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17. The Library

Hehehehehehehehehehehe

TW: swearing,

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"Logan what are we even looking for?" Patton asked quietly. "We're going to be caught!"

"I don't care if we're caught," Logan whispered. "Roman got out. He got off of this awful place. If he got off, we can get off, with or without help. There has to be something we aren't seeing."

"But the library is basically empty," Patton whispered franctically. "We're going to get caught! It's off limits after school hours! You know what they do to people who break the rules."

"I know, Patton." Logan sighed. "And that's exactly why we need to get out of here. Word of Roman's escape is going around everywhere. If they think that we were in on it, we can't stay here. There's nothing we can do now besides leave."

"How are we supposed to find anything in this library? There's nothing here."

"There has to be something," Logan said. "And even if we don't find the way out, we might find something." The library was dark and empty. The lights were usually dim, but this was something else. In the dark, the emptiness of the shelves really stood out. The shadows were everywhere. "Check in the back of the shelves, behind all of the books. If we're lucky there will be something hidden in the back."

~

Janus looked around, making sure he was alone before entering the large library. The room was completely empty. The large shelves were packed full of books, though Janus knew he wouldn't find what he needed in this section. He would need to break into the restricted section. The restricted section of the library was protected by magic, but Janus knew how to get around it. After all, what would the use of magic be if you couldn't get around other magic?

He let his magic flow around him, shifting his form into a large boa constrictor. He didn't have magic like Virgil's, but it was still magic. It must have come from his mother's side, whoever that was. His father didn't have magic like this. No one even knew that Janus could do this. He had kept it secret, knowing that it would be better this way. He wasn't the only one who could shift into animal forms, but in case he needed it for circumstances like this, it's better that no one knew.

Janus slithered past the magic barrier, passing safely to the other side. Even if it still detected him, no one knew that he had this form. He could avoid suspicion for this as long as no one ever found out. He shifted back into his human form, walking further into the area.

The restricted area of the library didn't have many books. Any books that were there were old and barely used. Powerful spell books were there, which is where most people would've gone to look for answers about magic. Janus, however, knew better. The spell books only included the spells, not the consequences of said spells. Anything like that would be in the history books.

It didn't make sense to anyone else, but it made perfect sense to Janus. If you wanted to find out something about why a spell didn't work, you would have to understand how the magic was supposed to work in the first place. There were only two history books in the entire library that contained what he would need, and they were both quite large. It would be a lot of reading.

~

"Hey Logan, I think I found something," Patton whisper yelled. Logan turned from where he had been searching the shelves on the other side of the library.

"What is it?" Patton gestured for him to come look, and he crossed the library over to him.

"Look at this," Patton said. He moved his hand behind a bunch of books in the corner, except when Logan expected his hand to hit the wall, there was no sound. "There's something back here. A room or something."

"Here, let me look at the book shelf," Logan murmured. He kneeled down on the floor, examining the shelf. It was slightly loose if you looked closely, and also raised slightly off of the floor. At a glance, it would just appear to be old. "This shelf moves. There's definitely something behind here."

"So do we check it out?" Logan looked up at Patton. He was smiling, but it was strained and full of worry.

"There's no going back if we find something in there, Patton," Logan said quietly. "The question isn't if we should check it out. We should. The question is if we're willing to risk everything just for a chance at getting off of this island."

"I don't think I can rest without knowing," Patton whispered. "I'm willing to try."

"Then so am I."

807 words.