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# Chapter Three - A Cryptic Plan
- URL: https://emma-qwinn-and-the-elders-request.ghost.io/chapter-three-a-cryptic-plan/
- Published: 2026-07-27T23:53:30.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-05T01:00:33.000Z
- Description: Emma meets Dr. Nathaniel Mitonka, and her world will never be the same.
- Author: Pamela Richardson

“What’s wrong with you?” Shade demanded as he tore away from Admeda Proctor’s residence in a display of screeching tires.

He said nothing as he shifted the gears viciously and Shade tightened her seatbelt because she’d learned over the years that driving fast seemed to calm his inner anger and grabbed at the door as he downshifted into a tight turn. And then another. Until he found the ramp for the expressway and then matted the gas pedal.

Usually, he could resolve things in a span of five miles or so, but not this time.

And twenty minutes later, at over 200 mph, she saw signs for Buffalo began to appear along the thruway, so she tried again, “You’re going to get pulled over.”

“I’ll handle it if I do,” he snapped back.

“Driving like a maniac isn’t the answer, you need to find another way,” she whispered softly.

He said nothing but eased off the accelerator a bit and then downshifted again toward an exit that said Welcome to Hamburg, NY, “Oh good,” Shade sighed, “I’m starving!”

Her innocent remark caught him off guard and Mitonka couldn’t help himself and began to laugh.

Two days later their plan was set and put into motion.

Shade looked deeply worried as Mitonka went over everything one more time and she shook her brunette head, “I don’t know…there are just so many things that could go wrong.”

He gave her hand a gentle pat across the table of the small diner they were sitting in, “All you must do is deal with her personal affairs, we don’t want any loose ends. Get the dog, leave a note for her landlord and get rid of her vehicle. Make it look like she left town on her own. I will take care of everything else, and no matter what happens between now and the next time I see you, I will have Emma Qwinn with me. You need to be prepared…we have no idea what state of mind she’ll be in.”

“This is wrong - we’re kidnapping her!” she hissed quietly.

Mitonka’s honey brown eyes became grave, “We’re taking her home, Shade. She does not belong here.”

This mollified her a bit and she sighed, “You’ll be all alone with no way to reach me when you go meet with this Sammy Ag character tonight. What if he gets suspicious?”

“Have a little faith in me,” he answered with a smile, “Fate might be quiet, but I got a gut feeling everything is going to be fine.”

Shade nodded but couldn’t quite shake her own gut feeling, and that things weren’t going to go as planned.

The Crypt was worse than Mitonka had ever anticipated, the smell of sweat, stale beer and foul cigarettes punched him in the nose as he stepped into the dimly lit bar.

A few heads turned as he wandered casually by a mish mash of battered tables that hugged dark paneled walls and chose an empty table that wobbled under his elbows and glanced up uneasily at the yellowed drop ceiling. His lip curled in disgust at the assortment of gum, wrappers, and playing cards stuck to its surface, and wondered, as he slapped open a grimy menu, what held the objects above him in place.

He quickly lost interest in the Crypt Specials as Emma Qwinn materialized a moment later winding her way through the crowded bar, and Mitonka decided at once that the girl seemed far more intriguing in person than in the hollows of Shades' memory.

For starters she was far more petite than he had perceived and there was a natural gracefulness to her as she ducked and weaved her way around some of the toughest looking men he’d ever laid eyes on.

He watched their hardened faces linger a little too long as she passed and was so appalled by some of their hideous thoughts that he mentally tuned them out; then noticed Emma had abruptly stopped dead in her tracks.

She scoured the room, her eyes hunting every corner until they landed on him.

Mitonka smiled to himself, because her inner warning system obviously worked, a trait honed to a sharp point by every Mender he knew, including himself.

He pretended to be engrossed in the menu options as she stalked toward him in a bouncy ponytail, ripped up jeans and a black tank top loudly announcing “The Crapt” in peeling letters, until she stopped at his table and stared at him expectantly.

