The Witch and the Wiccan

Chapter 2

What the hell is an owl doing in the middle of the day?! The bird swiftly picked up the littered granola bar wrapper and took off. 

"WAIT!!!" I quickly put on my backpack and sprint after the small creature. I immediately begin to follow it through the twisting paths and feral growing trees of the forest. Dear Gods please forgive me! 

If I don't get the granola wrapper, the owl could eat it... Hold on a sec though. This feels familiar somehow.  After a couple of seconds I realize that this is the way to the abandoned house.    SHIT!!! If it goes in there I'll never get it back!

Just as the old structure comes into view, A flash if yellow pours out the windows for a split second. As I reach the door of the house, I hesitate; what was that light, and do I even want to know? I decide yes and turn the creaky door knob and push open the door to find yet another door. But...this one is weird. I I'm in a house but the door before me isn't a regular door made of wood. In fact, I'm not sure what it's made of. The door was slightly ajar; or at least I assume that it's open because there are no walls surrounding it. It was mainly brown with a menacing yellow eye near the top.

Nonetheless, the unfamiliarity didn't seem to affect the owl considering it went right into the void of the door. So, without thinking, (as per usual) I jump after the tiny bird into the door. I guess I accidentally scared the owl into letting go because it dropped the wrapper as soon as we went through the door. 

I fall to the ground with a thud. The surface I've landed on fells like rock or concrete; but wasn't I just on wood? What the hell? I sit up and turn around in time to see the door folding in on itself to give it a brief case appearance then vanished into the same yellow light. 

Okay. So I just came through an impossibly magic door and have no idea where I am. Perfect.        It wasn't until then that I began to take in my surroundings. All around me are piles and odd boxes of what most would consider junk. Overhead was an orange tent that blocked out whatever light was trying to pierce through, and ahead of me, I heard low murmurs of people.

Part of me wanted to believe that I had a stroke or something and was now at the shitty camp but reality had other plans. I stood up and carefully crept closer to the voices. 

"Owlbert really? Your whole job is to find me human artifacts and you have nothing?" The voice was that of a middle aged woman who had just quit smoking in the past year. "What do you mean you brought a human?!" 

Just then, the woman stepped into the tent. She was tall and had very pale skin. She had bushy gray hair that complemented her yellow eyes, ring, and earrings. The woman wore a ripped red dress and heeled boots. She also had some sort of staff in her hand. It had a peculiar shape on top. I somehow knew that it was the owl from before, only, now it was merely a wooden statue.

"Who are you?" The woman asked. "I'm Luz. Luz Noceda. Could you please tell me where I am?" I try not to show the fear in my voice. 

"I ask the questions around here, human. Say, a human here could be useful to me." She looked curiously at me. Even that was enough to make me terrified. I ran past her as quick as I could and found myself in the middle of a busy marketplace. The only odd part was that the only people weren't people. They were monsters. Goblins. Ghouls.  

I deeply considered if I was in the underworld. But that would be impossible. Right? Wrong.

"Stop right there human! I am Eda the Owl Lady! The most Powerful witch in the Boiling Isles and I have a job for a human like you."

Since she seemed normal, or at least more normal than the rest of them so I said, "That's kind of a weird thing for another human to say."

I must've said something wrong because she gave me a dirty look as if to say "Did I stutter?"         

There was an awkward silence as a humongous fist came smashing down on a nearby table. 

"Eda the Owl Lady, you have broken several laws, insulting Emperor Belos. Come with me to the conformatorium or face a greater punishment!" It was a deep and cold voice. It came from a giant being about 8 feet tall wearing a menacing mask. The woman known as Eda however, was as calm as anyone being arrested could be. The voice suddenly spoke again. "And you!" He shouted pointing at me, "For conspiring with a criminal you shall also face punishment!" He was very large in size and had a purple-like skin tone. 

"Alright, alright. You win." Eda still seeming calm spoke in an almost naturally level voice. "Just let me grab my things." She bent down, pretending to pick something up, and in one smooth motion, she knocked the man unconscious with her staff and pulled me to the stick as it began to fly. I noticed that "Owlbert"'s wooden wings had spread and his eyes opened to a bright yellow light. 

We were so high off the ground that I began to get dizzy. I almost slip off the staff but Eda catches me by my backpack and hoists me back up. This is just like my fanfics from the fifth grade. It's just so wild and unreal.

"This, Luz was it?...Is the Boiling Isles. Every weird thing that happens in your world is a little bit of our world leaking into yours." 

"Wow that's really wild!"

"The giraffes? We banished those guys."

After a while we landed in a clearing in the middle of the woods. There was an average sized home made of stone with a large stone tower and a large eye shaped window on the front.

"Welcome to the Owl House." 

I tried to make this chapter longer so let me know how you guys like it! :)