Julie was still in shock, not knowing how to perceive what she saw and what the woman spoke. The woman looked younger, and it had taken her more than a few seconds before she came to believe that this woman was indeed her mother.

  "Are you sure about it?" asked Melanie, raising her eyebrows, and she looked in the direction where the woman had left.

  Julie nodded her head, "Yeah, I am sure of it. Her features, they are all the same." But if she had come here at this time, it only meant that she had moved to a timeline which was far beyond the time that she had expected to visit. It didn't seem like her mother was married to anyone or had any children yet. "I don't know what caused the portal to open. There must have been some sort of trigger for it to happen."

  "But we were only walking on the bridge. Was it because of the echo of the memory?" asked Melanie, slightly worried.

  Julie shook her head, "No, I don't think a memory can trigger something like this."

  The next and the only possibility was the Corvin, who was responsible for breaking the bridge. She still didn't understand why the creature had done it. What if that wasn't her, Corvin? Her Corvin had always tried to save her, help her. The last thing it would do was bring harm to her.

  "Maybe we can figure out something before leaving this place in the morning," said Melanie in a hushed voice. "For a moment, I thought I almost died there in the water. I mean one moment there was no water beneath us and the next moment we woke up, we were trying to get out of the gushing water," the last words she said were mostly to herself, while her eyes took in the hut where they were standing.

  Julie's eyes looked around the place, where there were stacks of hay placed on one another. A lantern burned brightly in a glass case that was hooked and was hanging from the ceiling. And though it wasn't winter or raining, their wet clothes were enough to make them shiver in the cold.

  After a few minutes, the woman reappeared in the hut, the shed behind the house, while carrying a couple of clothes in her arms.

  Julie keenly observed the woman, who looked like she was probably in her mid or late twenties. Her hair was tied loosely at the back, her beautiful eyes looking at them, and her features sharp and beautiful.

  "These are my clothes, and it should fit both of you just fine for the night. I brought an extra pair of blankets because it can turn cold later in the night," the woman let them know, handing out the clothes and blanket.

  They quietly accepted the clothes from the woman. While Julie was too stunned to speak to the woman, her mother, as she hadn't expected to meet her today. She had hoped and wished for an opportunity to be able to speak to her mother, and now that they were standing right in front of each other, her lips lacked words.

  On the other hand, Melanie watched the woman and Julie with slight disbelief.

  "Where are you both from?" asked the woman.

  Melanie cleared her throat and said, "We come from another town."

  "Where?" asked the woman, and Julie could tell that even though the woman's voice sounded light and casual, there was something in her eyes as if she was as doubtful as to the man who had earlier dropped them here.

  "Greasy Corner," replied Melanie, which was the truth, and the woman gave a small nod.

  "I don't think I have heard of the name before," responded the woman, and then realized something before saying, "How rude of us, we forgot to introduce ourselves."

  "Ah yes," agreed Melanie, and Julie felt her hold her breath for a moment. Her heart started to beat quickly out of excitement and nervousness. "I am Melanie Davis."

  Julie finally spoke to the woman, "Julianne Winters. You can call me Julie."

  The woman offered a kind smile, pleased in knowing their names and then introduced herself, "I am Opaline La Fay. It is good to make your acquaintance and good that you have a place to stay. Did you come here on some work or did you get lost on your way?"

  Julie wanted to tell the truth, to tell her mother that she was her daughter and she, her mother. But at the same time, she remembered the parallel lines and the butterfly effect her actions could cause if she tried to disrupt the natural course.

  Without giving away too much information, Julie spoke to the woman, "We are trying to get back to our home, but we aren't sure how to do that."

  Opaline stared at Julie and then at Melanie, "I would have guessed that you both ran away from your wealthy family, but then nobody goes dipping in the lake. There are local carriages in here, it will take you out from here and back to your home."

  "Only if that was easy," murmured Melanie under her breath. She shivered more than Julie did, and she excused herself, "Let me quickly go and change my clothes."

  On the other hand, Julie wanted to stay right there, in front of her mother, so that she could continue to speak.

  "Thank you for your generosity," Julie thanked her mother, offering a slight bow, and the woman continued to stare at her.

  "To help a person when they are in need is humanity, Julie," said Opaline and Julie's heart burst in joy on hearing her mother call her name. "Moreover, Cillian doesn't bring odd people in here, as he rarely likes to mingle with anyone around. You can thank him tomorrow, when you see him."

  "I will be sure to do that," replied Julie, and the woman smiled.

