Ember of Hope
Chapter 25

Raegan was a ball of nerves but she was also glad that her partner in crime; her best friend was once again accompanying her in one of her ‘not so normal’ plans. She had packed light for the sake of hiking up to the portal and then filled every crevice she could replace with her favorite chocolate chip energy bars.

She didn’t want to take any chances with the talisman Valiance gave her so she wore it around her neck and tucked it inside her shirt. She couldn’t believe she was really going to do this and she had dragged Sarah in her madness.

Sarah had talked to her parents and told them about the story of the trip to Paris they had concocted together. They planned to take a flight to Tennessee, stay a week or so there for sight-seeing and then head to Evreux. She dialed Sarah:

“Sarah – hey – you ready? What did you pack? I don’t know if I’ve packed alright or am forgetting something. We’ll go through it again when you arrive”.

“Don’t worry Ray. I’m sure with all your over-thinking and hyper-activeness you’ve packed more than alright. More so than me. Stop fussing. I’ll be there in half an hour”.

“Okay. I’m waiting for you. Bye hon.”

“Bye darling. Be there soon”.

Raegan decided to make breakfast in the meantime to keep herself busy. They had some hours to kill before they had to head out for the airport. She turned on the music – her latest craze – Thor-Ragnarok’s playlist. She loved Thor above all the other super-heroes. She even had Thor’s hammer and lightning tattooed on her forearm. Well, on one forearm at least. The other one was dedicated to none other than Harry Potter. She always had been crazy about superheroes and fantasy worlds. Shape-shifters she liked best. And it happened to be just her luck that she found a fantasy world where one kind of shape-shifters ruled. The scariest and baddest of them all - Dragons. And she was about to go back there. Along with her best friend. As crazy as it may sound, it was a hell of a lot thrilling.

Would he be happy to see her? And Nina? And Damien? Her friends better be happy upon seeing her or she would incinerate their fine asses, she thought, while making the batter for chocolate chip pancakes; hers and Sarah’s favorite. Their choices in everything were same. They were like a single soul possessing two bodies. Sarah was bad at cooking and once she arrived Raegan wouldn’t be able to do a thing because her friend would say “oh leave it, we’ll eat cereal”. And she was in no mood to eat cereal so she started preparing for cheese omelet as well because she wanted to enjoy her last home-made breakfast before setting on a tiresome journey to Evreux. Once they reached there, it would be a whole new food fest every day, yummm.

Her doorbell rang. She peeked through the kitchen window. It was Sarah.

“Mmmmm what’s that heavenly smell Ray? Have I mentioned how much I love you when you make these chocolate chip treats?” Sarah glided towards the kitchen. And when Raegan got there she was already munching on a pancake. Raegan shook her head at her friend and slapped her hand away. She grabbed two plates for both of them and started setting the table. Pouring two glasses of chocolate shake, she slid one to Sarah.

“I guess I can go a little against my diet plan today, considering this is going to be our last peaceful breakfast for some time”, Raegan said while dipping a chunk of pancake in whipped cream.

Sarah just laughed at her as she knew very well that Raegan could never follow a diet plan for more than a day. She loved to eat and honestly with a body like hers there was no need for her to follow any ridiculous diet plans. At 5foot4 she had a body to die for.

After breakfast Sarah called a cab for airport and instead of waiting inside, she went out to make goodbye call to her mom.

“My ass is frying out here will you hurry up?” Sarah yelled from the entry way. And after yet another 5minutes of waiting, she stormed in Raegan’s room only to replace her just sitting on her bed looking sullen like a kid on his first day of school after summer vacation.

“Come on Ray. You’re rethinking now?” Sarah asked softly.

“No, I – uh – I was just trying to pull my head together. It’s just – uh – it’s a big decision”. She replied weakly.

“Oh baby! Don’t think like that. It may be a big decision but it’s definitely the right one. You have to try. Come on Raegan, be a big girl. Besides, I’m going with you so why are you still worrying? Everything’s gonna be alright. Come on now get up or we’ll be late to catch our flight”.

Sarah put her arms around her friend and pulled her into a brief hug but it was enough for Raegan. And off they went.

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They had just landed and now were headed to their hotel to dump their luggage before heading out to grab some grub. Raegan wasn’t feeling like talking much so she had spent almost whole ride to the hotel staring out of the window. It was like déjà vu. Sarah knew her moods more than herself so she hadn’t tried to make her talk for which she was grateful. But one thing was for sure – the closer she was getting to Evreux – the calmer her soul seemed to get.

The days couldn’t pass any slower. But Sarah was adamant that they were having the time of their lives so Raegan had no choice but to fake enthusiasm for her friend’s sake. After what Sarah was doing for her sake she couldn’t bring herself to be mean enough to cut their journey short.

That strange dream of valiance in his human form beckoning her had taken a break and was instead replaced by other disturbing nightmares that were loosely based on her fears which she otherwise didn’t want to acknowledge.

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