Upon finally making it to town, Anna quickly realized she wasn’t really sure what to do. Her anger at Ms. Whitney still hadn’t dissipated, so the walk hadn’t done what she had hoped it would. On top of that, the headache she had been experiencing since waking up was still coming in spastic and threatening waves, causing her to feel nauseous every few minutes. For a brief moment she considered trying to snag some more sweet cakes from one of the little stores that sprinkled the small town, but the events of the previous night had caused her to get cold feet as far as shoplifting went. Even if it had all been a dream, something about the whole situation had her nerves on edge.

At the town limits, a small weathered sign had been hammered into the ground to mark the boundary. It read:

Welcome to Darjeary, Indiana

Pop. 12,345

Not a single extraordinary or remarkable thing to mention. No attractions or museums, no historical sights, nothing even slightly approaching picturesque or noteworthy. Years of being exposed to the elements had taken their toll on the sign, so much so that the 'a' and 'j' had peeled off completely and the sign seemed to read ‘Dreary’ instead of the proper name. Anna felt that the correction was rather fitting however, for the word dreary perfectly encapsulated the small midwestern town. There was hardly anything to do but most of the people in the town still always seemed to be in some sort of a hurry. Everyone seemed too busy to stop and say hello or even notice the other denizens around them even though the town didn't really have anywhere for them to be going. Many of the buildings that lined the streets had been forsaken and boarded up so that the town seemed to be made up of small, run-down thrift shops, a few gas stations, a couple of restaurants, and a coffee shop that all the older kids with long hair liked to hang out at while smoking cigarettes they had stolen from their mom’s purses. Anna wasn’t much of a coffee drinker herself, not that she could afford it even if she was, but she did rather enjoy walking by the place and basking in the sweet aromas that emitted from it.

Since there wasn’t much to do in the way of shops or entertainment, Anna also knew that this meant there was not much work to be found within the Darjeary area. The main center of employment, she knew, was a large manufacturing center, located about twenty miles outside the town limits. She had never been there herself, but had gathered that there were several different kinds of plants, from a meat processing center, to a plant that made packaging for food. All of the plants were owned by a single man: Alexei von Daringard. Even the few people who didn’t work at one of his plants knew his name. The Daringards probably had the biggest house around for at least fifty miles, and it seemed that he enjoyed riding around the rickety old town in his limousine just to flex his power and wealth to the other residents.

The Daringards also owned most of the land that the town was built on, especially the farmlands that surrounded the town. Apparently, his father had come through some years ago and bought up large swaths of land during a time of economic recession. Many of the original farmers and store owners had had no choice but to sell to him; it was either that or face total bankruptcy and possible homelessness. It was a not-so-secret secret that Mr. Daringard essentially ruled the town. Bo Pokeep was the mayor, but everyone knew who really called the shots and made the decisions. Even at her young age, Anna had realized that money went a long way towards influencing decisions.

The wealthy socialite also had a daughter named Alexis whom Anna hated with a passion. If she was being totally honest with herself, a small part of her was perhaps jealous of the girl’s wealth and status, but she mostly hated her because she was a big, gaping buttmunch. Anna would frequently witness her frollicking around town and treating people as if they were no more than the dirt she walked on. She would go into stores and drop glass bottles purposefully, letting out a high pitched “Whoops,” followed by an evil giggle, just to watch the workers have to clean it, all while making offhand remarks about how she’s glad that she would never have to work such a job. Both Alexis and the mistreated workers knew that she couldn't be stopped or reprimanded. To do so would risk facing her father's wrath which no one with any sense would bring upon their business. Anna absolutely hated her for this sort of behavior. Anna may not have been perfect, and in fact she caused a fair bit of trouble herself, but she never crossed the line into straight cruelty that Alexis seemed to flirt with at every opportunity.

Truthfully, the most trouble Anna ever really caused for the town were her bouts of stealing food. She felt bad about it most of the time, but the orphanage barely fed the kids enough to survive and Ms. Whitney liked to give Anna half rations as a punishment whenever she so much as sneezed the wrong way. Anna also tended to try and only take from stores she knew were owned by or connected to Mr. Daringard. This was both because she knew he could afford to replace the lost items and also it provided her some small sort of revenge against Alexis, who had been making fun of Anna every time they crossed paths for as long as she could remember.

Anna meandered around town for a bit, mostly just walking around aimlessly trying to keep her mind off of Ms. Whitney and the pendant she had taken from Anna. She passed the dollar store where most people went to get supplies whenever their shopping list didn’t require a larger shopping center, which they would have to drive forty miles or so to the next town over to reach. Across the street from the store was a small park where Anna figured she could sit on a swing and take a small break. As her feet met the small pebbles that covered the playground, she felt a few small rocks penetrate through the holes in her shoes. She didn’t even bother to remove them, knowing that more would enter and irritate her as soon as she got rid of the first ones.

Ignoring the small stabs of pain she felt with each step, she made her way past the tall steel slide that was covered in rust and over to the swingset. At some point, it had clearly held three swings, but one had either broken or been taken so that now only two swings hung from the metal frame. It had been that way for as long as Anna could remember. Just as her hands closed around the icy chain of the swing and her rear end fell into the seat, she heard a noise that made her look up towards the store across the street.