“Good evening,” he said with a smile.

She tipped her head sideways and considered him for a moment then abruptly bent low next to his ear, “Aren’t you kinda old to be playing dress up?”

“I beg your pardon?” he asked, leaning away from her.

“You don’t belong here,” she replied, straightening and snatching the menu out of his hands, “You’ll get better service back in the village square if you’re hungry.”

An annoyed frown marred his dark face, “I’m a guest of the owner, if it’s all the same to you, so I’ll have that menu back if you don’t mind.”

“Don’t be an ass,” Emma snorted pointing to the price tag hanging off his jacket sleeve, “you reek of new leather clear across the bar. So, you’re either a really dumb undercover cop or a loose dementia patient. Either way, you need to shove off before somebody in here has you for dinner!”

Mitonka pulled a business card from his coat pocket, “Sammy Ag gave me this and asked that I meet him here at 8pm, are you capable of relaying that message or should I ask someone else?”

Emma frowned down at the card.

“If you’d be so kind as to let him know I’m here and I’ll take a bottle of beer, nothing from the tap,” he replied with just a ghost of a smile.

She stared at him in disbelief for half a second, then turned to the adjacent table, “Hey Eddie, can I see that?” pointing at the smoldering cigarette lodged between sausage sized fingers.

“Why?”

“I’m trying to help an idiot.”

Eddie handed her the cigarette and Emma immediately grabbed Mitonka’s sleeve, burned the tag off, and sighed, “Hopefully this will keep you from getting killed before I can get Sammy out of the back office,” and spun around, “Thanks Eddie,” she said handing the cigarette back and disappeared behind the bar.

A few minutes later, Emma stopped next to the other waitress named Pepper as they watched Sammy Ag make his way through the crowded bar to the strangers table with two bottles of beer, “Who’s the old guy in the new, shiny black leather?”

“I dunna know,” Emma shrugged, “He has one of Sammy’s business cards and was told to meet him here at 8pm.”

The pretty waitress with the flawless olive colored skin and honey yellow eyes shrugged back, following Emma’s gaze, “Weird. Maybe he’s an investor.”

Emma smirked at that, “Uh-ah, nobody is investing in this shithole.”

Pepper shrugged again, “Well at this point, I’m not guessing,” and turned to watch Benny finish loading her tray full of drinks, “There are a ton of unfamiliar faces in here tonight, it’s creeping me out.”

Emma had also noticed there was an odd element in the bar that night, and a low hum of apprehension had been filling her middle for over an hour. She trusted her instincts explicitly, smelling trouble way before it ever hit her nose, and for some reason The Crypt was reeking like a landfill tonight.

So, she cautioned Pepper, “Just keep your eyes open, and be careful back in the billiards. Serve them slowly, keep 'em’ sober as long as you can. Sammy only has Bander working security tonight, so if things get out of hand, we’re on our own.”

Pepper gave her a wink, “No worries, Em,’” and heaved up the loaded tray then expertly wove her way into the back of the bar. Emma watched as Bander made his rounds, stopping to chat with fellow Kobra’s or some of the truckers he knew, but his eyes were always watchful. His gaze found her staring at him, so she picked up a can of soda and silently offered it. He nodded back and made his way over. “How’s it going kiddo?” he asked leaning into the bar top.

“Busy! Who are all these wackos in here tonight?”

“I’m not sure,” Bander said, taking a swig and eyeing Sammy with the stranger, “But there don’t seem to be any troublemakers,” then giving her a long, knowing look, “Any more problems?”

Emma cocked her head at him and with a little shrug said, “Nope, not one.”

“Good. But it’s only been a few days, so I’m going to keep walking you out anyway. Although I’ve heard some unreliable gossip that Jag ran into some trouble with the law again and headed south to avoid the heat here.”

“Well, if you ask me that creep is just a blank epitaph waiting to be carved.”

