The Great Bake Escape

3

Chapter 3: One Hot Mess

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Without complaining, Yelena followed Darius. He led her out of the marble hall. Outside, the hall was revealed to be in a valley. The valley was rather nice. It was large and wide, and little stone cottages occupied every available space. A brick path snaked through the valley, and little boughs of bright flowers and sweet-smelling herbs grew here and there. Rolling, grassy green hills were to be seen in the distance.

Directly across the valley was a tall, stone tower. It seemed to be where Darius was heading. Luckily, it had several windows and had a door out the bottom. I don't know what I'd do if it was anything like Rapunzel's tower, thought Yelena.

Darius opened the door to the tower. Inside, there was a living room. The room was quite cozy and felt welcoming. In fact, it was as if Darius was the answer to the question: what doesn't belong here?

In the center of the room, there was a spiral staircase which Yelena was pushed up. Several of the rooms were normal rooms, like another sitting room, a library, and an office. There were several strange rooms though-a potions room, for example. The very top floor appeared to be a kitchen. There were two large ovens, and it looked like every single modern kitchen appliance invented was located in the kitchen.

Darius banged on the trapdoor above his head. "This is the loft, where you will be staying," he told Yelena. Then he yelled, "Gilly! Open up this instant. GILLY!"

With that, the trapdoor opened. The head of a small girl poked out. "Sorry sir! I was busy reading, and I-"

"Excuses, excuses! They're not gonna hide the fact that you're too lazy too-" 

"Anyways, who is this?" asked the girl (Gilly?). 

"She's the one who I told you about," Darius said grumpily. "Which you would remember if you actually listened when I talked to you instead of zoning out and daydreaming!" 

The girl winced. "Sorry," she muttered, but she didn't look sorry.

"You deal with her. Send her down to the kitchen when you're done," he said. The wizard turned around. "Now scram!"

Yelena jumped up and quickly climbed up the rope ladder that the girl had tossed down to her.

"Thanks," she said as she got to the top. 

"Of course," said the other girl. "Welcome to Diamond Valley." 

"Diamond Valley?" Yelena asked, confused. 

"It's the name of this whole place," the girl explained. "By the way, my name is Gilly Larson," said Gilly. 

"I'm Yelena Atlock," Yelena replied. She looked around.

On one side of the room, there was a stack of hay covered with bed sheets and a pillow. Above it, there was a shelf of books. On one side of the bed, there was a desk covered in paper and pencils. On the other side, there was a set of drawers and a work table. Yelena could see pincushions, bolts of fabric, rows of ribbon and thread, and a basket with yarn, knitting needles, and crochet hooks piled on the table.

In front, there was a circle of bean bags around a coffee table, set with a plate of cookies. On the opposite side, there was just a bed. "Make yourself at home," said Gilly. Yelena awkwardly sat on the bed, and Gilly sat down on one of the bean bags.

"Cookie?" she offered. 

"Sure," Yelena replied. After a few moments of silence, Gilly took a deep breath and sighed. "Darius asked me to explain everything to you, so here it goes.

"All of the wizards here in Diamond Valley have been planning for a long time. I don't know what they're trying to do, but what I do know is that they're up to no good. Basically, they want you to bake for them. They know your family's secrets, and that you cook with magic. So, they sent Darius to kidnap you and bring you here.

"You're supposed to be baking magical treats. But unlike your family's food, these are supposed to be evil, and will help the wizards in some way."

Yelena stared. This was something along the lines of what she had been expecting, but still. "They want me to make evil goods?" 

"Mhm," said Gilly, whose mouth was full with a cookie.

"So. Any more questions?" she asked.

I'm in one hot mess, thought Yelena.

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