A WARM TINGLE bloomed where the binding string of the Autumn's Flower coiled itself.

Andy rubbed his pinky finger in a soothing, circular motion. A tinsy bit of panic welled up in his chest. "It's gone, Elsie. It disappeared on my finger."

Elsie gave him a funny look and swished a hand in front of her face. "Don't worry about it. It's there even though you can't see it. The binding string would embed itself under your skin so that you won't be able to remove it no matter how hard you try. It's like wherever you go, you'll be bringing the sacred promise with you."

"So, it's like a tiny microchip implant. Only with this one, you won't be able to remove it." He shivered even though heat crept through the four walls of the house. "Sounds horrible."

"It only sounds right. Of course, unless you, Andy Crow, are not true to your words." Then, she tilted her head to the side and blinked innocently. "What's a microchip, by the way?"

Andy ignored her question about the microchip, for there would be endless questions and a lot of explaining to do. Instead, he said, "I'm not a promise-breaker."

"Oh, boy." A smirk emerged on Elsie's face. She rubbed her hands together, snickering. "Even if you cut your finger, the bind will only be transferred to the other, then the other, and the other until there's no more left in your hands."

Elsie looked terrifying, indeed. Her eyes gleamed like sharpened knives. Andy pulled down the sleeve of his pajama shirt to hide his hands. Whatever she said painted a horrible picture in his head.

Sweat dribbled down his chin. Why had it suddenly become so hot? It was as if someone had turned the heater on the highest temperature. When he looked at Elsie, a sharp gasp spurted from his lips. There was a cloud of steam escaping from her ears, and her face turned into an ugly shade of red. However, the girl seemed unaware as she shuffled from foot to foot with fists clamped shut and lips pursed.

He reached out to her without a second thought for fear that she might not be feeling well. "Elsie, what's happening—ow!"

She was burning hot. Her piping hot skin left an angry red mark on his hand. Puffs of steam hissed from it, smelling horrible like burning coal.

"Andy! Oh no, I'm sorry!" Elsie was about to tend to him, but she reigned herself back before she could hurt him more. She hurriedly ran to the bathroom, and Andy heard a loud splash of water. After what felt like five minutes, Elsie re-entered the living room, all-soaked as puddles of water gathered around her feet. She no longer had those steam coming off her ears, and the angry burn marks on Andy's hand had also faded, even if he could feel its painful sting.

She stood in front of him; her head hung low. Elsie fiddled with the wooly material of her dress and rubbed the sole of her shoes. Her wide-brim hat prevented Andy from having a clear view of her face. He bent down to see her face scrunched in a frown and lips pouting.

"What's wrong?"Andy scratched his curly brown hair.

"I'm sorry," she said in barely a whisper. "I go into overdrive whenever I get too excited."

"And you're excited because?"

As quick as a flash, Elsie looked up, causing the back of her head to slam into Andy's forehead, rattling his brain.

"Because we're going on an adventure!" Then, she squealed. Only moments ago, her face brimmed with guilt and regret. But now, all that could be seen was excitement and thrill as slideshow after slideshow of whatever they would face along the way played in her head.

He glared at her while rubbing his throbbing forehead. "It's not even a fun adventure! We might be facing some evil kind of thing up on that hill."

"Oh, and speaking of the hill, we need to go right now. Time is running as we speak. Remember, you only have seven days."

As if Andy had forgotten about it in the first place. If only there wasn't any at stake, he would never agree to be part of this craziness. Sometimes, he wondered if he was being played at. Andy was used to observing at the sidelines, but to him, Elsie was hard to read.

Andy found himself being pulled around once more as if he had no mind of his own. Chip trotted silently behind them towards the backdoor at the kitchen.

"Seriously, just tell me to follow, and I'll be willing to do so. No need to pull me around," Andy said when Elsie finally let go of him.

