Astrid slept in her bed that night, her mind filled with terror. The truth was, she didn't know anything about Darkhollow. Admittedly, Hayden knew more than she did. Plus, her mind was flooding with possibilities, bad ones.
Would they run out of crystal balls? Could she stand the humid rain forest? Did she pack every thing and object they needed? What creatures were hiding in the rain forest, and what was protecting Darkhollow? Would Hayden and Astrid get badly hurt?
Knowing many of the answers, she agreed to herself to try and decide these things the next morning. And so she slept her last night at Hayden's, and woke up the very next morning.
"Are you sure about this?" Hayden asked squeakily, in a rather high-pitched voice Astrid barely heard from him. They had just gulped down a bowl full of porridge, then got a cheer of luck from Hayden's parents.
"Yes." Astrid mumbled, looking everywhere but at Hayden.
"Astrid, I don't blame you if-" Hayden cried, but Astrid had a head start.
"What? I just want to come!" She answered, zipping her bag so furiously that a hole was made on it.
And with that, he was silenced. Astrid gulped to herself. This didn't seem like a good start, having an argument with the only person she had. Forcing a smile on her face, she put her bowl in the dishwasher, made sure all her items were packed, and gave a sharp nod to Hayden.
"Er...let's go..." She nodded and they made it out of the house in complete silence.
"So where's the exhibit?" she asked, as they started walking out of the house.
Hayden smiled faintly, and Astrid could tell he knew the answer to her question. "It's in Lightlyair." he grinned. Astrid shot a puzzled look at him and he launched into an explanation.
"It was founded by a man named "Eldie Macnal", who was an ancestor from my parents' old friend. They told me all about it. It never stops snowing there. The only element they use is water. It's quite beautiful, but very dangerous." Astrid's attention sharpened." There has been many attacks, lots of murder there. Many criminals. But it's well protected, so Hayden added as Astrid raised an eyebrow of confusion, "yeah, that's probably why it's there."
By the time they had gotten onto the crowded street, Astrid was bursting with questions. "What's protecting the photographs?" She asked, shivering as snow began to trickle down on them. Hayden shrugged. "Bodyguards, elements, obstacles."
She nodded, her hands fidgeting in the air for a snowflake. She'd have continued, but a low, deep voice was heard from the corner of her ear. She immediately pulled Hayden away from the voice, and the pair of them ran into a berry bush, listening to every word they could hear.
"This clearly isn't a good idea." mustered the low voice.
Astrid was breathing heavily. What wasn't a good idea? But her questions were safely stored in her mouth, waiting to hear more. "Oh I think it is." replied a second one, this time a females'.
"But it's so well-protected. There's no way of stealing it."
"Oh, it can be done."
"And if we get caught-"
"We won't get caught if we-"
There was the sound of an engine, the two voices were droned, and the sound of rustling, which meant the two people were getting away. Astrid swore under her breath as Hayden casually crawled away from the bush.
Astrid was breathing heavily as if she had just ran a marathon. Hayden had a questionable look on his face, but it was rather expressionless. Astrid could tell that, just like her, he was feeling blank, rather speechless.
He was looking as nonplussed as she was, not to mention aghast. Astrid stood up and the two walked away from the bush, chattering about what they just heard.