Today makes it two months since Heather and I started dating. Now that I was making money, I was able to help out with the rent on the apartment. Working as a model is pretty amazing… but very tiring. It’s like a whole new side comes out of me when the camera is on. I blame it on the “confidence booster.”

Ever since the éclair incident, we’ve been trying to get closer to each other in more ways than one. Every time we try, I start to get embarrassed and I can’t do it. I wanted to really make sure of what happened so I texted Aku. We had exchanged numbers at the tea shop. Sure enough, she had used some sort of succubus power on the eclairs. Apparently, she wanted us to “get a move on” with our relationship. Though it was an unethical method… it did seem to work a little.

This morning, I had been making breakfast for me and Heather when I got a phone call. The caller ID was restricted so I had no idea who it might be.

I answered the call, “Hello?”

“Hi, is this Celeste Lowe?” the voice on the other end asked.

“Yes… who’s calling?”

The person cleared their throat. Their voice sounded familiar, but I couldn’t place where I had heard it.

“My name is Officer Lee Percus. We spoke back in May when you had stopped an orc from beating someone,”

“Oh! Hello! Yes, I remember… how’s that going?

“The perp got 7 years. Hopefully, he’ll learn his lesson,”

“Probably not… but that’s good to know,” I was glad to hear that. It meant I wouldn’t see that orc on the streets for seven years and the man who we saved got justice.

“Now… the reason I’m calling is in regards to your home. I’m not talking about the one you’re living in right now,”

Home… as in my home world? Did that mean…

“Did you find a way for me to go back?” I quickly asked.

“Yes. Get a piece of paper. You’ll want to write this down,”

Officer Percus gave me an address to someone who practiced advance magic. He told me that I should go there soon as they were going to be waiting for me. I thanked him and hung up the phone.

“Heather!”

She had taken over breakfast when I got the phone call. Everything was finished and on plates for us.

“Who was that?” she asked.

“Officer Percus. He said he found someone who could let me go back to my world for a while,”

Heather’s ears twitched a little, “That’s cool. When are you going?”

“I’m planning on heading there after work. Do you think you could come with me?”

Heather hesitated for a moment, “Are you sure? I mean… you’ll be gone for a whole week. Me being there would be…”

Was she saying she was going to miss me? I giggled, “Silly… I want you to come with me. I mean to my home world,”

Her eyes went wide when I told her that. I could tell she really wanted to come because her tail was wagging happily. I laughed when I saw how much she wanted to come. Heather saw I was looking at her tail and immediately her cheeks turned red.

“It’s alright. I’ll try to get out early so we can go. I checked the address on Maps and it looks to be an hour and a half from the train station in a town call New Zalt,”

Heather seemed to tense up when she heard the name of the town. Her tail had gone in between her legs, did something happen to her there?

“You okay?” I was concerned, “You look a little tense,”

“It’s nothing,” Heather dismissed me, “Okay! I’ll make sure to be at the station when you get there,”

I was worried for Heather, but she seemed to be fine now. When I went to work today, I just couldn’t get Heather off of my mind. Something definitely seemed to be up. What could it have possibly been?

“Hey Lily, is it alright if we end the shoot early today?” I asked.

“Why is something happening?”

“Well, I finally have the opportunity to visit my home world and I wanted to make sure I went today,”

Lily’s face was beaming with excitement, “That’s so awesome! Definitely! We’ll stop at 2 today instead of 5. I’ll also give you the week off! We have plenty of backup models so feel free to take as much time you need,”

I hugged her right there. Lily was the best manager and friend you could ever ask for, “Thank you so much! I promise I’ll make it up to you!”

“It’s okay! I can tell you really want this. Right now, I just want you to give it your all for the time I have you,”

Even though she said it was okay, I didn’t like to be in debt to someone. For the remainder of the photoshoot, I felt more motivated than I had ever before. The resulting photos came out better than previous ones. I thanked Lily again for the time off and headed back to the train station.

Heather and I began our long drive to New Zalt. I hoped she was going to be okay with going there. She told me that she rescheduled her appointments for the week, so I was thankful for that. Along the way, I noticed that she tensed up more than once. What on Earth was in New Zalt that made her so tense?

