The Daughters of Tomorrow

Chapter Seven

Mark, Evelyn and Henrietta had arrived at a quaint motel 3 hours outside of Moore’s corners and decided it was time to pull in and rest.

They got some menus from the receptionist and ordered some food, they decided they would stay in the same room with Mark and Evie sharing a bed and Henrietta sleeping in the other. After deciding what to eat and placing the order they all took turns showering and getting comfortable, then they chose a movie and ate, sharing jokes and laughing together. Eventually after the movie was over and after they had tidied up, they decided they would get some sleep so that they could get on the road again as soon as possible.

But Evie couldn’t sleep, she stared at the roof for an hour or so thinking about how they were so close to finding out if The Keeper is the real deal, and what if he wasn’t? What would they do then? They had no idea what was wrong with them. Evie felt the fear creeping in and decided she would get up and get a glass of water, before trying to sleep again.

When she walked back over to the bed she noticed that Hen was sitting up on hers.

“Are you okay?” She asked quietly, so as not to wake Mark.

“Yes, I just can’t sleep. I think I’m a bit nervous. You?” Evie responded.

“I’m the same, what if it’s just a dead end?”

“My thoughts exactly. But, we won’t know if we don’t try..” Evie trailed off looking to the floor, just then she realised something “Hen, we haven’t had an ‘incident’ in a couple of days. I was just thinking that the last one happened when we hadn’t seen eachother in over 24 hours, have you had any headaches?”

“No.. You’re right.. I wonder why that is..”

“God. Okay, let’s just try our best to sleep. We can ask The Keeper about it tomorrow” Evie said Firmly

“That’s if he’s real” Hen retorted

“Yes.. if he’s real” Evie spoke more to herself as she got under the covers and forced herself to go to sleep.

When the girls awoke, Mark had already ordered room service for breakfast. There was cereal, fruit, toast, coffee, juice, eggs, bacon, sausages, and Hens tummy rumbled as soon as she could smell it.

“Oh my god, look at all this heavenly food” she said as she walked over to the table and immediately started dishing herself up before sitting down and digging in.

“I thought we’d better start our day off on a good note. Evie, my love I’ve poured your coffee and made you a plate” Mark said as she rubbed her eyes and made her way over to kiss him as he handed her the coffee mug.

“Thank you, and good morning” she said

Evie sat down and Mark placed her food on the table in front of her, he had given her a piece of toast, with scrambled eggs on top, bacon to the side, and a single sausage. Just as she was thinking how lucky she was to have a man who knew exactly what she liked for breakfast he placed some ketchup in front of her.

“Can’t forget this” he smiled

“And I thought this breakfast couldn’t be anymore perfect” she said.

“Oh please, can you guys save all this mushy stuff for when you’re alone” Hen chimed in as she ate her sausage.

Evie giggled and took a sip of her coffee

“Actually Mark this was such a great idea, there’s no way we’ll be able to eat all of this so why don’t we take what’s left with us?” She said, ignoring Hens previous comment

“Good idea, my love. I’ll start packing it away.”

And with that, Evie set down her mug and enjoyed her breakfast.

After eating and cleaning, the trio got ready for the day and repacked the car. It was a later start than yesterday but they didn’t have much longer to go and they had enjoyed their rest, they were in such good moods that their nerves were almost completely settled.

Today’s drive was peaceful, and mostly silent. They had music playing, but unlike yesterday no one sung. They all just enjoyed the views and the air that was blowing through the windows, they had smiles on their faces and they had convinced themselves that they were ready for whatever was lying ahead.

Henrietta was practically laying across the backseats, reading a book she had brought with her, Mark drove as usual while holding Evie’s hand as she sat beside him in the passenger seat looking out the window. Both Evie and Hen had eventually fallen asleep as Mark continued to follow the coordinates, he had wound up the windows and turned off the radio so as not to disturb them and once they arrived he almost hesitated to wake them up. They were at the exact spot the coordinates had led them to, and there was nothing here..

