After our conversations and dinner wrapped up, we went to the living room, where her parents made us each a cup of hot cocoa while they enjoyed tea. I thought we'd be hanging out in the living room all night, but her parents said they wanted to sleep, but it was only around 9 p.m. It was just Farrah and me, sitting in her cozy living room with a calm flame slow-dancing in the fireplace. I gazed at the fire and fell into deep thought.

"You okay, Rollie? It looks like you have something on your mind."

"Uh, Farrah, have you ever snuck out of your house?"

Farrah arched her brow. "Uh, no? Why would I want to sneak out of my house?"

"I don't know, seeing some friends when your parents said no. Or maybe when you got grounded, and you had to go to a concert or anything?" I said.

Farrah shook her head, smiling in a slap-happy way. "Who do you think I am? I've never been grounded." She giggled.

I rolled my eyes. "I get grounded regularly."

Farrah tilted her head. "Really? Why?"

"It's not important. My parents can be crazy sometimes. So you've never snuck out of the house?"

"No. I've never had a reason to, I guess."

"But if you had to sneak out of here, how would you do it? What would be the best way, do you think?"

Farrah contemplated. "Why are you asking me these questions?"

"Well, I really appreciate your parents offering to take us to the abandoned building tomorrow, but if we go to that address, 1111 Serpentine, we won't see anything during the day."

"What do you mean we're not going to see anything? Don't you just want to check it out?"

"Eh, yeah, I want to check it out, but I want to go there if a meeting is happening. Do you know what I mean? I want to better understand what's going on with that mysterious letter. The fact that it's an abandoned building clues me in a bit, but I still need to fill in some blanks.

"I guess I understand. I still think it's better to go during the day. Like my parents said, that area can be dangerous this time of night."

"I don't think 11:00 p.m. is too late. Besides, you're a more talented fire mage than I am, but I can also throw a punch pretty well."

Farrah grimaced. "You really want to do this? You want to sneak out of the house with me and go to this abandoned building? We wouldn't go inside, right?"

I shook my head. "No, we don't have to go inside. I just want to see if there's any activity going on. Like anyone walking inside or something like that. Then we can head straight back here."

"I can't believe you're asking me to do this. This sounds crazy."

"You don't have to come with me. I can go by myself. Just tell me the best way to sneak out of here, and then I will come back later tonight, and everything will be okay."

Farrah pondered. Gazing off to the side, weighing the options in her head. "I really don't want you to go by yourself. I felt so terrible about what happened to you when you got attacked by the hellion. Part of me felt it was my fault, and I've wanted to make it up to you."

"What? It wasn't your fault at all. You don't have to make anything up to me. That hellion attack is in the past. If anything, you helped me survive. I owe you something. And here I am asking you to do an uncomfortable favor." I sighed. "Sorry, I don't mean to put you in an uneasy situation. Now that I think about it more, I think it's best if you stay here. But I'll go out and come back, I promise."

Farrah exhaled. "I should really go with you. Really, the only way to sneak out is through the front door. My parents are pretty heavy sleepers, and they fall asleep quickly. What time did you want to head over there?"

"If we can arrive at 11:11, that would be perfect," I said.

"All right, I can get us there if we leave by 10:45."

When the clock struck 10:45, Farrah and I slipped out through the front door and closed it quietly. We barely made a sound as we left. We kept the lights on downstairs to create the illusion we were still up in case her parents poked their heads down the staircase. Farrah led the way. We headed to the west side of town. I was surprised to see a handful of people on our path, walking up and down the streets. The road was illuminated by vintage black light posts radiating an orange glow. I was surprised I didn't see any horse-drawn carriages with how old everything was. It felt like I had gone into a time machine, except the technology was a little more advanced, at least to the ability of the 1960s.

Farrah took us to the pier, which was larger than I thought it would be. There were many different corridors that branched out, and I was surprised to see how many people roamed around. The pubs were crowded. As we strolled past one of the places, a group of people spilled out, hollering at each other. They were two grown men who started hurling bolts at each other. One was a Venomaus, and the other was a Winderon. Emerald and violet flashes filled the street. Farrah picked up her pace, but we both kept watching the two quarreling mages. I would have been down to stop and watch, but I could tell Farrah wanted nothing to do with it.