Tink-tink.

The bell on the door sang as someone began exiting the store.

“Oh if it isn't little Orphan Annie!” a voice shrieked from across the street with a spiteful sort of glee.

Anna felt her heart drop into her stomach so hard and quick that it was almost audible. The pounding in her head seemed to intensify ever so slightly as she watched three figures walk out of the store entrance. As if her day had not already been complicated enough, Alexis von Daringard was now making a beeline straight towards her, flanked on either side by two boys who seemed to follow her wherever she went. As Alexis approached closer to Anna, she seemed to puff out her chest in what she clearly thought was an intimidating manner. Intimidating to a field mouse maybe, Anna thought to herself.

Alexis was three years older than Anna and quite a bit taller. It didn’t help that Anna was still sitting slouched in the swing which only served to make Alexis seem even larger. She realized this was a precarious position to be in and immediately stood up to face Alexis. Alexis sat her designer handbag down on the bottom of the rusted slide and came within a foot of Anna, the two boys on either side.

“How’s Little Orphan Annie doing today? Come to dig through the trash for some scraps?” Chided Alexis.

She was the kind of popular girl you usually see on TV harassing everyone else for not being as picture perfect as she was. The kind of girl who tended to be prettier than everyone else in the room, and would not hesitate to point it out to anyone who would listen. She sported the seemingly oh-so sought after combination of blonde hair and blue eyes that people seemed to crave so much and there wasn’t a blemish or pimple to be found on her face. On top of that, she had curves that could make most older women jealous, and was not shy about using her looks to get her way with the boys and men around her. In quite literally every sense, she was the Anti-Anna. Not that this particularly bothered Anna too much. She had no interest in being anything like Alexis.

“Huh-huh, looks like she done dug through the trash, Lexi. I reckon that’s where she got them clothes she’s wearin',” said the boy to Alexis’s right in a thick country accent.

Anna recognized this boy as Cletus. His face was not quite so unblemished as Alexis' face. Between the freckles and acne, it was hard to tell what color his skin was supposed to be. He was usually right on Alexis’ heels, barking on command and begging for scraps like a good little boy. He was not nearly as well-spoken as Alexis, nor as wealthy and it definitely showed. Anna figured that Alexis kept him around in order to make herself seem smarter, richer, and better looking by comparison.

“Oh Cletus, don’t be so mean. It’s not her fault that she doesn’t have any parents to buy her clothes. Though, they probably left because she’s so ugly, so I guess it really is her fault,” replied Alexis, shooting a nasty smile at Anna.

The three kids guffawed like a bunch of howler monkeys.

Anna balled her fists and said through gritted teeth, “Keep talking Alexis, I’m sure your daddy can afford to buy you some new teeth once i knock yours crooked.”

Truthfully, Anna did not want to fight Alexis. Anna was not scared of her, but Alexis still had the height advantage and Anna would not put it past Cletus to hit a girl in order to defend his dear ‘Lexi’. On top of that, Alexis’ father could probably afford to buy the orphanage, and Anna could only imagine what horrors that would bring. But still, she wasn’t about to let Alexis walk all over her like she did everyone else in her path.

“Oh, go right ahead sweetheart,” said Alexis, provocation dripping from every word, “I’m sure Ms… What was her name? Ms. Witness or whatever, would just love to receive a call from my father’s lawyer.”

“What’s wrong, too scared to fight your own battles?" Anna shot back, "I’d be scared of me too if I were you. Haven’t you heard? I’m crazy!”

As she said this, Anna stuck out her tongue and shook her head violently, doing her best to look as maniacal as possible. This greatly increased her pounding headache but it was worth it. She reveled in the looks of disgust that passed between the three older kids as they each took a few steps backwards. Her reputation as a trouble maker could only help to serve her purpose.

But Alexis quickly regained her composure before rebutting, ““I’m not scared of anything, especially not some ratty, underfed, unwanted little orphan like you.”

Anna did her best to not show the sting that the words carried with them. Clearly she didn’t mask it well enough as Alexis pushed forward with her insults.

“It must be so sad, to know that you had parents who didn’t want you. I wouldn’t know though. But they could have at least left enough money for you to afford a brush for that nappy mop of hair on your head. I mean really, I know you live in an orphanage, but surely they must at least give you shampoo right? Clearly not as it smells like they don’t even give you soap for your clothes to be washed with.”

Anna suddenly became very conscious of the myriad of stains that adorned her shirt. She immediately found herself wishing that she had found a cleaner outfit to wear that morning so as to not give Alexis more ammunition.

“At least I don’t need my dad to buy my friends,” Anna spat at her.

Unfortunately, this only seemed to please Alexis.

“Apparently your dad doesn’t need you at all,” She retorted with a twisted smile.

The heat Anna had felt earlier during her confrontation with Ms. Whitney suddenly came rushing back, completely overshadowing the cold wind that was permeating her ragged clothing. Without giving it a second thought, she brought her arm back and swung her fist right at Alexis’ face, intent on wiping that smug smile right off of it. Unfortunately, this didn’t go quite as she had hoped.

