Chapter 4: Chapter 4: Stella

My hands were covered in dust. I was in a strange place, The portal sent me somewhere that I didn't even know existed.

The streets were lined with lanterns, not stoplights. The streets were made of sharp gravel and there were no sidewalks or cars here. The sky was dark, with more stars than I had ever seen filled the sky.

The houses in the village were made out of tree trunks and straw. This looked nothing like the California I was use to. Where did Soren send me? I am going to kill him if he ever comes within five feet of me.

I put my weight on my legs, my right leg slipped out from under me. I fell back into the sharp rocks. Something warm came on my leg. I reached down to touch it, my hand came back drenched in blood. I was badly cut and with every second it will just get worst.

"Help!" I screamed in pain. "Someone help me!"

Silence filled the streets. I was not going to die here. No way! I was going to die ringing Soren's little neck like he was a chicken on a farm.

"Help!" I screamed again. Still no answer.

Could my life get any worst?

I rolled onto my side and tried to stand up, but I couldn't, the pain was too strong. I dropped myself back into the gravel.

Of course it had to start raining. When I asked if my life could get any worse, it was a rhetorical question. Not a challenge.

"Someone!" I screamed. "Anyone!"

"My dear." I heard a voice.

I turned to see a middle aged women run from her house to me in the middle of the street. She was dressed in an old dress with holes and patches, she wore a bonnet on her grey hair.

"What are you doing out here in the cold past curfew?" The lady asked me. "Why are you in man's clothing?"

"Men's clothing?" I asked. "What are you talking about? I'm wearing jeans."

"Let's get you inside before they see you." The lady picked me up and helped me walk into her little wooden house.

"Who is going to see me?" I gasped. My weight on my leg burned as she helped me inside.

Her house was lit by a fire in the corner and three candles on her table. There were stairs in the back corner of the house that lead to a bedroom upstairs.

"Where am I? I breathed as she sat me down in a wooden chair.

"Boston." The women told me.

She opened a cupboard to get a medical kit. She ripped open my pant leg, my wound stung with the cold air. The women put some alcohol on my wound to clean it. It stung, I screamed out in pain.

"Keep it down child." The women said. "They will hear you."

"Who will hear me?" I cried.

"Did the lady fall while in bed?" I heard a voice behind me. His voice was sharp, like knives cutting my ears. He had a crisp British accent and a lisp.

"That should be the only place she should be in this hour." He said.

I saw him out of the corner of my vision. He had dark skin and black hair. He had on a red military style jacket and hat. He had many metals that showed his advanced ranks. At his side he had a musket and a long sword.

"I'm sorry sir." The women bowed to him. "The lady was in the street badly injured."

"I got the orders about sleeping schedules from the king of England." The man said. "And you know what happens to those who disobey the orders of the king."

"I'm sorry sir." The lady cried. "Please forgive me. Please forgive me. Let me help this young child and then we will both get back to bed."

"I'm hungry." The man said.

"I'll get you soup right away." The women ran to the fire and put the kettle on a hook.

The man walked over to me. He walked moving nothing but his legs. This guy had been in the military for a while. He removed his hat and placed it on the table next to me. He ran his fingers through his hair. He was beautiful. His broad shoulders and muscle filled arms brushed against my leg. He ran his fingers across my wound. I hissed at the pain.

"Let's get this bandaged up before you bleed all over the furniture." He said.

"That would be nice." I said.

He wiped the blood away from the wound. He laced some string through a needle and sewed up the hole. Each stitch pulled on my skin, I gripped the table and bit my lip. Why was this so painful? Where was the pain medication?

"Almost done." He grunted. He was not being gentle with the stitching.

"Finished." He placed a bandage around my leg.

"Thanks." I grinned like an idiot. Why is he so devastating. Devastatingly handsome.

"What is your name Madame?" He asked, taking a seat next to me at the table.

"I'm Stella Scorpio." I answered, pulling my brown hair out of my face up into a French braid.

"May I ask your name?" I asked him.

"General Aquarius." He nodded. "General Harry Aquarius."

"Cool name." I smiled. Even his name sounded hot. Spicy hot.

"What happened to you madam?" He asked me.

"I got tricked by an ex-boyfriend and he cut my leg." I said.

"Who was it?" Harry asked.

"His name is Soren Sagittarius." I said. "Don't trust him, he is my mortal enemy."

"Mr. Sagittarius joined me for dinner a month ago." Harry said. "A man hurting a lady breaks the law. He must be punished."

Harry got out of his chair and headed to the door. His stride was long and determined.

"What's his punishment?" I asked.

"Death by hanging." Harry answered. "We will hold him in jail till sunset tomorrow and he will be hanged for the whole town to see."

"Woah!" I stopped him. "Isn't that a bit extreme? Who hangs a person for a cut, honestly?"

What was this guy thinking? Why did all the hot guys I meet have to turn out to be cereal killers?

"We hang all the time." Harry answered calmly. "Three hours ago I had a date to a hanging."

"Ok." I said, kinda creeped out.

Was this normal here? Where the heck am I? The women placed a bowl of soup in front of me with a spoon. She gave the other bowl to Harry.

"Fresh out of the bowl." The lady whispered.

"Thanks." I said.

Harry said nothing. He slurped his soup and buttoned up his coat. He straightened his hat in his black hair.

"Have more food when I get back." Harry snapped at the women.

He buttoned up his boots and headed to the door. He was going to arrest Soren. At least I won't have to deal with him anymore.

I noticed something about the buttons on his coat. They glowed green and blue, swirling inside the little spheres. They were all too familiar. The three buttons on his coat were portals. He was my ticket out of here.

He walked out the door, leaving me in the dusty room with the old woman. She scrubbed at the pot, cleaning the leftover soup. She had bread cooking above the fire.

"Excuse me miss." I asked. "I'm sorry but, where am I?"

"Boston Massachusetts." She said.