The Witch & The Wolf

Chapter 16

After a while, Luke noticed that they had reached the end of the stairs. The air around them was now downright frigid, something he didn't mind at all, but he noticed Sapphira shivering. 

"You're cold." He stated. 

"No shit Sherlock." She said as the light of the wand dimmed for a moment, before turning a red colour. A warmth spread from the wand, engulfing them in it until she was no longer shivering. "Alright, now watch your head." She said as pushed open a door to her right, one Luke hadn't noticed yet. 

"Where does this path lead?" He asked as she entered the room to her right. 

"To a dead end." She said as Luke followed her, bowing his head to make sure he didn't hit his head.

The room they stepped in was rather large. Larger then he'd expected. The second she'd entered a light spread around the room, fully illuminating it. 

Luke looked around the room, taking it all in. Somehow this reminded him of the stories his mother would tell him about the witches. About their caverns and dens, their burrows so to speak. 

The room was lined by cabinets, each of which had many different bottles on it, all with different contents. The rest of it looked like a mixture of a chemistry lab and a stereotypical witches den. 

Sapphira didn't waste any time as she marched over to a cabinet and opened the glass doors. She rummaged through the carefully lined potions, trying to find what she was looking for. "It has to be somewhere around here." She muttered. 

Luke, on the other hand, started walking around the room, taking in everything that he saw. 

"Don't touch anything." Sapphira said, not bothering to look up, "Unless you feel really adventurous." 

"Did you make all this?" Luke said as he looked at all the potions.

"Mostly," Sapphira said, "This is my private storage, the rest is in the store." 

"Impressive." Luke said, "But where are the rest of the tunnels?" He asked confused.

"Through that door." Sapphira said pointing to her left, "But it is locked right now." 

Luke nodded, opting to simply stand in the middle of the room and wait for Sapphira to grab said potion. 

"Found it." She said holding up a light green liquid, "Now let's go and find him." 

Together they left the basement and started their ascent back up to ground level. Slowly the air around them got warmer until they stepped back out into Sapphira's kitchen. Luke walked further into the kitchen as Sapphira magically closed and locked the small door behind them.

"Why do you keep them there?" Luke said, finally asking the question that had been on his mind fo a while.

"For safety." She replied, "Lot's of bad things can happen with those potions. If I make a mistake it can blow up, and that room can take that. Furthermore, if someone else finds them things can take a nasty turn." 

Luke nodded as he started walking towards the front door. He then, however, noticed that Sapphira was no longer behind him. "Sapphira?" He yelled, startled and suddenly set on edge. 

"I need to grab something!" She yelled back, her voice coming from upstairs. 

Confused as to how quickly she'd gotten up there Luke walked up the stairs. trying to determine where she'd gone. As he rounded the corner, however, his eyes fell upon Sapphira who was in the middle of changing. 

"Ever heard of privacy?" She said waving her hand to close the door. 

"I don't mind invading it." Luke said with a growl. 

"You perv," Sapphira muttered as she put on her boots. 

Luke took the time to look around the upstairs of the home. He noted that it consisted of mainly her bedroom and what appeared to be her bathroom. Lastly, there was another small room, that appeared to him as storage. 

"Snooping around are we now?" Sapphira said as her bedroom door swung upon and she was fully dressed. 

"You can't blame me for being curious," Luke said as Sapphira walked passed him and started descending the stairs. 

"You know what they say," She said, picking up her bag from the floor and swinging it over her shoulder. "Curiosity killed the cat." 

Luke chuckled following her, "Ah but do you know how that saying ends?"

Sapphira turned towards him and smiled, "Do tell me." 

"But the satisfaction of knowing brought it back."