Just as her fist was about to make contact, the second boy, whose name Anna didn’t know, reached towards her with a speed that didn’t quite match the stupefied look on his face, catching Anna’s wrist in midair. Anna looked over at him but before she could really register what had happened, Cletus had reached around to grab her other wrist and the two boys now held her in place, completely at Alexis’ mercy.

“Tsk, tsk,” Alexis said, “Poor Orphan Annie, perhaps all the dirt on your clothes is weighing you down,”

“Get some new material,” Anna said and without hesitation, she kicked Alexis directly in the kneecap.

The girl fell to the ground, howling in pain. Anna felt a sweet rush of euphoria sweep through her but it was short lived. Alexis stood back up almost immediately, a look of rage contorting her pretty features. Her hair looked markedly more disheveled than it had a few seconds before. Anna grinned at her. Alexis eyed her with disgust, let out a snort, and then spat on Anna. Before Anna could share in her disgust, Alexis had taken advantage of Anna being bound and smacked her across the face followed by a hard shove. Anna toppled backwards, tripping over the swing before landing with a hard thud on the ground. The three kids erupted in malicious laughter. Anna could feel her eyes begin to burn with tears.

“You know, you’re braver than you look. You’re also stupider than you look and that’s really saying something,” Alexis said.

Anna dropped her head and did not reply. She did not want to look up at her three tormentors. She knew she had messed up and was fully expecting that she was about to get her butt handed to her in a fight she had no chance of winning. But the blows she expected didn’t come. Instead, Alexis turned and began walking towards the slide. She grabbed her purse and returned, her hand fishing around inside the bag for something. She pulled out a small rectangular shaped object that Anna recognized as a cellular phone. Anna didn’t have one herself of course, but she had seen other kids with them as well as the advertisements for them in magazines she had stolen from various stores. Alexis clicked around on the screen a few times before bringing the phone up to her ear. Anna felt a shiver run down her spine that was quite unrelated to the piercing cold. Whatever Alexis was doing, it could not bode well for Anna.

“Hi daddy!” said Alexis enthusiastically after a few moments of silence, “You know that poor little homeless girl who gave us some trouble a while back? Yes, yes, that’s the one. Well, she’s causing me some problems again and I think I know just how to take care of the issue. Are you still playing cards tonight with Sheriff Owens?”

Anna’s heart began to sink. After all the trouble she had caused in the last few years, her and Sheriff Owens were quite familiar with each other. It wasn’t a ‘friendly’ kind of familiar either. The words “juvenile detention” had been thrown around by the sheriff a time or two and after Anna’s most recent run in with him (it involved a call made by Ms. Whitney herself) she had begun to feel that she was really pushing her luck. There were some muffled noises coming from the earpiece of the phone.

“Oh no daddy, that isn’t necessary, but I do have a few things I’d like for you to speak to him about tonight. This girl is really becoming a problem I can’t tolerate any longer.”

Again, anger began to boil underneath Anna’s skin, replacing the shivers with a long-building hot hatred for Alexis. She hated everything the girl stood for, everything she did, everything she had. It’s not fair, Anna thought to herself as Alexis continued to complain to her father. The hatred began to feel as if it were ringing throughout her body, she could feel the waves of fury pulsing through her very veins. She had never done anything to deserve the hand she had been dealt. Sure, she had stolen some food here and there, maybe a magazine or book a few times, but she was merely a victim of circumstance. Anna was simply trying to survive, she wasn’t actively trying to hurt the people around her. Alexis was another story. She had been handed the whole world on a silver platter and still it wasn’t enough for her. She chose to push and poke people, drag them through the mud and kick them when they were down. Anna despised her and that feeling of malice had never been so strong as it was in this moment.

“Hey, what’s up with your hair, freak?” said the second boy that Anna only knew by sight.

“Looks like she went and rubbed a b’loon on her head Jay,” said Cletus, eyeing Anna up and down.

Anna wasn’t paying them any attention, the whole world was being drowned by the ringing in her ears, and all she could seem to focus on was Alexis.

“Stop,” said Anna quietly.

“I’m so sorry daddy, could you repeat that, the riff raff around here was being too loud,” said Alexis into the mouthpiece, completely ignoring Anna.

“I said stop!” Anna shouted with as much conviction as she could muster.

As she did so, the phone in Alexis’s hand suddenly exploded, sending plastic and metal and smoke flying everywhere. The force of the blast was enough to knock Alexis straight off her feet, and she crumpled in a heap on the ground. For a moment, nobody moved or even breathed. Anna was dumbstruck, she did not understand what had just happened.

“She’s a witch, she’s a witch!” Yelled Cletus at the top of his lungs, “She’s a witch and she done killed Lexi!”

“What did you do to her?” said the boy, who was apparently named Jay, accusingly.

“I… I didn’t... I don’t…” Stammered Anna.

But the boys’ faces showed that their minds were already set that Anna had somehow been responsible. She didn’t know what to say, she didn’t know how to respond; it felt as though she were in some kind of dream. To make matters worse, her head had began aching so much that she could black spots now swimming in her vision.

“Ughhh…” Moaned Alexis, as she tried to sit up.

Her two lackeys bent down automatically to help her. Anna didn’t have to look long to see the damage. What had just moments before been a perfectly symmetrical, beautiful face, was now a bloody mess on most of one side.

