Hidden Magic

A woman stood outside of a small brick coffee shop. She looked down at the folder clutched tight in her hands and took a deep breath before reaching a handout and pushing the glass door open.

A small bell rang through the building as the door bumped it and a woman looked up from where she was sitting in the far corner of the shop. The woman waved to her and made her way over to the small table to sit down across from her colleague.

"You finally found it," Pierce grinned, setting her laptop aside as she smiled at the newcomer.

"It's so small I thought I would miss it entirely. Had I been taking a car I would have," Mia answered. "How long have you been waiting?"

"Only about ten minutes. I got here early. How goes the writing?"

Mia sighed and opened the folder. She let her newly polished nails drift across the paper, tapping in a few areas where some red ink outshone the smooth black.

"Lacking inspiration."

"Again," Pierce sighed, "That's the fifth time in three months? When is the book due?"

"In three months," Mia said. She shut the folder again and pushed it across the table. "If my writer's block keeps up I'm not going to have anything to publish by the deadline."

"That won't look very good on your record."

"Tell me about it."

Silence fell across the two women as the red-head read over her friend's writing. Mia, however, was looking around the room for something to spark her imagination. Seeing nothing but the man working behind the counter, she decided to go and get herself something to drink.

"I'll be back in a minute," she said, standing up as quietly as she could. The chair still scraped against the ground and she winced at the sound.

She approached the counter and smiled at the man who was currently handing someone their coffee. He was about five foot eleven, compared to Mia's height of five foot four, with an oddly muscular build for someone who worked in a coffee shop. His black hair was parted down the middle, creating bangs that fell over his forehead and stopped just above his eyes.

"Hello," he said, his voice soft as to not disturb the peace of the building, which was mostly quiet. "What can I get for you today?"

"I'm not entirely sure, to be honest," Mia laughed, "This is my first time here. Have any drinks that you recommend?"

The man smiled mischievously and jerked his head in the direction of a board that was hanging from the ceiling. "We just started selling some new drinks in honor of autumn. Maybe you would like to try one?" Mia quirked her eyebrow at his grin, but shrugged it off and labeled it as the man just trying to flirt with her.

She tapped her chin, "Maybe I'll try the..." All of the drinks had rather odd names. The Fantasy Frappe, Mystery Mocha, Horror Pumpkin Spice. "Maybe the Thrill Punch Tea," she shrugged.

The man nodded and tapped the computer screen in front of him to bring the price up. Mia handed him the money and he left to make her drink.

Surprisingly, there was a space behind the counter which had been hidden away, making Mia curious. What do they hide behind there, she wondered, watching as the man headed into the section with her drink. What's he taking my drink in there for?

But, he came out only a few seconds later and handed her the drink with a smile.

"Make sure you come back and tell me if you like it or not." He had the strange grin on his face again and Mia took the paper cup, albeit hesitantly. The grin was starting to become unnerving, and she decided to get out of there as fast as she could.

She returned to her seat in front of Pierce, who smiled at her. "So you decided to get a drink, did you?" There was an odd tone in Pierce's voice that made Mia halt as she went to take a sip. She lowered the cup again and stared at Pierce, who was simply smirking at Mia, much like the smirk that had seemed permanently stuck to the man's face.

Mia cast a glance over her shoulder at the man again and frowned when she noticed that he had already been looking at her like he was expecting something to happen to her.

"Your drink is going to go cold if you don't drink it." Pierce's voice knocked away the thoughts that had been clouding Mia's head and she decided that she was being silly. She lifted the tea to her mouth and took a sip.

I really was being stupid wasn't I, Mia thought as the sweet pumpkin taste slid down her throat. That was before her vision started going crazy.

Instead of seeing Peirce sitting in front of her, Mia saw a huge castle with bats circling around the top of it. A large iron gate acted as a barrier between her and the grounds of the castle, and Mia felt the strange urge to reach out and touch them. But, when she did, all she felt was the cold kiss of iron that had stood out in the cool night air for ages. Mia lifted her gaze to the sky and paled when she realized that it was covered in thick dark green clouds. A shadow moved across the back of the clouds and Mia froze in her step.

"What is going on," she asked aloud, looking around for any sign of the coffee shop that she had been sitting in moments before.

Behind her was a thick wood that stretched as far as she could see. The castle itself seemed to be situated on a tall cliff, and when Mia looked over the edge, she found herself drawing back in fear of the drop.

