Page 5 of The Witch & the Tiger

No matter what they said, he had to find that place.

Chapter Three – Willow

Since that short conversation with Martin, Willow found she appreciated her magic more.

Water. Something every living being needs to be able to survive. I should be more proud of this power.

Finding out that Martin wasn’t at the academy anymore interested her. So, with Harrow and Kati’s help, they spread the word that if anyone remembered Martin Gallagher, they should let them know. It turned out that quite a few did. It also turned out that one person wanted to meet with them just because Willow was asking questions.

Willow met with Eva Gallagher on one of her free periods, choosing to meet for an early lunch. Eva looked a lot like her older brother. She had stark orange hair, amber eyes, and large canines that seemed out of place on her otherwise delicate face.

“Good to meet you, Willow,” she said, extending her hand for a firm, almost painful handshake. She smiled in a way that made Willow nervous. She wasn’t used to engaging with shapeshifters. There was something wild and primal about them.

“You’ve been causing quite a stir with your questions about my brother,” Eve said.

“I didn’t mean to cause trouble. I was just… curious. He mentioned that he wasn’t going to the academy anymore, and I guess I wanted to find out if anyone remembered him. I’d ask him myself, but I haven’t seen him around since I met him in the gardens. I’m not even sure how often he comes to the academy.”

Hopefully, she wouldn’t think that Willow was a stalker. Still, she wanted to know partly because she couldn’t get him out of her head and partly because she wanted to dig deeper into the potential mystery he offered. At least now she knew he had a sister.

“What did you talk to my brother about?” Eve asked.

“We were in the gardens. I was using my water magic, and it caught his attention.”

“Ah.” Eva’s expression intensified. “Water magic. Okay, I can see that.”

“He’s interested in people with water magic?”

“Yes, I believe so. I’m not really sure how much to tell you, but I will at least say what is already generally known.” Eva slurped on her apple juice before saying, “Around five months ago, five people went missing, including him. When they hadn’t been seen for almost an entire day and since there was some odd supernatural activity in the area, the local villages, police forces, and academy organized search parties.”

Five people? Already, Willow had questions, but she kept them to herself so that Eva might continue the story.

“Eventually, they found Martin not that far from Oakwend, our home village. He was soaking wet, and three of the people he’d been with had drowned. The fourth person is still missing to this day.”

Willow’s eyes bugged out in surprise. “What? They all drowned in a river or…?”

“See, that’s the thing. There is no water source where they were. There are rivers, but they’re closer to the mountain on the other side. But where they were, there were none. What’s more, the water the three died in was saltwater. The local police brought my brother in for questioning; he was the only suspect at that point. Eventually, they let him go – it was all a little too weird and wacky for them. Dreadmor Academy offered my brother some time off to recover, and since then, he’s not gone back.”

Willow took her time to process this information. The mystery of the drowning intrigued her, but whatever happened was clearly traumatic. “Wait. You told me what people think happened. What about what Martin thinks?”

At this, Eva smiled. “He says they found the sea coast and went down into a cave. However, something about that doesn’t ring true. I think he doesn’t quite remember specifically what happened because he was enchanted. He remembers vague details, like they went into the cave and the waters rose. But there’s still a lot of information missing, including the fact there is no sea coast for them to reach.”

Huh. That sounded weird. Willow frowned. “What on earth?”

Eva sighed. “See? I’ve been talking to the teachers and looking into things, and the collective conclusion is that we have some sort of realm bleed. It's not a permanent fixture like the swamp or the other areas we know – but one that appears sometimes. But we don’t know the conditions under which it will appear. That’s what my brother’s obsessing over at the moment. And I think he believes that if he finds it, he’ll need someone with water powers because maybe they can stop people from drowning.

“I tell you this now because I want you to be careful. My brother – he’s a good person, but he’s not thinking clearly. We all want him to come back to us. But he won’t until he’s found his missing friend and has proven the existence of the place.”

Realm bleeds. Harrow, Chloe, and Kati had mentioned something about that. Willow’s friends had attended a summer camp program, and they said that a big event had occurred while they were there with the realms overlapping. However, everyone had witnessed that occurrence.

Except Willow had heard her friends mention that there was some weird stuff happening now. Chloe had said something about the Dryad talking about a potential danger.

The situation piqued Willow’s interest, and she knew she wanted to see Martin again to find out if her water magic could be of any help to him. On the other hand, she didn’t want to stir the pot too much; she was only going to the academy because she couldn’t think of anything better to do. But maybe her thinking was wrong.

“Maybe,” Willow said carefully, “you can tell your brother that I’m interested in meeting him again if he wants to talk more about how my powers might be of use.”

Eva looked taken aback by the response. “You don’t mind?”

Willow shook her head. “You want your brother to come back to the academy, right? You want to help him?”

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