Chapter 28

New York city...

Avery's pov ;

It has been 2 days ever since my amulet was stolen. Eric has been coming over a lot to comfort me I guess , I know its Sheila who is encouraging him to come over and honestly I don't want to see him right now , yes its not his fault that they grabbed the necklace from his hands but then seeing him doesn't help. Even though the police got involved to help find it , it didn't seem like they were taking it very seriously , telling us that it would be hard to find it in this big city and that it was probably a low profile thief so he was basically not findable . Of course they wouldn't put that much energy in it, its not like it was a jewelry piece made in diamonds or worn by the 1st lady , I was just a random city girl who lost a piece of junk in their eyes. Thank you for the justice huh.

Anyways I have given up on getting their help , in the mean time I think I should find a way to use my uncle's portal to go to Alba so that Ethera's grandma can maybe make me another amulet because I can't stay like this without knowing what is going on with Ethera, I did promise to be there when she needs me so I have to try my luck . What excuse am I going to give though? The portal is even more guarded now and you have to be registered on the list to be among the people who will use it and people usually book it 1 month prior because of the huge amount of people who want to test the experience , even though I am the niece of the creator I don't think they will just let me use it without reservation. *sigh what do I do now?

You know what I don't have time to stall and do nothing , right now it is too late for me to reserve a place there anyway so the only choice I have is to go there uninvited , of course I will have to do it at night if I want this to work , at this time it is very crowded. Now the thing is that I have to get rid of Eric who has been sticking to me 24/7 to make sure I am okay because not only does he feel guilty he lost my amulet but he is now also paranoid that the guy might come back to steal from me in my apartment . Trust me , Sheila and I have tried reasoning with him but he insists on staying at the apartment , he has been sleeping on the couch in the living room but this has to stop now or else I wont be able to sneak out anytime soon.

I get up from my bed and head towards the living room where Eric has been sitting working on something on his computer . "Eric we need to talk" he looks up from his laptop and closes it . "Sure , what's up?" he asks as I sit opposite from him and I clear my throat. "Well you have been staying here for 2 days with the excuse of wanting to make sure the thief doesn't come back and as much as i appreciate you doing this and i adore you , really , I think you should go back home. Sheila and I will manage and if anything happens which I doubt , I will call you immediately, okay?" I look at him anxiously as I don't want him to take it badly , he looks at me and sighs, "I get it Avery and I am really sorry I overstayed my visit , I am just really worried and I am also still feeling guilty for having lost such a valuable object of yours , which is why I bought this for you." he reaches in his pocket and gets out a necklace that has an Amethyst stone on it , just like the one I had. He hands it to me while I am still in awe. "I know this can't possibly compare nor replace your family heirloom but at least it can comfort you in the meantime . You don't have to keep it if you don't like " He almost takes it back but I hold it tighter , "No I am for sure keeping it , it is so sweet of you to buy me this , thank you for the gesture Eric" I hug him tightly and then he makes me face the other way and he takes the necklace from my hands to put it around my neck and then I grab a mirror near by and look at myself in it , "It is so pretty Eric" I say still in awe , he comes closer to look through the mirror and whispers in my ear "Not as pretty as its owner" I blush and retreat in the couch . This is the first time I feel this sort of thing with Eric , its a tingly feeling , I am not mad at it but then again chill girl. "Don't act all shy now , Avery , where is my tough girl?" he jokes and eases the tension , I tap his chest and we laugh it off as usual , this tension is becoming overbearing. "I will leave once Sheila comes back so I can bid her good bye" I nod and we just chill a bit on the couch for the day watching some grey's anatomy , a great classic.

It has been a few hours , Eric is gone and Sheila is back from class and is currently in her room doing her skin care routine and is about to go sleep . Thankfully for me it has been a long day for her or else she would be staying up until 2am binge watching kdrama , at least now I can easily sneak out. This feels like when I was still living with my aunt and she was very strict when it came to going out so I had to sneak out of my bedroom's window , huh old days.

The plan is hat I am going to the gallery disguised as a guard , I already bought the costume and since I know the schedule of work there thanks to my uncle , all I have to do is show up during patrol hours which is in about 10 minutes after all the guests have exited the premise and then I will go inside from the back door reserved for staff only and once I am in the building I have to go upstairs where there is a double sized door that only my uncle's card can open . Luckily I have a spare one from last time I visited. The hard part is entering without anyone stopping me to ask questions. All should be fine , I have seen enough robberies in movies to have a clear idea of what I have to do . Now go.

My cab soon drops me at the location, from what I see patrol has started , now I need to slip in and blend with the other guards , easy.

I look around and see no one notices me so I head directly to the back door , a few guards passed by me as they were heading out but none stopped me , okay great .

I see the stairs from afar and make a run towards it , I go up the stairs and there is the secretary's desk in the hallway so I crawl down to pass as she talks on the phone , too busy to notice me .

I finally reach the double doors and swipe the card , it is very discrete and doesn't make noise so no one will hear me go in. Once I am in , no one else can enter unless it is my uncle which I know he is not around right now so I am sure no one will interrupt me.

Once I enter the space , once again the Vortex is in the middle of the room and thank the Lord I remember how to make the thing work . I approach the cabin looking machine and enter it , I plug the wires on the helmet to the socket and wait for the magic or rather the technology do it's thing.

I quickly feel dizzy and see a portal being opened in my mind , Alba here I come again.

Helga's pov;

I am currently at my grandma's house , I came to confront her with the amulet that belongs to Avery , I want to know more of what she knows.

"My child , what is it that you want from me?" Grandma asks as she sits me down with her.

"I just want to know more about the amulet I showed you last time, I even brought it today so you can have a closer look ,here" I hand her the amulet , she looks at me surprised.

"This necklace, it is a witch's doing . Where did you get it?" A witch? How come? Is Avery-

"It is Avery's , but grandma how do you know of these witches?" I ask

"My dear our family descends from a powerful wizard in the ancient kingdoms of Scotland more specifically, Alba . But that was a long time ago , we don't posses any sort of magic in this time and period" my grandma further explains

"So why does Avery have this? Could she be a witch?" I ask her again,

"No , that would be impossible, you are cousins with Avery from you mother's side , the wizard we descend from is in your father's bloodline" she says. Interesting.

"Okay grandma , thank you for the information . I will come see you again soon" I bid her goodbye.

"My dear , whatever you plan to do with that information, be careful . Magic should not be played with" I nod and go away.

So Avery has been in contact with some sort of magic huh? Interesting, very interesting.