“An epi what?” Bander asked, scrunching up his face.

Emma shook her head at him and laughed, “Go read a book or sumthin’ will ya?”

“Yeah, yeah.” he said, blowing her off, “Sammy’s trying to get your attention.”

Emma rolled her eyes in annoyance, because Sammy wasn’t wrapping up with the stranger like she had hoped, they were instead having an openly animated conversation, and then Sammy Ag laughed.

This was such a rare occurrence that Bander and Emma exchanged a long look before she headed over to the table, where Sammy grinned stupidly at her, “Emma, please bring us two more Corona’s and two Crypt specials.”

“Sure,” Emma replied looking really puzzled, “You ok Sammy?” she asked with genuine concern etching into her face.

He seemed a little surprised by the question, “I’ve never been better Em.”

She looked doubtful, but shrugged as she pulled the order pad out of her apron, “You guys want those burgers raw or extra burnt up?”

Sammy’s face fell, “What’s that mean?”

“It means the cook that Benny hired doesn’t speak a lick of English, and he only understands two minutes or ten minutes, and if you kept track of this business, you’d already know that.”

“I am aware of the issue in the kitchen, Emma, and will deal with that later,” Sammy replied with a strained smile, “in the meantime, please tell Ivan that we want ten-minute burgers,” then raised his eyebrows at Mitonka, “ok with you, Doc? Or are you a rare kinda guy?”

Mitonka smiled back, “I’m not actually, I would prefer well done if it’s all the same.”

“Doc?” Emma interjected, “Like a doctor?” then looked at her boss, “You ok Sammy? Are you sick?”

“I’m not a medical doctor,” Mitonka interjected dismissively, “but I have a dozen doctorate degrees - in many fields of study – how about you? Are you attending college?”

Emma became a little awkward at the question, “No, college wasn’t in the cards for me, Doc.” and spun off toward the kitchen, not wanting to discuss the grim academic future her life held.

Several hours later, Emma still felt like something was coming, but the Crypt wasn’t divulging anything.

In fact, the bar had hummed along like a well-oiled machine all night, and Pepper, who had always reminded Emma of a little Egyptian goddess, was a blaze of fire; every time she spotted the girl, she was running another route through the crowd, keeping the hoards of leather clad men happy with her perfectly timed trips into and out of the billiards. There had only been one moment when it seemed a fight would break out, but Bander settled things like he always did, and nothing came of it.

That was, until just before midnight.

An eruption of shouts came from the back, by the billiards, while Emma was waiting at the bar for Benny to fill her next orders, so she quickly scurried up a nearby barstool and watched Bander along with two other Kettle Kobra’s disappear into the drunken crowd, all of whom had paused hoping to see some free entertainment.

Emma’s jaw dropped when Bander suddenly reappeared off his feet and flew backwards!

He landed hard on the filthy floor, his head thudding loudly against the tiles, as she whispered, “Holy shit!” and that single act of violence was all it took for the entire bar to instantly disintegrate into a mob of blood thirsty wolves.

She kept her eyes on Bander as he remained motionless on the floor while thick soled boots incidentally plowed into him as the riot of men began dancing viciously about.

Pool sticks and broken beer bottles became weapons as the wolves turned on each other, and the sound of meaty fists hitting skin and bones crunching echoed in her ears. Emma looked back at Benny and watched him unlock the drawer where Sammy kept a loaded gun and then he shouted at her, “Go get Pepper and get out! Now!”

Without further encouragement Emma jumped off her perch and ran directly to Bander first, “Bander!” she yelled into his face, but his hazel eyes wouldn’t focus, and she yelled again, “Snap out of it!”

But she knew it was pointless, the small puddle of blood growing under his head quashed any hopes she had of him waking, so she grabbed him under his arms and dragged him to a safer spot near the jukebox and then went looking for Pepper.