Mia looked down at herself and realized that the tea was still in her hand. Frowning, Mia pulled the cap off of the cup to see if there was anything abnormal about her drink. Nothing. Just some normal orange-brown colored liquid which sloshed around in her cup as she spun it around.

Wanting to test her theory of the drink being the cause of the sudden change in scenery, she lifted the cup to her lips again and took another sip.

This time, she was pulled through the iron gate, heading up to the castle. Now that she was closer, she could see that the castle was decorated with large black gargoyles all of which seemed to be watching her as she neared the doors of the castle. Suddenly, the two closest to her which had been guarding the doors of the castle jumped off of their pedestals and lunged for her.

Mia screamed and threw her hands over her head as she curled up into a ball on the ground. The gargoyles swooped over her head, screeching like banshees.

"What did I do to you," Mia yelled at the gargoyles, hoping to scare them off, but to no avail. The stone carvings of demons continued to dive at her, pushing Mia to the ground with each attempt to sever her head from the rest of her body.

Suddenly, the screeching increased tenfold and Mia risked looking up, wondering what had sent the rest of them into a fury. The only thing that had changed was the fact that the cup that had been in her hand only moments before was now on the ground, the tea spilling out of it. As it spread across the ground, the screeches increased.

"Get me out of here," Mia screamed as more gargoyles appeared to join the first two in dive-bombing her.

The screeching came to a sudden stop and Mia hesitated for a minute before looking up. She screamed when she saw that a red-eyed gargoyle was only an inch away from her face and she stumbled back. All of the other gargoyles seemed to have frozen as well, and they were each frozen in mid-flight.

"Are you alright?"

Mia looked up to see a man standing in the door of the castle dressed in a neatly pressed black suit. His face was cold and as he stared down at Mia, she had the uncomfortable feeling that he was trying to look into her soul.

"Um," she muttered, getting to her feet, "I think so." She stood carefully, trying to make sure that she didn't touch any of the stone demons.

"Well, you must be tired," the man smiled. "Come in." He stepped aside and motioned toward the open doors of the castle with a pale hand.

Mia didn't move. She was too shocked to. And there was something about the man's smile that was making her pause. Something was off.

He's your best shot at getting out of wherever you are, a small voice in her head whispered. Plus, he's easy on the eyes. She blushed as she thought about the last bit.

The logical part of her brain argued back But you don't know him! He's a complete stranger who is beckoning you into your house! This is the sort of stuff that gets people killed!

But it's an adventure!

That will get us killed!

"You're having doubts." Mia was surprised to see that the man was still standing at the door. His face was doing nothing to show that he was impatient and Mia found herself moving toward the door.

"Just a little shocked," she said as she crossed the threshold of the castle.

Unfortunately, the inside was just as cold as outside and Mia found herself shivering. Subconsciously, her hands moved up to her upper arms to try and warm herself up.

The interior of the castle was truly magnificent, despite the obvious creep factor of the fact that she was in a stranger's house. Beautiful tapestries covered the stone walls, each depicting someone who looked like the man who had let her in. Some had the same eyes as him, others had similar dark black hair. The candles that were spread out in the hall flickered with each wind that blew through the hall, and Mia was worried that they would go out at any moment.

Two hands settled on Mia's and she gasped. Her shoulders tensed as she turned around to see that the man was standing directly behind her now. His steel-colored eyes stared down into her own honey-colored ones and she felt herself becoming more comfortable with each passing second.

"Why don't I light a fire for you," the man suggested. Mia nodded against her will and the man directed her into another large room with a huge hearth pressed up against the back of the room. A large blood-red carpet stretched out across the ground in between a large leather couch and the hearth. The man pushed Mia down onto the couch somewhat forcefully and left to go and fetch something that would light the fire.

Suddenly everything faded back to the coffee shop and Mia found herself standing up in her chair with sweat dripping down her face.

"What was that," she demanded.

Pierce, who was now sitting in front of her again simply shrugged. "What are you talking about?"

"The drink," Mia scoffed, "You knew that it would do... whatever that was!"

"I wasn't the one who made the drink," Pierce smirked calmly, "Why don't you ask the guy who made it." She winked at the end of her last statement and Mia turned around to see the man smirking at her.

Now she knew why the man in her dream looked so familiar. He was standing right behind the counter.