"Rollie, I think I found Serpentine street." Farrah stopped and pointed to an alley across the boardwalk from where we were standing. I squinted until I saw a tiny sign hanging from the corner of a closed restaurant. Many of the places near us were closed.

I started heading over there but stopped when I noticed Farrah wasn't following me. "What's up?"

"I'm just not sure about this. Do we have to go down this alley?"

"Just a quick peek into the building, and then we can go. I want to see what could be going on there. You know what I mean?"

"Rollie!" Farrah snapped with a hushed whisper. She pointed at the other side of the street.

A hooded figure was walking along and entered Serpentine alley. We watched them until they turned right and disappeared into a building.

Or perhaps another alleyway.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

It was hard to tell from our angle.

"What do you think that was?" I asked.

"I have no idea. I thought you might know."

I shrugged. "I couldn't see a face or anything." I thought it may have been Daniel, but Daniel was taller (if my memory served me correctly).

"I think we should leave."

"Well, let's check real quick. If anyone asks us what we're doing, we can tell them we wanted to explore the area a little bit or something like that. We saw someone walking down here, and we thought there might be a cool bar."

"We're not old enough to hang out at a bar!"

"They won't know that."

"Yes, they will!"

"Fine, I can tell them I had a meeting at the location and wanted to see where it was. We can basically tell them the truth. Now that I think about it more, there shouldn't be anything wrong with that.”

"Okay, but if I choose to run at any point, just meet me at the pier's entrance. Got it?"

"Yeah yeah, okay. That's totally fine. Thank you so much for getting us here. I really mean it." We looked both ways before crossing the path and went down Serpentine alley since we didn't see anything. Both of us crept along until we made it to the center of the block. I noticed we had walked past 1109, and the next building wasn't labeled. But the one ahead of it had 1113.

"This must be it," I whispered to Farrah.

The abandoned brick building loomed ahead, its once-majestic façade now crumbling. The bricks were dark with age. The windows were boarded up, but some of the boards had fallen away, leaving jagged openings that gave glimpses of the building's interior, empty rooms. The rooftop was missing tiles and the chimneys were leaning to one side, it was clear that the building had been uninhabited for many years. The front door was locked and boarded shut...or so it seemed. A dark entryway led up to steps that probably went to a door.

"Rollie, I'm getting the creeps from this place." Farrah held my hand; my heart raced, and I smiled. "Why would someone invite you to have a conversation here?"

"It is bizarre, isn't it? I'm wondering the same." I observed the building next door. It had a fire escape along the side that could be scaled. "Farrah, let's see if we can peek inside one of the windows."

"Are you serious? Now we're really endangering ourselves if we do something like that."

Still holding her hand, we walked towards the small gap between 1111 and 1113. Going up to the fire escape, I could climb up the ladder. I let go of Farrah's hand and grabbed the first rung.

"I thought you meant trying to peep through the window on the ground level!" Farrah whispered.

I didn't respond. I didn't want to be too loud or make more noise. I got up the ladder and reached the first platform, but I ran back down and offered my hand.

Farrah furrowed her brow, glanced left and right, and sighed. She reached up her hand, and I pulled her up the platform. Dull metal noises clanged, but it wasn't too loud. I didn't think anyone would notice.

I could see into one of the windows from the fire escape. All I had to do was lean forward and peer in between a crack in the boarded-up window. I immediately saw four people sitting in a circle at a table. Pulling my head back, shivers shot up my spine.

Farrah said, ”Is everything-"

I held up my finger over my mouth to Farrah. Even though she was whispering and those people probably couldn't hear it, I didn't want to risk getting caught. I waved her forward to put her head next to mine, but she backed away. Leaning my head forward again, I could see a little bit in the room, and I could barely hear their conversation. I couldn't distinguish faces. Their voices echoed. The space must have been empty.

"I can't believe Elijah is running late."

"Well, maybe if you didn't have such an awkward meeting time, it would be easier to be punctual."

"Please, I do not appreciate that tone. If you have a suggestion, offer it. Don't be snarky."

There was a pause.

"Sorry, I guess I was responding in a very reactive manner."

