Soul Fire

6.4

"Creepy." Bloom said softly, willing those flames on her fist away. She kept the other fire lit in her hand, the dancing flame creating moving shadows across the faeries' faces.

"A fresh coat of paint, a few rugs, and the place might even look homey." Musa chuckled nervously. Bloom walked towards the middle of the room, spinning slowly in search of something.. anything... that would lead them to Stella.

Xenia leaned in towards the dark haired faerie. "I really don't think now is the time to joke around, Musa."

"Why not?" She hissed back. "It's what Stella would say."

"Should we do a sweep of the cottage?" Bloom asked, turning to face the girls. "She might be here somewhere."

Bloom stepped ahead and pushed open another door that led to the kitchen. Her breath caught in her throat as she beheld the golden haired faerie, sitting on the ground, with silver cuffs around her wrists and ankles. Stella breathed out a sigh of relief. "Thank god you're here.." Stella said, "I wasn't sure if you guys would be able to find me."

The girls rushed over to the other side of the filthy kitchen and kneeled before their friend. "Are you okay?" Bloom asked as Flora grabbed Stella's hand and said, "What happened to you?"

Stella held out her wrists. "It's a long story.." She trailed off. "Xenia, can you get me out of these cuffs?"

Xenia smirked at the golden faerie. "Is water wet?" Xenia pulled Stella's wrists towards her, inspecting the metal cuffs, her analytical mind analyzing the locking mechanism. "Musa," Xenia said, looking at the red faerie. "Can you shoot a small sound wave into this lock?"

Musa shrugged, and crouched down. "I can try."

"I just need one that I can use to carry a digital signal in. It should fry the mechanism and open the lock."

"Is it an anti-magic lock?" Musa asked.

Xenia shook her head. "No, just a mechanical lock. Not very smart on their part. Whoever kidnapped you is a real amateur, Stella."

Stella snorted. "Clearly."

Under Xenia's instruction, Musa shot a high pitched noise frequency into the lock. Xenia sent her own invisible magic in behind it, and the lock clicked open. Stella beamed. The girls repeated it on her ankles, and the lock popped open just as easily. Bloom and Flora helped Stella to her feet.

Bloom looked around as they stepped back into the main room of the cottage. It was so strange... The place seemed to be completely abandoned, except for Stella. And with access to her magic still, they must have been really confident to leave her here unattended like this. Almost as if they were asking to get caught.

Clearly, they underestimated the Alfea faeries.

Stella stretched her slender arms above her head. "Okay, what do you say we get out of here?" She said, smiling at the girls.

Bloom had no idea how Stella was in such good spirits, but she supposed that she would be happy to see her friends after a night trapped in this creepy cottage.

Stella turned towards Bloom. "Thanks for taking care of my ring for me." She smiled warmly at her friend and held out her hand, eager to summon Sun-Weaver and transport everyone back to Alfea.

Bloom grasped the ring between her fingers, and began sliding it off. She hesitated and checked around her to make sure nobody was hiding and waiting to ambush them. As her eyes swept across the room, they locked with Flora's. Her eyes were wide, an expression of concern morphing her features.

Flora knew something was wrong. Something was so wrong.

Bloom stopped, her fingers still on the ring. This was too easy.. Could they really be that lucky?