Beyond the Broken Angel

CHAPTER ELEVEN

— like magic —

September 13th, 1937

A PIERCING SCREAM made Giselle's eyes shoot open, her body jolting upright from the forest floor as she looked around frantically for the source of the noise.

A brunette with curly hair and wide, scared eyes stood before her, staring down at her in horror with her mouth gaping open like a fish. She looked to be around Giselle's age, though the childlike fear on her face made her look younger.

Before Giselle could say anything, the girl shot off, screaming all the way to Dare Manor. Giselle watched her go in confusion until she noticed movement out of the corner of her eye.

She turned her head, spotting Frank staring at her similarly to how the girl had.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Giselle asked him, coming to a stand.

"You—you just appeared," he said, his voice barely above a whisper and riddled with disbelief. "It was almost like magic. How did you do that?"

Oh, no, Giselle thought, picking up her suitcase casually. How do I explain this?

"Um," she started, unsure what to say. "Um," she began again, looking off to Dare Manor, "are Selene and Will here? I need to speak to them."

"Yeah . . ." Frank drew out, still eyeing her suspiciously.

"Great, I'll tell you exactly how I did it after I talk to them." She headed back to the manor, following the path the screaming girl had taken, Frank trailing behind her.

When she opened the back door and entered, she almost wished she hadn't.

Will was standing there with the girl wrapped around his torso, his hand patting her back as she sputtered out words to him.

Giselle did not like what she saw.

Who was this girl? And why was she hugging Will?

"Oh," Will said upon noticing Giselle. "This makes much more sense, now."

"What does?" Giselle asked.

The brunette whipped her head towards Giselle, her eyes flying wide before she ducked behind Will.

"That's her!" she screeched. "She's a witch! I swear, Will!"

Giselle quirked an eyebrow, unamused and ready to fire back some insults of her own. "Who's this?" she asked Will, sending a glare at the girl when she peeked out over Will's shoulder.

"My cousin, Marguerite Dubois," he answered. "Marguerite, this is Giselle Saunders, Selene's relative from America."

Giselle let out a relieved breath she hadn't known she had been holding. Cousin. She was his cousin.

Marguerite poked her head out from behind Will's arm, eyeing Giselle warily.

"Um, hi," Giselle greeted. "It's nice to meet you." She gave Marguerite a small, apologetic smile. "Um, I'm not a witch, by the way," she decided to throw out when the other girl made no move to stop using Will as a shield.