We Will Shine {Book 6 in the Star of Gryffindor Series}

Chapter 49 - What's in a Name?

~Astra~

When I fell asleep and woke up in the void, I wasn't even surprised. One seemed to be waiting for me, and to my surprise she was actually looking at me. She wasn't dressed in rags, either, oddly enough, but a clean, slightly old-fashioned, white nightgown. I smiled a little at her. "What's up? I thought you weren't allowed to look at me."

"They don't know," she said, shrugging.

"Are you sure?" That was way too flippant of an attitude, and not like her at all. I mean, based on the very small amount I actually knew about her.

"I'm pretending to sleep," she explained.

I frowned. "If that worked, why didn't you ever do it before?"

"I didn't know when it was bedtime."

"But you do now?"

"Yes," she said, frowning at me as if I'd asked a dumb question. "It's dark outside."

"Yeah, you're right," I said. "Could you not see that it was dark outside before?"

"There weren't any windows under the house," she explained.

"Oh, right." I nodded, then my eyes widened. "Wait, you're not under the house? Where are you now?"

"In the house."

Oh. Damn it. I'd been hoping the police had finally shown up and rescued her. This wasn't much better. Maybe proof that she wasn't dead, at least, unless someone had decided to drag a dead body into their home. I blinked, trying to think of the best question to learn more and maybe help her. "Are the others in the house, too?"

"No."

"Oh, okay."

"I have a window!" she said, smiling excitedly. That seemed to be what she'd been hoping to get to.

"What can you see out the window?" I asked, hoping it might give some clue as to where she was.

"Hold on." Her eyes went white, as I assume she hurried over to the window to tell me. "I can see trees! And the garden, except it's dark right now."

"What else?"

"Lots of stars!"

That wasn't good. I'd been hoping she'd been in a city. "Are there any other buildings you can see?"

One shook her head. "Just sky."

"So you're in the middle of nowhere?"

One blinked, and her eyes returned to normal. She seemed dejected by that thought. "I... I guess so."

I bit my lip, trying not to show my own disappointment. "Well, that's really cool! Why did they bring you upstairs?"

"I don't know," she said, as if it wasn't a big deal. She didn't elaborate.

"Okay, then... what else has changed? And when did this happen?"

"I don't know when..." One seemed to think about it, then shrugged. "Days? But now I get to walk around. And she said she'd take me outside. I just can't go down. I don't want to go down, though. It's dark all the time."

That was as unenlightening as I'd expected it to be. I nodded, though, and asked. "Who is she? The one who said she'd take you outside? Do you know her name?" One shook her head. "Well, then, what do you call her?"