Isabelle's POV

Mmm...

Grandma?

Is that you?

"Open your eyes, I'm not old enough to be a grandpa for you". A soft grumble besides me made me squint my eyes into the busy strange environment. "Well maybe I'm that old, but I'm not your grandparent neither your nanny".

"Oh, M-minuet?". My voice came out quite soft and tired as my eyes landed on the moving landscapes from the window. There were huge trees and wide fields all around us. There was no doubt that this was definitely the woods. Glancing across the place my head was leaning against, my eyes fell on the numerous persons that were sitting both across and behind us. Without doubts, this was a double-decker - judging from the huge compartments and size of the bus.

I rubbed my eyes and slowly closed my eyes back. "It's probably just another of my silly dreams". I shrugged, knowing fully well how my dreams play tricks on me often.

I yawned lazily and sunk back into my seat with my eyes shut, completely ignorant of everything going on. The honking of the bus then made me realize that this wasn't a dream. I was forced to open my eyes and jerk from my seat from the fear of how Minuet went this far in kidnapping me to God - knows - where.

I gasped. "Wait, Minuet! W-where are we?!". I could barely hide the anger and frustration in my voice. I shrunk back in my seat when I noticed the creepy stares that were on me now. For someone who just woke up and started shouting, they'd probably think I'm a pyscho. Well, I'm used to that.

"Shhh, this is a public place". He scolded, pulling down the hooded coat over my face, making the cap completely cover my face. "You woke up earlier then I expected".

"I'm fully aware of that, thank you!". I said in a sarcastic tone, only for my words to come out muffled. "Now start talking!". I had to fight my way through the baggy hoodie to be able to see where he was seated, only half of my face was visible now.

"We're going back to Alexis' fortress with or without your help". He mumbled in a way that only I could hear. "That's final".

I could see him from the space between my hoodie sipping his drink, without making any efforts to have an eye contact with me.

At first, I was confused on why he was avoiding eye contacts but then, thoughts of last night flashed into my mind. My face suddenly went red. Nothing intimate happened between us but because I'm still a human with creepy thoughts, that came out as something else. I can't believe he trusted me enough to that extent.

I shook my head vigorously. I shouldn't think that. He wouldn't want me to think of it that way either.

"W-what did the school say about the incident?". I mumbled and shifted slightly to his side. "Or should I say 'accident' ?". I sneered, obviously still upset about the whole thing.

"Accidents happen...". He stated, dropping the glass back on the food tray. "And everyone makes mistakes". He was using my words against me now.

"You think it's funny?!". I spat out with a frown. "I almost...died". My voice became lower as the memories of the prom night replayed in my head. So, let's get this straight - Xander is a hunter, Foxy is a huntress and then Julius and Amy are what? Could they be huntresses or perhaps the ones hunted?

"He's a skilled manipulator, Isabelle..". His cold laugh cut me off from my jumbled thoughts. "Or should I say, Cinderella?".

"I'm...sorry Minuet". The words came out of my mouth before he could continue his usual words of torture. "I...I didn't think...he...".

"Don't be ridiculous and take your drink before it gets cold". He flashed me a small fanged smile before attempting to sipping from my drink. "This time, it isn't your fault but theirs".

"H-hey! Hands off my drink!". I slapped his hands off my glass and coiled my hands around the dull tinted glass. "I watched you drink two glasses without stopping! This one's mine now!".

He laughed and rose his hands in the air to show that he surrenders. "Fine, fine, fine. Jeez, I thought you hated chocolate drinks".

"Chocolate?". My eyes fell on the glass wrapped in my hands and sniffed the air thirstily as the aroma of the hot delicious drink reached my nostrils. My stomach then decided to embarrass me by attempting to repeat my words in the form of small rumblings.

I turned to the side timidly as I spotted the laughter that was about to be erupted from Minuet's face. How embarrassing.

Without talking, I brought the cup to my lips and took few sips from the delicious drink. The taste was as glorious as the aroma indeed. I was trying to gulp down the drink as fast as I could, but it was clear the bus had other plans for me - the bus jerked a little, making the drink spill on my face. Luckily, it just formed a moustache over my lips and didn't burn me. The bus had come to a halt for some persons, which happened to be their assigned destination. Half of the passengers got down from the bus, leaving just one quarter of the total of persons remaining. And with that, the bus carried on once again.

"I'm ready to be a full time sorceress". I took the last sip fastly and used the edge of my sleeve to wipe the stains from my face. "Even if it means leaving...".

My eyes searched his face for his reaction, only to see amusement and a small grin.

"Agreed, moustache girl". He teasingly said and tapped the region between his lips and nose. "You've got a guest there".

With a groan, I ran my tongue over my lips once more and shifted my stare to the moving landscapes, trying to recognise the new environment we were arriving at. I could only tell that this was still the woods - from the thick bushes and trees around.

"I thought you'd never agree". Minuet began, making me to turn back at him attentively. "That's quite an improvement there". He added, with a click of his tongue and a quick wink.

