A tiding of magpies:

One for sorrow.

Two for joy.

Three for a girl.

+_()_+

Waking up, the first thing I noticed is that I wasn't at home. No, I was on a small island. Looking around, I spotted someone. A girl with blood red hair, thick-rimmed glasses, wearing a hoodie and beanie. Beside her was a small calico cat.

I had heard many stories of this girl, even during my days in prison. It was as if she was just a myth, a story to be told around a campfire. But she was here.

Cassie Rose.

One of the most vicious serial killers of all time was unconscious on the ground, right in front of me.

I wasn't surprised that she was real. No, I had written about her in my book, the book about Jesse's adventures. She was the villain in chapter six. I wrote long chapters. What I was surprised about was that she was still alive. When Jesse told me the story, she had said Cassie was stuck, and she didn't have any means of escape. I figured she just starved to death. But no, she was alive. And right in front of me.

I don't know what drove me to do it, but I decided to wake Cassie up. The worst she could do is pull out her axe and kill me, but she would only do that to me if she found me threatening. Hopefully.

But as I walked over to wake her, I suddenly felt a splitting headache. Dropping to my knees, I clutched my head in pain. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Cassie jolt awake, holding her head, as if she had the same headache.

+_()_+

"Well, I did say I owe you."

"At first, I didn't think you'd be this willing. I think we should make deals more often."

"In a world fill of blocks, that isn't even remotely funny."

"Why should we go out there? I almost died just last night!"

"It's nice... But why was it hidden behind a tapestry and then guarded by a spinning knife blade to boot?"

"AND SO HELP ME IF WE DON'T FUCKING GET OUT OF THIS I WILL-"

+_()_+

My headache faded as quick as it came. Sitting up, I turned to look at Cassie. She almost looked vulnerable. I'm pretty sure I looked pretty vulnerable, after that little vision thing. I didn't remember ever saying any of those things, but that was definitely my voice I was hearing.

Her green eyes flickered to me, and they reminded me of emeralds. As she stood up, she extended her hand to me, offering to pull me up. "I'm Cassie. Cassie Rose."

"I'm Aiden Mercer." I grabbed her hand and she pulled me up effortlessly. So effortlessly, in fact, that the momentum sent her tumbling backwards. Startled by by the sudden shift in weight, I fell forward, catching myself with my hands just before we would have clunked heads. Or kissed, a voice in the back of my head nagged.

Standing up, I could feel a blush on my face. As she stood up, I noticed Cassie's face was almost as red as her hair. At least I'm not the only one blushing, I thought.

"Nice to meet you, Aiden," she said, brushing herself off. She pointed to something in the distance. A sign. "I guess we should go see what that says, huh?" she asked. I nodded, feeling the urge to just run away from her. After all, Cassie was a serial killer. Not that I didn't almost kill dozens of people. But still, she was pretty frickin scary. Also pretty frickin pretty, my brain nagged. I quickly brushed off the thought, and followed her.

Walking up to the sign, I noticed something. Directly behind it were stairs leading underground. And the sign said, Go down these stairs, and please enjoy your time here.

"Yeah, but where is here?" Cassie asked slowly.

I smirked. "Only one way to find out." And we began our descent.