“Cletus, go inside and use the Mason’s phone to call 9-1-1, tell them to send cops and an ambulance. Hurry!” Urged the boy called Jay, who then turned to look at Anna while still supporting Alexis. “Oh, you’re done now, freak. You’ll be sent away over this for sure.”

Anna did not know what else to do, so she did something she was reasonably good at. She turned, and began running as fast as she could. She looked back briefly to see Alexis being helped into the general goods store by Cletus and her heart dropped as she realized that Jay had decided to give chase to her. She was fast on her feet, but Jay was several years older and his legs were quite a bit longer. Luckily for Anna, she had a little experience trying to evade pursuers and Jay was a bit on the heavy side. She hung a right down the first street she came to before cutting a sharp left into a dank, narrow alleyway. Images of the previous night flashed in her mind for just a moment, but she couldn’t think about that now. She pushed the thoughts to the back of her mind while also pushing her legs a bit harder.

About halfway down the alleyway was a rusted chain link fence. In the manner of someone who has had lots of practice climbing fences, Anna shimmied over the top and hopped down the other side with ease. She stopped and turned, but only for a moment. To her horror, Jay’s weight did not seem to affect his fence climbing ability and he was almost over the top. Anna bolted before waiting to see if he would climb down the other side or jump from the top as she had. If the loud thud behind her was any indication, he had chosen to jump as well.

Anna wound her way down cramped alleyways, through abandoned side streets, and past derelict buildings, their uses and inhabitants long forgotten. She didn't dare turn around again, but she could hear the thump thump thump of Jay’s sneakers as he followed closely behind her, the sounds of their shoes echoing through the quiet streets. Doesn’t this guy ever give up, Anna thought to herself before almost losing her balance on some gravel as she took another sharp right into another extremely tight alley. Before she could get far though, something peculiar happened. A paint-stripped door creaked open just as Anna was passing, and a hand reached out of it with lightning speed, grabbing Anna forcefully and yanking her inside.

“What the--!” Anna exclaimed as she lost her balance and toppled through the doorway.

The door shut quickly, but quietly behind her. Anna was instantly enveloped in a cloud of darkness and silence as the door closed. She did not dare even take a breath in case Jay were to be listening at the door. Luckily, a few moments later, she heard the thudding that told her Jay was passing by the door and taking his pursuit further down the alley. When she did finally take a breath, the deep, labored gasp seemed even louder in the placid room. Slowly, her eyes began to adjust to the darkness. As they did so, a person’s silhouette began to take form just a few feet away. It looked as if the stranger was beginning to reach toward Anna. She began to crawl back frantically, terror starting to grip her all over again. But the hand wasn’t reaching for her. Instead, it was getting a light.

Quite literally getting a light in fact. The hand had stuck out in the dark, and a ball of warm, glowing light had slowly floated up from it’s upturned palm. With the help of the light, Anna could now make out the features of the person to whom the hand belonged: it was man, an old man. The man had wispy white hair that hung down to his shoulders and a short, silver colored goatee that did little to hide his wrinkles. The accentuated laugh lines on his face told the story of a man who smiled often, and that very smile happened to be present on his face at that moment. It was a smile that seemed to reach his eyes, which in the light Anna could see were a bright silvery-blue color that matched well with his bushy white eyebrows. They had a mischievous sort of twinkle behind them that belied his elderly appearance. As strange as it was for Anna to find herself alone in a dark room with a strange man, the genuineness of his smile helped to put her at ease.

He was a bit hunched over, and he carried an ornate looking walking stick that he seemed to be using to help him balance better. The stick itself was adorned with some kind of fanciful symbols that Anna had never seen before. A brilliant blue, perfectly round orb sat atop the walking stick and the wood of the stick seemed to have grown around the orb naturally somehow. The strangeness of the whole situation was increased by the man's attire. He wore what Anna could only describe as robes, but not the kind you put on after a bath. These robes were sweeping and ornate, with bits of lace on the cuffs and shiny gold buttons on the front. They were colorful, with hues of reds and blues and purples coloring whatever fabric they were made of. His robes were so colorful, in fact, that the man would have stood out like a sore thumb on the grey, drab streets of Darjeary, Indiana.

“Hello,” the man said in a reassuring tone, “my name is Broderick, and you must be Anna.”

“I told you she could use a bath,” came another voice from somewhere behind the man named Broderick, but Anna could not see anyone else in the room with them.

The voice sounded oddly familiar to Anna for some reason. She heard some scuffling from behind Broderick and suddenly a bird shuffled into the light. Not just any bird. It was the same white bird that Anna had seen perched in the trees earlier during her walk into town.

“Pretty, but dirty. And underfed. Told you so,” the bird said in a matter-of-fact tone.

I’ve definitely lost my mind, Anna thought.

“Nope. No, no, nope. I’m out. That...That thing just talked and I’m stuck in a dark room with some crazy old guy. Move please,” Anna said but she didn't give Broderick the opportunity to comply.

She pushed herself past the man and the bird, who squawked in a way that Anna could only describe as indignantly. Her hand had just reached the handle of the door when the man said something that made her hesitate.

“Don’t you want to know what happened last night? What happened with Gwen?”