Emma bent low and stayed close to the wall, dodging air born chairs and spinning bodies. Seeing the other waitress holed up under a billiard table, she belly crawled the last ten feet to get to her, “Holy crap!” Emma yelled, “Are you ok?” fishing the girl out and brushing the broken glass from her short, black hair and realized Pepper’s upper lip was bleeding like crazy, “What the hell happened?”

The two girls huddled together on their knees next to the pool table, while Pepper’s eyes welled with tears, “I’ve no idea. I never saw how the fight started…I heard someone yell and turned around like an idiot to see why and POW, I took a flying glass right to the face!”

“We need to make a run for it.” Emma answered gravely. She didn’t need to explain to Pepper how they were the only two females trapped in a wolf’s den, with nobody to guard them. The wolves hadn’t sorted that out, but when they did…

Quickly scanning the exits, Emma made up her mind, “We can’t go out the front, and it looks like the back door is blocked too.”

“The kitchen?” Pepper asked.

“Yeah, but that means we gotta get up and over the bar top…so you listen to me, don’t stop! If one of those assholes gets a hold, you punch and kick until you’re free. Understand?”

Pepper nodded, “Perfectly,” she answered standing on shaky legs, “let’s get the hell out of here!”

They held each other close, as they ducked whizzing ashtrays and side stepped the sea of quarreling men and they were nearly there when Emma muttered, “Oh shit,” as she and Pepper watched the angry mob yank Benny over the other side of the bar, and Emma absently wondered where the gun was.

Then the wolves helped themselves behind the bar and into the cash register, while others began grabbing as many liquor bottles as they could carry, but within seconds their greed overpowered them again and fresh fights broke out, “Where the hell is Sammy?” Pepper yelled as their escape route grew smaller.

But Emma knew Sammy was not there.

She had watched him leave the bar hours earlier with the weird old doctor guy, but there was no time to explain any of that so she changed direction, “Lookit, the back part of the bar, we can hop up there!” pulling Pepper hard and then shoving her forward when they reached the high counter, “Step on him!” Emma shouted when Pepper hesitated at the bloodied-up man lying in their way.

Pepper shoved her Reebok into the guy’s shoulder and scrambled up then fought for her balance on the slick surface of spilled drinks and broken glass but landed on the other side, “Come on!” Pepper yelled to Emma, throwing her hand back. Emma accepted it and heaved herself forward feeling the shards of glass dig into her stomach as she wriggled across the bar top as Pepper pulled her along until Emma felt a hand clamp down hard on her ankle.

She automatically kicked it away, but the grip held fast, and she peered back to find none other than Jarhead Jag grinning wickedly at her.

“Son of a bitch!” Emma shouted, then looked at a horrified Pepper and yelled, “Go! Run!”

Pepper shook her head and bellowed back, gripping her hand tighter, “No! I won’t leave you!” and for a moment Emma was their tether in a tug of war. But Jag pulled back and the girls were no match for him.

Emma caught the edge of the counter and held fast, “Pepper go! Go get help!” and watched with relief when Pepper finally ran off, her eyes filled with horror at the thought of leaving and what would happen to Emma after she was gone. And Jag’s laughter filled Emma’s ears as she watched the little Egyptian goddess flee through the kitchen and hopefully into the night.

Three miles away…

Mitonka’s mind was shifting gears almost as rapidly as the sports car he was driving while Sammy Ag gripped the interior, “We never should have left,” Sammy bemoaned snapping his flip phone closed, “there won’t be anything left of the Crypt for me to sell – those animals are tearing it apart!”

“Are the police there?”

“Not yet, Benny called 911, but he’s trapped in my office with the door barred… they’ve already looted the register and liquor.”

“Where is Emma and the other waitress?”

Sammy’s face grew mortified, “Benny didn’t know…”

Mitonka pressed the accelerator and silently spoke to Fate.

