For the first time in months, Cora finally had some time to herself. Between all the make up work she'd needed to do, then going right back into school since the new quarter started soon after the new year, Lydia's fugue state that she was still worried about, helping Christine and helping people with self defense training, there really hadn't been any time for Cora to have time to herself or to even see family. So with Lydia going to see Hans' horse and introduce him to the new addition to their lives, Cora had decided now would be a good time to go to the bookstore to do some research and then go visit her uncle. She knew that things happened in the dreams, she knew that there was bleed over and while Lydia didn't expect her to choose sides (for which Cora was thankful), it still left her in a place that she didn't know how to navigate yet. So Lydia having things to do gave Cora that time now she had it to check up on him.
Admittedly the purpose of the bookstore trip was to see if she could find anything on banshees. Because Cora did worry. They might not talk about the dreams much but she wasn't blind. She knew that there was more to it than the random fugue state. She didn't question how Lydia had just shown up at Christine's when she was needed because the blonde had been in shock, Lydia had been upset and well, it wouldn't have solved anything. In all the things she had experienced in the dreams, banshees were not part of it and so Cora was left to her own devices. Because she wanted to help Lydia however she could.
Not that she was really having any sort of luck with that at the moment. Because what book store would have a bunch of research books on banshees? The closest she could find was about different mythologies. Well that was all well and good but would it be helpful? She knew that if things got to be too hard Lydia would tell her. Trust. It all came down to trust.
Now if only this book would help.
And it was then she noticed it. The dryness in her eyes and the need to blink repeatedly because her eyes felt like they were burning. Her mind went blank, the dreams rushing back on her of the fire. Her family's scream and the smell of burnt flesh. She was there all over again and maybe would have stayed there had she not heard the voice of a child asking about smoke.
It wasn't just her mind playing tricks on her.
But when she looked to where she heard the question, she noticed the girl who had asked the question, a few years younger than Cora had been in the dreams when Kate Argent and her lackeys decided to burn down the Hale house.
"We need to get out of here."
Going to Christine, Cora pulled off her duster and handed it to the girl.
"Put this over your mouth." This would be better if she had water and a napkin but she didn't and she needed to improvise. They'd need to find the girl's parents, but right now the important thing was getting out. Cora's fight or flight instincts were at maximum. The need to run like she had when she was a child but she couldn't really do that when there was a child with her.