CHAPTER FOUR
The car slowed to a stop outside a nondescript brown bungalow in a quiet neighborhood. Vanessa had only visited once before, but remembered the location easily as it happened to be right beside a park with a playground. The sounds of children shrieking and laughing were loud even through closed windows, causing Vanessa to smile. She couldn't help but think of Mai's large and unexpected brood of loud dragon babies and imagine how busy they were keeping her friend these days. Darn her for leaving Vanessa and getting herself a fairy-tale ending.
"This is it," said Vanessa. "At least, this is where Eloise was staying the last time I picked her up. I think she said she was renting the basement from her aunt."
"Vanessa," said Emma Jane, as she turned her head and placed her hand
