Chapter Seven: A Narrow Escape and the Witch's Gathering?

After leaving the basement, the group discussed what to do next. They ultimately agreed to find someone to make a phone call home.

After walking for a while, they successfully found the elderly woman running the fruit stand whom Hailey had mentioned seeing by chance. They borrowed her phone and learned that they were currently in a remote area of Mississippi, with only a few households nearby and the nearest village over ten miles away.

At this point, each of them finally shared a bit about their backgrounds.

Hailey said, "My family is from Calabasas, California. My father is a medical professor, and I often study medicine with him. You all are my first friends, and I’ll keep in touch with you."

“Of course, you’re our friend too. Let’s stay in contact,” Louis smiled warmly.

Emma nodded in agreement.

Mary’s eyes welled up with tears. “I’m sorry... I don’t know where my dad is, and my mom is in the hospital. I’ll probably go live with my uncle someday, but I don’t know where that will be. I... I just don’t know.”

Mary, usually so proud, never expected her family situation to be like this. Louis gave her a sympathetic glance and hesitated before saying, “If you want to find us, wait until you grow up and come to New York. It’s the busiest city, and we’ll meet there.”

Mary nodded earnestly. It was a comforting lie, but that didn’t matter—at least she wasn’t sad anymore.

They looked to Emma, who offered a practiced smile. “I don’t have a mother, but my dad is very good to me. It’d be better if he had more time to spend with me. I live in Orlando, Florida. There’s Disney World there. I hope we can all stay friends.”

Her smile was forced, her gaze fixed intently on Louis. Of the four, she believed only Louis could truly be her friend—they were, after all, accomplices.

Mary nodded, taking it seriously, while Hailey watched Emma coldly, recognizing the insincerity in her smile.

Louis spoke next: “My family situation is complicated. There may be other reasons why I was abducted this time, so I can’t share details now. Emma, would you mind if I stayed at your place for a while?”

Emma was surprised and could barely maintain her fake smile as she readily agreed.

Louis’s decision made sense—whether the abduction was an accident or a deliberate trap, orchestrated by insiders or outsiders, he wasn’t sure. Until he grew stronger or uncovered the truth, he wouldn’t return home. Staying with Emma, who was also from Florida though a different city, was the best option.

As they chatted, the elderly fruit vendor brought them some food and joined their conversation. Yet, none of the children mentioned why they were there, passing over the question lightly.

Louis noticed a photograph in the woman’s house showing a young man resembling the middle-aged man they knew, arm-in-arm with a woman, both smiling happily.

It dawned on Louis—no wonder he couldn’t leave. This woman’s daughter was the one who had run away with that man all those years ago.

Two days later, three jeeps arrived with clear intentions. Three middle-aged men stepped out, eagerly embracing Emma and Mary. Another man spoke with Hailey.

Hailey’s father, a medical professor, was too busy and California was too far, so he had hired someone to pick her up and ensure her safety.

Mary’s uncle, Frank, a former university assistant turned ship repairman, came to collect her. Since her sister was bedridden, he was the only one able to take care of her. He held Mary with tears in his eyes. Though unfamiliar with her uncle’s warmth, Mary did not resist.

Lastly, Emma’s father, David, a single middle-class dad, wept tears of joy upon seeing her. Emma’s face brightened with emotion.

After some conversation, Emma’s father, for reasons unknown to Louis, quickly agreed to let Louis stay. He patted Louis’s head and said, “Poor boy, you helped Emma. I’ll take good care of you.”

Soon after, the four each boarded their respective vehicles, exchanging glances.

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Orlando, Florida.

Florida lies at the southern tip of the United States, shaped like a peninsula. Orlando, situated in the state’s center, is the third-largest city, famous primarily for Disney World and Universal Studios.

Emma’s family lived here in a sizable house with a warehouse and swimming pool, a comfortable standard of living.

In the late 1980s, during the height of the Cold War rivalry, the United States enjoyed a relatively high quality of life for the lower classes, thanks largely to technological progress and concessions made amid superpower competition.

After arriving, Louis’s guardian, David, negotiated with the local community committee—paying a fee—to allow Louis to stay temporarily. Louis began adjusting to his new life.

However, due to his complicated status, his schooling required many formalities, especially a guardian’s consent. Louis’s special circumstances caused delays, which suited him fine; he had more important matters to attend to.

He stayed in a room separate from Emma’s, locking the door behind him.

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Louis took out the book of witchcraft he had discovered in Emilia’s home.

Though he possessed the Lesser Demonic Manual, the nature of dark arts was that anything could be included. So, absorbing some Western magic knowledge wasn’t a bad idea.

He carefully leafed through the pages.

As he read, his expression gradually shifted.

The book wasn’t purely a grimoire. More accurately, it was Emilia’s diary interspersed with Portuguese spells.

At first, it contained ramblings about the joys and pains of raising children, the bittersweet experience of consuming children, and methods to cultivate children’s sexual powers—frivolous confessions Louis skimmed past quickly.

Then he found what he was looking for.

According to the notes, witches possessed myriad abilities. Each witch had a unique talent, plus potions, brews, and incantations—a vast and varied knowledge. Yet Emilia’s diary contained little of this, for the witch lineage had long since fractured and its traditions fragmented.

Legend held that the witch line descended from demons and God, suffering countless persecutions and hunts throughout history. During the Age of Discovery, they scattered worldwide.

In America, witches had arrived with the colonists, but in 1693, the Salem witch trials led to their exposure and brutal cleansing, even involving the church.

The Salem line subsequently migrated south until a Supreme Witch reestablished the coven, marking the lineage’s revival.

Emilia’s interest was personal—the Portuguese witch lineage was closely linked to Salem’s. When abandoned and alone, she had sought out the Supreme Witch of Salem and received aid.

The diary also recorded that the Supreme Witch had recently changed, and Emilia planned to meet the new one soon.

“Supreme Witch… Salem? The American horror witch coven?!” Louis’s disbelief was palpable.

Had he stumbled into a movie world?

Wait—could Emilia herself belong to some film he hadn’t seen?