoke. "Good morning, sunshine. Did you sleep well?" He finished the bacon, and laid it out on a paper towel lined plate. "I hope you like your eggs sunny side up." He then turned, smiling at her with an egg in his hand.

Elizabeth yawned, stretched and then got up. "Yeah. You know you didn't have to do this. You could have left.

"What, you don't want me here?" He asked, raising his brow.

"It's not that." Sighing, she picked up a piece of bacon and began nibbling. "Its just... I guess I'm not used to having people around."

" Don't worry about it, dear. I understand. All I've ever really had was Wyatt." He continued cooking breakfast for the two. He added a splash of water in the pan containing the eggs, and put a lid on it, steaming the eggs. After they finished, he plated their meals and placed them on the other side of the island. They ate together, in an awkward silence.

Just as they both finished eating, Trey spoke up. "Hey, what do you say we go to the library and see if we can dig up anything about that disease?"

Trey waited in the living room while Elizabeth got ready. When she finished, she found trey looking at a book— her book. He heard her, and placed it back in his bag, and when he turned to her, he couldn’t help but to stare. She wore a short pale colored summer dress, black tights, and a gray cardigan, but she looked absolutely stunning.

Ignoring him, she walked to the entrance of her apartment, Grabbed her messenger bag, noticing that her laptop was already in it, and her key. Looking at him, she tilted her head slightly. "Are you coming or not?

Without a word, he grabbed his backpack and followed her out the door.

Outside, the weather was beautiful. Warm, and nearly sunny. The son was trying to peer through the clouds, at no avail. The amount of light that did escape the ever-present wall of clouds warmed the air to unusual temperatures. Elizabeth found her cardigan too stuffy, so she too it off, stuffing it into her bag.

Elizabeth and Trey walked toward the café, crossing two sidewalks, and then took a left onto the next street. They walked for another fifteen minutes, coming to the town square, and the library. That area of town was more crowded, so Trey put an arm around Elizabeth and pulled her closer, whispering into her ear, "Try to to bring too much attention to us, there are three guardsmen over there." Trey touched her shoulder, thumb pressing her neck lightly. Suddenly, Elizabeth turned her head to the right, looking straight at the men in uniforms.

He must have used one of his abilities just then... She tilted her head up, brushing his cheek with her lips lightly, and quickly whispered to him. "Lets get inside quick." Their pace quickened ever so slightly, matching each other's perfectly.

Trey stepped forward before Elizabeth had a chance, and reached to open the door to the library, holding it to allow her pass through. She smiled, and passed through the opening quickly. Once inside, they both sighed in relief.

"Alright, Liz, where do we start?" Trey motioned for her to lead the way.

Elizabeth looked around, looking for the librarian. When she spotted him, she casually walked up to him and asked, "Excuse me, Mr. Rutter, where is the section for Wildemeadow history? I'm working on a novel, and I need a little information of a few things."

"Over there, Elizabeth. What exactly are you looking for, maybe I can help." The librarian smiled at her inquisitively.

"I'm looking for information on a few of the outbreaks years ago.... I was thinking that since our town went through it, it might be a," She paused for a moment. "Lighter start, than the medical books. "

He looked at her, confused. " What years were you looking for?"

"About 2144 years ago?"

The librarian stared at her for a moment, looked around the space and whispered, "That is in a special section. And since it's for your novel, I'll let you go ahead and look." He then noticed Trey and asked, "Who is this?

Elizabeth grabbed Trey by the arm. "My cousin, from the fishing village. He's visiting for a few weeks to help me with the research. Do you mind if he comes to help? We'll be in and out twice as fast, that way."

The Librarian looked him over for a moment, adjusting his thick glasses. "Oh, alright. But no horsing around back there. Most of the texts are delicate." Trey and Elizabeth smiled and nodded. The librarian lead them to a room, closed off from the rest of the library. There was only one exit, the door they came through to get in there. Along with a large window.

"Alright," The librarian opened a filing cabinet drawer and placed an old book on the table beside it. "This is all we have on that outbreak. Have fun, and be careful not to to ruin anything." And with that, he left, closing the door behind him.

