My mouth drops open as my eyes gaze upon the sight before me. An entire other world lays beyond the secret door, circus performers race past on their unicycles, young women dance in the streets wearing multicolored outfits, red, blue, green, pink, white...so may colours. The scent of freshly cooked meat pies floods my senses as vendors shout prices for the baked goods. Bells jingle as two jesters walk past the entrance. My eyes flit to the little witch.
"What is this place?"
She smiles, showing all her filed down teeth.
"The City of the Dead."
My stomach twists itself into a tight knot.
"Elaborate?" my voice comes out more nervous than I would've liked.
"This city is a place where everyone is welcome, witches from any coven, demons from other worlds, creatures from the forbidden places on all four corners of the earth-" she shoots me a mischievous look, "and everything in between, whatever that may be."
I shake my head. "You mean to tell me my sister is in there?" I question.
She nods. "Sent her in myself, once I showed her what was behind this door, she couldn't resist the temptation."
I close my eyes and inhale sharply before opening them again. "If what you're saying is true and my sister is in there, all I have to do is go get her and come back yes?"
She considers this for a moment before locking eyes with mine. "Sure."
James buts in. "What do you mean 'sure'? What aren't you telling us you little witch?"
She tilts her head to the side. "My name is Vivian, by the by."
I step in front of James. "Vivian," the name feels so strange on my tongue, I have no idea why. I shake my head to clear it.
"Vivian, what is it that you're keeping from us?"
She clasps her hands behind her back and rocks back on her heels. "I'm not hiding anything."
I turn back to James. "Let's go, my sister is stuck by herself in there. We need to find her and come back, we need to get back to our Coven to train for the witches initiation tournament."
I swallow, hard. "If I survive Bodhi's wrath."
"You have to survive getting your sister back fi-irst," Vivian says in a sing-song voice.
I shoot her a glare and step over the threshold into the City of the Dead with James right at my heels.
"Oh wait," Vivian says.
I look back.
"There is one thing I forgot to mention."
She grins. "Once you enter this city, you can never get back the way you came."
My stomach drops as Vivian slams the door shut. "What?"
I curse and turn to James. "Let's find Ellie first, then worry about getting out of this place."
He nods and we begin navigating through the seemingly growing crowd. I bump into a tall man with a wiry frame and a long, bird like nose.
"Watch where you're going, witch," he spits before slipping his hood on and pushing past me. Seconds later, he disappears into the throng of bodies.
James grabs my hand. "What are you doing?" I ask, feeling a slight blush creep up my cheeks.
He clears his throat. "This way we won't get separated. It's necessary."
I nod, my heart sinking slightly. What is wrong with me? He's right, we can't get separated.
.....
We've been walking for an hour now and no sign of my sister. We stopped at every stall we could find asking for information, finally we got a tip from a baker that a girl fitting my sister's description was seen at the Pointy Hat, a popular bar here in the City Of The Dead.
We reach the bar by nightfall. Releasing James's hand, I push open the doors to the Pointy Hat. A hush falls over the room as the music stops and everything comes to an abrupt halt. My blood boils at the sight before me.
There, on the table in the center of the room, surrounded by hooting, grisly men,was my sister. Ellie, scantily clad, and a face to make Aphrodite herself jealous. She offers a small wave.
"Hey lil sis," she coos.