The police were still nowhere in sight when Mitonka screeched the BMW i8 to a halt in the parking lot and Sammy leapt from the car and disappeared around the back of the building, while Mitonka took a more direct approach and hurried to the front door.

He immediately saw Emma clinging to the bar top where some beast of a man had a hold of her leg and was laughing manically. She flipped onto her back and kicked at him viciously with her free foot and landed it squarely into his chest, which killed his laughter as he gave her a mighty yank and flung her on to the floor.

The horrid man wasted no time scooping Emma up, securing his thick arm under her chin and dragging her kicking and screaming down a short hallway and out of sight.

Mitonka bolted through the bar like a man half his age and maneuvered through the herds of brawling men managing to duck several punches as he went and when he reached the hallway was met with two options, DOE’S, or STAGS.

He took a deep breath and charged at the door labeled STAGS, easily breaking the flimsy lock and quite eager to unleash an old-fashioned ass kicking on this neanderthal, but what he found instead startled the hell out of him.

The neanderthal was on the floor with Emma stooped over him, her small hands bawled into fists.

“I told you not to come at me again Jag!” Emma howled as she plowed her heavy boot into his still form crumpled awkwardly against the faded blue tiles, and with un-lady like indignation spat a glob of blood next to his motionless head.

“Well, I’ll be damned.” Mitonka stated, unable to hide his shock, “Here I thought I was coming to the aid of a fair maiden and would retire the evening a gallant knight.”

Emma barely afforded him a glance, but panted, “Sorry buddy, but this is the Crypt, not Camelot.”

He gave her a shrug, “Honestly, I thought you could use my help, but I’m supremely glad to see that isn’t the case. You may have noticed I’m not exactly in my prime any longer.” Grabbing a paper towel and running it under cold water then handing it to her, “Get one in, did he?”

“Just one.” She replied flatly, accepting the towel and inspecting her face under the fading fluorescent light in the mirror.

“That’s rather remarkable if you ask me.”

“What is?” she asked without really caring as she dabbed at her mouth.

“Flattening this beast of a man by someone your size! You don’t find that even slightly extraordinary?” he replied with open curiosity.

“No. I don’t,” her annoyance ticking up a notch, “and it’s the second time in a week I’ve flattened that idiot out, you’d think he would learn,” then moved to the door, “I need to get out of here.”

“It’s not safe out there,” he warned her.

“It’s not safe in here!” she countered.

“Well, I’m not going to hurt you!” Mitonka shot back defensively.

Emma rolled her eyes at that, “You are the least of my worries old man,” and gesturing about added, “this bathroom is a concrete box, with no way out. If his cronies come looking for him, there is no where to go!”

Mitonka raised fuzzy white eyebrows at her and asked, “So you intend to sneak through that mob out there then?”

“No,” Emma explained flatly, “I intend to run through it!”

He knew then what he must do, otherwise Emma Qwinn would simply leave him standing in the filthy men’s room to fend for himself, “After you then,” he said, reaching for the door and then suddenly grabbed at his chest and croaked, “Oh dear…”

“Oh dear, what? What’s wrong with you?” she asked impatiently.

“It’s nothing,” he managed, “You go. Go get yourself out of here.”

Emma’s gaze devoured him, assessing his face, and for a moment he feared she was too smart and too intuitive and would see beyond his ruse, but to his utter relief a moment later she grumbled, “Dammit, you got crappy timing you old goat!” and quickly stuffed her arm around his waist and allowed him to sling his arm across her shoulder for support, “We better not need to hop the bar top to get out through the kitchen, because no way I can haul your ass over that thing!”

“I will follow your best judgment,” he replied as weakly as possible.

Emma gave the grungy door a pull and peeked her head out, satisfied she grabbed his wrist at her neck and shifted his weight against her, “Ok, come on. I hear sirens, that outta make some of them scatter, so we’re heading for the employee door, it’s closest.”

“Got it.” He muttered, leaning into her perhaps a bit too hard.

