"Our late arrival is finally waking up again; it's time to change the subject." Norbert heard an old ladies voice come out, echoing around the room as he came to consciousness.

Opening his eyes, Norbert saw the wooden ceiling above himself, one that seemed familiar, but with sleep still grasping his mind unable to know where he had seen it. Resting back into the bed, he found himself on. Norbert closed his eyes, remembering the last thing he saw.

The wall of projectiles flashed through his mind. He was sitting up, wide awake, as the memory of falling flooded him.

"And he's back ." Norbert heard the voice again, followed by a single chirp. Looking around the room, Norbert saw the wooden table with Granny sitting on it. In front of her were three cups: one in front of her, one in front of an empty chair opposite and one on the side.

As Norbert looked at it, he spotted a little black bird with white flecks drinking from the cup. "Obsius!" Norbert exclaimed, "What are you doing here?" He asked.

Quickly realising where he was, he turned to face Granny. "And you, Granny, what are you doing inside this long-forgotten dust ridden hall?" Norbert asked her.

Turning around, Norbert gets out of bed and makes it, pulling the covers and blankets taunt, ironing out the wrinkles while listening to her speak.

"Can't I have a look through the halls that I once travelled long ago?" Granny asked, taking a sip of the liquid in her cup.

The smell filled the room, a floral smell with a hint of cinnamon. Walking over, Norbert took the chair out, carefully picking it up and not dragging it on the floorboards before sitting down. Taking the cup and saucer, Norbert carefully moved the whole cup to his lip, taking a smell, letting it fill his nostrils until he could almost taste the cinnamon on his tongue.

Moving it to his lips, Norbert swallowed it, the sweetness filling him up, revitalising him. Norbert did not realise how parched his throat was and how tired he had been from his activities. The stress of always being on edge for hours was only now released from him.

Lowering it, Norbert gave a content sigh before placing it back on the table.

"Thanks for that; I really needed it," Norbert said, nodding to Granny.

Granny just smiled in return, moving the cup a loser and taking a tiny sip of her tea.

"Oh, and thank you for the soup for earlier; it was magnificent," Norbert said, kissing chefs with his hands.

Granny responds, "That's all good; whenever you need a hot meal, you can always come to Granny's." She replied.

His neck's hair tingled at the thought that something had happened to him. In those simple words, His entire body shacked over Norbert, sitting in silence before hearing a chirp from Obsius.

Turning to the bird, Norbert asked, "And you still haven't explained what you're doing here? Last I saw, you were sitting outside on the …" Norbert trailed off. You remember Obsius sitting outside there.

"Have you been following me this entire time?" Norbert asked the bird.

Receiving a chirp in reply, Norbert shook his head in bewilderment. "But what about the black men that formed into a ball chasing after me?" Norbert asked the bird.

The only response was Obsius flapping their wings before stopping, not wanting to blow anything off the table with her demonstration.

Norbert just shook her head in response to the bird, not believing that they followed after him.

Being awoken by his thoughts by Granny saying, "I see you putting the scarf to good use."

Norbert looked down. The scarf she had given him was still wrapped around his neck. He was looking at the bit; he used it as a face mask to stop the dust from getting down his throat and aggravating him.

Nodding in response, responding, "Yeah, it has been beneficial down here. All this dust makes my nose run constantly without it."

Granny nodded in response like she knew it was happening from the beginning. He would find his way down here and need the scarf to breathe correctly.

Taking another sip of his tea, Norbert looked up to Granny. "No test to lock me down this time?" Norbert asked her.

The cackle escaped from the older woman before him as she carefully placed her tea down before rolling back in her chair. Norbert was surprised at the change of attitude from before. The quiet and kind-looking woman is now gone.

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

Before him sat an old lady, having seen too much and too far down her whisky bottle, the whips and jokes she brings out at Christmas when all the rest of the family has disappeared, and you're the only one left.

Shocked, the old, caring woman who has only shown you the best has lived a wonderful with some rule-breaking sprinkled on top. Or the more you learn about her, you realise it's more than just a little.

Granny's voice died off, taking Norbert back to reality and out of his thoughts as he looked at the woman. "That was never a test, as you think it was." She said to him.

Norbert turned his head to the side, comprehending the woman's words, "… what do you mean by that? A test that isn't a test I'm thinking of?" Norbert asked her, now utterly confused.

"It was a test, but of will and determination, not one of skill or talent that you might show." Granny responded before whispering, "And one of faith." Like the wind was carrying the words away, Norbert just heard the faintest tinkling of something before it was taken away.

Before he could properly understand what she said and take it in, before he could ask a question about the last part, Granny interrupted his train of thought, "How did you get down here?" She asked him.

