Tides of Turmoil (NEWTINA)

Chapter 27 - The Look

Far away from that cemetery, Queenie woke up with a start, gasping and with tears streaming down her cheeks. Flamel dropped his book in shock and was looking surprised and concerned. 'Good gracious, child, what is the matter?'

She had been dreaming of nothing in particular until a soft voice had slipped into her mind. It was Queenie's name, whispered by the last person in the world to contact her at that moment.

Tina.

An image of a place - dark and empty - flashed in front of her eyes; a name whispered with urgency.

Queenie couldn't respond to that call in time because, when she tried, a force as powerful and as inescapable as a tsunami's wave had pulled her consciousness back into Flamel's and Flora's cottage. She was holding a hand to her chest, breathing to the rhythm of her heartbeats - almost unconscionable. Not even knowing it, she had slid her legs off her bed and stood up on the floor; her legs were still trembling so much they buckled under her weight, her knees hitting the wood.

Having heard the commotion, Flora had hurried into the room. Her face was contorted in confusion, a jar of a viscous granite substance under her arm.

'In the name of Merlin, what is going on?' she asked breathlessly, leaving the jar on top of a small table and cleaning her hands on a cloth. She turned to Flamel, who looked lost of words, and back to a distressed Queenie. 'What have you seen?'

Queenie broke into sobs suddenly, holding her head with both of her hands. 'No, no, no...'

'Something's wrong...' thought Flamel and Flora as they exchanged looks. Not needing to be told, they both hurried off to get ready to go when they knew what was wrong. Queenie, either unaware or separated from all the uproar, was now rocking back and forth with tears hugging her eyes.

'Tina... Tina...' she repeated in a loop, each time sounding like she was stepping further into the mouth of abysmal grief.

'Now is not the time for this,' Flora snapped. Noticing Queenie's fragility react to that snap, she continued with a softer tone. 'You gotta put yourself together. The boys and your sister might be in terrible danger. Tell us what you saw -'

'Or heard,' added Flamel as he came rushing on with a thick, old volume. Flora nodded and put her little, slender hand on Queenie's shoulder to stop her from rocking. The state of the young girl in front of them would've made the heart of the cruelest human being waver and turn on its own with pity.

However, Queenie did not want that. Despite those feelings enclosing around her heart, she needed to be strong, to save her sister and friends as much as she could.

'I think I know where they are - I saw it...Tina showed it to me...' she whispered.

'Would you know where it is?' urged Flora.

'In Paris... a park, but it seemed to be really empty...and so dark...'

'The sun hasn't raised yet,' observed Flamel out of the window that allowed the cornflower shade of the blue sky to be seen; the light on the horizon was not there yet, 'so, that image was recent.'

If she had heard him, she didn't let them know, but Queenie continued to speak, each word more difficult to cross her lips. 'There was this feeling in the air - like being lost and not finding a way out...'

Flamel's eyes widened in concern but also of realization. 'A cemetery!' he said, his voice not raised but in a whisper that allowed his disbelief.

Queenie nodded, the image in her head matching the description. Satisfied, Flora and Flamel moved to stand up.