It was only twenty feet to the door, and she’d been right, many of the brawling wolves were already hightailing in any direction they could and disappearing into the night, leaving Emma and Mitonka a clear path, but just as they reached the back door, Emma stopped at the sound of singing.

“What the hell is that?” Mitonka wondered with a tone of amazement.

“Shit!” Emma groused and steered him toward the swinging door to the kitchen where they stopped on the slick floor and both gaped at the bleached blond boy standing in front of the grill in a greasy tee shirt, his ear buds blaring loud music from his cellphone.

He grinned at them and waved a skinny arm then shouted in a thick Russian accent, “Ten minute!” and flipped a charred hamburger over.

She pointed with her free hand to the mob back out in the bar and raised her eyebrows high, “Ivan, the cops are coming!”

Ivan pulled one bud out and looked genuinely confused, “Two minutes?”

Emma rolled her eyes, “Politsiya!”

His skin paled to the color of his hair, shot his spatula down, turned off the grill and bolted out the back door.

“Apparently somebody doesn’t have all their immigration papers with them,” Mitonka mused.

Emma ignored his quip and followed Ivan’s lead out into the chilly night air.

The sky was inky black with a full smattering of stars, and Mitonka could hear disjointed shouts from the police arriving out front, as Emma leaned him toward a rickety fence that hid an overflowing garbage and a dozen empty beer boxes, “Can you stand on your own a moment?”

Supporting himself against the fence he watched her scan the sparsely lit parking lot, “I believe for a moment, yes.” he whispered roughly.

She checked her back pocket, “Shit, I don’t know where my cellphone is, and I need to get you some help. Just stay here and I’ll go grab a cop to call you an ambulance.”

“Ok,” he gasped, “Just let me catch my breath a moment,” pitching forward and making his breathing even more labored, “how far away is the hospital?”

“Not far, like five minutes, they’ll be here super quick.”

“It might be quicker if you just took me,” but when she didn’t look convinced, he added, “I promise not to keel over in your car.”

She rummaged through her pockets, “I don’t have my keys… and I have no idea where they are… I’m just going to get you some help, ok?”

Mitonka settled his head back and looked at the vast night sky and decided this was the moment… it wasn’t how he and Shade had planned… but the moment was right. Silently he explained himself to Fate, “I’m taking her back to the Mending Realm – so if that isn’t your will then you better find a way to stop me.” He waited several moments for an answer and when none came, he gave Emma a small smile, “You know, Miss Qwinn, I believe I’ve changed my mind altogether, I don’t think a trip to the hospital will be necessary after all.”

Emma peered up into his face with rapt confusion as he straightened away from the fence, “What? You’re suddenly all better now?”

“Let’s just say I’ve arrived at a different conclusion,” and then shot his hand out and took a firm grip of her upper arm as a shimmer of blue mist began to envelope her, “I wish you still and silent.”

She rebelled against his wish at once, as he expected her to do, but when she began to scream for help – and he could still hear her – then she began to move, he grew concerned, because she shouldn’t be able to do that either.

So, he reinforced his magic, “Be still!” and the blue shimmer grew darker trying to execute his demand, but her resistance created sparks of friction appear, “Well, it would seem our assumption was right, apparently it would take two of us to subdue you…but you really must stop, it’s imperative that you come with me, and I absolutely mean you no harm!”

The sparks grew and he heard her muffled reply, “Go to hell, you creepy old goat!”

“I’m afraid I must insist,” he answered a bit casually, “You do not belong here Emma Qwinn and I have every right to help atone for the crimes your parents committed! An obligation to help heal the hearts and minds that were destroyed by their selfish deeds!”

Emma’s eye grew wide as saucers at his words as he pulled something metallic from his jacket pocket and threw it into the ground by their feet then spoke clearly, “Take us to my home at Banmarr Hollow inside the Realm of Menders.”

