Before he could even open the pantry, there was a rap at the front door. Viggo jumped, startled. The knock had been rather faint, but it was loud enough for him to hear.
Viggo hesitated, and then started towards the door.
“Be careful! Whoever’s outside is magical! I can sense it,” Aelfcynn warned, leaping up from where she lay.
Viggo glanced back, and nodded. Whenever Aelfcynn said something like that, it was true. Being magical themselves, both Aelfcynn and Rowan could sense when someone else had either been using something magical, or were magic themselves.
When he opened the door, however, he was surprised at the sight of who stood there on the doorstep.
A flash of lightning illuminated the stranger more clearly. It also gave the whole situation a sinister air.
The man was soaking wet, even moreso than Viggo had been when he had arrived. He had a head of thick, dark hair that was obviously very shaggy when it was dry. His eyes were a keen gray color, and he was dressed in black, except for the pure white shirt he wore.
He looked so pathetic standing on the doorstep, with water cascading down his shoulders and face, that Viggo immediately forgot Aelfcynn’s warning.
“What in the world are you doing out there?” Viggo asked. “Come on in and get out of the rain.”
The man hesitated on the doorstep, and then slowly walked in.
Viggo quickly shut the door, and then turned to study the stranger further. Now that he was standing in a lit-up room, Viggo could see that the strange man was a few years older than he himself.
“Um, can I get you something? A cup of coffee, or tea, maybe?” Viggo hoped that the man would say yes, since he wanted a cup of coffee as well, and he couldn’t have one without Aelfcynn or Rowan making some sort of smart-aleck remark.
To his relief, the bedraggled man nodded, sitting down in a chair at the kitchen table as he did so. “Yes, please.” His voice was soft, with a lilting European accent. It might have been Italian, or even English; Viggo couldn’t quite tell.
He walked back to the kitchen and took the can of ground coffee out of the cupboard. “What brings you here?” he called back into the living room.
“I don’t have much time…I am almost certain that the Snakestar Brotherhood followed me here,” the stranger said. It was almost as if he was talking to himself. “They want the talisman…they don’t know that I do not have it.”
Viggo raised an eyebrow, peering at the man from behind the kitchen counter. “Explain, please?” He turned around and began heating up two mugs.
“I don’t have much time,” the man repeated quietly, fiddling with a ring that was on his left hand. “They followed me here.”
Yes, I did indeed leave it off at a cliffhanger on purpose! XD I'm so evil, aren't I? *cue evil laugh*
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