Chapter 21- The White Wolf.

"What do you mean my family is in the ascendant?" Wendy asked.

"The coven put them in the prison world the moment they found out that you had turned. They wanted to protect your family… from you." Penelope stated.

"For fuck's sake!" Wendy replied. "Fine. I guess I'll take Josie with me to the Prison World so she can get her sister and help me find my family."

"You won't be able to get into the prison world without me… and you certainly won't get back out again either." Penelope replied as she took a step closer to Wendy. "You know I'm just trying to do what is best here. No one needs to die, not your family and definitely not Lizzie. Wendy you were never like this… You were kind and loving and everyone appreciated your words of wisdom… this… this just makes you look like a lunatic."

"If you're trying to butter me up, you're talking to the wrong person hunny… I switched my humanity off months ago."

"If you switched it off months ago then why are you trying so hard to get your family back?" Josie asked, sheepishly.

"That's none of your goddamn business!" Wendy shouted.

"Okay fine… Let's just get this over with. Shall we?" Penelope stated. "Now, where is the ascendant?"

"It's here." Wendy replied as she pulled the ascendant out from behind a nearby bush and threw it towards the three girls. Hope quickly sprang forwards, making sure she caught it before it shattered on the floor. "You best know what you are doing otherwise I will kill you and then Lizzie."

"No need with the threats Wendy, we all have something to lose here. You might be able to put someone into a prison world, but I'm the only one that can pull them out." Penelope replied. "Now, let's do this."

"If you're fucking with me Wendy, I promise you… I will kill you." Hope seethed as she passed the ascendant over to Penelope for her to start the ritual.

"Why did Wendy send you into a prison world? And why would she send me?" Lizzie asked.

"Wendy sent me here because she wasn't happy that I was trying to help Hope find you… I tried to get Wendy to turn her humanity back on, but she almost killed me in the process. Hope actually healed me, then the last thing I remember was Hope lying battered and bruised on the floor before there was this bright white light and I woke up here." Jade recalled, feeling guilty about having left Hope lying there all alone.

"Hope does have a heart of gold when she wants to, but I still don't understand why I am here? I don't even know this Wendy." Lizzie replied as she pushed a large branch out of her way.

"I guess you're here because Wendy wanted leverage over Hope to try and force Penelope to find her family." Jade replied as she followed the taller girl.

"Great… so Penelope fucked up and I'm stuck here?! Great, just fucking great…" Lizzie muttered. "Why does she have to destroy everything good in my life? GOD, I HATE HER."

"No, no, Penelope has nothing to do with this… not really… It was my fault. There was an accident… Me and Wendy… I gave Wendy my blood then she died… She turned into… into a heretic. The coven that she is or was a part of, they took her family and hid them from her." Jade replied. "Look I'm sorry that you are stuck here… I honestly didn't intent for this to happen… I just wanted my friend back and I guess now we are both fucked."

Suddenly both girls came to a stop when they heard some rustling from a nearby bush. "Show yourself!" Lizzie called out. The rustling got louder as though whatever was causing it was getting closer to them. When the rustling died down the sounds of a child laughing erupted from nearby. "This isn't funny. Show yourself." Lizzie reiterated.

"Maybe we should leave?" Jade asked as she tugged on the other girls arm slightly.

"Aren't you a vampire? Why are you scared of some rustling?" Lizzie laughed.

"Yes, I am a vampire, but we don't know what is in here with us. I don't want to risk my life… and certainly not yours. Hope will kill me if she finds out that I let you get killed. So let's leave and get somewhere that isn't covered by trees." Jade stated as she pulled the other girl out of the trees and into the daylight.

"Fine… You're no fun. I have a question." Lizzie replied.

"You can ask it, but I might not answer it."

"Why don't you burn when you are under the sun? You don't have a daylight ring." Lizzie asked.

"I think it's something to do with the way this prison world is built. I don't mind it; it's been a long time since I have felt the sun on my skin. I've missed it." Jade answered.

"Okay then… Another question… Did you leave me this note?" Lizzie asked as she pulled the note that she found when she woke up out of her pocket and passed it to the other girl.

"Come and find me x what sort of creepy message is that? And no, I didn't leave it, I didn't even know you were here until I ran into you." Jade replied. "See this is why I wanted to get out of the creepy woods… There are definitely... things… in here that I would not like to meet."

"Just to make you aware being such in here with you doesn't make us friends. I barely know you; you might be friends with my girlfriend and my sister but that has nothing to do with me… But you're right, that is a creepy message. Honestly, I thought Hope had left it, she usually does things like that to me, but since you said that we are trapped in here then Hope couldn't have left it. Which means someone else did. And I want to find out who." Lizzie wasn't harsh in her tone, but she had said it in such a way that it made Jade recoil slightly, like she was wounded by the other girls' words.

"I mean I get it… I wouldn't trust me either, if I was in your situation. However, I am definitely not willing to get myself killed trying to find out who left me a weird, creepy message." Jade replied. "Look… can we just go back to the school? It's safe there and if by some miracle Hope does find a way into this prison world, she would probably check the school first, right?"

"You can go back to the school if you want to, but I am going to continue going wherever it is I'm going and if, like you said, by some miracle Hope does get there, she can always use a locator spell to find me." Lizzie shrugged then continued on her journey. Jade groaned, debating internally on whether she was going to head back to the school or follow Lizzie. Ultimately, she decided it was probably best to follow the taller girl because she didn't want Lizzie to die and she didn't want to get killed by Hope for losing her girlfriend in the first place, so begrudgingly she followed along.

