When I woke up, I found myself with my hands tied behind my back with rope, my ankles tied together, and tape over my mouth. Arthur was in a similar position behind me. He was sending me a glare that so obviously meant 'this is all your fault'. I rolled my eyes, attempting to sit upright. When I managed to, I almost fell over again from the pain in my head. The look Arthur was giving me went from annoyed to worried in a second. I shrugged at him, hoping that he understood the message.

A door opened, both of us cringing as light filled the room we were in. My cousin and I exchanged glances as we looked at we had just come into the room. No doubt they were the one that had tied us up. Now, I'm not one to stereotype but this person looked like a walking cliché. [Arthur is agreeing with me, so you know I'm serious.]

You may have expected some big strong man with a pistol to be the one that grabbed us. It sounds right for this kind of story, doesn't it? Hate to break it to you, but that wasn't the case at all. For starters, we had been grabbed by a woman.

She was thin, too thin if you ask me, with short-cut messy brown hair and bright blue eyes. They all stood out against her dirt-covered pale skin. She had dark brown boots, a long skirt covered with park colours, and pale long sleeve top. Around her neck was a silver pentacle. [Arthur is saying that she looked like a gypsy woman, in case you didn't make out what he was saying. Thank you for that oh so useful input, dear cousin . . . I don't care if you were right.]

The woman was looking down at us. With a sigh, she leaned down and ripped the tape off Arthur's mouth. He wisely didn't say anything, though the sudden pain was clear. The woman then ripped it off my mouth. "Mother fucker that hurt!" I yelled. Had Arthur's hands not been tied, I recon he would've facepalmed. [He agrees.]

"Who are you people and what are you doing here?" the woman asked.

I sent her a glare. "This coming from the person who knocked me out."

"You have my permission to do it again," Arthur muttered under his breath.

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"Shut up!"

The woman frowned. "What are you, boyfriend and girlfriend?"

"Ew." My eyes shot towards my cousin who had said the exact same thing. "What do you mean 'ew'?" He shrugged.

The woman seemed unsure whether or not to step in, but she did anyway. "Bet'cha didn't know you had a ghost with you," she said almost triumphantly.

"We did," I told her flatly.

"Lydia is our friend," Arthur added. "What did you do with her?"

The woman fingered her bracelet. It looked wooden and had the faintest glow around it. "She's in here. I need a guide. It's the only way."

"The only way?" I repeated

"People don't believe. They should believe." The woman bent down in front of me. "Spirits are real which means the next world is real. Do you know what it's like to be ridiculed for what you believe in?"

"Actually -"

"I was teased all throughout school and in my first job because of what I believe." She stood, beginning to pace in front of me. "You couldn't understand. No one could understand." Her hands fisted at her side. "I'll make them all believe. I just need someone to read the scroll."

I sent a look to Arthur who was shuffling across the room. There was a silver glint close to him which he was reaching for. It looked a lot like a knife. I realised his plan straight away. "So, do we even get to know your name?" I asked the woman.

"Naomie." Her head tilted to the side. "An' you are?"

"Aurora. You've already met Arthur. The girl in your bracelet is Lydia." I shook my hair off my face, ignoring the headache it brought back. "What's your game here?"

"I want the world to know that I was right. They have to know. They'll listen." Naomie leaned against the wall, her eyes firmly on me. "They need the proof. They need to know what comes next."

I saw Arthur standing up behind her, a large wooden stick in his hand like a bat. "You're trying to prove the spirit world exists by bringing down the Veil so there's proof?" I snorted. "Cliché."

My cousin attacked. The woman fell to the floor, unconcious. Arthur dropped the stick beside her and used the knife to untie me. He pressed a kiss to my brow once he was done. "I'm glad you talk too much."

"Say that again in a few hours," I laughed.

I rushed to the woman, quickly checking that she was still alive before grabbing her bracelet. I had an idea on how to free Lydia but there was a chance that it would have the opposite effect. I dropped the bracelet and stamped on it, breaking it. A puff of black smoke and Lydia appeared in front of us.

"Thanks," she said. "Was starting to think I'd never get out."

"No probs."

"Talk later. Run now." Arthur grabbed my hand and pulled me from the room. We got outside with no problems. Lydia floated off in one direction. We ran after her, figuring it was better than having no idea where to go.