As soon as Amelia and Madison came over, we decided to immediately make our way over to the school. A place I never thought I would run to for refuge.
I told them everything on the way and they were stunned. Classes were in session but we knew how to navigate through the school unnoticed.
We sneaked into the school after getting the directions of the secret area from my parents who stayed home to figure out a way to defeat Luciana.
We got to the secret area and I was shocked to know that such a place existed in this school. The compartment was like an apartment complex on its own.
There was a living room, kitchen and bathroom with a conjoined toilet as well as some other rooms. My parents must have really planned this hideout.
"Wow! Tell me again why my parents didn't think to make one of these for me," Madison whined, staring at the luxurious apartment in awe.
Why would she need a hideout?
"Who would want to be after your crazy ass?" Amelia fired back and Madison pouted before a determined look appeared on her face and I knew a comeback was coming.
A stupid comeback at that.
"Your face is crazy," Madison retorted.
I palmed my face in disappointment.
"I don't blame you for your dumb comeback, you have the brain of a tilapia fish after all," Amelia said and I chuckled despite everything going on in my life.
"You...you," Madison tried to come up with something else but I decided to stop her before the banter would grow.
The last thing I wanted was a bunch of quarrelling kids.
"That's enough now. Before you children go crazy, let's settle in. Or do we explore first?" I asked, watching as they both perked up at the sound of exploring.
One of the many traits my friends and I shared was our intense curiosity as well as our love for learning new things.
"Explore," they both said at the same time then turned to glare at each other.
Sensing another argument coming up about who mimicked who, I jumped in.
"Exploring it is then," I announced, making them dash through the door, calling dibs on where to explore first.
Shaking my head, I followed them.
After a while of looking through rooms, we didn't find anything extremely fascinating so we returned to the living room. Currently, we were sprawled on the couches.
I wondered how Helen was doing or if she was even still alive. Luciana wouldn't kill her own mother, right?
Perhaps to get the book, she might but I was hoping the saying of blood being thicker than water to be right in her case.
"Don't worry about anything, Aunt Marissa and Uncle Jay would not let anything happen to you," Amelia assured and I smiled, thankful for their presence at that moment.
We fell silent, each person lost in their own thoughts. I relished in the comfortable silence as their presence was more than enough.
If they weren't here, I would have probably been biting my nails and ripping out my hair in worry.
Well, not exactly that but close enough.
Sighing, I leaned back on the couch, wondering how my life became this dramatic and dangerous. Battling fledgelings and an evil witch has now become a normal daily occurrence.
I wished I could just wake up from this nightmare and go back to my life before graduation.
But the sick part of me that enjoyed the thrill I got from the adventure and the more things I learned about was lingering at the back of my mind.
"Does anyone else notice that wall looking different from the rest or is it just me?" Madison asked suddenly and I followed her line of vision then I saw it.
The walls were lined and layered but one particular wall was darker than the rest. It could have been a painter's bad job but I was curious and so were my friends so we stood up to check it out.
Lo and behold, after much feeling around, Amelia found an unstable layer in the wall and pushed it in.
The wall gave a slight rumble before flipping over to the other side, revealing another room. Automatically, the lights inside the room came up.
"Wow, a secret room inside a secret house! Cool!" Madison exclaimed as we entered the room.
It was a huge library.
"Tell me someone else is thinking what I am thinking," Madison said with surprise evident in her voice.
At that moment, I was certain we were all thinking the same thing. We finally found the entrance to the forbidden library after searching for it for so long.
The library looked neat and scanty. Someone had been taking care of it. The shelves were short with a small number of books.
Soon we found ourselves seated on the ground with books around us. My parents were not lying about getting rid of the books about my kind.
I found a book containing everything about my kind as well as the untold truths about other species.
Amelia took a book about purebloods and began to read the first paragraph aloud.
"Early humans were true and untainted by other species. They could adjust to anything and everything like how a chameleon changes colours.
"They weren't as strong as the werewolves, vampires or hunters and they didn't have powers like witches but they could heal from injuries as fast as the original hunters.
"There were no sicknesses, diseases or unnatural deaths. The early humans were the rulers of the earth. They were called the purebloods," Amelia read.
She went on to tell us what the purebloods were and how their blood affected other species.
"Decades later, the first hybrid was born from a pureblood and a hunter, giving rise to the first mixed blood.
"The cross-breeding was successful and that led to more mixed-bloods being born and the population of the purebloods diminished.
"Centuries later, the pureblood population was reduced to a clan then later on, to a family which kept the pureblood intact. This family was the Easton family."
"Your family," Amelia added with a frown, putting the book down.
"If purebloods were this endangered, why didn't the humans protect your family, to safeguard the last of the pure humans?" Madison asked.
"According to the other book, my ancestors signed a treaty with all species. The treaty worked for a while until the witches decided they wanted more.
They wanted power over all species and therefore started hunting us. There was only so much they could do, I guess," I responded, feeling bothered.
If anything happened to me, the purebloods would be extinct. My real mother gave her life to ensure my safety and I did not want her hard work to go in vain.
Madison walked to another shelf and grabbed a book. After reading the title, she put it down and grabbed another before walking back to us.
"What is that?" Amelia asked her.
"The witches spellbook. It says here that it was written by an original witch called Greta Harold," Madison told us and Amelia gasped before shuffling closer to Madison and peeking into the book.
"It is handwritten, my friends, it seems like we have the original copy in our hands," Amelia squealed excitedly.
I shook my head, amused at her then moved over to join them in reading the book. In the end, I wish I hadn't.
The book contained powerful spells which could bring every creature in the world to their knees. Luciana had the book of creation but if she had this as well, she would become the most powerful person in the world.
(•)
Thank you for reading.