"Metilda's" had been locked up for only ten minutes, when it reopened. The three cloaked creatures broke into the shop with just a swing of their axe. Stepping inside, two searched the entire store as the third scanned from the doorway. They quickly returned, spoke again, and then the third took out his compass. With only a grunt, the three left the shop with the sirens from inside blaring.
'I'm so glad I took the shortcut through the park, it's so much nicer, and the sky is so much bigger!' Leora thought as she stood in the elevator. When the doors opened, she walked down to her doorway dreamily. However, she stopped in her tracks. Looking around to see who was there, she found the hallway deserted. Staring back at her door, she took a deep breath.
Her door had been broken in, and it looked like she had been robbed. Leora stepped inside and saw the whole apartment was trashed. She looked around to find her aunt. "Aunt Connie? Connie?" Then she gasped. Entering her aunt's bedroom, she found Connie dead on the bed. Her eyes were frozen in terror, as her lifeless body laid there. Someone had slit her throat, and she was drowned in blood. Leora ran over to her in tears, so horrified at the sight of her dear aunt.
"No! Aunt Connie! Oh God!" She held her aunts hand that was covered in blood. Leora wept and wept. Her only family she had left had died. Someone had come in and murdered her. It was so brutal, so cold blooded. But then, Leora suddenly remembered something her aunt had always told her.
"If anything is to happen to me, I want you to remember to always go back to your childhood. It there's anything you wish to know, go back to these memories."
Leora never understood what her aunt meant. All she knew about what he aunt said was that her aunt always told her this whenever she read The Grim Fairytales. Then suddenly, she let go of her aunt's hand and went into her room. It was chaotic from the break-in of course, but Leora knelt down in front of her bookshelf.
She searched the rack for it, and then finally found the very old and dusty copy of The Grim Fairytales. She pulled it out and sat down on her bed, dusting the book off with her green wool coat. She opened the book to the very first page, and there she found what she thought she was looking for. It had never been in the book before, but she knew Aunt Connie must have had enough time to place it in the book before the murderer came in.
Leora picked up a gold key from the book and looked at it. She set the book down and read the initial, "L". She pondered a moment, then looked down at her locket. She took the key and put it into the lock of her necklace. Before she turned it, Leora heard noises. She quickly put the key in the sock of her addidas and picked up her bookbag, running out of the apartment and down the stairs. She knew if someone had come into the open apartment seeing Leora with bloody hands and her aunt on the bed, they'd think she killed her. Leora knew her aunt wanted her to be safe, and knew that she wanted her to have this key. So, she went as fast as she could down the seventeen stairwells and out of the building, just as Virginia and Wolf came out of the elevator.
"I think we could try a few of those ways. The chicken I've been cooked could use some change!" Virginia said as Wolf excitedly told her about his new book. "Yes! And, little Leora said she could even make some excellent chicken stew! We should-" He stopped. Virginia propped her bike next to the wall and looked at him curiously, "What? What is it?"
"I smell blood." He replied. Virginia looked at him as he made his way down the hall. Going past their own door, he walked past two more. Then, stopped in front of the Corlett's open door. Stepping inside, Virginia called, "Miss Corlett? Leora? Is anyone here?" They searched the apartment but found nothing but the mess. Then, Wolf called to Virginia, "Over here!" But when she came, Virginia only hid in his arms. They had found Aunt Connie's body.
Wolf held Virginia as she cried, but then, picked up a scent. She looked up at him and asked, "What is it? Do you smell something?" "Besides Miss Corlett, I can smell Leora. She's been here quite recently." "You don't think she had anything to do with this, do you?" Wolf reassured her, "No. She wouldn't. Wait, I'm picking up another scent."
He walked around the room a moment, then left and went into the kitchen. Then he stopped. "It can't be! Not here! Why would they've attacked her?" He gasped. "They must have been looking for us! It makes sense! They'll be looking for anyone who can locate us!" Confused and bewildered, Virginia said, "I don't understand. You're rambling! What do you mean, they?" Wolf looked around then ran out the door yelling, "We have to find Leora! She's in terrible danger!"
Leora walked hastily into Central Park. She was so upset and confused, she didn't know what she was going to do. She lifted her hand to wipe her tears, but stopped seeing the blood covering it. She ran to a creek nearby and knelt down to wash her hands. She cried and cried and didn't know when she would stop. Then, she dried her hands on her coat and looked at the water. It was so calm, so serene. She saw the reflection of the moon on the water and looked up at the sky. It was still glowing bright; in a few nights it would be a full moon. Leora knew then that she had to leave New York.
