Hope was more than glad to hear that, but at the same time, it was the opposite for the two boys in front of her.
"She won't go anywhere, witch!" Ethan stretched out his arms to reach for Hope, yet the girl dodged him swiftly and took two steps back, so she was out of his arms-reach. "Hope!" he called her name in frustration.
It was rare for Ethan to lose his calmness and it could only mean, that he was very upset at the moment.
"Hope, come back here!" Ian did the same thing, his tone was hardened, but his eyes locked on the witch.
Hope bit her lips and gritted her teeth, actually she didn't wish to have this talk in front of Ethan and Ian, but the situation didn't allow her to have much choices, so she ignored the twins and turned her attention towards the woman.
"Tell me what do you want from me?" days ago she said she would help her if Hope was willing to give her something, and until now she still didn't know what did the witch wanted from her in return.
"Are you sure, do you want to talk about this here?" she squeezed the wrapper in her hand and it disappeared within her palm. "I don't think we should discuss it here."
All of a sudden, that woman did the same thing she did when she visited Hope's school. Not exactly like the last time, this time, in a blink of an eye, they were inside the pine forest.
"We can talk here," her clothes changed as well. Seconds ago, she was wearing blue t-shirt and leather jacket with the mask that matched her washed-off color jeans, now she was wearing a long white dress with yellow shawl around her heck.
The ambience that she gave off also changed, she looked more serious and resolved.
"Where are we!!?"
A screech voice sounded from their left side and from a big pine tree Ian and Ethan came out with dreadful look on their faces.
"You brought them here?" Hope didn't even flinch when she realized her surrounding had changed, but the appearance of the twins made her frown.
"Yes, I did," she said languidly. "Just in case they want to accuse me for kidnapping you." She smiled but it didn't reach her eyes as they stared at Ian and Ethan, who were running towards Hope and stood beside the girl.
"Where are we!?" Ian repeated his question, shielding Hope behind his back.
Actually, Hope wanted to push him away, since she was impatient to know what kind of deal that the witch wanted from her. However, she appreciated the twins' gesture. They always acted like brothers, and as someone who didn't have any siblings, Hope cherished them so much.
"Near the border of the Northern Coven Realm." That woman waved her hands and pointed at a peculiar tree that was standing behind the three teenagers in front of her. "That tree is the passageway for us to go to the other realm. "
On sync, the three of them turned their body and stared at the tree behind their back. Among the pine trees that surrounded them, this tree was similar to apple tree, only there was not a single leave to be seen that grew from its dry branches, as if this weird–looking tree died long time ago.
From afar—though Hope couldn't hear it, but the twins were able to pick up the noises from the festival. They were not teleported that far.
"What do you want from me?" Hope became impatient to know what this witch was up to. She was worried if her request was something that she couldn't fulfill, as she wanted to go to the other realm so badly.
Not only because she wanted to know what had happened to both Kace and Lana, but also her sense adventure pumped her up. She was thrilled to know that she would go beyond this boring village.
"This is something easy." She shrugged her shoulder. "I want your blood, which taken willingly," she said lightly, as if this wasn't a big deal.
Probably not, but Hope knew what her bloodmeans for those creatures. A long time ago, Kace had recklessly let her blood being drawn and this caused the wrath of Serefina.
Kace once told her that her blood held a significant power and was dangerous. It could be used for something outrageous and the result would be the worst beyond words.
Meanwhile, for the sibling, they didn't know the catastrophe that could be brought by Hope's blood. The only thing in their mind was thatclearly this witch would bring nothing but harm to her and they wouldn't allow that.
"We are leaving," Ethan said coldly, he grabbed Hope's wrist and was about to walk away with Ian followed behind him when Hope pulled her hand off from his grip.
"No, wait!" Hope used all of her might to free herself from Ethan and took another step back to prevent herself being caught again. "Explain to me, why should I give you my blood willingly? What do you want to do with it!?"
If the witch wanted, she could draw her blood anytime. She could do it when they were inside Hope's school, during their first meeting.
After all, Hope didn't have that kind of strength in her to protect herself from the magic that the witch was capable to do.
There was no need for her to go that far to bring her there and promised her anything. Why would she go through some hazards that could be waiting for them, just to help her?
"The blood, that is drawn willingly, is more powerful than the forced one." She shrugged her shoulder as if that was an easy question and Hope should have known that.
This was the worst part.
Hope frowned.
If the forced one was enough to make Serefina and Kace tracked down the creature, who had stolen it, then what about the blood which was taken willingly? Could it be somehow lethal?
However, some crazy ideas flashed in through her mind. Crazy enough to make her heart beat so fast.