With a shaky finger, she pointed straight to Yolly’s store.

Lia felt her heart stopped beating on her chest and remained rooted in her spot. ‘This is the end. This is it.’

She let herself be pulled away from the door as Yolly thrust the bottles and jars, ointments and salves to her bag, in addition to the ones she brought.

Yolly gripped her arms until Lia winced from pain that brought her back from her reverie. “Girlie! This is no time for spacing out! Take these medicines and run. Never look back!”

Furious knocks banged through the door and Lia unconsciously leaped. Yolly gripped her arm tighter that reminded her to stay quiet. More footsteps outside the door and more banging. Yolly dragged Lia and pushed her out of the back door.

“But! How about you!?” Lia clung to Yolly’s sleeves in which she was shaken off. The bolt from the front door was about to give way.

“I’ll be fine. We’ll be fine. They want the witch, not me. Now run girlie! Run!”

After being pushed aside, Lia scrambled to her feet, not waiting to see if the guards managed to unbolt the door or what happened to Yolly after, if Frankie came in time to save his mother, or if anyone’s following her. She pushed herself to run faster, to increase her stride. Her throat burned for the lack of air but she did not stop nor slow down her pace. She kept running.

She avoided the main streets as always and opted for the side streets and dark alleys, hoping for the best. The worst that could happen to her was to run into thugs in this part of town.

‘A few more.’ She panted and felt like her lung would give in any second but the sight of the lines of trees in the distant gave her a boost of strength. She poured every last bit of energy on her every step.

When she entered the forest, a pair of strong arms grabbed her and pulled her in. Fear and panic crept into her heart as she struggled, trying to break free. Adrenaline pulsed through her veins that even after all that running, she was still bursting with energy. She thought that the guys back at Yolly’s shop had finally come to get her.

“Sssh, it’s me.”

That familiar voice prevented her from resisting. The arms around her loosened a bit but still tight enough to keep her from sliding down to the ground. She twisted her body a bit to confirm the source of the voice and tears pooled at the corner of her eyes when he saw him there.

Eldric waited and hugged her until her breathing evened out. Lia allowed herself to sink into his embrace for a moment as she gathered herself. After a while, they separated a bit and put a small distance between them. Lia shivered as a breeze blew into them.

“What are you doing here?” she asked.

“I thought I would wait for you to come back,” Eldric answered, his eyes still searching Lia’s face. Lia did not hold it out much longer. She held his wrist and pulled him in the direction of their house.

“You need to know something.”