When Ginger first woke up, her whole body felt stiff and sore. She was only awake briefly, having not even opened her eyes. The second time she woke up wasn't much different than the first. This time, however, she didn't fall back asleep.

Voices in the room kept her from opening her eyes. Instead, she strained her ears in an attempt to hear anything the people were saying. Try as she may, the only thing she could determine was that there were two people in the room with her.

"I know you're awake." A small voice spoke directly into Ginger's ear, startling her.

Ginger snapped her eyes open and nearly fell off the bed. She looked at who had spoken, a little old lady, in bewilderment. Her mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water, her hand slowly trailing to her pouch of cards.

"Looking for these?" The old woman held up said pouch, a ghost of a smile on her ancient-looking face.

Ginger paused, dread filling the pit of her stomach. She glanced around the room, trying to get an idea of her location. Initially, she feared she was in prison. But looking more closely now, Ginger realized she was in a small home.

Books and trinkets were stacked to the ceiling all over the floor, leaving hardly any space for walking, much less escaping. She guessed the quilts hanging on the walls were covering windows, shutting out any natural light save for the skylight in the roof. Skeletons of various animals and baskets of herbs were hanging from the rafters, along with tiny crystals that twinkled like stars. Candles dotted the room to allow plenty of light for the house's occupants to see.

The bed Ginger lay on was no exception to the clutter, with quilts piled on the edge of the bed, along with a few books balanced at the edge of her feet. She pulled her feet up a bit, a difficult feat in her current state, and looked back at the old woman in front of her, who Ginger now realized was seated on an antique stool.

"BILL," the old woman crowed, turning away from Ginger, "she's awake again."

Laurianna looked off in the same direction as the old woman when she heard something toppling over, followed by a stream of curses. "Hold on," came a gruff voice somewhere in the house.

In a matter of moments an ancient-looking old man came into sight, an old, leather book under one of his arms while his free hand was held away, ready to grab hold of something in case he fell.

"I'm sure you must feel a little alarmed, waking up in a new place," The old woman said to Ginger in a kindly voice, "My name is Agatha and the big oaf over there," she looked back at the man still making his way over to them, having gotten his robe caught on something, "is my husband, Eustace."

Ginger didn't say anything as Eustace finally made his way over, looking at his wife as if he couldn't believe what she had called him. Shaking the look from his face, he gave a tight smile to Ginger. "It's good to finally meet you, Laurianna."

She froze, staring wide-eyed at Eustace. "Ah, Laurianna?" She asked, a nervous sweat breaking across her forehead. "I think you have me mistaken for someone else," she gave out a nervous chuckle.

"We may be old, but not stupid," Agatha snapped, readjusting herself on the stool, "We know exactly who you are, child."

Once again that feeling of despair filled the pit of her stomach as she watched the two closely in front of her. "Um..."

Eustace huffed, bushy brows furrowing together. "Don't look so alarmed, it's not like we're gonna kill yeh."

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Laurianna once again let out a nervous laugh as Agatha added, "Not like we could, anyways."

There was a tense pause. No one spoke for a solid two minutes, Laurianna too scared to say anything while the old couple was simply waiting for her to say something. Laurianna tried to look anywhere but at the two in front of her, her gaze focusing on a pair of metal gauntlets in the back of the room. "Um," she began, slowly tearing her eyes back at Agatha and Eustace, "what-what exactly happened? Where am I?"

Agatha gave a wide smile and turned to Eustace. "Dear, go start my tea kettle, will you?"

"What? I just got here."

With a glare, Agatha gave her husband a half-hearted shove and snapped, "Do as I say, you big oaf." Eustace left with a huff, trying not to get caught on anything again. The smile reappeared on the old woman's face as she turned back to the uncomfortable Laurianna. "An Abomination made its way into the Median Sector, gave you a nasty head wound."

"Chamomile?" Eustace yelled from the depths of the house.

"No," Agatha called back, her frown returning, "We're out. Use lavender."

Agatha paused for a moment, waiting until she heard Eustace grunt back in response before the smile came back onto her face. "You said the two of you were married?" Laurianna asked suddenly.

"Yes, a full eighty years now," She beamed at Laurianna, her dark eyes sparkling like black pearls. "Anyways, what was I saying..."

"The Abomination?"

"Ah, yes! Nasty thing, it was, Eustace was impressed with the number you did on it. If it weren't for the fact he had been tracking it, we wouldn't have known what it was in that alley. You didn't leave much of it left, just some ashes."

"Sorry," Laurianna whispered.

"Don't be sorry, child," Agatha seemed baffled, "you saved people a lot of trouble today. Thing's could have been much worse."

Eustace came waddling back with three mugs in his hands, a bitter look on his face. He handed a mug to both Agatha and Laurianna, then muttered about hating tea as he took a sip from his own mug.

Laurianna hesitantly took a sip of her tea, before gagging at the taste, earning a chuckle from Agatha. "Tastes great," Laurianna said, trying to cover up her displeasure as her face slowly reddened in embarrassment.

"Sure it is," Agatha smiled before continuing, her expression dimming once again. "That boy, did you know him?"

It took Laurianna a moment to realize who she was talking about. "The thief? No... did he die?"

Agatha nodded her head, eyes closed. "That beast caved in his face. You got real lucky, Laurianna. Although, I shouldn't be so surprised. You are a Valdis after all."

"I still don't understand how you know who I am, or why you haven't reported me yet. Aren't you breaking the law by not saying anything?"

Eustace spoke up before his wife could reply, "Only if you weren't in association with GHOST, and how we know who you are, well, we have our sources."

"But I'm not with GHOST?"

Agatha gave Eustace a look before looking down at her tea. "Well," she paused to look up at Laurianna, "I am a retired GHOST officer, so technically..."

Laurianna looked at Agatha in shock. "Oh."

Agatha laughed out loud, a sudden shift in her expression. "They gave you our address, Head Mistress wrote me a letter about it."

A confused look spread across Laurianna's face. Setting her tea in her lap, she asked, "Why would they want me to come here?"

"Beats me," Eustace shrugged.

They all paused. Agatha calmly sipped on her tea while Eustace just stood by, mug clasped in his hands. Laurianna twisted a few of her curls between her fingertips as she looked at the floor, an awkward silence filling the dusty air. Finally, Laurianna broke the silence by asking, "So... what now?"

Agatha heaved herself off the stool to stand, being much shorter than Laurianna had initially thought. "Well," she paused for a moment to catch her breath, "You're welcome to stay until you get better, but after that... I don't know."

Laurianna nodded her head, eyes bleak. "It's getting late," Eustace started, looking over to a clock on the wall. "We'll let you rest for the night."

"Thanks."

With that, Eustice and Agatha turned to leave, bidding her goodnight. As they went, Eustice blew out the lanterns, leaving Laurianna with the one lamp by the bed still lit. She stared at their retreating forms for a minute before setting her mug down on the table beside the bed.

She noticed the bandage around her head, having been too distracted earlier to catch it, and felt the back of her head. Her skin was tender, and each touch from her fingers left a wave of pain in their wake. Cursed beast. Laurianna looked around the cramped room once more before tucking herself beneath the warm covers, exhausted despite having been awake for only a short while.

It was going to be a long day tomorrow.