Everything felt like a dream.

It was no issue falling asleep after the eventful evening I had but it was still anxiety-inducing with Faye wanting to keep me on a close leash. She didn’t want me to run into her mother, Duchess Zhao.

From what I remember of the show’s depiction of her, she was always manic and her attachment to her children was shown as a fault of her. This was especially in comparison to Solomon’s relationship with his own mother, who was portrayed as doting and patient as her name would suggest.

But the pattern is quickly becoming that the reality is EXTREMELY different. From what Faye says, her mom just has a strong case of rattled nerves more often than not. I was reassured that it all came from a noble place. She still wanted to keep me from her mother’s prying questions, worried that I would let it all slip. I didn’t even get to sleep in a guest room, sleeping on Faye’s black satin sheets as she slept away on a black fainting couch.

There was only two problems: I woke up in the middle of the night and…I am hungry as hell right now.

But if I left this room, would I instantly be caught? I guess I could ring the bell for the help but…what if they’re sleeping? What if they’re used to everyone in the house being asleep at this time and not prepared? What if they get in trouble for not being prepared? I don’t wanna get anyone in trouble. That’s not even all of my worries. What if Magdalene is just wandering around waiting for me to come out and ask me a million questions that my mother no doubt put her up to?

“Huh?”

I sighed and sat up from the bed. There that…thing was again. I can’t really name what it is but it feels like I have these moments of…my own memory being fused with someone else’s. And it’s obvious that someone else is Elvira. What I can’t understand is why? If whatever being that was can conjure up a truck, kill me, and not only send me to a world that’s been fictional to ME for years but also make it so that everyone other than Faye sees me as Elvira…then why not just bring back Elvira?

Especially if I’m going to keep getting these memories. I mean…I don’t see their use…wait…no…I do. I know what will unfold according to the story. I know secrets other characters don’t find out for seasons but the story is from the perspective of Solomon and Camila. I don’t know much about other things. Like Elvira’s upbringing or much about her family. So in that case, this is…perfect!

Still…doesn’t change the fact that I was hungry…and I wasn’t going to be able to go back to sleep without something to eat.

So I sucked it up and threw the covers off of me. Wearing a slip of Elvira’s. Something that she had in cases of sleepovers. Lucky. I slipped my feet into her slippers and made sure not to wake Faye as I left the room with a small candle in a holder tightly gripped in my fingers. The hallway only had minimal lighting and the only thing I had to go on was how we got to the room in the first place. That was the easy part. The hard part was getting to the kitchen.

And I won’t lie, I looked like some defenseless maiden from a old gothic story traversing through the house like a lost ghost. But I was proud of myself for eventually finding the place. I’m thankful I was transferred into a world with refrigerators. It meant that they could save leftover food and the food cooked in the Zhao households was delicious as hell.

The only Zhao that was still at the house during the party was Bolin due to his age and I guess he wanted dinner that involved pork. I don’t normally eat pork but in a situation like this where I didn’t wanna mess up the clean kitchen the help left behind, I wasn’t going to be fussy about it. Elvira probably ate stuff like this all the time anyways. It was good too and I don’t even know what it’s called. Not in this world and not in mine.

I was fully comfortable with eating in silence and then slipping back into the room but that plan changed when Faye walked into the room draped in a sheer black robe. One thing about the Zhaos, they stick to their colors beautifully. Not that it was hard to do when the color was black.

“You had me worried.” Faye spoke, carefully closing the door behind her as to not make a sound. “You’ve should’ve told me you were hungry. I would’ve called one of the help to get you something to eat.”

I shook my head. “I didn’t want to wake anybody up. I found the kitchen just fine.”

“That’s not the point.” She sighed. She came closer, eying my plate of food. “Aww…I didn’t know they had Char Siu last night.”

“That’s what this is?” I say through the chewing. “This is good.”

“It is. Its quite a sight to see you eat it though.”

I looked up at her. “Why?”

“Elvira doesn’t eat pork.”

“……………..oh.”

“It’s either a Solaan thing or a whole Eastlander thing. I don’t really remember.”

“Oh.”

We both sat there in an awkward silence as her eyes were clearly trying to avoid watching me eat since there was nothing else happening in the room.

“I guess it’s good that we’re up right now when everyone else is asleep. We should talk about what’s going to happen right now.” She spoke softly yet firmly, her normal tone.

“We’re gonna see the witch, right?”

“Yes. But it may not be that simple. For one, it took some time before I could actually meet her, I had to go through practically her whole channel of students before I actually met her. It might be the same, especially since I don’t know if she knows about what she did for me in the future.” Faye’s face mildly contorted as if her brain got lost on what she just said and honestly…same.

“So…what do we if she doesn’t know? Or…what if she doesn’t wanna help us because she doesn’t believe us?”

“She’s the one that sent me back in time fully knowing how to do this but also knowing the caveats of it. There’s no way she wouldn’t believe us.”

“OK. What if she just straight up tells us to leave. I know magic being practiced here is illegal. She might not want us near her bringing attention.”

Faye scoffed. “That was barely the case when I saw her. People were whispering about her in clubs left and right. It’s a miracle the authorities know nothing about her.”

I shrugged. “They probably do know. I mean…a few cops here and there.”

“Cops?…You mean knights?”

“Eh, same thing. But some of them probably know she exists but they seek her services out for their own needs and wants. Unless they’re really feeling the pressure from their own superiors, they’re not going to do much to someone that’s been beneficial to them.”

“You sure of that?”

I nodded. “Yup! You see, back in my world, there was this woman named Marie Laveau who was a Voodoo priestess and while it wasn’t legal for us to practice, people who would’ve normally had to snitch on her were going to her for her services. And not just her but all types of folk that dabbled in magic.”

“Really? So…you have magic in your world?”

“Ehhhh…sort of. It’s not as…potent as the magic here. That’s the best way to put it. A lot of people say they don’t believe in it but they always reveal themselves to believe in something that can be traced back to folklore, superstition and all of that. Like splitting a pole.”

Faye raised an eyebrow at me. “Splitting the pole?”

I giggled. “Yeah, it’s basically like…if you split a pole with whoever you’re walking with, it’s bad luck.”

Faye let out a laugh. One that felt…mature…if that would be the best way to put it.

“Why would that be bad luck?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never split the pole to find out.” I joked. “There’s a bunch of other ones too. Like…if you break a mirror, you’ll have seven years of bad luck. When you make a wish, NEVER tell someone what you wished for or it won’t come true. Oh! There’s also the number 13 being unlucky.”

“Ok, that’s ridiculous! Why would a number be unlucky?”

“Well, different religions and folklores have different reasons. Like in the Bible, it’s because Judas was the 13th guest at the Last Supper. I read somewhere that in Norse folklore it’s because Loki was the 13th guest to arrive at the feast where Baldur was killed and Norse folklore is probably older than Christianity—”

“Who are these people?”

“They—…oh my god…I am so sorry. I forgot, you wouldn’t know who they are………….I-I don’t even know how to explain it properly.”

“Well…this’ll be a good time to get to know each other better. Neither of us seem to be all that tired. You can tell me about it…maybe…over some treats?”

I perked up. Yeah, food was nice but maybe what I really need is something sweet. “Sure. It’s not gonna be completely accurate because I don’t really have my phone to look it all up.”

“We have a telephone here.”

“I—…no……no.”