When we finally reached our destination, it turned out to be just a regular old house. Nothing seemed particularly special about it. I guess people who practiced magic were just regular people. Before I could ring the doorbell, someone opened the door. I had to looked down to see who it was. A child had answered the door. She seemed human at first glance. Her red hair was tied in a bun, she had cat-eye glasses, her clothes were a rainbow striped shirt and denim overalls.

“Well don’t just stand there… come in,” the child ordered. She left the door open and began walking inside. The child seemed a lot more mature than any that I had ever encountered. We followed behind her and the door closed automatically. This kid was probably the person we were looking for.

“Heather… it’s been a while,” the child said to Heather.

“So, it was you Ms. Lonestone,” Heather muttered. Did she know this child?

“Yes. One of my spells went a little wild and currently, I am in the form of a child. Give me a moment,” she opened the door to what looked to be the garage. As soon as she closed the door, there was a bright flash on the other side. The door opened and out came a very tall and very attractive woman. Her red hair now flowed down to the small of her back and the cat-eye glasses fit neatly on her face. She was now wearing a white button-down blouse and a long brown skirt.

“You’re Celeste Lowe, correct?” the woman, Ms. Lonestone, asked while pointing at me.

“Yes…” I shook my head stopping her, “Hold on a second… how do you know each other?”

“I thought she would’ve told you. New Zalt is where she grew-”

“It’s where I grew supplies for her!” Heather interrupted her and gave her a glare. There was something she obviously wasn’t telling me. If she didn’t want to, I was alright with it for now. She was going to tell me sooner or later.

“Okay… now I was told you have a way for me to visit my home world?” I got straight to the point.

“That is correct. You will be transported to your world for exactly one week starting from the time I cast the spell. Your starting point will be a place that you picture in your mind. On the day you leave, you will be transported back here. It won’t matter where you are, it will pull you back. Are both of you taking the journey?”

“Yes,” Heather answered.

“Alright,” Ms. Lonestone rubbed her hands together, “Let’s get to work,”

We were led into her garage. Inside were many plants, rocks, gems, crystals, and pieces of equipment. Vines were growing on the inside and instead of a car, there was a circle inscribed with a language I couldn’t understand. Ms. Lonestone placed us inside the circle and started placing various objects around us.

“It’s prepared. Now I need to know if you are one-hundred percent ready to go,”

I turned to Heather, “Did you put the meat in the freezer like I asked?”

Heather nodded, “Of course,”

“Oh… before I forget,” Ms. Lonestone grabbed a sweatshirt and a red baseball cap and threw it to Heather, “Tie the sweatshirt around your waist to cover your tail. Put the hat on at it’ll disguise your ears,”

“Why do I need to put these on? And why can’t you just disguise my tail too?” Heather asked.

“Remember I said my world was inhabited by humans? They would most likely think you were crazy and if they learned your ears and tail were real, they would freak out,” I told her.

“As for not disguising your tail… the sweatshirt is a disguise. If someone were to lift it up when you were wearing it, they wouldn’t see your tail,”

Heather understood and quickly tied the sweatshirt around her waist and put the cap on. As the cap covered her wolf ears, human ears grew on the side of her head. It was really weird to watch it happen in front of me.

“Alright… again… are you ready?” Ms. Lonestone asked.

“Yes,” Heather and I said at the same time.

“Celeste, begin picturing your destination in your mind,”

I though about home. The maple tree in front, the swampy backyard, the black shingled roof, the bright red front door, the back deck, my mother, my father, my sister, my bedroom, everything I owned and the view from my window.

“Remember you have one week. Starting… no-”

Bright light shone in my face. I was dazed for a moment. The first thing I noticed was the chirping of birds. As my eyes cleared, I saw it. My house. I was back.

“Looks like it worked,” Heather said. She was standing next to me. I could feel her hand slipping into mine. Gripping it tightly, we walked up to the front door. I had no idea what was going to await me when I rang the doorbell. Slowly, I reached out and rang the bell. I heard some rustling inside. Then, the door opened. My mom stood there in front of me.

“Can I help you?”