  "I suppose you both are hungry?"

  Julie was about to deny it so that she wouldn't cause her mother any more trouble, but at the same time, her stomach grumbled. Opaline chuckled.

  "I am sorry about that," Julie awkwardly smiled.

  "Don't be. The weather is harsh and your journey must have been long. How about you both finish changing your clothes and I will see what's there to eat in the house," said Opaline, and she started to walk out of the shed before she paused her footsteps.

  Julie had already turned and started to walk behind the stacks of hay so that she could change her into the dry clothes, not knowing Opaline was staring at her back before the woman left.

  When Julie and Melanie finished wearing Opaline's clothes, which were long looking dresses made of cotton, Julie wore a lilac coloured dress that had long sleeves until her wrists. From modern university students, they had been transformed into young ladies of the village, Willow Creek. To think that she was wearing her mother's clothes, she felt fortunate about it.

  "Wow, it feels like we are playing in a theater play of the university," commented Melanie, taking a look at her beige coloured dress while stepping out from behind the stack of hay that she had into. "Do you plan to let her know about who you are?"

  "No," whispered Julie, her heart slightly aching that she wouldn't be able to converse with her mother the way she wanted to.

  But at the same time, Julie felt she was fortunate to be able to meet the woman who was supposed to birth and hold her, to love her and see her grow up.

  "We don't belong in this timeframe," said Melanie to Julie while making the bottom of her skirt proper.

  "I wonder if any of us belong anywhere or if we belong everywhere in parts," remarked Julie, making Melanie give her a questioning look on what she meant. "I don't belong to the timeline of where you were born, Mel. I come somewhere around sixteen hundred. Technically, I was not supposed to be in Veteris, not as a student at least, but it did. Come let us go have dinner."

  They walked towards the back of the house, and when they headed towards the door, Opaline appeared and looked at them in the proper clothes meant for the young women. She didn't comment on it and instead invited them in,

  "Come in. The food has been prepared."

  Julie had entered this house a week ago, but the house she now stepped into, it held warmth, and there was colour and smell of the food that drifted in the air. She heard giggles of two young girls, and her eyes then fell on the young ones who were standing behind the walls, looking at them.

  "What are you both doing there?" asked Opaline, and the girls laughed.

  "Maya said that there were two strange looking women in here," said one of the blonde girls, staring in Julie and Melanie's direction.

  "What a rude thing to be saying," came a gruff voice ahead of them, and the more they walked towards the dining room, Julie's eyes then fell on a man who had a beard, and his hair was grey. He sat at the head of the table, watching them with a staff that supported one of his hands. "What brings you to Willow Creek?" asked the man, watching them with his eyes slightly narrowed.

  "They lost their way, father and maybe you can question them after they finish their meals. They must be hungry," smiled Opaline, giving a quiet look to her father as if to not question them.

  "You keep bringing people into the house, I worry we might run out of food one day or maybe night," said the man, and Julie's lips parted as if sinking in the information that this was her grandfather.

  "Now, who is being rude," pointed Opaline, and the old man huffed. She then turned to look at the two older girls and said, "Don't take my father's words too keenly. He doesn't keep anything in his mind and likes to bring it out from his lips. Please sit down."

  Julie and Melanie awkwardly moved towards the table before taking the seats on the other side of the table. Julie's eyes moved to look at the two young, energetic girls, and she asked, "Is that your sisters?"

  "Yes, they are," replied Opaline. "The one on the right is Maya, and the other on the left, she's Tabitha," right around the same time, one of the men who had helped them out of the river entered through the door. "That would be my brother Otis."

  Julie turned to look at the young man, who offered a polite smile to both the girls once again. If it was Opaline's brother, that meant that he was Julie's blood uncle. She wondered why she never heard anything about them or if she hadn't found the time to learn more about them. Back in the Winter's residence, she had lost her only family, but today, she realized she still had the people who were related to her. Glad to be around them, even though they didn't know who she was.

  "It is good to see that they are being well taken care of," said Otis to his sister, and Opaline raised one of her eyebrows.

  "I always take good care of the guests. Unlike you, who lives in the othe house," pointed Opaline and Otis chuckled. "Come sit, we are having supper."

  "It is why I am here," replied Otis, taking a seat next to his father and soon, the two little girls, who looked barely more than ten, came to sit next to Julie's side. "I have spoken to one of the carriage men, and he said he wasn't sure where exactly this Greasy Corner comes from, but he should be able to take you halfway to your destination."