She ignored his complaints and opened the door, revealing a small backyard with pumpkin patches. The air smelled sweet with the damp earth and greenery. There was a hum in the air. There were tiny humans with bell-shaped hats on their heads, sitting on each of the pumpkins. They seemed to be chanting a song in an unidentifiable language. Their fiery red hair flowed with the gentle wind.

"Those are..."

"They are our Garden Harmonias. They sing and talk to plants so they can grow beautifully. But don't worry about them. They won't even know we're here. Garden Harmonias do not care about others' business unless you meddle with theirs. Anyway, the only accessible way to Fairton Hill is through Verfair Timberland, which means we have to jump over the fence and walk our way there."

"Do we really have to venture into the forest?" He gulped at the sight of the forest. He could only see much of what his eyes allowed him to. Despite the sun up in the sky, the chilly breeze made the leaves of the trees rustle, which caused a horrible sound of whispers. Andy's head spun as he tried to imagine what would await them there. "It looks dangerous."

"We don't have a choice, Andy. Any route leading to Fairton Hill is barricaded with fences. Plus, this is the only way where no one stands guard. Everywhere else is teeming with grumpy and scary-looking guards."

The fence barely reached their chest, so it was easy enough for Elsie to hoist herself up and rush over to the other side. Andy followed suit, and then Chip came next.

"Wait, Elsie! I forgot something."

Elsie leaped out of her skin at Andy's outburst. She placed her hands on her hips, her favorite thing to do when it wouldn't go the way she wanted it. "Can't we go now, Andy?"

"No, I forgot my bag. It must've been left at the abandoned house. I have to get it." Andy was about to break into a run when Elsie stopped him by the scruff of his pajama shirt.

"Fine! But after this, I don't want any more delays." She put her hands before her mouth, in a pose resembling that of a trumpeter, before blowing through it. A high, keening whistle peeled out in the air around them.

Then a chubby, bushy black cat emerged from the tree's shadow in the forest and sauntered towards them. It had yellow eyes, but the left one had a stitch, and a vertical scar ran through it. Andy tapped his foot on the ground impatiently as a cat of perfect black walked with head high, tail up, and limbs in sleek precision.

"Andy, this is Hex, my Familiar," Elsie said as Hex, her cat, leaped into her arms. The feline stared at Andy hard and long as if it could see right through his soul and judge his whole existence. He only felt this kind of unsettling feeling whenever he was around Aunt Carol's cat. Chip growled at Hex but hid behind Andy's legs anyway.

Andy scratched his head. Witch jargons were a pain in the head. "Familiar... as in a pet?"

Elsie whipped her head to face him, a look of horror etched across her face. "Of course not! Familiars are not just pets. They are our life companions. The other half of our souls. Isn't Chip like that to you?"

"Er..." Chip looked up at him, tongue sticking out and mouth stretching into a smile as if waiting for his answer. Wait, can dogs even understand human languages? "Of course! Yes, he is."

"Great! I know you aren't that heartless." Elsie nudged his side before scratching Hex's chin. The cat had his eyes closed, and a soft purr vibrated on his chest. She continued, "Hex here will go back to the abandoned house to retrieve your bag. She can do it the fastest way, can't you, Hex?"

Hex bit Elsie's finger and disappeared in her arms. She gave him an awkward smile. "Hex is actually nice. It's just the way he shows his love and affection."

When Hex appeared on Elsie's shoulder, his tail curled around the strap of Andy's bag. He took it away from the cat's possession and quickly scoured its contents to check if anything was lost. To his delight, everything was still there, and no one could explain at that moment how light he felt at that time. At least he had brought with him things that were real to him.

"Now that you have what you need—" Elsie pointed at the cluster of trees and the dancing shadows of the forest "—the adventure crew is finally off to Verfair Timberland!"

And with that, Andy had never felt the safest in his entire life. What else should he worry about when his adventure crew consisted of a cat, a dog, a young witch, and a science genius?

He better not figure it out.

I must have brought a stun gun with me. It might come in handy in the future.