The next morning at Ravenhall was colder than usual. Not just the weather- the hallways felt different. Heavier. Like the walls were holding their breath.
Elara slowly walked to class, her eyes dull from a night without sleep. The ink-stained pillow was still in her laundry basket. She hadn't touched it. It was like proof she wasn't dreaming.
Maris's necklace sat in her pocket. It was warm somehow, like it remembered its owner.
In Magical History class, Professor Halwin gave a test. Elara stared at the paper. None of the questions mattered. All she could think about was the window message, "You see it".
Why her? Why now?
She looked around. Everyone else seemed normal. Laughing quietly. Tapping their pens. Even Cassian, sitting behind her, looked calm- too calm.
After class, she followed him.
He didn't ask why. He just walked. Down the dark hall. Past locked classrooms. Past moving portraits that blinked slowly as they passed.
They stopped in front of the library- tall, shadowy, and smelling of old books and forgotten secrets.
"This isn't a place for small talk," he said.
Elara raised an eyebrow. "And where is that place?"
Cassian gave a small smile. "You'll see."
They entered the library. It was silent. Dust danced in the sunlight like tiny ghosts. Shelves stretched high above them, packed with books that hadn't been touched in years.
At the back of the room was a crooked staircase leading down.
She didn't even know the library had a basement.
The steps creaked under their feet as they descended. The air grew colder, wetter. The walls were made of stone- rough, damp, and covered in faded chalk markings.
When they reached the bottom, Cassian lit a candle with a flick of his hand. The soft orange glow revealed a small underground room. Books were scattered on a long wooden table. Some were open, their pages yellowed and crumbling. One of them had a red wax seal. Unbroken.
Cassian pointed to it.
"That's not the Grimoire," he said. "But it's about it."
Elara stepped closer. The book gave off a faint warmth, like a living heartbeat.
"Why show me this?"
Cassian looked serious now. "Because you're already in it. Whether you like it or not."
"In what?"
He looked her in the eyes. "The story. The curse. The blood trail. Whatever this thing is… It has marked you."
Elara looked down at her hand. Her palm still tingled.
"Maris read that book," Cassian said. "She came down here alone. Two nights before she vanished."
Elara's breath caught.
"She found something, didn't she?"
Cassian nodded. "She opened something she shouldn't have."
A loud sound echoed upstairs, like a book crashing to the floor.
They both froze.
Then they heard slow footsteps above them.
Cassian blew out the candle. Darkness swallowed the room.
He leaned close to her ear and whispered, "Don't move."
The footsteps creaked above them.
And then… they stopped.