Anna felt a cold shiver run down her spine. How does he know about that, she thought. She turned to face the man. For some reason his words had made her angry and her next words came out louder than she meant them to.

“How do you know about that?! Were you the one who attacked that woman?” she said with an unmistakable tone of accusation in her voice.

The man looked hurt at her words. The joyous twinkle had faded from his eyes somewhat.

“I would never harm Gwendolyn,” he said quietly, “she was the very best friend I could ever, or will ever have.”

Something in his voice told Anna that he spoke the truth. She felt her anger dissipate, only to be replaced by shame. She was also intensely curious to see what the old man knew about the craziness she had experienced in the last twenty four hours. She wanted answers and perhaps this Broderick fellow could give them to her. But she wasn’t prepared to fully lower her guard just yet.

“I’m listening,” Anna said, somewhat hesitantly.

“Well, aren’t you a spry little chick,” the bird said.

Anna felt the urge to leave again due to the sheer strangeness of a bird speaking, but she decided to confront the strangeness head on instead.

“I wasn’t talking to you,” she said before looking Broderick directly in the eyes and saying forcefully, “what happened in that alley last night?”

“Truthfully, I’m not sure,” Broderick replied.

Anna didn’t find this answer very satisfactory.

“Well, if you can’t tell me what happened, I’ll be leav-”

“I believe Gwendolyn granted you her magic,” Broderick stated, as if this were a completely normal thing for a human being to say.

Anna laughed. She hadn’t meant to, but his response had been crazy, ludicrous, delusional even.

“Yeah, okay,” she said with obvious sarcasm, “I thought you were strange. I see now that I was wrong about you. You’re just insane.”

“Surely you’ve felt it. I can see it in your eyes. Can you explain what occurred last night? I’m not privy to the exact details as I wasn’t there, but Gwendolyn’s magic is radiating off of you like a beacon. I imagine you saw some things that you can’t quite make sense of. Otherwise, you’d have opened that door and left already,” Broderick said.

He spoke with a sureness that made Anna nervous for some reason. This old man was off his rocker, wasn’t he?

“Look, pal, I’m not a kid. I learned magic isn’t real a long time ago. If it was, this world would be a much better place than it is now,” Anna said.

“Can you tell me what happened? I can feel Gwendolyn’s magic reverberating from within you, but truthfully, I’m not sure how she would have given it to you. In terms of history, I can’t recall any sorcerer or sorceress passing their magic to another person before. As far as I know, it is unheard of. But the traces of Gwendolyn on you are unmistakable. Perhaps, if you can recount last night’s events to me, we can figure out exactly what happened together,” Broderick replied, as if he hadn’t heard a word Anna had just said.

He spoke with such conviction that Anna was having trouble finding another denial. Perhaps it had all been real… What did she have to lose by recounting the story to him, anyways? The man was clearly insane so it’s not like he could exactly judge her too harshly. Anna looked around for somewhere to sit before attempting to recount the outlandish events of the previous night, but there was no furniture in this room. There was only the three of them and a cloud of dust that seemed to sparkle like glitter from the glow of the ball of light Broderick was brandishing. The flooring of the abandoned building had warped from years of neglect and floorboards jutted up at awkward angles. Anna didn’t imagine it would be too comfortable to sit on, but it would have to do.

As if he had read her mind, Broderick said quickly, “Allow me,” before tapping his staff on the ground.

The crystal orb that sat atop his staff began to glow a brilliant blue light, almost as bright as the light he held. The blue traveled quickly down the staff and seemed to dissipate into the floorboards. The ground beneath Anna began to shudder and vibrate. As if they were alive, the warped boards began to wriggle and move and change. It was as if they were made of liquid. Anna could not believe her eyes and for a second, the urge to run away was almost unbearable. The floorboards rose and intertwined, a faint shimmer of blue light emanating from them. This lasted for just a few moments before the glow disappeared and, where only moments before had been empty space, a makeshift chair now sat, formed from the floorboards themselves. Anna had been so fascinatingly preoccupied watching her own chair form, that she hadn’t noticed a second one forming behind Broderick.

“Oh sure, I’ll just sit on the floor then,” the bird squawked before turning away from them and beginning to preen herself.

Anna wasn’t exactly in tune with the feelings of birds, but this one definitely seemed annoyed. Broderick ignored the bird’s remark and took a seat in his magically makeshift chair. He gestured for Anna to sit as well. She hesitated for a moment before taking the seat across from him.

“There. Now that we are comfortable, tell me what happened. Please,” he said.

His friendly demeanor was still present, but there was also a slight sign of pleading in his tone. So Anna told him. She told him everything she could remember, skipping past the part of why she had been running before coming to the alley of course. For some reason, she didn’t think this Broderick fellow would be very impressed at her petty thievery. At some point, the bird had stopped preening herself and was focused intently on what Anna was saying. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, she came to the end of her tale.

“And the next thing I knew I was waking up in my bed this morning with no idea how I got there and a splitting headache,” she finished.

She was surprised to feel the beginnings of tears in her eyes. She wiped them away quickly, feeling ashamed.

“It is rather dusty in here, isn’t it?” Broderick asked before wiping some moisture from his own eyes, “Would you like some tea?”

