undeveloped film

spellbook pt. 2 // urban fantasy

A/N: a short follow-up to the first installment of spellbook. also i need a title for this but idek because i kinda wanna keep up the 'spell' theme. do good, be well <3

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It had been two weeks since Nick was almost trapped in that bitterly cold and wet book while Jes struggled to complete the passage-home rites (distracted by the gold baubles hanging on the Christmas tree that stayed up year-round in the library as it turned it, Nick should have known better than to keep shiny things out with a dragon nearby). It had been three weeks since Kaylen had broke into the estate, demanding answers. Three weeks since Nick's already unbelievably chaotic life turned even more wild.

It took a great deal of pleading to convince Kaylen that he really wasn't releasing monsters on the city, but since then, she had been coming over often to help him try and navigate the whole magic shebang.

"What are you-what?" he stuttered out the first time she had come waltzing in.

"You still need to fix your wards, witch," she said calmly, ignoring him as she strode in like she owned the place.

Still in shocked, he just managed to reflexively correct, "Not a witch," before his mouth sealed itself shut, his mind racing to catch up with what was happening. Since Kaylen had let him live, he wasn't assuming that she would pay a visit anytime soon. But there he was.

She had already made it to the staircase, effortlessly climbing them with an uncanny speed. Stupid monster hunters. "You coming, or what?" she called over her shoulder, not faltering in the slightest.

"Where, exactly?" Nick shot back, though he quickly scrambled after her. Here he was in his own goddamn house, racing after a guest. Well, not much of a guest, if he was being honest – a familiar intruder, more like.

"The library, dumbass. We need to know what we're working with in order to fix this mess."

"We?"

She looked back at him, unimpressed. "Yes, we. You're clearly incapable of doing this yourself. I need to go with you inside those books to know what's happening-"

"Whoa there," he chided, finally coming to his wits. He jogged a bit, pulling in front of Kaylen, making her stop mid furious stride. "I don't know how those books work; getting in and out and staying alive is difficult on my own. Adding another person is ridiculous; we don't know if that would work."

"Aurora really told you nothing about how the books work?" Her brows were creased in such a way that made Nick wonder if she had any idea that people tended to keep secrets and hide truths.

Nick let out a small huff, trying to keep his breathing steady. He loved his grandma, he really did. Even when she was a pain in his ass. But the reminder of how kept in the dark he was when it came to his magic still stung. His whole life, he was surrounded by magic, he was so familiar with how it warmed the air, hummed and cracked and buzzed. Magic raised him. But he wasn't magic's son. For all his wishing and hoping and pretending, nothing could change the fact that he couldn't bring any of that magic to life, effectively shielding him from the one constant in his life.

He made his peace with that, but somedays still felt like his fifth birthday, when it was glaringly apparent he wasn't going to get any fantastical abilities. The first Blacksmere in three generations to not have a lick of magic in him.

"Look, I'm in the dark. But you remember what I told you, right?" While he had no knowledge on the workings or purpose of the books or even how to really sue them, Rory Blacksmere left him the note in her will, along with the keys to her estate and everything she owned.

The books hold the key. And DON'T for the love of god, Nicholas, wimp out. Open the books and face your fears. It only ends with the key, boy. Find it.

He never knew why. He quite honestly sure Rory Blacksmere ever had a why. But he had an inkling, a gut intuition that lead him to believe that the key was somehow related to the monster epidemic, overriding the city.

Kaylen tilted her head to the side, studying him with her pitch-dark eyes. "That's why we need to figure those books out. If the key really is the thing that can stop the never-ending stream of monsters crossing into this dimension, then we have to find it. You need all the help you can get. Where's the dragon?" she asked, picking up her pace again.

"His name is Jesse."

"Jesse, then. Where I he? He does the magic bit for you, right? Dragon and all," she mused. "He's probably the most qualified out of the three of us with the magic bit. I can handle the monsters."

"And me?" Nick had to ask, curious.

She smirked, the first time Nick really saw her display any bit of positive emotion. "You're the legacy. Like your grandmother said, you gotta face your fears."

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