Blood Moon Lake

Chapter 27

We left the lounge and followed Carmen to another room where Amelia, Chase, and Margret were. "Ah, glad you're here," Margret greeted us, "Sit down." We all sat down and waited for her to continue. "So, I've figured out how this is going to work," she told us, "I've created a time loop-" "Yeah, we figured that out," Chase said interrupting her, "We need to leave at night if we want to get out of the loop." Margret glared at him, "I would appreciate it if you didn't interrupt me, but since you know about the time loop, I won't waste my time explaining it to you." She cleared her throat and continued, "As you know you need to leave the time loop at night, so you'll be leaving tonight. And since it is my job to make sure you're safe, I will be providing you with supplies." "Yay!" Anna cheered. "Wait, if we're carrying supplies won't that slow us down?" Ella asked. "I thought about that," Margret said, "So, I came up with a solution." She picked a backpack up off a chair and held it up, "This has all the supplies you need in it. Food, water, clothes, deodorant, and other things." I frowned; the backpack looked familiar, but I couldn't place why. Then it clicked. "Is that my backpack?" I asked. "Yep," Margret nodded, "You left it on Mille and Oliver's front porch, and since it's your backpack you'll be the one carrying it." "Okay," I nodded, going to grab it. "I'll give it to you before you leave," she said pulling it away from me, "I don't want you to lose or forget it." "What happens when we discover who Greer is?" Anna asked. "When you find that out just drop a note in the bag telling me who it is and where you are, and I will apprehend them," Margret said. "How will dropping a note in the bag help?" Amelia asked.

"The bag will transport the note to me, I laced it with magic, so it knows what you need and when to send me things," Margret explained. "Nifty," Jack said, "I'm assuming it can't produce a car, can it?" "It can't," she replied, "It can only create small objects." "Could it make small weapons?" Leo asked. "Yes," Margret nodded, "But only if you need them." "Does the stuff disappear once we don't need it anymore?" Chase asked. "No," she told him, "It only disappears if you put it back in the bag." "Got it," he said. "Now I recommend you get some rest, so you're not tired when you leave," Margret recommended, "Those demons are still out there, and you need to be ready for them to pounce on you right away." I grimaced at the thought of those things. We barely got away from them last time, and if it wasn't for Margret, Leo would have bled out. We need to avoid them as much as possible, I don't want to test our luck. But if Greer can talk to the demons through the dreamscape, then they'll probably be able to find us easily. Maybe Greer wouldn't be smart enough to think of that and the demons would have to search for us themselves. I mean, they can see sound! They don't need any extra help! Shaking myself out of my thoughts, I followed my friends back to the lounge, to try and get some rest before we left. I lay down where I slept the night before and let out a sigh. This was going to mess up my sleep schedule so much. Oh well, some sleep is better than no sleep. I closed my eyes and waited for myself to drift off. Sleep never came, my body shut off, but my brain was still aware of what was going on around me. I could hear people talking and walking around but my body wasn't awake. It was like I was asleep and awake at the same time. Eventually, the rest of my body woke up. Sitting up, I glanced around and saw Leo was up too. "Is everyone else still asleep?" I whispered. "I think so," he replied, "But I'm not sure about the adults." "Wanna go check?" I asked.

"Sure," he replied standing up. We quietly crept across the hall to the room Amelia, Carmen, and Chase were staying in. We poked our heads inside and found it deserted. "Well, they're up," Leo said not bothering to whisper, "But where did they go?" I shrugged, "Who knows? They might be wandering around the library." "True," he nodded, "Want to find out?" "Why not," I sighed, "We got nothing else to do." We exited the hall and began to walk down the shifting row of shelves. "How are we going to find them?" I asked, "We had a hard time trying to find the kitchen and it couldn't move." Leo shrugged, "Maybe, say their names and click our heels together three times and we'll appear in front of them." "Seriously?" I rolled my eyes, "Now is not the time for your sarcasm." "It's always time for sarcasm," he replied. "I'm trying to be serious," I told him, "How do you expect us to find them if we don't know how to?" "I don't know," he said, "Maybe we could ask the library to take us to them." "You mean Viva?" I asked. "Yeah," he nodded, "Maybe if we ask nicely, she'll help us." "It's worth a shot," I said, "Hey, