Walking along the sea shore to my aunt's cottage, a whirlwind of emotions and thoughts hit me - thoughts that had been in my mind for many nights but that I had numbed to ease my guilt and desperation.
At the very end of the day, Lucian wasn't here to play a friend or even a potential love interest. He was anything but healthy, something poisonous that was taking bits of my life everyday but that I'd willed myself to overlook; the poisonous thorn in my side.
Looking past my shoulder, I spotted the demon, his eyes glaring at the barrier that shielded me from him and his arms crossed. Even in an angry state, he looked handsome. Even when he didn't fit the romantic picturesque spot of a beach, the figure dressed in black was more mesmerising than the sunsets people came here to watch.
It was a hypnotising beauty, one that would be my downfall and as I stared forward at the cottage that seemed to welcome me with open arms - I sighed.
Aunt Maria hadn't been in our life much, especially not after mother's death. I'd seen her at the funeral but we hadn't spoke much then - me too buried in my own sorrows. I had spotted her by the open coffin, murmuring soft words but she had left when I come close, intent somehow on staying out of my way.
After mother's death, she had perhaps shown up once. It had been a peculiarly short visit where she stood in the doorway of my room and we stared at each other for perhaps the longest of times before she gave a short affirmative nod - as if she were reassuring herself of something - before leaving directly after.
As a child I'd asked father once if she blamed me for her sister's death but he had been adamant on how that was certainly not the case. Maria was handling her grief differently but she would not blame a child for something so horrible.
To think that my stoic Aunt Maria lived in such a romantic setting seemed weird to me. The white cottage was painted with soft blues and wind chimes made of bottled seashells welcomed me when I walked up the creaky front stairs. A rocking chair had been set out front with cracked sea blue paint and a shiver ran down my back as I noticed the cobwebs that laced the armrests.
The curtains were closed and I rang the doorbell hesitantly, listening to the sound echo through the cottage before it was swallowed up by the wood. I waited patiently, rang the bell again when no one came to the door, then knocked.
'Aunt Maria?' I shouted, knocking on her door with my knuckles before moving to one of her windows and rubbing away the dirt. Through the sheer curtains there was an empty doorway with an umbrella that had fallen to its side, but otherwise; no one was home.
I bit my bottom lip, looking back at the barrier where Lucian was standing. He had his hand in his pockets now and was staring out at sea but there was no time to admire his form. My fingers closed around the doorknob of the front door hesitantly before I gripped it and twisted.
With a small click, it swung open.
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The cottage was empty.
I'd picked up the umbrella from the hallway and used it as a weapon as I moved through the house, trying not to pussy out and run back to Lucian empty handed. No doubt he'd be mad at me and I wasn't exactly in the mood for his man period.
The cottage was a two storey, with a small attic that looked laden with boxes and even a few surfboards. It looked weird because Maria didn't seem like she surfed, let alone did any sport other than take walks.
The beds in the two bedrooms were made but the toothbrushes and any other form of family necessity wasn't there. Perhaps she had gone on a trip.
Her kitchen cabinets were empty except for a few canned goods and her fridge had been plugged out of the power socket. Wherever my aunt had gone, she seemed intent on an extended leave.
Shamelessly, I rummaged through her vanity drawers. Her room was near empty except for trinkets, bobby pins and a stash of tissue boxes that looked dusty.
It was on her nightstand that I found a travelling book. The plastic was still shiny and as I picked it up to look closer, I noticed the dog eared pages.
Maria had dog eared different pages, all tourist information about different states: Washington, Massachusetts, New York, Connecticut, Michigan...
In every page she had circled but one word: library.
In red the Library of Congress, the Boston Public Library, and every other library in those following states had been highlighted or circled, sometimes even crossed out.
Was she such a reader then? There must be some connection. Had she perhaps travelled to those places?
I tucked the book under my arm and closed the bedroom door, perhaps Lucian would know more about this than I did.
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'Took you long enough,' Lucian growled the moment I stepped through the barrier and became visible again to the grump, 'Well? What did she say?'
'The cottage was empty,' I replied, holding out the book I'd found, 'This was the only thing I found'.
Lucian's icy blue eyes moved down to the tourist book before looking back at me, 'Are you kidding me?'
I shrugged, 'She dog eared and highlighted some peculiar places, maybe it'll tell us where to go'.
He stared at me shortly before grabbing it. I watched him flip through it, the frown on his forehead deepening, 'She circled all the libraries'.
'I didn't know her enough to know if she's just a massive bookworm or just... really weird,' I commented, 'she wasn't around enough'.
'These are all the biggest libraries in the United States,' Lucian continued coldly, fingering the pages - I could practically see he clogs in his brain turn.
'A really big bookworm?' I put in, earning a glare from Lucian before he jerked his head in the direction of the car.
'Come on'
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'Can't you just turn that rubbish off?' the demon growled irritably as I switched radio stations for the fifth time.
'You're going to stop me from listening to music now?' I started, sending a glare in his direction as I stopped on a Muse song. Lucian's eyes burned me in the rearview mirror but I stubbornly ignored him as I changed to another station, 'You haven't even told me where we're going'.
'Washington,' Lucian grumbled as if reluctant to give out his plans.
'Washington?' I echoed before shouting, 'What?'
He flinched away from me, 'Will you be more quiet, woman? I got eardrums just like you mortals'.
'What are we going for Washington for?' I continued, ignoring his baby tantrum, 'We have school!'
'You have school,' Lucian grinned, 'It won't be a problem'.
'I told you I don't like it when you use mind tricks on people'
'I don't remember telling you this in particular but I really couldn't care less about what you like or dislike'
I glared at him, switching back the radio to an old Taylor Swift song; Mean. It was coincidentally on the chorus and I turned up the volume to max to make a point.
It was halfway through another ''why you gotta be so mean?'' lyric that Lucian punched the radio. The music stopped immediately and I crossed my arms as I pressed my back against the backseat, 'Why are we going to Washington?'
Lucian didn't answer for a whole minute but then sighed, 'They have the biggest library in the US, if you're aunt is looking for what I think she's looking for, she'll start there'.
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Seeing Lucian work was sickening to the stomach. The worst part was that I felt sort of excited, especially after he bribed the receptionist to give last minute seats for free. There was nothing more private to get because of the short flight and I'd threatened to act a total fool in public if he bribed for First Class seats.
The plane was already full and there wouldn't be a refund possible. The least I could do was make sure I wasn't part of an even worse sin than stealing other people's seats last minute.
I bought a sweater from the souvenir shop before getting on, knowing that planes tended to have the airco up abnormally high and Lucian and I boarded within an hour.
The flight to Washington took roughly two hours and I picked the window seat before Lucian could pick it.
He pouted in the middle seat, his other side taken by a woman in her thirties with a ravenous cleavage and perfume that would cause an infant to faint at first inhalation.
She was flirting with him shamelessly, constantly dropping things to the ground and offering Lucian a good look at her ample cleavage. I watched her put her hand on his thigh multiple times and tried not to burst out laughing.
There was something about the utter look of contempt on Lucian's face that had me nearly pee myself.
About one hour in flight, I couldn't hold back my laughter and I was pretty sure that if I didn't empty my bladder soon - I'd truly pee my pants so I climbed over Lucian and the woman - who both glared at me - before hurrying to the toilets.
As always on a plane, both were occupied and I stood in between the two doors, hoping that one would open soon.
It was then that a voice from my side sounded, 'Waiting?'
'Hmm? Uh, yes,' I responded, turning to see a guy one head taller with an athletic build, chestnut brown hair and green eyes; cute.
He smiled, showing dimples before he nodded and stepped to one side to leave the aisle free, 'I'm still waiting for them to install more toilets'.
'I know right?' I laughed softly.
'So, you live in DC?' he started, shifting his hands into the pockets of his jeans.
I shook my head shortly, 'No, it's just a.... spontaneous trip'.
'Ah,' he nodded understandingly, 'spontaneous is cool,' he flashed me another dimpled smile, 'My name is Max by the why'.
