"Where are you two coming from at this time of the night?"
A significant pause followed.
"Or rather, where have you two been since morning?" Peter asked immediately after Diana and I stepped into the compound. It turned out he had been waiting by the wooden gates.
At first, Diana and I exchanged glances, both of us wondering if it was a good idea to talk about the cave and how it had deceived us.
Rachel should have told us that the cave had a slower time clock before getting us in there!
Diana laughed and shook her head, as though she could see what was going on in my head.
"I see you both are still having fun. Follow me," Peter commanded before heading in the direction of the sitting room. He never looked back to see if we were following him.
Well, we had no choice in that, really. Peter was calmer, but his anger wasn’t something I would want to see every day.
"Come on, let’s go before mother joins him to burn our hairs off, just with their eyes," I chimed, making Diana laugh. She was still holding my hands.
In the sitting room, the couple was already waiting for us.
"Take a seat." Peter pointed to the sofa opposite them.
It reminded me of that time when Diana and I had been at loggerheads because of the Queen’s stupid command and the academy.
Without a word, Diana and I obeyed and took our seats.
But weren’t they going to serve us food? I thought, placing my hand on my stomach, hoping that when they saw that motion, they would give us some food before subjecting us to questioning.
Yet, my plan failed woefully. They pretended not to see.
Oh well. Did something happen in our absence? Did we fail to obey some sort of instruction?
I racked my brain for maybe a chore I was asked to do but failed to complete, yet there was none. So, what could it be?
I knew the answer the next second, checking the clock in the room. The time was ten p.m. What!
"Is that time correct?" That was Diana. She must have seen the clock right at the same time as me.
We should have asked Rachel for the time when we left the cave, but we had assumed that it was just early evening.
Oh, I could imagine how much chewing Levina would receive from her father, Principal Lethon. Sinclair too.
"Oh, you don’t even know the time? You’re not wearing your watches? What about you, Maya? You’re not with your phone?"
I opened my mouth to inform them that it hadn’t even crossed my mind because I stupidly assumed the time. But I said nothing. I closed my mouth. Diana did, too.
"If you two aren’t ready to talk, then you can go to bed," Laura spoke calmly for the first time since we stepped into the house.
However, Diana and I weren’t daft; at least we knew that Laura was the opposite of calm. She was fuming despite her calm voice, and we knew that the worst thing we could do was to actually go to bed. That would be stupid of us.
"We went on an excursion," I finally spoke, clasping my hands together.
"Excursion? What kind of excursion? I didn’t know that your school, or rather, class was having one..."
I knew that her last statement was a tricky one. This was a small community, and she would have seen and maybe even checked on one of my classmates back at school, considering our movements. It would be foolish of me to lie at this point.
"It wasn’t a class or school excursion. It was a friends’ day out. Rachel and Raul took us to the caves in the forest," I summarized in one breath, waiting for the other shoe to drop. And drop it did.
Peter and Laura echoed at the same time.
"Maya, are you crazy?! Going into the caves?"
So, they knew the cave I was talking about specifically? Interesting.
"We were curious. The twins mentioned..."
"The twins are not to be trusted! How many times have I told you that? And worse, you took Diana with you! Why did you involve her?"
I didn’t think Laura would want to hear the truth, so I bowed my head in the meekest way possible and apologized. "I am sorry."
"Sorry won’t cut it this time." Peter stated vehemently, as if I had done this before.
"I am sorry; it won’t happen again." This time, I would go alone, with a watch, and on my own terms.
"You are right. It won’t happen again! You are grounded!"
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"Dad, this week is the Queen’s birthday week... how can I be grounded?"
Peter huffed and looked away. "Next week then."
I held back a smile at a victory achieved, because I knew there was no way that punishment would hold next week. "Thanks, Dad."
"So, what did you lot do in the cave? Who else was engaged in this folly?" Laura took up the questioning again.
"Sinclair and Levina came along too. We just read books in the cave."
"What kind of books?"
I shrugged. "Magic books."
"And what book did you read?"
I shrugged again. "Magic books."
Diana inhaled sharply, however negligent—I could only sense it because of my heightened senses.
"You both are not going there again. It is not up for discussion. Did you two hear me?"
"Yes, ma’am!!" Diana and I chorused without hesitation.
"Good. Now did anything else happen? In the forest, maybe?"
Diana and I exchanged glances before we could help it.
"What happened?" Peter asked, already deciphering that there was something.
A pinch of silence filled the room as I gathered my thoughts. Diana was letting me take the field play again.
"I met a witch. She gave me some warnings. I’m not sure if she is joking or what..."