They dug through each of the files, one by one. All sorts of obituaries from the year 2144, the same year of the outbreak and the witches being exiled. But nothing about the disease. Everything was about normal deaths. So, instead, they looked at the book. Reading one page, Elizabeth realized that the book was a fiction novel, third edition, published three years after the outbreak.

Trey and Elizabeth looked at each other, for a moment. Elizabeth spoke first. "Maybe he made a mistake. Let's look some more. The other files are unlocked, and there are a few more books in the corner over there." She pointed to a heavily dusty box in the back corner of the room.

They searched through every file, every book, and found nothing but obituaries ranging five years difference, and the books all fiction.

Trey spoke that time. "A mistake, really?" He walked over to the door and tried the knob. "Locked. Shit, Liz... what do you think he might be doing?"

Elizabeth went over to the door and tried it herself. "Damn it. Maybe it's just stuck. It really doesn’t look like anyone has been in here in a long time..." She shook the handle and tried again. Still locked. "Now how will we get out of here?"

"I might have an idea... Cover your face, this will be messy." Trey walked over to the window, and stepped back as far as he could.

"What are you doing?" Trey waved his arm, and she was suddenly on the floor, with her bag shielding her face. She couldn't move. All she could hear was glass shattering, she looked down to see shards of glass all over the floor. Then she was free from her invisible chains. She stood up, staring at Trey. "What..."

"I told you—" He went quiet, listening to something. Outside the door, they heard the three guards talking to the Librarian. He walked over to the door, touched the doorknob, mumbling something Elizabeth couldn't understand and then walked back over to the window. "Now, that door wont stay shut for long, let's go."

They climbed out the window, and Trey used his magic to fix the broken window, raising his arms, mumbling something incomprehensible again. And then, he quickly lead her to the front of the building. They held hands as they walked quickly, to a nearby trail to the woods.

When they got to the beginning of the trail, they made sure nobody was watching and ran. Once they made it to the safety of the forest, they rested.

"What the hell just happened?" Elizabeth spat.

"Your Librarian friend must have thought something was up and got the guard." Trey glared at her. "We almost got caught. They would have dragged us to the square and killed us right there."

Elizabeth went expressionless and pale. "He couldn't have... Mr. Rutter is really nice..."

"Not as nice as you think he is. I noticed him change when you said you wanted to know about the outbreaks. And even more change when you said that specific year. He knew something was up." Trey rested his hands on her shoulders. "He knows something about my kind and the supposed outbreak."

Elizabeth stayed quiet, staring at a oddly shaped rock a couple feet away. He couldn't have. I've known him for years! It's not possible...

"Liz? Are you alright?" Trey touched her cheek, wiping away a tear. She hadn't even realized she was crying.

"I'm sorry. I should have went alone. He knows I always do my own research. And I start with reference books when possible... I was stupid to ask outright where the records were." Elizabeth began sobbing.

Trey took her into his arms and kissed the top of her head lightly. "It's alright, Liz. We got out of there safely. That's the main thing." He consoled her as she cried, understanding that she felt responsible for nearly getting him killed by her people.

She pulled away from him just enough that she could see his face. "What are we supposed to do? I can't go back home, now." She nearly choked on her words, as the tears rolled down her face.

"Well, in that case, I'm taking you home with me. A lovely lady like you can't be out in the cold by herself now, can she?" Trey wiped her eyes, smiling.

Elizabeth blushed. "But, won’t I get caught there?"

Trey shook his head. "No, no. There have been plenty of humans in The City. Granted, most of them are used as either slaves or meals... Slaves and then meals, in some cases. I have it covered, though. Nobody will hurt you, I promise." He kissed her forehead, and made sure she had stopped crying. "Alright, now. Let's get going.

The walk to Eternal City took a lot longer on this route. A full six hours longer. After two hours, they both became tired. Luckily, they had stopped near a clearing, so they decided to set up camp there, and stay until early in the morning.

It was beginning to get dark at that point. Trey left his backpack with Elizabeth and told her to arrange some rocks in a circle for a fire, and take out the food he had packed away in his pack. Meanwhile, he'd go get some firewood.