A coil of dark gray smoke grew and swirled out of the metal and snaked around them as Mitonka offered an explanation at Emma’s horrified expression, “Don’t worry, this is one of our tools by which we travel, but I will warn you now about the Harrow, the membrane that we must pass through to reach our Realm, it’s quite loud. Like heavy thunder that never ends, so just close your eyes and it will be over in a moment, I promise.”

He wrapped his arms around her, and the gray coil tightened its hold on them, and Emma suddenly felt weightless as their feet left the ground and they shot upward like they were on an amusement park ride into the dark sky above.

Emma stared in disbelief as the stars faded and they entered the edge of a purple haze while the dark smoky coil wrapped tighter and pulled them deeper.

Where a noise began to vibrate against every nerve in her body.

The thick purple haze grew wider, darker and louder as they traveled into it, like the color of deep bruises and began pulsing ominously all around them.

It was like being inside a hideous storm cloud, and the noise grew harsh, and even though there wasn’t a bit of wind, Emma’s hair fanned out in the charged air.

And that was when great bolts appeared out of nowhere and she heard the old goat shout, “Son of a bitch!”

The electrical currents looked like bodyless arms that reached for them with strange clawlike hands groping at the air blindly, and Emma’s screams of terror reverberated through the dark, purple mist and it made the arms whip about and probe harder.

“Cease!” Mitonka bellowed over the deafening clamor as more sparks erupted between them as Emma tried to break free, “They will kill us, and you are making it far too easy for them to sense where we are!”

She ignored his warning and fought harder under his tightening grip until she could barely breathe, and just when Emma was sure she’d pass out, the purple haze faded and the deafening sounds with it, as hundreds of jagged bits of prismed color appeared and swirled all around them…like a school of fish.

They stuck to her hair and face like pieces of a shattered rainbow, and Emma felt strangely sorry for them. And then, the trail of gray smoke that was pulling them along, coiled and switched direction and the sensation of falling filled her middle as the pieces of rainbow flashed away back into the purple haze.

She twisted her chin and looked downward in horror and began screaming again as blue seas, green trees and the very defining edges of land rushed up to meet them, making her stomach pitch as she scrunched her eyes shut, then cried out in shock when her feet hit the ground so softly that she barely felt it at all.

Panting hard with the smell of Mitonka’s fresh leather filling her nostrils, she squirmed against him again, “Get the hell off me!” and then watched in utter surprise as he soared chaotically backwards through the air at her demand.

His arms and legs flapped wildly as he tried to slow himself down and landed in an awkward pile over fifty yards away, and Emma never gave her luck a second thought and turned like a frightened deer and sprinted as fast as she could in the other direction.

She ran full tilt for a solid minute before it dawned on her that she had no idea where she was or where she was running to. Nothing was familiar. It was daytime, the dark night skies above the Crypt were gone, and Emma was running through acres of perfectly clipped grass that stretched on for miles.

There were no roads or telephone poles to help find her bearings, and her kidnapper was yelling from behind to stop.

She ran harder, of course, certain her lungs would burst, and finally saw a tall figure some distance away and shouted on a jagged breath, “Please…help me!”

The person continued toward her while Emma chanced another look back at her pursuer and simply could not understand how the old geezer had nearly caught up with her and then skittered to an abrupt halt as the super model from the courthouse came into focus.

Mitonka shouted from behind her, “Shade! Do not engage her!”

“Where did you come from!?” Emma demanded, her voice breathless and shrill.

Shade, only a few feet away now, wearing tight, black breeches and a long, green jacket with her dark hair twisted into a heavy knot at her neck, held up reassuring hands, “It’s ok Emma, everything is going to be ok!”

Emma’s uncertain eyes quickly became suspicious and swallowed hard, “OK for who?!”

“Please try not to be afraid…” Shade offered in her most soothing voice.

“Afraid? You must be kidding….” Emma huffed, still trying to catch her breath, then looked back at a puffing Mitonka, who was still running determinedly, a crazed expression dancing on his dark face.