  "That is very kind of you, thank you," replied Julie, offering a slight bow, and Otis returned it. "Cillian has already spoken to the magistrate. To check the bridge."

  "Hm?" questioned the older man at the head of the table. "What is wrong with the bridge? It was only this morning that I walked past it and it was in a perfectly stable condition."

  "Uh that, the young women here seemed to have lost their balance while walking on the bridge and were found in the river," informed Otis and the older man's eyes shifted to look at the two guests who sat at the table. His eyes were shrewd, and the more he stared, the more uncomfortable it turned for Julie and Melanie to sit still. "He just wanted to make sure there's no repeat of it. It would be troublesome if it happened when no one was around."

  "You young women are lucky that my brother and Cillian were around to pull you out. How terrible it would have been for both your families to know that you drowned in the river," stated Opaline, who had brought the food from the kitchen and was now placing it on the table one by one. Once the three containers had been brought out, she started to serve.

  Julie, who couldn't sit still while watching her mother serve, stood up from her seat and offered to help, "Let me do this."

  Opaline smiled at her, her smile kind and warm, and Julie doubted there was anything more she could ask at this moment, "If you insist," and she offered the ladle to her.

  Julie stirred the container, which was steaming with the broth, pouring the contents in the container before offering it to the people at the table one by one, while Opaline served another dish before sitting down and breaking bread to eat it.

  "What are the girls' names?" questioned the old man, looking at Opaline.

  "This is Julianne and Melanie," Opaline introduced them, and the man nodded his head. The woman turned to look at Julie and said, "We didn't used to have many visitors in Willow Creek. This place has been very quiet and it was only recently that a few of them came to migrate and live here for trade because of Veteris."

  "Veteris?" Melanie repeated the name.

  "Yes, the one that comes before this one. You must have passed by it," said Opaline, and Melanie nodded her head.

  While they continued to have their meal, Julie could feel her grandfather's gaze on her, and she tried not to be clumsy with the spoon that was in her hand. She wondered if he could sense something was wrong.

  When they finished their meals, the younger girls at the table had tried to befriend the guests, smiling and talking to them, trying to learn where they were from while asking to play.

  "That's enough Maya. It is time for your bed," said Otis to one of his sisters, who had hovered around Melanie.

  "But there's still a few minutes," pleaded the little girl.

  "And how do you know that? Go on now, take Tabitha with you and get into bed," said Otis, and the girls dragged their feet into their room.

  Julie had taken herself to the kitchen, wanting to be around her mother a little more before she would get to leave this place.

  While Julie wipes the utensils, placing them to the side, Opaline asked her, "You seem to like to help people a lot too. Do you feel burdened with the thought that you are taking in our kindness and unable to repay it?" she questioned her.

  Julie shook her head, "I thought it would be rude to let you do all the work. It must be tiring to be doing all the house work and taking care of things around."

  The smile on Opaline lips broadened, and she said, "You get used to it. I have been helping and taking care of my family for so long, it feels like breathing now. How about you? Who is in your family back home?" Noticing Julie's hesitancy, she added, "You don't have to speak if you don't want to. You will be going back home and we won't meet again."

  Hearing these words from her mother, her heart ached. She wanted to meet her again and spend time as mother and daughter, not as strangers.

  "I don't have anyone back home," replied Julie, as the answer itself was complex, and she doubted she would be able to explain it subtly. "Both my parents passed away."

  "I am sorry to hear that," Opaline looked truly apologetic. "I hope their souls can rest in peace. You don't have a brother or sister?"

  "Unfortunately, no," answered Julie, and the woman gave her a nod.

  "Well, I wouldn't say they are all daisies and sunflowers, because it takes a lot of effort, but at the end of the day, they are absolutely heartwarming, knowing you have many people with you," said Opaline with a smile.

  "What about your mother? I don't think I saw her," Julie's words were careful, not wanting to poke too much into the matters of the household because to the La Fay's, she was only a stranger.

  The smile on Opaline's lips faltered, but she tried to keep it up, her expressions softened, before she said, "She passed away somewhere after giving birth to my two beautiful sisters. Sometimes the body can bear only so much, before its limits are pushed. But she left us with a big family to grow and spend time with. One day I hope to have a bigger family than the current one," and she winked.

  Julie's eyes widened, knowing how far ahead in time her mother was compared to the timeline she belonged to.

  "How about you, Julie? How many children do you want?" asked her mother.

