Hoodwinked

5: A Golden Haired Tutor

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The first thing you see in the morning? Amity's face, twisted with worried concern.
You hold back a scream as you shoved your sister off of you.
"You don't have to do this for me, (reader)!" she says desperately, "I can handle the stress, I promise–"
"Wha–? Not even a good morning?" you shook your head, feigning disappointment. "Amity, Amity. I expected better of you."
Her ears flush light pink with embarrassment. Your attempt to lighten the mood does nearly nothing, though, as she goes right back to the point.
"Whatever! Just...call off the deal, okay?"
"Sorry, no can do, sister. And can we save the talk? I need to visit the library today."
Her eyebrow quirked. "Library? But it's saturday."
You chuckled, the sound coming more of a nervous laugh. "I need to study for a major test, that's all."
Lies. You were really going to begin studying on Abominations, but Amity didn't need to know that. You bet you told her, she'd get even more stressed.
"Huh. Okay." The suspicion doesn't leave her voice, however. "Um, happy studying, I guess."
She hops off your bed and leaves your room. You breathe a sigh of relief as she shuts the door behind her.
Getting ready wasn't too hard, because you really weren't going to dazzle today. Just a simple blue sweater and some jeans. You also decided to put on a silver necklace because just because you were going simple didn't mean you weren't allowed to look good! You wondered if your mother was awake. Perhaps it would be better to pick up some breakfast at a cafe instead.
•─────⋅
The Golden Guard had to study. He had been a little behind on his assignments. Nothing to worry about, though! He just needed to, uh, research wild magic. For the coven.

Okay, fine. This wasn't really part of his coven duties. But still, if he could just find out what exactly Belos's curse was....
One problem: the coven library was shut down due to a rain leak. The acidity of the boiling rain had melted the pages of each book.
The closest un-boiled library was the Bonesburough one. It wasn't ideal, but it would work. For now.
Anyways, he would be going as Hunter. In any criminal's eyes, he was only a scrawny blonde sixteen year old, visiting the library to study for school. It would be a foolproof disguise.
•─────⋅
The Bonesburough library—where you spent most of your freetime. It seemed like you were gonna spend all of it now, as the deal would probably require you to study. All the time. It wasn't too bad, though! Books are fun.
You had always liked the library, with its big clock tower and towering shelves and grumpy, definitely sleep deprived librarians. It was a great escape.
Anyways, you grabbed three volumes (that you found in the fourth grade section): Abominations 101, Abominations 4 Beginners, and Darius Deammone: A Biography.
Okay, so the last book wasn't necessary. What of it? Head Witch Darius's life was pretty interesting, and re-reading it for the thirtieth time wouldn't hurt, right?
You cracked open the first book, and conjured a pen and notebook. You cracked it open.
Hm, you definitely needed a tutor. Who, though?
You glanced around, hoping to spot a perfect target. I mean, tutor. The building was a little empty, and you didn't blame the people for not giving it a visit at seven-thirty AM on a Saturday.
Still, it didn't help your case. You wished you had asked Amity or Jerbo to come with you. They would have taught you.
Then, you remembered. You're an oraclancy user! You could just summon a neutral ghost to help you, one who was an abomination user in their past life.
Albert was summoned with a flick of a finger. "Hey!" he yelled.
"Shh, we're in a library! I need you to help me with something, got it?" you said, your voice hushed. He raised an eyebrow and floated to the table, hovering a few inches off the wood.
"What?" he said. "I was winning a game of Hexes Hold'em in that amulet of yours, you know."
You rolled your eyes. Albert was being far from cooperative right now, but what could you do? How was your only available tutor.
"Fine, I'll let you haunt someone later. But for now, I need help with abominations."
"Why?"
"Long story, I replaced Amity, okay? You know how she was the one Mother pushed all her ideals and stuff on? Well, that's me now."
He shrugged. "Cool. What do you need help with?"