He's always so prepared for everything. She thought as she laid out the stones. She dove into his bag, pulling out protein bars, cereal variety packs, half a dozen bottles of water, beef jerky, and a package of powdered milk, all with price tags from a shop near her apartment. He knew we'd be staying out here. She also found some disposable spoons and bowls. In the bottom of his backpack was a rolled up throw blanket from her apartment, confirming her belief.

Trey returned with an armload of sticks to start a fire. He laid them down in the pit Elizabeth made, and then reached in his bag for his copy of Elizabeth's book. ripping out any page that didn’t have part of the story on it. "Desperate times. Sorry I have to do this, Liz."

"It's alright. I'd rather have some unnecessary pages ripped out of my book than be cold in the dark, in the woods." She smiled, reaching into her own bag, finding a magazine she never reads, and passed it to him "Can you use this, too?"

He took it and began ripping and crumpling it up along with the book pages. "Yes, they'll work just fine.

Elizabeth laid out her cardigan on the ground, and sat down on it. Crossing her legs, she watched as Trey tended the fire, getting it to burn brightly. "Can't you just use your powers to start a fire?"

Trey laughed and winked at her. "Do you think I'd destroy your book— my favorite book, if I was capable of that? Besides, this is one of the many fun parts of camping out.

No, I suppose not. She sat there quietly and watched.

"You've never been camping before, have you?" Trey asked as the fire licked the dry wood. The fire grew, and Elizabeth could feel the heat from it.

"Nope. I've always been too scared of the forest... And, I've never had anyone to go camping with." Her eyes were fixated on Trey as he stood up and walked over to her. He reached down wanting her to take his hand. When she did, he pulled her to her feet.

"You're not alone now." Their eyes locked onto each others. His shone by the light of the fire as he looked into hers.

"Trey..." Elizabeth was cut short when they heard a noise. A creature emerged from the other side of the clearing. There was just enough light to see that it had dark leathery skin, boney wings, much like a bats, and four horns protruding from it's head. It's glowing red eyes, accented by dark, sunken eye- sockets, were locked on the two of them. "Trey, what is that thing?" She nearly screamed, as he turned around to see the monster slowly making its way across the clearing.

"I don't know. Run! Hide behind that boulder, now!" He pushed her away, and readied himself to fight.

Elizabeth was stricken with fear, unable to speak, or even think. All she could do was what he told her to. Peering over the rock, she saw Trey levitating, two feet above the ground, his arms reaching out to either side. Her eyes widened.

He then raised his arms, and a bolt of energy shot from the sky, ricocheting, right into the creature's chest, knocking it back. Dark liquid poured from the wound. The creature expands it's wings, and takes flight, it's forearm-length claws extended in front of it as it dashes for Trey. Something Elizabeth could only think is blood poured from the wound, all over the ground. Trey quickly moves to the side, dodging the monstrosity.

Trey's posture changed, his back arched, face toward the sky. A growl escaped his open mouth, and as soon as it did, a even bigger, brighter bolt of lightning-like energy struck the malignant being. As it fell to the ground, Trey raised his left hand, toward the fire, levitating a burning stick. With his other hand, he caused a tree to uproot, and dropped it on to the creature, and then flung the burning stick at them.

The smell of burning flesh and sulfur filled the air. Elizabeth was quick to cover her mouth and nose, as she ran to trey.

"We have to get out of here, now." He said as he shoved all of their belongings into their bags. Handing the full bags to her, he then raised his hand to the fire, and flung it at the burning pile of tree and beast.

She put her bag over her shoulder, and then put her arms through the straps of his bag. Wearing both was heavy, so she walked slowly.

He looked at her and said, "Come here. I'll carry you." When she got close enough, he kneeled slightly and made her climb on his back. Although he was carrying her weight, plus two stuffed full bags, he ran rather quickly through the woods, or so she thought. She looked down to see that they were floating, about six inches off of the ground.

Before she knew it, they were at the edge of the tree line, outside of Eternal City.