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It was a long, draining drive to Moonlight Falls and we were thrilled to finally get out of the cars and stretch our legs. Just looking around this place it was a lot different than Starlight Shores. No white sandy beaches that went on for miles and our house defiantly stood out from the rest of the neighborhood. We just might have to reconsider all the plans we had for this house.
Since Mika was still grounded, Mira drove the both of them to the school to register and get their class schedules. They would have two and half months off from school since they kids in town just started their summer break 2 weeks ago.
Then they headed over to the spa and grocery store to check in, their former bosses were more than willing to send out the transfer papers since they were such hard workers. They were both scheduled to start work in two weeks since the current work schedules were already full. After taking Mika back home, Mira headed back to town to get some shopping done. It was still pretty early so there weren't to many people out, but the stores were already open. We needed a lot of groceries since we had no food at all and Mira needed to pick up all of the magic supplies that Calypso had asked her to get. Mira was surprised at how easy it was to find everything Calypso needed, unlike back home were it was hard to come across most everything they needed.
Mira and Mika were very busy as soon as Mira got back home. They first had to set up all of the magic supplies in a newly added room, making sure everything was there and that they still had enough room to work.
After putting the groceries away, Mika and Colton went outside to set up the broom arena and Mira began working on a new garden. I never imagined Mira getting her hands dirty with anything but she seemed to enjoy gardening.
Aside from Mira and Mika running errands they day after we moved in, none of us had gotten the chance to meet anyone or explore our new, unfamiliar town.
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"It's almost time, I still need to get some potions ready," Calypso said, a couple days after Miras shopping trip "I need you guys to get Nick and the others here."
"Already here," Nick said, scaring Calypso as he walked in.
"Nick! You scared the shit out of me!" Calypso exclaimed, with a small grin as she playfully shoved Nick. "Is everything ready on your end?"
"Yes, we found a way in and hopefully we will be able to get out the same way."
"When can we leave?" I asked him, wanting to get this scary journey over with.
"Tomorrow, early in the morning. We have a pretty long drive," Nick said, before looking at Calypso "Will the potions be ready by then?"
"What should the rest of us do?" Colton asked.
"Pack one small bag a piece and I mean the smallest bag you can," Nick answered "One change of clothes and necessities, ONLY necessities. We leave at 4 a.m."
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The next morning we went over the maps once more and circled the two areas where the portals should be located. After packing our things into the cars, we headed out on our very long road trip.
Ino, Loka, Kayla, Anika, and Colton went into one car. It was hard for me to be separated from Colton in this situation but Nick had said it was for the best. They were on their way to the Mictlan Gate, once inside this would be the quickest way to the coven house. Kayla and Anika would be pretending to want back into the coven, even though that was going to be very difficult. Ino and Loka would be coming in as new recruits and Colton would be a new servant.
Mira, Mika, Calypso, Nick, and I went together in the second car. We would be entering through the Demon Gate, this was not close to the coven house by any means, but it would be a lot easier for us to sneak our way to the coven house without Ricardo noticing me. Nick had not explained what our role was yet and this had us all very nervous.
As we got closer the deep fog began rolling in until it engulfed the entire car. We drove for another hour before Nick pulled over and we all got out. He went to the back of the car, opened the trunk, and pulled out a couple of bigger bags that he had packed.
"What is all of that?" I asked him "I thought we could only bring a tiny bag?"
"Well, you guys are not going to like this at all," Nick began slowly, as he began taking clothes out of the bag. Clothes that were very distasteful and not something any of us would be seen in. "But you will all have to do it no matter what."
"Ummm, what do we have to do?" Mira asked, becoming very unsure as she studied the clothes with disgust.
"You all have to pretend to be my slaves and act like I am your master," Nick said, with a look that showed that he hated even the idea of doing this to us.
"NO! Absolutely not! There has to be another way Nick!" I yelled, becoming pissed off.
"Do you want to save Ando or not?" Nick yelled, taking me by surprise. I have never seen him so angry before. "We can easily just go back home and forget about your boy. I can just pretend to not care about the little selfish brat who decided he had to go wake up the devil that can kill us all."
"There has to be something different," Mika said, trying to calm us down.
"I'm sorry but there isn't," Nick said "Not for humans anyway."
"Well, three of us aren't normal humans," Calypso said, in a matter of fact tone.
"Yea and that makes this journey even more dangerous for you three," Nick said, trying his hardest to make us understand "You have to pretend to be normal humans, one little slip up will mean fatal consequences. No matter how I treat you guys or act towards you guys you have got to keep pretending. I will be the whole time."
After the four of us just sat there staring at each other, we all finally agreed on doing this even though we were not thrilled about it. We changed into the clothes without any more protest and then stood there very uncomfortable while Nick put the bags back into the car.
As we walked the last 40 yards to the Demon Gate we tried to not think about things to much. It was a very creepy walk, with all of the dead trees, intense fog, and Watcher only knows what kind of slimy, disgusting creatures were slithering on the ground past our feet.
Nick slowed down a bit before he began whispering without even passing a glance at us.
"You guys have everything hidden still right?" Nick asked quietly, yet still serious "Please remember the number one rule, NO slip ups. NONE!"
We all nodded as we slowly walked into the mouth of the cave into a very small, dark room. Aside from the door we walked through there was no other doors or windows. There were weird looking weeds growing through the dirt floor, there were mounds of rocks all over the place, and a single light hanging from above. The deep growl from an unseen animal sent shivers down my spine. As we walked further into we noticed a man standing against the back wall. He was very mean looking, husky, standing perfectly still, hygiene obviously not a priority, and he kept his arms crossed.
"Passaggio per cinque (passage for five)," Nick said sternly to the man, in perfect Italian.
"Quattro gli esseri umani senza valore in una sola volta? Questo è molto insolito in questo momento, ci sono solo stati sempre pochi al mese (Four worthless humans at once? That is very unusual right now, we have only been getting a few a month)." The man said, very skeptical.
"Sì, tutto è in ordine, non sono stati acquistati illegalmente (Yes, everything is in order, they were not obtained illegally)." Nick said, before turning towards us and spat in our direction. "Down, now!"
We immediately dropped down to our knees, we had to listen to him. The consequences were to severe and scary to think about if we did not listen to him.
"Va bene, il passaggio per cinque (Alright, passage for five)." The man said, as he pulled the lever on the wall next to him. "È meglio non causa alcun problema ed è meglio a pregare tutto è legale con quegli umani disgustosi (You better not cause any problems and you better pray everything is legal with those disgusting humans)."
Nick nudged us and motioned for us to get up. Suddenly we were blinded by the beautiful shades of blues, purples, and pinks swirling around on the wall that the man had just been standing against.
Nick entered the portal first and then we slowly, shakily followed him, unsure what to expect when we stepped into the strange world. Within seconds we emerged into the Underworld, which looked more like a wasteland.
