THE SCHOOL FOR GOOD AND EVIL AU

Chapter 5

Sophie had arrived at a castle ball thrown in her honor, only to find the hall filled with a hundred suitors and no other girls in sight. Here for the first time were boys who deserved her, she thought as she walked the line. Hair shiny and thick, muscles taut through shirts, skin smooth and tan, beautiful and attentive, like princes should be. But just as she came to one who seemed better than the rest, with brilliant blue eyes and ghostly white hair, the one who felt like Happily Ever After...a hammer broke through the walls of the room, and smashed the princes to shards.

Sophie opened her eyes to the morning.

Her alarm clock was blaring loudly.

She sighed and turned it off.

Was it all a dream? she thought.

Maybe it was. After all, books can't glow, can they?

Suddenly, her phone pinged. It was a text alert. Sophie picked it up

Agatha: Sophie, you need to get over here! NOW!

The message had been sent ten minutes ago. She scrolled through them.

Agatha: I'm serious! You REALLY need to get over here.

Agatha: SOPHIE!

Sophie jumped out of bed and threw on a few clothes. It was around six. She could get ready later.

She grabbed her keys, and walked out the front door, locking it behind her, as she made her way to her car.

Sophie tried to make as little noise as possible, as she drove over to Agatha's house.

She parked her car and made her way towards the door.

Suddenly, Reaper appeared behind her.

She knocked on the door.

''Agatha!'', she whispered furiously.

But her friend was nowhere to be seen.

Sophie shrank from the slinking cat.

''Agatha!'' she hissed. ''Open the door!''

''Agatha, let me in-''

The cat bared its claws.

''Agatha, open the door!'' she cried, not caring if anyone heard her.

It pounced at her face. Sophie screamed. A gloved hand stabbed between them and swatted the cat down.

Sophie turned towards her savior.

Agatha glared back at her, before opening the door to let her in.

Sophie hurled herself inside, breathing heavily as she stood with her back against a wall.

''Devil cat..'', she muttered.

Agatha cleared her throat.

''Ahem''

''What?!'' Sophie snapped, irritated, as she turned to face Agatha.

Strange, she thought, looking at Agatha's hands. Agatha was never one to wear gloves.

Agatha gestured to her room, making her way towards it. Sophie hurried after her.

The first thing that Sophie saw was the book. It was lying on Agatha's bed, wide open, and it was glowing faintly. There were pages and pages of words now, which were flipping open.

Agatha looked at Sophie.

''It started writing a few minutes ago. But when I approached it, well...,''

Agatha removed one of her gloves.

Sophie gasped, covering her mouth with her hand.

It was heavily bandaged, and she could see the blood seeping through it. Most of it had dried up, but there was still a lot of fresh blood covering it.

''It was like the pages turned into knives'', Agatha said softly.

Sophie looked at her best friend, terrified.

''Should I call a doctor?'', she asked, worried.

Agatha shook her head.

''I'm fine''

''But you're not!'' Sophie protested.''Really, Aggie, you should really call a doctor''

Agatha waved her off.

''My mom's a doctor, Sophie. I can deal with it''

Sophie frowned. ''Aggie, I'm serious''

Agatha looked her straight in the eye.'' So am I''

Sophie remained silent for a few more moments, before speaking up again.

''That book's dangerous. You should destroy it'', she said, a serious look on her face.

Agatha turned her head to look at Sophie, gaping.

''Alright'', she agreed, after thinking for a few moments.

Sophie nodded. Then, a frown appeared on her face.

''But how?''

''We could burn it, I guess'', suggested Agatha, shrugging.

Sophie nodded again.''That could work''

''Give me your matches'', she said suddenly.

Agatha looked at her, flabbergasted.

''We're gonna do it now?''

''Yes!'', snapped Sophie.

Agatha fumbled around in her pockets. After a few moments, she pulled out a lone match. It was stained with some unidentifiable substance and was also covered with dust and feathers.

She clearly doesn't clean out her pockets, thought Sophie, recoiling in disgust.

Nevertheless, she shook herself out of her thoughts and reluctantly took the match, keeping it as far away from her as possible.

''Wait'', said Agatha.

Sophie looked at her questioningly.

Agatha disappeared into her closet. She emerged a few moments later, holding a rusted pail.

Sophie cocked her eyebrow at her best friend.

''We don't want to burn my house down, do we?'' protested Agatha

Sophie nodded and put the book inside the pail.

She struck the match against the pail and watched as it burned, a wisp of smoke rising up into the air.

''Here goes nothing''

She tossed the match into the pail and stepped back as the flames engulfed the book.

The fire sent up occasional sparks and embers, which Agatha promptly stomped on with her clumps.

A few minutes later, the book was still there.

It had caught fire, but it showed no sign of getting burnt down.

The two girls stared at it in shock and surprise as the flames died out, leaving the book still very much intact.