Without waiting for an answer, he moved his hand from the ball of light and started to rummage around the inside of his robe. Anna was somewhat surprised to see the ball stayed hanging in the air, as if suspended by some invisible rope. After a moment, Broderick pulled out a nondescript wooden box. It wasn’t overly large, but she still was not sure how he had managed to conceal it so fully under his robes. He popped the lid of the tartan box open to reveal two small porcelain cups and an assortment of what looked to be different kinds of tea bags. Broderick removed the cups and sat them in the air in front of him. Much like the ball of light, and to Anna’s endless amazement, they floated in the air between them. He grabbed his staff, which he had leaned against his floorboard chair, tipped it over one of the cups, and began to pour steaming hot water from the crystal as if this was a perfectly normal thing to do. He then did the same with the other cup before steeping a tea bag in each one.

His hand made a waving gesture towards one of the cups and it began to bob through the air towards Anna, spilling a small drop as it made its way to her. She retrieved it somewhat hesitantly from the air and took a sip. Her mouth had become rather dry from all the talking she had done combined with the thick dust hanging in the air and the tea brought her much needed relief. She had drank tea at the orphanage before but this tea was absolutely exquisite compared to what the orphanage had provided. She was used to not having sugar with her tea, but even without sweetener, this tea had a sweet, almost honey-like taste to it and it seemed to float across her tongue, sending a warming sensation down her throat and into her belly that spread to the very tips of her fingers. The headache that had plagued her all morning began to subside quite a bit as she drank the tea.

“Well, Anna, I can’t be precisely sure what happened, but I can make an educated guess,” Broderick said.

He was giving her a deep, searching sort of look that made Anna feel somewhat exposed.

“Please do, I’ve just been thinking I’ve gone mad,” Anna admitted.

“My dear, you are definitely not mad, and despite what your mind might be telling you, this is all far from a dream. I will tell you what I think happened, but first I need to provide you some context. We, as in my people, have a magic thief in our midst. He, or she, has been plaguing my community for many months now, murdering and stealing the magic of our citizens. I believe that this is the person you saw Gwen dueling with last night.”

“But I thought you said people couldn’t pass magic to someone else?” Anna said, remembering what Broderick had said earlier.

“I didn’t say it couldn’t be done, just that it hasn’t ever happened before to my knowledge. Before now, at least. And there is a rather large difference between giving one’s magic away and stealing someone else’s. There are dark and forbidden methods for taking another sorcerer's magic, most of which are ancient, and all of which have been outlawed by the Five Kingdoms.”

“The five who?”

“Kingdoms. The Five Kingdoms who bear magic. Throughout the ages, some dark sorcerers and sorceresses have conspired to steal the magic of others, almost always in an attempt to make themselves stronger, to gather power for one nefarious deed or another. One of the most well known and well documented methods of this is the Saccularus Blade. The blade’s origins have been lost to the deep annals of history, but it’s misuse is quite well known to most in my world. It has been used several times by wicked souls to steal the magic of others. To steal another sorcerer’s magic is a vile and traitorous deed, and eventually, the blade was locked deep within the vaults of my own kingdom.”

“Despicable,” the bird cut in.

Anna jumped; she had almost forgotten the bird was there.

“What’s with the talking bird?” She asked.

“How rude of me,” said Broderick, “this is Misaada. She is what is known as a secretary bird and she is the most wonderful assistant one could ask for. She goes wherever I go.”

“Only because you’d be helpless without me,” the bird proclaimed in a very matter-of-fact tone.

Broderick smiled at this before focusing back on Anna.

“Now, where was I?”

“The knife was locked in some vaults,” Anna said, eager to hear the rest of the tale.

“Ah, yes. Many years ago, the blade was reclaimed by the Royal family and locked deep within our most secure vault, deep below the Kingdom castle. But at some point, it was stolen,” Broderick said with a sigh.

“Your secure vaults don’t sound very secure,” Anna said sarcastically.

“Yes, well, that is another matter, one of which I have my own concerns. But we shall save that for later. Truthfully, no one realized the Saccularus Blade was missing at first. For all we really know, it could have been missing for years. Unfortunately, the contents of the vault aren’t examined very often, so it’s hard to say when exactly it may have been taken. It only really came to our attention that a burglary had occurred when the murders began.”

Anna felt a chill run down her spine.

She took another sip of tea before saying, “That was the blade that the man dressed in black had last night.”

“That is my best guess, yes,” confirmed Broderick, “and whomever you saw was attempting to steal Gwen’s magic. It makes sense, as much sense as any of this can make in any case. Gwen is…” he paused, seeming to collect himself before continuing, “Gwen was one of the most powerful and accomplished sorceresses of our time. It only makes sense that she would be a target of the magic thief.”

“But none of this makes sense,” Anna said, sounding exasperated, “why on Earth would two people from your… world or country or kingdom, whatever, be here. We are literally in the middle of nowhere. Even the people who live here don’t want to be here. Why would someone of your kind choose to come to this run down town?”

Broderick sat silent for a while. Anna began to think he wasn't going to answer her. Misaada seemed to shift uncomfortably, her long claws making soft scratching noises against the worn flooring. Finally, Broderick sighed, before speaking again.