Walking back up to the path, she heard rustling in some bushes nearby. She kept walking, acting casual. But then, she started to hear footsteps behind her. The faster she went, the faster the footsteps went. Then, about to break into a run, she faked out her follower and stopped abruptly. Turning around, she punched her stalker in the stomach. It was a strange man in a black cloak, who bent over when she had punched him. So, she followed her first instinct and punched him again, this time in the head. He fell to the ground, and that's when another on came out of the dark. He held an axe and came towards her. She faced him on and did a high kick, knocking the weapon from his hands. Then she kicked him in the face. He fell to the ground, giving Leora an opportunity to run.
But her chance was over too quickly. All of a sudden, someone grabbed her from behind and set a large dagger to her neck. Leora saw her attacker's hand around her waist, and was frightened to find it was green. Then, he whispered in her ear, "You move the slightest bit, and I'll slit your throat like I did to your watcher!" Immediately, Leora knew who he was referring to, and froze. Tears came to her eyes once more, and the other two cloaked men rose from the ground and followed her kidnapper and herself into the darkness of the forest.
"Now what are we going to do? We're outnumbered by them; we can't take those guys on! How can we help her?" Virginia and Wolf watched the scene nearby in the park. "We'll follow them. They'll lead us to the portal to the other world." He said calmly, he was focused on getting Leora back.
"What? You mean those guys are from the 9 kingdoms? Wolf, you have to tell me what's going on? Who are those men and what do they want with Leora?" "Those are not men! Their goblins, and up until now I thought they were sent to hunt down me and you. But, it seems they already got what they came for." Virginia became baffled, "But why do they want Leora? How is she important to them?" But Wolf shook his head and said, "I don't know. Come on, their leaving!" And he took her hand and they ran after Leora and her capturers.
One of the strange men tied Leora's hands behind her back, then gagged her mouth with a piece of cloth. The one who had captured her gave her to one of the others and looked down at his compass. Leora tried reading it, but it wasn't like ordinary compasses. It seemed almost magical. But she put the thought out of her mind; how could there be magic?
Just then, her question was answered. The men stopped in front of a piece of forest unlike the woods around them. It was like a big clear doorway, but it didn't fit with the woods. Then, the first man walked into it. In the blink of an eye, he disappeared. In shock, Leora was pushed along with the second one, and he pushed her right into it. Everything happened so fast, she felt as though she was flying. Then suddenly, her journey stopped. She then was on a beach, and it was early morning. There weren't any buildings around, only sand, water, and sky. But then, she was turned around. In front of her was a gigantic piece of land that extended as far as she could see. Then, the strange men pushed her forward; they walked up the sandy hill and made it to solid earth, leading to forests beyond. She then looked back at the beach. She gasped. She saw the doorway they had used to come to this world, and it was a mirror. But, she was shoved forward by one of the men, and turned around and walked again. Those men obviously didn't care about the mirror. They didn't care that it was still switched on.
She stepped out of the world she knew, and into the world she had only recently discovered. With Wolf following behind her, Virginia looked at the beach that they stood on. Then, she looked at the mirror with Wolf. It was dirty and covered with barnacles. Scratching his head, Wolf wondered, "What is the mirror doing all the way out here? We're all the way at the ocean!"
Thinking, Virginia had no idea why the mirror was out here- "Wait!" She said. "I know why! When my Dad and I were looking for our mirror, we found out that there was more than one!" Wolf then agreed, "That's right! There was more than one mirror! The first one, was smashed by your clumsy Dad, Tony." Virginia gave Wolf an aggravated look, but he continued, "Second, was with your mom, the Queen, at the time; until we got it from her and it's now in Wendell's castle. Wait, then how is this mirror here?"
"Because there was a third mirror!" Virginia explained. "There was a third mirror, and it was in the ocean! The goblins must have found out where it was, picked it up out of the water, and went to New York to get Leora!" Wolf smiled and kissed his fiancée saying, "Oh, your so smart Virginia!" She smiled and told him, "Let's go. We have to catch up with Leora. But, once we get to her, how will we get rid of the goblins?" Wolf made a sly laugh, "My sweet Virginia, you know that I've gotten you out of many predicaments before using my skills and intelligence! And I can surely do it now!"
So, Wolf sniffed the air, found a scent and took off running with Virginia close behind. It had only been a short while, and already she was back in the 9 kingdoms on another adventure.