Norbert pointed to Obsius with a finger. "Didn't she already tell you what happened?" He asked Granny.

"But I want to hear it from you," Granny responded before scooching her chair slightly forward, leaning back as she took the cup and saucer and had a sip of her tea.

"Well, after having your soup, I went down to the library and asked for recommendations about books on the halls and more about you," Norbert said while nodding to Granny, sitting opposite him.

Leaning forward, Norbert took a sip of his tea, nearly half of it gone already as he tried to quench his parched throat. Feeling the gaze on him intensify, Norbert continued his story.

"Received some books. The one about you was just a children's book about being careful going too deep into the woods or else your moving house will gobble children up," Norbert said.

Granny smiled at that as a glazed-over look took over her. Norbert continued with his story, and seeing his voice snapped her out of it. "We talked and said that writings about you just started appearing and going further back," Norbert said, clearing his throat as the older woman before him narrowed her eyes at what he said.

"Then, I showed her this pendant I ‘received’ once.” Norbert said, making air quotes “And after that, those dark creatures appeared; I escaped from the balcony, down the mountainside, being chased. I found a ravine, then these sets of halls where a weird voice called out to me." Norbert said.

He drummed his finger on his chin as he thought about what happened, "Then the maze hall and you, in the centre of it." Norbert said.

Turning to Obsius, asking "Is there anything else I missed?" He asked her.

Obsius chirped angrily, responding, "Well then, you can tell the story next time. Oh wait, she wanted me. Though you were right about me missing the blood room with the weird ball emanating crimson light and blood." Norbert said to her.

The older woman in front of him, sipping her tea, suddenly stopped. "What do you mean, blood coming out of a crystal?" She asked him.

"Exactly as I described it. I went past a fissure into a cave, and a river of blood flowed down. I went back up and, going through another fissure in the rock, found a room with indents similar to the pendant I had found but bathed in red light emanating from it. Above had a hole in the ceiling I crawled through, leading to some massive stairs leading to the hall network I assume I'm in now." Norbert explained in greater detail to Granny than before.

Granny nods to herself, "The relic is likely what your friend is here for." She said.

Norbert thinks for a second. "You mean Count von Count? Yeah, I can see why he would want something like that."

Granny halted for a second. "Did you say, Count von Count?" She asked him. Norbert nodded, but she started laughing again before he could say anything. Norbert wondered how it could be so funny, as Granny waved her hand before him. "It's all good, child; just happy to hear he's still out and about and not trapped on that island of theirs." She said to him.

Norbert just nodded, wondering what the vampire did in the past that someone like Granny would know about him. "And how do you know of Count von Count?" Norbert asked her.

"Why don't you ask the man yourself," Granny responded. Before Norbert could rebut, she held out her hand. "Do you still have that pendant?" She asked him.

Norbert nodded in response, looking around for his backpack. Turning around, Norbert saw it next to the bed. Watching, seeing as it was the right way up, Norbert flipped it around before searching for it at the bottom.

"Oh goodness, what happened to you? Is the book I lent you okay?" Granny asked, creaking out of her chair as she rattled around, grabbing Norbert's face as she twisted, pinched and pulled it out.

Opening an eyelid, leaning forward and staring into his eye before she started patting down his body. "Where did you get hit?" She asked him.

"In the waist," Norbert said, standing up undoing the button on his coat while he held it up in the air to allow Granny to look at his stomach and confirm he was fine with her own eyes.

Feeling her cold hands touching his stomach, she looked closer, not even seeing a scar.

"Where were you hurt?" She asked him.

Norbert goes from below his rib cage to his hips. "From here to here." He said.

The older woman looked up in confusion.

Norbert explains further, "One of those projectiles hit me here in the stomach, taking out all of this." Norbert said as he drew a rough circle on his body.

Granny whistled in response as she walked away; Norbert was surprised by the response, not even thinking the older woman could whistle at all, the feeling he received from her not being the type of person to do so usually.

Walking around to her seat, hopping up into the chair, she patted the table as Norbert reached in again.

Taking out the book she had given him, showing that it hadn't been damaged in the run he had to get here, he pulled out the pendant, looking at the purple lines on it and the jagged rock around it, now smoother than when he first ripped it out.

Granny picked it up, holding it up to her eye before whistling again for the second time that day. "Now, this is old, even for me." She said to Norbert.

"And …" Norbert asked her.

"Did you hear the tragedy of Mahnu the Stupendous?"

“No.” Norbert responded.

Granny nodded her head in response. "I thought not. It's not a story the Frontier would tell you."