Witnessing Minuet wink made me involuntarily spill the remaining chocolate drink on my clothes, and darn was it hot. It wasn't something I imagined him ever doing!

"What the...look what you did now!". I groaned and gasped in horror as I noticed the small visibility of my undies from the light shirt underneath my hoodie and hit him in his stomach with my elbow.

He groaned from the impact and turned his head to the other side to hide his laughing face.

"Stop laughing!". I reached out for the cup and tried to spill the little particles of the drink on him but missed terribly as Minuet was able to dodge it just in time. "Agh, you..!".

"Why? Never seen a cat wink before?". He gave me a mischievious smirk and attempted to wink again, but I managed to brush him aside before he could do that, earning a hard glare from the driver's reflection on the rear mirror. With a small gulp, I gave the driver an apologetic smile and glared at the demon besides me.

"Alright, alright, enough playing around before I look like a freak as that's your main purpose". I cooed and sank into the chair comfortably as my eyes were already baggy from the bus's jerky motion.

"Hey...". I opened my eyes a little and reached out for his hands, placing my hands on his with a sheepish smile. "Thank you for cheering me up".

He didn't flinch but narrowed his eyes suspiciously at our hands before turning his attention back to my face with a smile.

"I'm gonna sleep now, I still feel heavy...if you need anything important or if something crazy happens, wake me up hmm?".

My face went red as he nodded and interlocked our fingers, before turning his head the other way to have some time alone.

I was probably too tired to think about what just happened so I closed my tired eyes from the long journey and yawned a little, before allowing sleep take over me once more.

I don't know if it's me but some minutes after that happened, I felt my head on something soft and very comfy. The thought of my head on Minuet's laps or on the side of his neck made me squirm happily in my sleep.

I know I'm under the best protection.

♡~♡

Time went really fast but I never noticed because I was occupied with Minuet's fun facts, silly jokes and a nap - which was honestly fun.

The bus finally came to a stop, making I and Minuet exchange knowing looks. It was now or never.

As we hopped down from the bus, the sunlight reflected on the base of his neck, making the curls of his strands of hair shimmer like a crystalline pool. I couldn't help but stare at the resistless supernatural my Grandma had chosen as my guardian and partner. I guess when the soft and gentle side of him slowly surfaced, all those features gradually became visible.

When I noticed that he caught me staring, I cursed under my breath and followed him silently into the familiar clearings. Thankfully, he didn't say anything throughout the walk and neither did I. I was too busy observing the paths and taking notes of them.

Finally, after so many twists and turns, we reached the foggy mist leading to the fortress. During the day, the forest seemed nothing like that of the enchanted environment I knew at night - the paths disguised itself as normal trees and clearings, which can only be accessible to mysticals. As Minuet did his stuff, a golden door appeared and slowly opened, pulling us through the mist. As we kept on moving through the light, Minuet shifted to his human neko form - he was still a human but had his furry parts as a cat intact.

"Is something wrong?". I asked. "Why did you change?".

"No...no no no no no...". He kept murmuring to himself over and over again, racking his hand through his hair and pacing to and fro angrily.

I blinked and watched as his eyes began slit and his claws replaced his fingers.

"Minuet!". I snapped at the pacing figure in front of me. We were still standing at the very front of the house and wasn't inside yet for some reason.

He didn't even listen to me and changed to his full cat form almost immediately, walking around my legs - almost like he was trying to sniff out something. Without warning, he started making hissing sounds at the distance behind me, making me recoil in fear and turned around.

My chest tightened as I followed the direction he was hissing at and caught a glimpse of what looked like a dark figure well-hidden behind some trees. The figure must have noticed our alertness because it tumbled across the bushes and disappeared into the thin air.

I could already see the rage in Minuet's eyes and knew what he was going to do. But imagining everything to be a trap for the poor guy, I rushed to his side and scooped him in my arms, before he would do anything crazy.

It wasn't an easy task because Minuet's anger was now lashed towards me. Imagine being attacked by an angry vicious cat! That's pretty much a taste of torture!

With one last glare at the strange figure, I teleported into the cabinet making sure every inch of the fortress was locked and secured. I was still wondering how the figure got into this place as this part of the forest only gives way to mysticals!

"Could that be a...". I trailed off in my words and scrunched my face in anger and disgust. A supernatural stalking a supernatural is definitely not good.

"Quick! Let's check if anything was smuggled or tampered with!".

"Why did you teleport me! That wasn't just any figure!". He stomped his feet and kept grumbling at me while I ignored him and began searching carefully through the bookshelves and rooms. "I almost recognised the person! It was... someone from your school!".

Good...everything's intact...

Wait...what's this?

I went on one knee and stared at a ripped page sticking out from under the old rikity cupboard in the kitchen. Wasn't this a page of something I've read before? How did it get here??

Oh no...

Someone or something had broken into this fortress.

"Minuet...this is bad news...". I announced in a low scratchy voice and my face went pale at the new discovery I had made.