Chapter 82: The Library.

HELENA. 'That's because it is. Now we need to find a way to get in without upsetting any more traps." She jumped off the stairs that led to the front door, running her eyes over the side of the library. 'I know another way in." I blurted, scratching my arms. It was getting pretty cold. 'I knew you were meant for this." Luna nodded slowly. 'Lead the way." She gestured forward. I took out the jacket in my bag and put it on, walking towards the trap door in the backyard. I pushed aside the cluster of bushes and pulled on the handle. It was stuck. I paused, a little confused. 'That's weird. It's usually very easy to open." I struggled again, failing. I groaned in frustration after landing on my butt for the sixth time. I looked up at Luna. 'Is there a trap here too?" She looked at the door with scrutiny. 'No, it just looks stuck." 'Let me try." Aaron suggested. He pulled me up, and placed his hand on the handle. He braced his arm and pulled. The door budged slightly, but didn't open. He pulled again. More budging. I crouched down to help him pull the last time when I noticed something. His eyes were glowing, but they weren't green. They were red. 'Aaron…" I called softly, but the trap door swung open at that moment, sending me tumbling backwards. He held my arm to steady me from hitting the bare ground, and Luna helped me get up. 'Thanks." I said, a little confused. I had never seen Aaron's eye glow red, despite the number of times I had witnessed him fight as a werewolf. Was it something I just didn't notice? 'This is perfect. Come on." Luna said, jumping into the hole and walking down the flight of stairs. I glanced at Aaron, who just beckoned on me to go in. It seemed like he didn't realize what happened. Regardless, we all jumped into the hole, shutting the trap door behind us. I led both of them up towards the other opening inside the library, pushing the door with a bit of effort. Thick air and dust greeted us, with a few cobwebs and the smell of old, damp paper. The unsettling feeling returned, making my stomach churn. I grabbed my flashlight and pointed it towards the sign that showed where we were. ‘Historical References.' Yep, we were in the right place. My mind drifted to the nook. Maybe I should pay it one last visit before we leave. I had a lot of things I wanted to see one more time. The sound of books crashing to the floor made me jump with a start, and I yelled, hiding behind Luna. 'Aaron, be careful. For fuck's sake." I peeked my head from behind her frame. Funny enough, Aaron had upset an entire shelf of books. He lay buried underneath all of them, and looked at us with an annoyed expression. I laughed lightly, straightening up. 'So, where do we start?" AARON. When I agreed to come here, I certainly wasn't expecting to see this. There were literally books everywhere. Never been so close to this many books at once. 'Let's start from where we are." Luna replied to Helena's question. She seemed rattled, probably still shocked from the noise I caused earlier. I just wanted to lean on the shelf, and boom.. everything on me. I dusted myself off and walked over to meet the both of them. Luna had splayed out a huge map, and it looked like a map of the building. 'We're here." Helena pointed to a spot on the map. 'Okay, so we have here, here, and here to cover." Luna added, pointing at three other spots. There were three floors in the library, and we were on the first floor. 'Is there a specific way we're meant to search?" I asked, folding my arms. 'Not really, just check in between as many books as you can. The scroll is written in Latin, so it's most likely to be in the Language section. Then again, it is pretty old, so the History section wouldn't be a bad place to start. It's not predictable, just search as much as you can." I sighed, rubbing my temples. My eyes had adjusted to the darkness, and I could see properly. There were rodents everywhere, a few bats, broken windows and walls, and a hole in the floor a few feet away. This would be a long, long night. 'Aaron, you and Helena search here. I'm heading up." She said firmly, getting her things and sprinting away. Helena coughed nervously, facing the door. 'Don't you wanna start?" I asked, leaning towards her. 'Um, yeah. It's just.. I have a lot of memories here and...returning with just this motive seems wrong." She had a slightly melancholic look on her face, and I had to fight the urge to hug her. 'Hey, how about this. When we're done finding it, you can stay back and check out the places you miss. I'll stay here with you." My gaze was soft, reassuring. She looked up, gratitude shining in those brown orbs. 'Thank you." She said quietly. She turned around swiftly, raising her flashlight high in the air. 'Alright. Let's get down to business." Her tone changed so quickly I almost choked on my laughter. 'I thought you didn't want to do any getting down?" I asked, trying to steady my breathing. 'Shut up and let's look. I don't wanna be here all night." She whined. 'Okay okay." I raised my hands in surrender. This woman would always be cute. We combed almost half of the section, upturning books, checking underneath tables, and even some hidden corners that looked, well, hidden. I had seen a few mirages already, and they rang warnings in my head. Mirages were a rare phenomenon, creating them required a lot of experience, and effort. This scroll must really be worth it. 'I'm tired. Are you tired?" Helena said from the other end of the aisle, panting slightly. 'I'm not tired." I shrugged. I would actually be able to do this three times over, but I needed to be sure she was fine first. 'Why don't you take a rest? I'll comb the rest of the books." 'Don't worry about it. I'll keep searching. I bet we'll be able to find it before Luna does." She said, rubbing her palms against each other. I laughed. 'Why do you want to find it before she does?" 'Because, I can do my victory dance. And the sooner, the better. The air in here is a little too thick for me. Not to mention I don't have natural night vision. These goggles are heavy." She kept going, diverting from why it wasn't fair that we were put up against her, and why werewolves should donate half their powers to humanity. I stood silently, watching her in amusement. 'You know, I could just turn you into one."