Ellora's Sun

Chapter Four

Adelaide drove her and Christoph to a nearby coffee shop. They drove in silence, with her hands white-knuckling the steering, and Christoph's crossed neatly across his lap. He didn't say anything, but his eyes never left her as they drove the ten minutes to the coffee shop. Adelaide squirmed under his gaze, wishing his attention wasn't so focused on her.

"This is much better." Christoph stated as they entered the coffee shop. Adelaide breathed in the smell of coffee grounds and warm pastries, letting the warm air fill her chilled lungs.

Christoph stepped up to the counter and ordered himself some tea, and Adelaide ordered a hot chocolate and a blueberry muffin. She'd skipped breakfast that morning in a rush to get out the door, and her stomach was yelling at her.

After they both had their orders, they found a table in the back corner of the shop. A man typed rapidly on his laptop on the other side of the room, and a college student sat at the bar with headphones blaring in her ears and a video playing on her phone.

"So," Adelaide started, taking a long sip of her hot chocolate. They'd sat silently at the table for a couple of minutes, and she was growing impatient, "are you going to start explaining what the hell is going on?"

"You're rather impatient, aren't you?" Christoph commented, stirring his tea calmly and taking a small sip. Adelaide narrowed her eyes, but kept her gaze focused on the cup in her hands.

Christoph's nonchalance and condescending tone about the whole situation was irritating to her. She didn't know what was going on, but she knew it was something serious enough for "Lorenzo" to try and attack her. If Christoph wasn't going to take it seriously, she'd have to find answers somewhere else. 

"Alright, alright, calm down. You're upsetting my tea." Christoph dropped the lid to his cup on the table and let out an annoyed sigh. Adelaide looked away from her own cup to see that bubbles hard started to form in his tea as it boiled over the top of the cup. Her eyes widened at the boiling liquid, but as quick as it had come on it stopped.

"How did you do that?" Adelaide asked in shock. She picked the cup up, checking underneath for a gadget of some kind. Christoph snatched it away from her, putting the lid back on so he could drink it.

"I didn't do it, you did," He took a sip of the tea, wincing slightly at the temperature, before continuing, "You're a witch."

Adelaide couldn't help but snort at the ridiculous statement. Christoph sounding like James, always dreaming up witches and goblins and fairies and a world aside from their regular, human world. She'd always admired his imagination, glad that it gave him an escape from living in a world with their parents. But Christoph - he just sounded like a stranger who'd gone crazy.

"I know it sounds mad to you, but I'm not making it up. You're a witch, I'm a witch, Lorenzo's a witch. Witches are very real, despite what we let humans believe," Christoph explained calmly, with another sip of tea. Adelaide raised her eyebrows at the man sitting across from her. With his expensive wool jacket on, wavy brown hair, and calm demeanor, he really didn't seem like someone who'd fully lost their brain, but he was certainly acting like it.

"You're bonkers. I think I would have known if I was a witch by now, right?" Adelaide countered with an eye roll. She turned in her seat and reached to grab her backpack. She'd entertained Christoph's stories and requests, but she wasn't going to waste anymore of her time.

"Wait, Adelaide." Christoph reached across the table and grabbed her hand. She froze in place when she felt his warm hand on her wind chilled hand. Her name sounded odd in his accent, and she realized he hadn't called her that before. Adelaide was suddenly very aware that he'd been watching her and knew a lot more about her than she did about him.