“That is something that I don’t know. I honestly couldn’t even hazard a guess. It is rare for people of my kind to come to your world, and I couldn’t begin to think what Gwen thought she might find in such a place as this.”

Anna felt a pang of annoyance at this.

Another moment of silence passed between them before the bird spoke again, “You must tell her more Broderick, the poor girl needs answers.”

“Yes, yes, I’m getting there,” he said, waving an impatient hand at Misaada, “she is referring to how Gwendolyn managed to give you her powers. It is my belief that Gwendolyn knew that her time was short. She understood the gravity of her situation and the wound inflicted by the Saccularus Blade was causing her magic to leave her body. For reasons only known to Gwen, she must have seized on this opportunity to gift that escaping magic to you.”

“But why?” Anna asked frustratedly.

“Dim girl, didn’t you hear him say for reasons only known to Gwen?” Misaada asked, flapping her feathers in an annoyed gesture.

Anna scoffed indignantly at the bird, but any witty comeback she might have had was cut off by Broderick.

“Gwen was the smartest sorceress I knew. She was meticulous and careful, and whatever reasons she had for doing what she did must have been good ones. I have never met a more capable person in my life and she wouldn’t have made the decision to give you, someone not of our world, her magic without a reason or intention. It is for this purpose, and others obviously, that I must extend an invitation to you to come with Misaada and I back to our kingdom.”

Anna was dumbfounded. She felt her jaw physically drop as she stared, somewhat stupidly, at Broderick's calm expression.

“Well, that silly look isn’t quite so pretty on you,” Misaada remarked.

“An invitation? To your kingdom?!,” Anna finally spat incredulously, “You really are crazy. I can’t come with you to… To… To God knows where. This is insanity!”

For some reason, Anna was beginning to feel a bit claustrophobic. She went to take another sip of tea but it seemed to have lost some of its sweetness.

“My dear, you must understand, things are no longer safe for you here. If I was able to find you so quickly and easily, it will only be a matter of time before the thief is able to find you as well. And on top of that, you have magic now. You must be taught to control it or the consequences could be dire. You’ve had magic for less than a day and you’ve already managed to blow some poor girls face up!”

Anna had no idea how he knew this information, nor did she care.

She bristled with anger at this before shouting, “Poor girl? POOR GIRL? Did you even hear what she said to me? Clearly you were listening in somehow,” at this, Misaada seemed to look away in shame,”so you must have heard the things she was saying to me. Poor girl, seriously? I had nothing to do with that stupid phone blowing up in her stupid face and even if I did, it was less than she deserved!”

Anna’s words rang through the empty room. At some point during her shouting, she had stood from her makeshift chair, though she couldn’t remember exactly when she had done this. Misaada began shuffling her claws on the floor nervously. Broderick opened his mouth, then closed it again and coughed. He seemed to be searching for the right words to say. Anna’s entire body began to feel uncomfortably warm and suddenly, the room she found herself in was threatening to choke her.

“Anna, please, that’s not what I meant. I just meant that...”

“I don’t care!” Anna shouted.

She had had enough of this. Sorcery, and hidden kingdoms, and thieves of magic. It was all utter nonsense and she would not entertain this crazy old man any longer. It was time for her to go. She sat the cup haphazardly onto the seat she had just vacated, causing it to tip over and spill everywhere, before rushing towards the door. She heard Broderick stand up behind her, heard both him and Misaada protest her leaving, but she ignored both of them. She smashed through the door and began sprinting as quickly as possible. She felt some small tinge of relief that Jay was nowhere to be seen as she ran through the streets of town. She passed the park, then the sign welcoming people to town, and before long, she was back on the rundown path that led back to the orphanage. She didn’t dare stop running however. Her legs ached and her lungs felt like they were on fire, but she kept moving as quickly as she could, completely intent on getting as far away from Alexis, and Darjeary, and that old man and stupid bird as she could. Even Ms. Whitney was preferable to the crap she had dealt with since arriving in town.

A few times, she thought she saw movement in the branches of the trees that lined the road to the orphanage, but she dared not look. She was too afraid that she would see white feathers among the tree limbs again, and right now, she was fine with never seeing another bird in her life. She did not see Misaada again however, and after a while, the trees began to clear somewhat and the orphanage began to show on the horizon, growing larger with each of her thumping footsteps. Finally, Anna reached the front porch of the orphanage, where she stopped for a moment to catch her breath. Her hand came to rest on the rusty handrail that led up the crumbling stairs. The cold metal felt soothing against her hands and seemed to help her slow her breathing. After a moment in which she did her best to collect herself, Anna stomped up the stairs and charged through the door.

She had opened it with more force than she had intended, and the door crashed into the wall with a loud BANG. She stood as still as possible, doing her best to quiet her labored breaths. She fully expected Ms. Whitney to come barreling towards her, head ablaze with anger at the way she had slammed the door open. But Ms. Whitney did not come, and after a moment Anna figured she was in the clear to continue to her room. She made her way through the drab hallway, intent on making as little noise as possible. She did not want to see or speak to anyone right now. She just wanted to get to her room and hide under the covers. She wanted this day to end.