"Apology accepted. I thought it would make things easier for people to understand. The address, the time, it's all straightforward. Now, The question is, do we want to wait for Elijah or get going? I prefer to get going but would rather not repeat myself."

"I think we should wait."

I felt like there were three different voices, but I saw four people. It was hard to discern differences in their voice, but I was still fascinated by the conversation.

Farah tapped my shoulder, I turned to my right, and she pointed down the alley.

I didn't see anything.

Farrah whispered in my ear, "I just saw someone walking by. Do you know who any of these people are?"

I shook my head.

Somewhere in 1111 Serpentine, a door was opened and closed.

"Ah, that must be Elijah."

They waited for a minute, and someone else entered the room.

"Elijah, it's wonderful to meet you. Thank you so much for coming in. Did you find the place all right? Did the timing throw you off? I hate to inform you, but you are a few minutes late. I require everyone to explain their tardiness to meetings, but since you are new, I will spare you the embarrassment."

"It's just been a busy night. Things kept popping up, But it won't happen again. I'm very punctual."

"Good. Good... Now, we can begin the meeting. First, I'd like to say we've been doing a good job proving our dedication to this cause. The methods we have been using have proven a lot to me, and I appreciate the risk all of you have been willing to take. They could be going better, but that could be a conversation for a different time.”

"They could be going better... Yet you still have yet to prove that you are dedicated to the cause."

"Don't worry, I'm working on something truly spectacular."

Someone sighed.

"What's the matter?"

"I thought you said earlier that no one would get hurt."

"And no one has."

"Two students have been injured."

"Yeah, but they've been healed up just fine. Just like we predicted they would."

"I don't know, I don't know. I think we should do away with the summoning crystals. For one, they're expensive, and two, obviously, I don't have to explain how forbidden they are, but also, a third factor is those two students could have been killed."

That's when I finally had a hunch of whose voice I thought that was. It sounded like Head Counselor Jonathan was discussing the danger of summoning crystals. I was covered in goosebumps listening to the conversation.

"He brings up a good point. They are getting costly, and we could use more money to fund our future projects. It would be nice to get our hands on more summoning crystals, and not just for the sake of proving dedication... Elijah. Stick around with me after we adjourn this meeting. I will have an assignment for you that you and I will do since you are no longer part of campus. So, Patrick, when can we expect your act of commitment?"

"Well, it's a project I'm working on with the captain of the Fyrong Dragonstryke team. We will have it done right before the holiday break. I promise. And don't worry, we will make sure no one is injured, but let it be known, we will make headlines."

"Marvelous. While you're working on that, I will be working on a separate project with Elijah in Hartsera. Again, we plan to make headlines. Does anyone have any questions or other matters to bring for the good of the order?"

"I don't think so. Other than I'll be sticking around to talk to you afterward."

Farrah gasped, but she covered her mouth and didn't make too much noise. I was hoping they wouldn't notice.

"Did someone hear something?" One of them asked.

"It almost sounded like a rat whimpering."

Their heads turned, and they tried to locate where the sound came from. I turned to Farrah. Her eyes were so wide open I thought they were about to fall out of her skull. I racked my brain trying to figure out what caused her to react like that. Farrah tiptoed to the end of the fire escape and beckoned for me. I followed, and she whispered, "We need to get out of here right now."

"What's the matter?"

I was annoyed she didn't answer my question, but she stepped down the ladder, and I was torn on what to do. Climbing back down, I followed her, and she jogged out of the alley with me right behind.

Even when we returned to the main path, Farrah was still 10 yards ahead of me. I had to pick up my pace to a run to catch up with her.

"Hey!" I said as I ran by her side. We entered the crowded area. She kept running, and from the little light from the boardwalk lamps, I could see tears streaming down her eyes.

"Farrah! What's the matter? It's okay. We're far away from everyone. No one is coming behind us."

She finally slowed but kept a quick stride.

"Will you please say something? I'm dying to know what happened back there,” I said.

"I'm just trying to process everything."

"Like what?"

"I think... I think that was actually Elijah in there. It was his voice and everything."

"What are you talking about? Of course, there was a guy named Elijah there. They said his name a few times. Elijah, who though?"

Farrah exhaled. "My brother."