'Nice to meet you, Max,' I replied as we shook hands, 'I'm Elizabeth... so, you live in DC?'
'Yeah, I'm in college,' he grinned and I felt soft blush creep up my cheeks, 'What about you?'
'Still a high schooler,' I replied, 'I'm a senior'.
He nodded, a smile appearing once more, 'Cool. Any idea on where you want to go for college?'
It was as if someone had splashed cold water over my head and for a moment I was stuck. Even when the lavatory to my right clicked to a 'vacant' and a woman exited I was frozen.
Max must've realized something wrong with me because a frown invaded his smiling face, 'Is there something wrong, Elizabeth?'
'Lizzy,' a smooth voice sounded from behind me and next thing I knew a hand was placed on my shoulder - instant heat ensued.
Max' eyes flitted over to Lucian before back at me but the frown stayed, 'You are...?'
'Lucian,' the person behind me answered simply, his breath across my cheek feeling like ice cold wind before pressure was applied to my shoulder, 'I've been looking for you everywhere'.
A faint shiver ran down my back at his close proximity and with another small smile at Max, I let Lucian direct me away.
We didn't talk as I sidled back into my chair, hardly noticing that the woman on Lucian's right was gone and as I stared out the window at the clouds I though of Max' question.
I couldn't have told him that I wouldn't make It to college, that my time was limited and that having a normal life with a cute normal guy like himself - was impossible.
As the seatbelt lights flashed on again I remembered that I hadn't gotten the chance to pee at all.
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As the taxi pulled up to the Library of Congress, I felt my seatbelt tighten around me, 'Tell me why we're here again?'
From the other side of the seat, Lucian's monotone voice answered, 'To find your aunt'.
After we had arrived at Reagan National Airport, Lucian had hailed a taxi and explained to me why exactly we had to go to a library.
'If your aunt circled libraries, it must be because she knows about my world,' he had grumbled from the side of his mouth as we elbowed our way through a line of people waiting for a taxi, 'She must be looking for the Grimoire, too bad she isn't looking in school libraries'.
'You mean aunt Maria knows about the Grand Grimoire?' I gasped, apologising for Lucian's behaviour to the grumpy people in line.
'Most likely, why else would she circle all known libraries in the US?' he answered, 'She's right too, the Grimoire rarely shows up but when it does, it's usually in a place where a lot of other books are. So it can bide it's time, the more the book waits for a victim, the more powerful it gets'.
'So why did it come to a small high school library?' I questioned, climbing after him into a taxi.
'That I don't know either,' he admitted before turning to me with a small frown, 'I don't know why it chose you'.
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'There are about thirty five million books here,' Lucian started, looking around as soon as we entered, 'Your aunt really loves playing hide and seek'.
I nearly rolled my eyes but grabbed a map, 'Where do we start?'
'The Thomas Jefferson building,' Lucian decided for us, 'We'll split then and move on to the next building if we can't find her'.
'You don't even know what she looks like,' I started, lifting a brow as he turned to me with a tell-tale smirk.
'Elizabeth, I have a feeling that the women in your family look roughly the same. Trust me, I'll know it when I see her'
'Stalker vibes,' I commented, receiving an eye narrowing by the demon.
☠☜◊✙◊☞☠
There was a lot of ground to cover and something in my heart told me that finding aunt Maria first should be my goal. Something about Lucian cornering my aunt had me squeamish and if she really did know something about his world - things could turn bad.
As we left the Thomas Jefferson building for the John Adams building, we split off immediately and I found her as soon as I rounded a corner.
It was true what Lucian had said about women in our family looking alike. Aunt Maria, like mother, had black hair and icy blue eyes. But while mother had worn her hair loose and long, Maria had hers cut short and in soft waves till just under her shoulders.
As if by instinct she turned around the moment I stepped through and our eyes met, 'Elizabeth?' she gasped.
Before I could answer, fingers tightened on my shoulder and an all too familiar voice behind me answered for me, 'You must be Maria, my name is Lucian - Lucian Black'.
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