Upon entering the kitchen, she saw a most unwelcome sight, however, in the form of Ms. Whitney, sitting at the table. She had a set of headphones perched onto her head that were connected to a small black cassette player. This explained why she had not come running when the door slammed. While Anna couldn’t hear what was playing, she would be willing to bet a full course meal that it was one of the self-help seminars that Ms. Whitney so frequently listened to. She should really ask for her money back for those, they haven’t helped her at all, Anna thought dryly. She made to turn around, hoping she could go the long way around the orphanage to her room, but it was too late. Ms. Whitney had looked up and laid her beady eyes upon Anna.

“And where have you been?” Ms. Whitney said in an accusatory manner.

“I… Uhhh, I,” Anna stammered, not sure what to say.

I’ve been hanging out with an old man and a talking bird, discussing how some lady gave me magic and a thief wants to take it from me, Anna thought to herself wryly. Somehow, she imagined Ms. Whitney would not entertain this nonsense. Luckily, she didn’t have to explain herself.

“Honestly, I don’t care. It’s your turn to help prepare dinner. Wash up and start cutting the celery.”

“I’m sick,” Anna said without thinking, “I started feeling ill a while ago and had hoped that the cool air would help me to feel better.”

Click-clack-click-clack rang through the kitchen as Ms. Whitney’s long fingernails tapped against the wooden table.

“You’re sick?” she asked, her eyes narrowing in a suspicious gaze.

“Uhhh, yeah,” Anna said weakly.

The chair made a loud screeching noise as Ms. Whitney stood up abruptly and started marching towards Anna, reaching into the pocket of her apron as she did so. She whipped something out causing Anna to flinch and close her eyes, fearing what was coming from the apron.

“Open up,” Ms. Whitney said.

Anna opened her eyes, but quickly realized her eyes weren’t what Ms. Whitney was referring to. She held a small white digital thermometer in between her bony fingers and was pointing it towards Anna in a menacing manner. Anna opened her mouth obligingly and allowed Ms. Whitney to stick the thermometer under her tongue, feeling a jab of pain as she placed it in with far more force than was necessary. A most uncomfortable minute passed as Anna waited on the bird to realize she was lying. Finally a beep issued from the device and Ms. Whitney checked it with a dubious look on her face.

“One hundred and two…” she said slowly, "You are quite sweaty and nasty looking.”

Anna breathed a sigh of relief. Of course her body temperature was up and she was sweaty; she had just ran a few miles back home after all. But luckily, Ms. Whitney was mistaking her physical exertion for illness, and obviously Anna was not about to mention her recent marathon run. Ms. Whitney walked to the old-fashioned sink, which was covered in lyme and calcium deposits, and washed off the thermometer while Anna waited in anticipation. Finally, she turned towards Anna, her lip curled in a disgusted manner.

“Well?”

“Um, well what?” Anna said confused.

“What are you waiting for you little germ infested brat? Get out of my kitchen and into your bed. The last thing I need to deal with is an epidemic because you don’t know how to wash your hands and cover your mouth when you sneeze. Filthy beast,” she snarled before turning and beginning to dig through various cabinets, muttering more insults through her beak.

Anna did not need to be told twice. She rushed past Ms. Whitney and bolted up the stairs, not daring to look back. She heard Ms. Whitney slamming cans down onto the cheap laminate countertop in frustration, clearly angry that she would have to start the dinner preparations. Upon entering her room, Anna did not even change out of the clothes she had on. She made a beeline straight for her bed, only stopping to grab her itchy blanket from where she had tossed it this morning before crawling into her iron-framed bed. It creaked and groaned under her weight, but it did not bother her like it usually did. Neither did the itchy, scratchy blanket that was long overdue for a wash. The smell of the blanket, the irritation on her skin, the metal spring that poked up from the mattress and stuck her in the back all felt familiar and safe to her at that moment. She briefly wondered if the sheriff would be calling Ms. Whitney to tell her what Anna had done to Alexis. But the phone never rang and Ms. Whitney never came marching to her room. She eventually figured that mess would come to a boil by the next morning, but right now she didn't care all that much. Her mind was more preoccupied with other things.

Magic… It was all absolute madness of course. Maybe she really was sick. After the last twenty-four hours she had experienced, she started to feel like she might be in need of a brain doctor far more than the Orphanage nurse. She had a feeling that no antibiotics or cough syrup would help her with whatever illness was causing her to see talking birds and men who could make chairs from floorboards. But what if I do have magic? She thought to herself, allowing her mind to wander in the blackness as sleep threatened to pull her in.

She could get back at everyone. She could get revenge on Ms. Whitney for the way she had always treated her, she could put Alexis in her place, she could make all the people who had ever treated her like dirt pay. Dark thoughts though they were, they seemed to help warm her a bit and push away the cold that was beginning to permeate her thin blanket. Soon, Anna fell asleep, thoughts of vengeance and finally getting back at the people who had wronged her following her into her dreams. It was not a peaceful sleep.

She tossed and turned and began having nightmares of a flaming, monstrous person chasing her through dark, cobblestone covered streets that looked nothing like the worn roads of Darjeary. At one point she awoke, terror gripping her heart and sweat soaking her blanket. But the terror that had come from her nightmares was only allowed to leave for a brief moment, for the flames that had haunted her dreams seemed to have followed her into the waking world. Outside her window, the world seemed to be burning.