A Drop Of Haunted Blood [REMOVING FOR PUBLICATION DEC 1] [WATTYS WINNTER 2023]

Chapter Twenty-Five: Third Time's the Charm

On a particularly hot evening the week before Ernest's party, Felix, Mason, and Arisa walked into the library.

"Thank god Hana keeps this place cool," Arisa said. "I swear, it's like half the Guardians forget that fans exist."

Mason's gaze darted around the first floor. "Where is she, anyway?"

"Relax." Arisa stopped next to the front desk. "She's bound to be around here somewhere—"

Hana stepped out of a shadow and placed a hand on Arisa's shoulder. Arisa whirled around. "Hey, Hana," she signed.

"How are you three?" Hana asked.

Arisa was barely able to sign, "Good, you?" before Mason nudged her in the side. Arisa rolled her eyes. "Be patient," she said out loud, turning her head toward Mason so that Hana couldn't see her lips. "I'm trying to act casual."

Felix leaned toward Mason. "Arisa has a point. You won't get far if you make Hana suspicious."

"Fine," Mason muttered.

Arisa continued her conversation with Hana in ASL for a minute before asking the question Mason had been impatiently waiting for. "Can you take us into town? We wanted to pick up some stuff for the party."

Hana, fortunately, didn't ask for details. Unfortunately, she didn't say yes, either. "Sorry, I'm busy this week," she signed. "You should ask Kendra to take you on the way back from your next field trip."

"Next field trip?" Arisa repeated, clearly confused.

Hana frowned. "Kendra hasn't told you yet?"

Arisa shook her head.

"I don't know all of the details, you'll have to ask her," Hana told Arisa. "She's actually on her way here now."

"I didn't catch that last part," Mason said aloud. Arisa explained.

"Great." Mason grabbed Felix and Arisa's arms and pulled them toward a nearby table. "We'll just wait here."

Arisa turned back to sign something to Hana while Felix stumbled into a chair next to Mason.

"Do you think Kendra to take us?" Felix asked Arisa as she sat down across from him.

"No idea," Arisa replied with a shrug. "But I guess we can try."

Kendra arrived at the library five minutes later. She spent another ten at the front desk in animated conversation with Hana. Finally, Hana pointed toward the table where the three sat, and Kendra came their way, a book tucked under her arm.

"Ooh, what book is that?" Arisa asked.

"Oh, it's part of a series I'm rereading," Kendra said, holding it up. "When I was younger, I wanted an excuse to talk to one of the librarian assistants, so I picked these books at random and started checking them out." She examined the back cover. "Hana caught on pretty quickly, though, since I was checking them out in the wrong order."

Mason cleared his throat. "Hana said something about you taking us on a field trip?"

"Oh, sure, it's just a two-day trip. We leave Thursday." Kendra lowered the book. "We have to check out a house where a powerful spirit was exorcised and make sure the place is still clean. Sometimes they stick around after you kick them out of a person's body. It shouldn't be dangerous, though."

"That's what you guys said about our last two field trips," Felix said. "And I've almost died twice now."

"At least we'll get to stay in a hotel again," Arisa said. "That was fun."