“Evie, wake up darling.” He said while softly shaking her.

“Mmm” she stirred and then opened her eyes to look at him, she smiled and then realisation hit that they must of arrived.

“Hen!!” She shouted, “Wake up, Hen! We’re here!”

“What?” Hen said before sitting up and following Evie out of the car, Mark stepping out just after them.

“There’s nothing here” Evie looked around

“You don’t think The Keeper lives in one of these trees by any chance, do you?” Hen asked sarcastically

They both started walking around and taking in their surroundings and Mark leaned against the car looking up at the sky.

Trees everywhere. What bullsh*t. Evie knew this had to be a set up, she was just about to storm back to the car when she noticed something on one of the trees. She moved closer to get a better look and saw that it was actually a small hole, she stared at it for a moment.

What good a hole will do. God I’m over this.

She thought and turned to walk away when she heard a voice behind her, she jumped and looked back.

“I said, what do you want?” An old mans voice said sternly.

“What? Where is that coming from?” Evie asked, looking around

“Tell me your name girl.” The voice said and suddenly Evie realised that it was coming from the small hole.

She bent down so that she was eye level with it and said:

“My name is Evie, sir. Can I ask, firstly what you are doing in there? And secondly, how did you get in there?”

She felt a tug on her shirt behind her and looked down to see a very short man, with a long, grey moustache and beard, wearing ugg boots and a dark blue robe.

“Why on earth are you talking to that hole?” The man said, with a concerned look on his face.

“Oh, um.. well I just thought..” she looked at the hole and then back to the man “never mind. Perhaps you can help me, do you know of The Keeper?” Evie asked

“You’re looking at him. I’ll repeat my first question. What do you want?”

“Um, well my friend and I are actually looking for some answers.. she’s around here somewhere, would you walk with me?” She asked carefully

“No.” He said flatly.

Evie wasn’t sure how to react, this man was not quite what she expected. He moved over to a large rock and sat on it.

“I’ll wait here.” He exclaimed

“I can work with that” Evie said before running back to the car.

Mark was now sitting in the drivers seat with the door open and Hen was sitting on the bonnet, they were both clearly waiting to leave.

“Guys!!!” Evie said waving her hands and sprinting toward them.

Mark stepped out of the car as Hen got down from the bonnet.

“I found him *breath* The Keeper *breath* quick!” She said before turning back.

The other two followed her, jogging to keep up until they eventually reached the rock where the old man was sitting.

Evie sat down on the grass trying to catch her breath as Mark and Hen took the man in.

“Well, I don’t have all day girl.” The man spoke in Evie’s direction.

“Right, well we’ve been having some problems, headaches and blackouts and such when we’re apart. Tell him Hen” Evie said, still catching her breath.

“Right um, I not long moved here from London and uh my first day here I met Evie and we both had extremely bad headaches. Anyways when we bumped into eachother we both had this weird vision and our noses bled and then-“

“Stop.” The keeper cut her off. “Is Evie short for Evelyn?” He looked in Evie’s direction.

“Yes” she answered with a confused look on her face.

“Are you Avalon?” He turned towards Hen

“Avalon? No, my name is Henrietta.”

“Find the third girl and then come back to me.” He said as he stood up.

“The third girl?? What are you talking about?” Hen asked urgently

“Avalon something or other, oh dear. I’ve forgotten the last name. Stay there, so much knowledge in one place..” he said as he walked away from them.

Mark, who was keeping out of things since he considered himself there for moral support only, finally spoke.

“What a weird dude” he said before looking at Evie “are you okay?”

“I’m fine babe, honestly. I’m relieved that we found someone, even if he is weird.” She answered.

“Me too.” Said Hen, as she stood with her arms crossed, staring in the direction that the old man walked in.

Suddenly he re-emerged from the trees, carrying a very large book almost half of his size, talking to himself as he read.