  "I haven't given much thought about it. Probably two or three I think," replied Julie, wiping the palms of her hands on the sides of her dress. She then said, "Thank you for being hospitable."

  "I am a good judge of character and so is Cillian, so we don't refuse when someone needs a little bit of help that we can offer," said Opaline, placing her hand on Julie's shoulder before walking to one side of the kitchen, and picking up the lantern. "Here take this, the current one might exhaust itself and you might need another one later. You should go and get some sleep now."

  Julie nodded, smiling at Opaline before she stepped out of the kitchen and on her way, she met Otis, who was making his way inside the kitchen to see his sister.

  "Did Maya and Tabitha go to sleep?" asked Opaline, and Otis nodded.

  "They are asleep. I should get going. I need to check if we have any other broken entry," Otis let his sister know about it.

  Opaline gave him a slight nod. At the same time, their old man walked in with the help of his staff. He looked at his son and asked, "What exactly happened near the bridge, Otis? I mean the young women."

  Otis explained, "Cillian and I were walking by when we heard the splash of water and saw the two women drowning. We helped them out and that was it. Cillian wasn't willing and wanted to leave, but then we went half away before he changed his mind and the rest you know."

  "I heard the vampires have been killing some of the humans and capturing witches. We don't want anything leading in here," stated the old man with a faint frown on his forehead. "We should tread carefully. There have been too many deaths in the other town."

  "We'll be careful, father," assured Otis, and the old man nodded his head.

  "Cillian isn't someone who helps people around. What got him to help this time?" asked Opaline in curiosity. Otis shrugged his shoulders.

  "I have no clue. One minute he wanted to leave them stranded, the next minute he probably felt sorry after seeing them nearly dead. They looked nearly dead and it had got me worried too," explained Otis.

  "There is something very strange about the two girls. As if they are hiding something," pointed their father, and Opaline heard it in seriousness.

  "You are over thinking about it. They are harmless humans, who want to leave tomorrow morning," stated Otis, and both Opaline and her father stared at the person. "What?"

  "You seem to have been staring at the black haired girl, Otis. Do you perhaps plan to woo the girl," asked his father, and the young man laughed.

  "I am not going to start making a family when I still have a full lifetime as a witch, even if I don't have all the abilities like the others. If you should think about someone, it should be about Opaline, the humans have been too interested in her and keep hovering around her," said Otis and Opaline smiled.

  "It must be the La Fay's blood which is very enticing," remarked Opaline with a smile. "I will be going to check with the other witches and people to see how things are going on. Will you be able to manage?"

  "I will be. I have lived my time without your mother around, and I will be fine without you around. You just make sure you don't get burned. The humans are nowhere forgiving when it comes to us witches, they won't blink if they have to burn us," said her father and Opaline nodded her head.

  "I will be careful," replied Opaline. "What about you, Otis?" she asked him.

  "I think I am better suited to stay here, sister. You should go," said Otis.

  Back in the shed of the La Fay's house, both Julie and Melanie laid on the hay, which was spread on the ground, and they had used one blanket to spread beneath them and the other to cover their bodies.

  "Your family is warm, Julie," said Melanie and Julie hummed in response. She then turned to look at Julie, who was staring at the wooden ceiling of the shed. "What are you thinking?"

  "Just how strange life is. Mel, will you be alright to stay back here for a day more? Or I can send you back once the portal opens and I will follow you in a few hours," suggested Julie before turning to look at her friend.

  Melanie could tell that Julie was having a hard time at the thought of parting away from her family, who were living and breathing a few distance away from them now.

  "I don't think one day should make much difference. Let us go back together. Also, I don't think I would be able to handle the wrath of Moltenore if I were to return just by myself," she smiled at Julie.

  "Thank you, Mel," said Julie before pulling the blanket near her.

  She just wanted to spend a few more hours with them before she would go back to the time that she belonged to. But at the same time, there was also the problem of where she didn't know how to open the portal.

  "Do you think your mother knows how to open the portal to a different timeline?" questioned Melanie, and Julie shook her head.

  "I don't think she knows. From what I learned Evans said that he saw her open the portal in front of him only once. And that was to send Natalie, me and him," a sigh escaped from Julie's lips. She then said, "Maybe I can learn something from them. On how to access and tap the magic, and know what I can do." Maybe this is why she was sent her, thought Julie in her mind. To learn magic from them.

  And with that thought, Julie closed her eyes along with Melanie, falling asleep to the sound of the crickets.