After another couple of hours walking, on the road this time, much to the annoyance of Lizzie, the sun was starting to set. Off in the distant there was a lone cabin standing in the middle of the field. "I think we should stop there for the night." Jade stated as she pointed towards the cabin. "I don't really want to be walking or camping outside in the middle of the night. Plus, I really need to pee."

"Ugh fine." Lizzie replied as she veered off the road and headed over the fields towards the cabin.

"Wait here." Jade instructed as they approached the cabin. Lizzie stopped, confused, as the other girl took off running towards the abandoned building. Within seconds Jade was back again. "Okay, it's clear… I just wanted to check that it wasn't boobytrapped or something."

"Thanks… I guess." Lizzie nodded as she continued onwards. "Who doesn't love to stay at a creepy cabin in the middle of nowhere in a prison world."

"It's probably safer than trying to pitch a tent on the side of the road." Jade shrugged.

"I guess you're right, but I do miss watching the stars at night." Lizzie muttered to herself. Jade thought about replying back to the other girl but decided it was probably best not to ask any questions. Maybe Lizzie is starting to lose it. Jade thought. Once Lizzie has reached the door to the cabin, she pushed on the door, to her surprise it opened quite easily. She peered passed the open door into the lifeless room in front of her. "I guess this will do." Lizzie stated as she slowly took a step inside and dropped her rucksack to the floor.

"I'll get a fire going if you want to find us something to drink. See if you can find any tea bags or some coffee… Actually, coffee sounds great." Jade smiled as she made her way towards the fireplace that was placed in the middle of the wall as they walked into the creaking building.

"Fine, coffee it is then… I'll go look." Lizzie replied. The cabin was small, it only had one bedroom, a small bathroom that only had a shower, toilet and a small sink. A small kitchen that didn't have an oven or a fridge, in all fairness you couldn't really call it a kitchen, it was more like a pantry, there was only 3 cupboards and a small worktop with a sink. Some might call it homely, Lizzie on the other hand, would call it a shithole. But it was where they are spending the night, she didn't have to love it, she just had to put up with it. "I'm taking the bed." Lizzie called out as she made her way into the kitchen and started rummaging through the cupboards. It didn't take her long to find a half open bag of coffee grounds. "Here. I dunno how good this will be because it's half open… How can something be half open in a prison world?" Lizzie asked as she walked back into the main room and tossed the bag towards Jade.

"Thanks. I'll just get some water in a pan, and I think the fire will boil it for us, there is a grate on this thing, so I think this is how they cooked and cleaned shit." Jade smiled as she caught the bag of coffee and placed in at the side of the fireplace before she turned and headed towards the kitchen. "And things can be half opened because a prison world is basically like a snapshot of moment in our real world, the moment the world was created, so if something is half opened in the real world, it will be half open in this one."

"Oh, I get it, so if someone threw paint at a wall or something the moment this world was created, the paint in this world wouldn't ever dry because it was wet the moment this world was created, and every day is the same. Right?" Lizzie replied as she sat down on the sofa that was facing the fireplace.

"Strange analogy… but basically yes." Jade replied as she returned from the kitchen with a pan full of water and placed it onto the grate. Lizzie fell silent after that. Her mind started racing… thinking about Hope and Josie and her parents, but mostly Hope. She became transfixed watching the flames of the fire get bigger then die down again. She was completely lost in her thoughts that she hadn't realised that it was now pitch-black outside, and Jade had curled up on a chair in front of the fire. Lizzie stretched herself up from the sofa before she headed to the bedroom to sleep. It didn't take Lizzie long before she fell asleep, and her dreams were flooded with Hope.

Jade woke up suddenly when a hand was placed over her mouth, stopping her from screaming. "Be quiet or you die." The voice whispered in a thick unrecognisable accent. Jade was picked up from her chair and forced onto her knees, tied up and tape was placed over her mouth. The fire had long been extinguished so there was no light for Jade to see what was happened, but she could hear small footsteps walking across the wooden floor. SHIT… LIZZIE! She thought. But it was too late. She heard Lizzie's screams coming from the bedroom and it didn't take long for Lizzie to be dragged from her bed and tied up on the floor next to Jade.

"It's clear." Another voice said, this one sounded younger than the previous one, but the same thick accent was there. The two voices started talking to each other in a language that neither of the girls could understand. It sounded old, not Latin but something similar. Lizzie knew it sounded familiar, but she couldn't place it and it was starting to drive her a little bit crazy. It took a little while for the girls' eyes to adjust to the darkness but once they did, they could make out three figures hovering near the door of the cabin. A tall man, probably 6ft and two smaller boys around 5ft 6/5ft 7. They didn't look like men, so to speak, they were covered in animal pelt and very unkempt, messy hair and beards. One of the younger boys walked over behind Lizzie, with his left hand he grabbed a handful of her hair and pulled it down, lifting her neck in the process then pulled a large knife from his side pocket and brought it to the base of her neck.

Every fibre in Lizzie's body was telling her to fight, but the pressure of the knife on her neck was stopping her. Is this really the way I'm going to die? Tied up by strangers in the middle of the night and held at knifepoint. Yup, I'm definitely going to die. Fuck. Who even are these people? Where's Hope when you need her. Lizzie's thoughts were racing around in her head as the three men started talking in hush, harsh tones.

Out of nowhere, the cabin door swung open, and a giant white wolf came bounding in and headed straight for the man that was holding Lizzie. Everything went black and Lizzie passed out.