“Ah yes. Hmm. Strange that. Three girls, right okay.” He slammed the book shut and threw it in the air where it vanished above them.

“What the hell was that?” Evie asked in shock.

“What was what dear?” He asked calmly.

“Where did that book go? How did you do that?” She went on.

A look of realisation swept across the old mans face.

“How much do you girls know?” He asked

“We know we’ve been having headaches and problems, we came here because we were under the impression that YOU could help us with the why.” Hen chimed in while Evie sat with her mouth open and Mark followed suit.

“I see. Stay here.” He said again before walking off once more.

Hen raised her arms and dropped them exasperated, Evie was now standing and walking over to be with Mark who had his arms held out awaiting her embrace and kissing her forehead once she reached him. Within seconds the man was back with a small black box in his hands.

“When you reach the third girl, you tell her you need her help. Explain the things you’ve been experiencing, you’ll find she’s been going through the same things. What you need to know is that you are sisters. A very long-“

“Wait a second.” Henrietta cut him off “we are not sisters. I’m from the other side of the world”

“Call your parents, you’ll find you were adopted, I don’t have time for this. Shall I go on?”

Hen looked at Evie who said “I already know I was adopted..” and looked to floor.

“Go on.”

“Right, a very long time ago -400 years ago in fact- an evil being named Hadeon wiped out most of the witches. Three sisters remained: Farah, Calliope and Destiny. Farah being the most powerful came up with a plan that would stop Hadeon, the problem being that it would take all of their power, including the power of her unborn child, which would then render witches extinct. They went through with the plan imprisoning Hadeon, making absolute sure that he could not escape his new home without being able to drain power from a witch.. which should of been no problem since the witches were now extinct but then quite some time later you girls were born -with magic- and the first birth sent out a power surge big enough to wake Hadeon. He drew on that power and he escaped. Any questions so far?” The Keeper said almost breathlessly

“Yeah I have one” Mark chimed in “Why are you rushing the story?”

“Because we don’t have a lot of time. It’s very important that we hurry. So I’ll go on, we can save any other questions for the end. So- Hadeon drew from the power surge and escaped, draining the life from humans to keep him satiated as he made his way to your home. Your parents figured out what was happening when they noticed the trail of bodies he was leaving behind, and so they came up with a way to keep you safe. Being separated from eachother would render you powerless and Hadeon would be unable to steal power that was non-existent, they knew he wouldn’t stop at stealing your power. He would feed off your life force too and then you would cease to exist. They erased the memories you had and place you in foster homes, hoping and praying that you’d be taken in and looked after. But before they managed to get you away Hadeon kidn*pped someone close to them and he keeps her locked away with him, he has been waiting for years for you girls to remember, to reunite and in turn reignite your powers. Once you find them and build them up he will be able to take them from you, so you need to get your sister and then take the liquid from this box and drink it. There are three vials. This will awaken your magic, oh and here” he said as he handed Hen the black box and pulled a book from thin air “this book will tell you everything you need to know about Hadeon. My work here is done, now off you go. Chop, chop.”

“But if our magic hasn’t even reignited yet then why are you in such a rush?” Evie asked

“Because Hadeon knows that you two have met, he would of felt the surge of power that came from the first interaction. He would of felt it when your magic started to come to the surface, which would of been what caused your blackout. The longer you take, the longer he has to come up with a plan of his own. Now go, go” he said rushing them off.

“But how do we even begin to find the other girl?” Hen asked as they reached the car.

“She is in Melbourne, you now have all the information you need to go on. Good luck.” With that, The Keeper disappeared.

Evie and Hen looked at eachother, they were sisters. They got into the car, Mark following close behind.

“Well,” he said as he started the car “at least you have the trip home to take in everything he just said.”

“We aren’t going home.” Evie said turning to look at Hen who nodded at her. “We’re going to the airport.”