Chapter 3: Hidden Gate Revealed
Jenna stared at the black book with mixed emotions playing across her face. Confusion, curiosity, then slight fear. "What kind of Quiji bullshit is this?" She muttered, looking in her bag as if seeking answers. Nothing was missing or appeared to have been tampered with, and she knew the book hadnt been there during her last class period, because she had gotten into her bag twice for supplies and a binder. How had the book gotten into her bag in the first place?
She stared at the black binding in silence for a minute, then shook her head and got up, getting back to cooking. She added the noodles to the boiling water, putting another pan on the stove to start some meat browning. While adding seasoning to the meat, her mind turned over her book dilemma in her head. She tried explaining it away that someone was messing with her. It made the most sense, that someone was either pranking her or setting her up to be the butt some kind of joke. She could only imagine what that joke could be. Maybe someone was trying to set her up for stealing it from the library? Looking back towards the table, she frowned. What genre of book was it even? Mystery? Romance? Was it some kind of occult book? She didnt imagine Mrs. Shellton would buy or stock a book like that in the school library, so it couldnt be anything dirty or risque.
Putting the lid back on the boiling pot of noodles, she turned, going over to pick it up and open it. Jenna inspected the beginning page again, looking at the blonde girl infront of the mirror, glancing at the swirling patterns in the mirrors reflection as she shifted the book around. There wasnt an authors name, nor any publishing details that she could see. She wondered if it was a self published and printed book, though who wouldnt at least put their own name on their work? Jenna flipped the page to start reading.
"Every encounter is a string in the tapestry of your life. Entangled into the deepest reserves of your being. A calling to like souls across time and planes."
Jenna felt the hair on her neck and arms stand on end. Was it a spiritual book? She continued reading, a compulsion deeply inside her rising up, as if unwilling to allow her to stop.
"Like souls will draw and bond through memory, through emotion. The gateway resides deeply embedded within the heart. Through a meeting, the key unlocks." As she finished reading the page, a light suddenly flashed from the book, spreading from the seam to encompass the pages. Jenna screamed in surprise and fear, trying but unable to drop the book. From the light spread the same misty fog that she had seen in the mirror, surrounding her, blocking out her vision of the kitchen.
As it encompassed her, a coldness unlike anything she had ever experienced sank into her body. Her lungs burned as she breathed the fog in, and try as she might, she couldnt seem to get her body to respond to her instinctive need to move, to escape, to flee. With another flash of light, the book fell to the floor of the kitchen. The strange mist, and Jenna, were gone.
The sound of talking drifted to Jenna through a fog. Her head and heart pounded in sync, a strumming that seemed in rythem with the ebb and flow of the sound around her. The mist faded around her, and she took a step forward, blinking her eyes against the light in her eyes. She took a stumbling step forward, her legs shaking as she found herself in an alleyway. Her mouth hung open as she looked around at her surroundings in shock. How had she got here? Where even WAS here?
This was impossible. This kind of thing did not happen in reality. In stories and movies, being transported to other worlds was practically everyday, cliche even. But this wasnt a story or a movie! Had she fallen asleep at some point? But if this was a dream, why did her body remember that bone chilling cold that had overcome her in the fog? If this was a dream, why was her heart threatening to explode out of her chest, pounding so hard it actually hurt?
On legs threatening to collapse, she wobbled her way to the end of the alleyway, stumbling into the group of people there. "Whoa, careful." One of the boys laughed, catching her arm. He wore a long black cloak with an embroidered insignia on the left side of his breast. "You alright there?" He asked in concern, looking her over. "Feeling a bit Wonky, are we?" Jenna shook her head, looking up at the boy is surprise and confusion. "Where...Where are we?" She asked with a quivering voice.
The boy gave her a weird look, glancing at his friends as if to confirm theyd heard the same thing he had, before he gave her a confused smile. "Uhh, You're in Diagon Alley?"
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Pippa_Ari
Pippa_Ari Hello everyone. Thank you all for your kind words and support. I am a stay at home mom to a 3 year old girl, so I try to write and update as much as I can in my spare time.
I have a 1k word goal for myself, but sometimes I cant make that when dealing with the kiddo. I also will try to post as often as possible. I want to make at least one post a week, but will do more as time allows.
Thank you all again, your comments are greatly appreciated. <3
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