Chapter 7: Escape to Life: Witch Coven?

After leaving the basement, the group discussed what to do next.

In the end, they unanimously decided to find someone to call home.

After walking a while, they successfully found the elderly woman at the fruit stall, as Haley had mentioned seeing briefly.

They borrowed the phone.

They also learned they were now in a remote area of Mississippi, with only a few households, and the nearest village over ten miles away.

At this point, the group finally shared some details about their backgrounds.

Haley: “My family lives in Calabasas, California. My father is a medical professor, and I often study medical knowledge with him. You’re my first friends—I’ll stay in touch with you.”

“Of course, you’re our friend too. Let’s keep in touch,” Louis smiled.

Emma nodded as well.

Mary, however, had teary eyes: “I’m sorry… I don’t know where my father is. My mother’s in the hospital. I’ll probably go live with my uncle, but I don’t even know where that is. I, I…”

This… the proud girl had never imagined her family life would be like this. Louis glanced at her sympathetically, hesitated a moment, then said, “If you ever want to find us, wait until you’re older and go to New York. It’s the most bustling city—we’ll meet again.”

“Mm.” Mary nodded firmly.

It was obviously a comforting lie, but that didn’t matter—she wasn’t crying anymore, was she?

The group turned to Emma, who offered her standard smile: “As for me, I don’t have a mother, but my father treats me well. Hmm, if only he spent more time with me. My home is in Orlando, Florida—there’s Disney to play at. I hope we can stay friends.”

She kept up the fake smile, but her gaze rested on Louis.

In her eyes, among these three, only Louis could be her friend—after all, they were… accomplices!

Mary nodded, carefully noting it down. Haley watched her coldly—she could see through the fake smile. It was too obvious!

Louis: “My family situation is unusual. My abduction might not have been accidental—it could have been planned. Was it internal? Or an external enemy? So I can’t tell you the details. Also, Emma, would you mind if I stayed at your place for a while?”

Hearing this, Emma was slightly surprised; her fake smile nearly slipped, but she agreed immediately.

Louis did this for the reason he stated: he wasn’t sure whether his abduction was accidental or deliberately orchestrated—was it from within? Or an outside threat?

So, until he grew stronger or figured it out, he wouldn’t return home. In the meantime, Emma’s home in Orlando—same state, different city—was the ideal place to stay.

As they chatted, the elderly fruit vendor brought food and talked with the four children.

But everyone tactfully avoided explaining why they were there, brushing it off instead. Still, Louis spotted a photo in her home: a young man, strikingly similar to the middle-aged man, was holding hands with a woman, smiling happily.

Louis understood now. No wonder the man had lingered so long—it was this old woman’s daughter who had run away with him…

Two days later.

Three Jeeps arrived with clear purpose. Three middle-aged men stepped out, eagerly embracing Emma and Mary. The fourth stood before Haley, speaking to her.

Haley’s father, a medical professor, was too busy and too far away in California, so he hired someone to pick her up and provide protection.

The man who came for Mary was her uncle Frank, a former university teaching assistant turned boat repairman. Since his sister was bedridden, he alone came to fetch Mary. Now holding her, his eyes were wet. Mary, overwhelmed by her unfamiliar uncle’s warmth, didn’t know how to react—but didn’t resist.

Finally, Emma’s father, David, a single father from the middle class, burst into tears upon seeing her. Emma, too, showed signs of emotion.

After speaking with her father, Emma didn’t know what he said, but he agreed so quickly—he patted Louis’s head. “Poor child. You helped Emma. I’ll take care of you.”

Soon after.

The four boarded their respective cars, watching each other drive away.

…

Florida, Orlando.

Florida lies at the southernmost tip of the United States, a peninsula. Orlando is a central city in the state, the third largest. Of course, its most famous attractions are Disney World and Universal Studios.

Emma’s home was here—and even included a sizable house with a warehouse and a swimming pool. Their standard of living was high.

Undeniably, in the late 1980s, during the Cold War rivalry, the United States still offered relatively high happiness among its lower classes, largely due to technological progress and concessions made to the masses during the superpower standoff.

Upon arriving, David, Emma’s father, negotiated with the neighborhood committee (by paying), and Louis successfully moved in under the pretense of being a guest, adjusting to his new life.

But due to his identity issues, many formalities remained for his schooling—mainly requiring guardian consent. Louis’s situation was unusual, so the delays suited him perfectly—he had more important matters to attend to.

He stayed in the room next to Emma’s, locked the door from the inside.

Louis took out the witchcraft book he had found in Emilia’s home.

Though he had the Left Path People’s Canon, the nature of heretical paths is that anything goes—so absorbing Western witchcraft wouldn’t hurt.

He opened the pages and examined them carefully.

As he read, Louis’s expression gradually changed.

This book wasn’t purely a grimoire. Accurately, it was Emilia’s diary, mixed with some Portuguese incantations.

It began with trivial emotional outpourings: the joy of raising children, the pain of eating them, the beauty of it, how to cultivate a child’s sexual ability—Louis flipped past these quickly, until he found what he sought.

According to the journal, witches possessed bizarre and varied abilities—each had a unique innate talent, along with potions, elixirs, spells, and more. It was an extremely broad field. But Emilia’s journal recorded little, because the witch lineage had long since fractured, its traditions incomplete.

The origins of the witch lineage were tied to demons and God. Throughout history, they had suffered countless persecutions and hunts, until they scattered worldwide during the Age of Exploration.

For instance, the United States had witches who arrived with the colonists—but in 1693, they were discovered in Salem and purged and burned, even with the Church’s involvement.

The Salem lineage then migrated southward, until one of their Supreme Witches reestablished the coven, restoring their presence.

Emilia cared deeply about this because her Portuguese witch lineage had strong ties to the Salem line. When she was abandoned here, alone and without family, she had sought out the Supreme Witch of Salem—and received help.

The journal also recorded that the Supreme Witch had changed a few years ago. She planned to meet the new one soon.

“Supreme Witch… Salem? American Horror Story: Coven?!”

Louis’s face was filled with disbelief.

Have I entered a movie world?

Wait—could Emilia herself be from some movie I’ve never seen?

(End of Chapter)