Culture Shock

Chapter 10: Divinity

Double digits, man!! Are you ready? (^^^ song up there... :3c)

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Their plane was booked and leaving in roughly an hour. With bags packed and being taken to the airport by Sadie and Mason, the three girls were free to travel lightly on their path to the coven stronghold. Twilight was upon them, so the shadows were deep enough to hide within as they made their way down the dirt road that Saoirse had only seen once before. As their guide, she led Ariadna and Camry through the tree line and onto the rarely-beaten path that wound away from the outskirts of Bailey Lake. 

She had to stifle a strangled sound when she saw an all too familiar shoe embedded halfway into the ground. So, this was where she had gotten stuck and Dude had had to pull her free. That meant the barrier that prevented unwanted guests from trespassing was right in front of them. "Stand back a second," she warned them, putting a hand out to block their progress. Cam and Ari hung back and watched intently as Saoirse used the tip of her sneaker to poke at the dusty road. When nothing happened, she took a cautious step forward and repeated the same motions until she was at least six feet away from the other two. 

"Uh, what're you doing?" Camry whispered, cupping the side of her mouth with one hand to help her voice carry. 

"Last time I was here, I got stuck in the ground and Dude had to carry me in," Saoirse explained without looking back. When her shoe was well behind her current position and nothing had happened, her posture visibly relaxed. "Okay, I think it's safe. Let's go." 

Ariadna's first steps were slow and steady, but when she stood next to Saoirse she, too, stopped worrying about the barrier. Camry sufficed to just stroll in; her confidence in the inhibitor locked around her wrist was growing by the minute. The barrier did nothing to stop any of the teens, and they continued on as before. The shadows stretched, darkening so quickly that it wasn't long before Saoirse wished that Camry could give them each a light to see by. 

"What's the plan?" Ariadna asked in a whisper, and then groaned low in her throat. "Right, I can't see your hands or your lips. Dammit." 

Camry rested an apologetic hand on Ari's shoulder before turning back to her girlfriend. "What is the plan, Seersh?" 

"I... I don't really know," she murmured in reply. They were crouched at the edge of the road and using a wide set of oak trees as cover. Just under a hundred yards away, a dark farmhouse rested atop a low hill. The windows were draped in black fabric, letting out absolutely no indication that anyone was home. "I only ever really saw the clearing last time. I was too focused on saving you." 

"Okay, that's... not much to go off of," Camry admitted softly. "But it's a start. I just wish I knew where Kordelle was so we could avoid him." 

Just saying his name sent shivers of terror and disgust up her spine. She spat him out of her mouth like the very idea was poisonous to her soul and peeked around the edge of the tree. "But, whatever we do, we can't let him know that Ari is still here in the city. If he can contact her dad, he will to tell him where she is." 

"That's the last thing we need, you're right," Saoirse agreed.

Suddenly, Ariadna let out a gasping breath and opened her eyes. Her right hand was outstretched, the palm aimed at the sliver of horizon they could barely see through the trees. A speck of greyish-white was just visible above the edge of the world. The moons were already rising? "You guys, I just heard it," she said quickly. "Two young witches are heading up the road behind us. One of them has a book under his arm, and the other's got a basket of plants."