The Witches (Book #1)

𝔚𝔞𝔱𝔠𝔥𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔚𝔥𝔦𝔰𝔭𝔢𝔯𝔦𝔫𝔤

A shadow falls on the page I'm reading. I look up to find Soojung standing just outside the doorway of the reference room. I notice she has two different-colored eyes—one golden brown and one dark brown—that seem more dramatic because of her black hair.

"So it's true," she says, and inspects her black nails with glittery skulls painted on them.

"Excuse me?" I fold the paper with the information I was collecting and push it to my pocket.

"They told me you were here."

What's her angle? "They, who?"

"You can't hide in a town like this, Bae."

I can't help but think about the witch accusations. And the fact that she's addressing me by my surname doesn't escape me. "Are you saying you followed me here?"

"What I'm saying is that I know where you are." She lifts her gaze from her nails, and her two-toned eyes assess me.

Goose bumps sprint down my arms. I'm not even going to pretend I'm not creeped out by this. She clearly doesn't mean just now. She means always. I try to play it off. "So, what, you spend your free time tracking me? You life sounds like it sucks."

For the briefest of seconds her eyes narrow. "You'll find that're only a few things that matter in Manyeo and that you're not one of them. No one cares what happens to you here."

Was that a threat? If there is one thing I learned in the City, it's that I can't show her this bothers me. "I'm not sure I care if you know where I am. You found me reading a book. Congratulations on your discovery."

She actually smiles. "Give it time. You will."

That's it. I'm done with this conversation. I kick the door with my back boot and it slams in her face. By some highly unfortunate coincidence, as the door booms shut the lights turn off. From outside the tiny sliver of a window in the door, which is now my only source of light, she laughs.

You've got to kidding me. I stand up and bang my knee into one of the wooden chairs. "Ow!"

I push the chair aside and more slowly make my way to the wall. This cannot be happening right now. I swat the wall with my hands and land on a small switch. Up, down, up, down. Nothing.

I grab the door handle and pull, but it doesn't budge. I pull harder. Nothing. I throw my weight back, and with all my might I pull again. Still nothing. Soojung walks away, leaving me stuck and all alone.

Did she lock me in somehow? As far as I can tell, there's no manual lock. She would need a key. How'd she do it? Maybe it's an old lock and it jammed when I slammed the door? But that still doesn't explain why the lights went out. I reach for my phone, but there's no signal.

That only leaves banging and yelling. "Help!"

What if no one hears me? I'm in an unpopular part of the library. Not so unpopular at Soojung and her spies couldn't find me, but still. What's that girl planning, anyway? I find it hard to believe that this and the locker stunt are unrelated.

Twenty minutes pass before a scraggly-looking janitor finds me. 

"Please help me get out of here!" I yell. It's starting to smell really musty, and it's dark. Plus, I'm not a huge fan of spiders, which I'm sure have taken up permanent residence in this rarely used room. I can almost hear them crawling toward me over the old manuscripts. Above all, I don't like being trapped.

He fidgets with a ring of keys but doesn't seem to have the right one. He puts his hand up as if to say "Hold on" and walks off.

Another ten minutes pass, and I'm getting jumpy. In fact, I'm sweating pretty badly. I press against the window. Please, someone come back . . . anyone.

My face is fogging up the glass when the librarian from downstairs appears in front of me. My heart jumps into my throat. Holy moly, she scared the crap out of me! And she didn't come alone; there's small group of spectators forming behind her.

"Don't panic. It only makes it worse!" she yells.

"I'm not!" I lie.

"Good. They can feel it, you know," she warns.

"Who can feel what?" I ask.

"The ghosts," she says loudly.

Involuntarily, I look over my shoulder. Nothing's there. Of course nothing's there. What's wrong with this town? I want to yell that I don't believe in ghosts, that it was probably Soojung's fault the door locked. But by this point I've already made enough of a spectacle of my myself.

There's a low buzzing noise. A drill?

"Stand back!" yells the janitor.

The door vibrates, and within seconds a small metal bit falls near my feet. The door swings open, almost hitting me. I jump out of the way and crash backward into the table, my feet lifting six inches off the ground. There are gasps from the crowd.

"Are you all right? asks the librarian with a bit a drama in her tone.

"Yeah. Thanks," I say to her and the janitor. I must look crazy. With all these eyes on me, I half wish I could stay in the dark room until everyone loses interest. I'm slick with sweat, there are little tendrils of hair stuck to my face, and I just threw myself into a table. Much to my disappointment, the watching and whispering crowd has doubled in size.

I step into the light and I spot Kai near one of the back rows of people, leaning against a bookshelf. We make eye contact, and my abused nerves go haywire. I don't think. I just run.