And he warned Shade again, “Don’t say anything! She’s not safe!”

But it was Emma who glared back at him and shouted, “Who’s not safe, you old goat? Me?” Flinging her arm at him and pointing, “Just stay the hell away from me!” and with that Mitonka was soaring through the air once again and Emma spun back on Shade and insisted, “Why the hell does he keep doing that?”

Shade grimaced openly as he landed with a sickening thud a good distance away, “Actually Emma, I think you might be the reason he just went zipping through the air like that…” watching Mitonka pick himself slowly up off the ground.

Emma gave her a long skeptical scowl and said, “Look, lady, I don’t know what the hell he wants or what vendetta he has against my parents-”

Shade looked perplexed, “Your parents?”

“Yeah, my parents! He said they were criminals, so he needed to kidnap me! What the hell does that mean? I don’t even know who my parents are! Am I supposed to pay for something they did?”

“No, Emma, of course not.” Shade answered honestly, “I don’t know what he meant by that and if you’ll just calm down for a moment, we can both explain why you’re here.”

Emma raised her eyebrows slightly, “Where is here? Why is it daylight out?”

“I’m not sure where to start,” Shade offered hesitantly, “But I can assure you, we mean you no harm whatsoever.”

Emma panted, but glared openly, “Try harder, lady, because I absolutely do not believe you!”

Shade eyed her warily and ignored Mitonka’s warning not to engage, “This is the Mending Realm, Mitonka brought you here because you don’t belong in the Earth Realm.”

“What?” Emma scoffed, “Mending Realm? What the hell does that even mean?”

Shade leveled her with calm emerald eyes and said, “You are not who you think you are, Emma.”

“Who am I? I’m a waitress, with a dog named Abraham. I live in Kettle Hill, NY! In a shitty rental house with a cruddy Jeep in the driveway! THAT is who I AM!”

“You’re more than that, Emma, so again, if you’d just calm down long enough so that we can explain…”

“No, you said you didn’t even know where to start – which means you're making shit up as you go!”

Shade planted her feet wide and crossed her arms indignantly, “I am not lying, but your life is complicated, and we will need time to explain the truth to you,” Shade answered pointing back at Mitonka, “you need to give us a chance.”

Emma shook her head in disbelief and resumed walking, “Screw both of you!”

Shade followed, “Please wait, you’ve nowhere to go… Mitonka’s property goes on for thousands of acres!”

“Then I’ll walk until my legs fall off!”

“You’re not exactly making a lot of sense to me, Emma,” Shade drawled a bit, “walk to where?”

Emma ignored her and marched on determinedly.

Shade slowed to a stop and waited for Mitonka to catch up and then demanded, “Why the hell can’t you contain her? You're nearly an Elder!”

“I could be Head Elder and not contain that nightmare!” he huffed. “She’s beyond strong! And being in her natural environment is not helping! If she decided to turn us into worms right now, there’d be no stopping that!”

“So, what do we do?” turning to watch Emma Qwinn stalk off with ground devouring strides.

“Apparently, I can only contain the Human bit of her, so it’s going to require both of us to subdue her.”

“Because she is an Elf and Human.”

“And Mender!” he fumed, “Nothing has ever been born to this Realm. Nothing! I have no idea what it will take to hold her captive. Where is her dog, he might prove helpful right about now?”

Shade frowned, “I couldn’t find him.”

Mitonka shook his head, “He probably shifted the moment you walked into Emma’s house.”

“I did check for small appliances that appeared to be breathing, but who’s to say that Prigg doesn’t just do whatever he likes while Emma is at work?”

“It was a long shot.”

“He would be incredibly helpful right now though, something to calm her with.”

Mitonka crossed his arms watching Emma get further away, “Other suggestions?”

“We need to set her to sleep, it’s the kindest way.”

“And when she wakes up?”

“Then we explain everything…”