'That beast clearly did not aspire to even step one toe in the store.' I thought to myself as I began to catch my breath. I turned to look at the door again, just to make sure that I was safe. It was then, that I realized how quiet the store really was, was this store even open? There was no way I was going back outside, till I know for sure that, that thing was gone. I began to rummage through the bookstore, though nothing really looked very appealing to me. The only thing that was interesting about the store was small glowing sparkles that moved throughout the store. It was like dust in the sunlight the way they were glistening, it was like they were small fragments of magic or something. The store by itself was different, it had a calm and soothing atmosphere. It felt very structured and secure.

After going through a couple rows of books, I found a book that seemed to intrigue me. The book was distinct from the other books, it had colors that no other books seemed to carry, just maybe a couple sheets of dust on it like the other books. Flipping the book open, my eyes began to dance from page to page. I wasn't too sure if I knew exactly what I was reading but it had to do with rocks, gems and what combination did what. I began to nervously chew on my lip as I suddenly became fabulously absorbed in this book. I began to read about the Fairy Cross Stone and its healing properties. It's been known to help people to stay grounded and is widely known to help keep one soothed as it gives aid to those who suffer from anxiety, stress, and fears. I began to read more about the stone until I heard the door open. My heart started to beat furiously as my mind jumped to worse case scenarios.

"Angie? Angelica!" A male voice sang.

"Ainsworth? Wow, look what the cat dragged in! Finally decided to step out your hidey hole into the big wide world huh?" a voice called out from the back of the store. I guess someone is here. I listened to these two people bicker back and forth till the guy passed me. I was crammed in an aisle with my bags with my back leaning against a wall. Though he must have seen me from the corner of his eye because he took a step back and stared at me. Wide-eyed and a loss for words I just stared back. He had long blond hair that went past his jaw, light brown eyes and was very tall in stature. Was it not okay if I was here or am I somehow intruding?

"You do realize you have a customer, right?" the man smirked.

"What?" the womans' voice echoed from the back. I closed the book shut and was about to put the book back on the shelf till I realized that the man stepped aside and let the owner glance into the aisle

"Oh, hi there!" The woman said with an inviting voice. I just wanted to shrink or maybe somehow be absorbed by the wall and disappear. "You know this isn't a library, right?" I nodded and put the book back on the shelf. "Hold on, what did you find there lass?" The woman approached me, grabbing the book from the shelf. "That is where it went! I've been wondering where it ended up! I had a client wanting to read it." the woman smiled and began to look at me strangely. She wore a white tank top, her hair had multiple braids and she had something to cover her forearm. "How did you find this?" she cocked one eyebrow up as stared at me intently. I looked down and shrugged. "Not much of a talker huh? I guess you do have some good features about you though, not surprised if you would be able to pick out this book out of the whole store." She sighed with a knowing smile. I stood motionless staring at the floor. Can I just die? I wasn't sure what she meant by good features, was that a good or bad thing?

"Why don't you come on back? You look like you can use a cup of tea." the lady broke the silence. I looked up to find myself staring her in the eyes. "Come on, we aren't going to bite you. You look like you just seen a ghost or something." She put her hand on my shoulder and guided me to the back.

"So, Ainsworth what brings you out?"

"I have some items to drop off and pick up." She led us to the back room.

"You can just put your stuff there." The woman motioned her hands to a corner by the doorway. I nodded as I put the couple of bags down, I then stood by the doorway and looked up at the strangers. I made sure that I stood as motionless and as silent as possible.

"Well go ahead take a seat, I'm just boiling the water. I'm Angelica by the way, and this is Elias." I glanced at both of them and nodded.

"You must at least have a name?" Elias spoke up

"It's Chise, Chise Hatori."

"So it speaks!" Angelica chimed. I began to blush as I took a seat while looking around, there was a lot of creatures here. Some of them were flying, others crawled and a few others were clinging on to gems or certain objects.

It was then that I realized Elias was looking me intently, with his brows slightly knit together and his head slightly tilted to one side. I then looked at the ground and pretended I didn't exist, though I felt like I was the elephant in the room. "Here you go," Angelica handed me a cup of tea. I looked at her hand and looked up at her face "Well go ahead and take it, it's not going to hurt you." Why were these people being so nice? I mean Elias is a bit strange, however, I suppose we're all odd in some way. "Thank you, it smells lovely" I held the cup in my hand and put it on the table beside me. Why am I here? Maybe if I had a job I could just say 'I have to get going to work' or something responsible of some sort.

"So, what did you come to drop off Ainsworth?" Angelica fixed her focus on her other customer and the two began to engage in a light conversation. It seemed like they were pretty good friends or perhaps more than just friends? I sipped my tea, it was absolutely delicious, it tasted fresh, sleek, earthy and slightly spicy. I drew circles in the cup with the tea bag, making sudden glances here and there at the creatures around me. There was a salamander type of creature that suddenly appeared, it was a bit vocal, pretty much everytime it moved it hummed or hawed at something. It started to approach me and crawl up my leg, then wiggled onto my lap. It sniffed and poked my chin with its wet soft nose as it made small little-humming noises in its throat. I looked up to see the Elias and Angelica still talking, so I decided to let it nibble on my fingers and lick my hand. I almost burst out in laughter but I just bit my lips and smiled.

"As I thought, you do have the sight. How fortunate." I looked up to see Elias looking at me. I nervously took my hand back as the salamander creature crawled back down my leg as if it's feeling were suddenly hurt. I grew restless. Memories flashed through my eyes of my childhood. Peoples comments flooded my ears, I took a sharp breath and closed my eyes.

"I have never been fortunate, not even once in my life." Words spilled out of my mouth like a weapon, I wasn't even positive where it came from. Everything shifted into silence, it was so quiet, that if someone dropped a feather, you could probably hear it. "I think I should go, I have to catch the train" I muttered as I got up and headed for the door and grabbed my stuff.

"Wait, Chi-" Angelica cried out

"Thank you for the tea, it was really lovely" I managed to blurt out.

"See, look what you did! You scared her off." I heard Angelica say as I ran out of the bookstore.

I ran a few blocks down before I started to walk quickly again. Though I must have acted like a spoiled child, I have never been blessed with having this site. A memory shot through my mind. Mom was strangling me as she pinned me down with her body. Her voice was trembling as tears crept past her eyelids as she said: "You should have never been born."

Maybe if I wasn't born I would have been fortunate.

Authors notes:

Well, Chise has officially met Elias. Though I feel that because of Chise's history she isn't very fond of telling people of what she sees.

Let me know what your thoughts are! How do you think Chise and Elias will meet again?

Regardless will be updating soon! Make sure you let me know what you think.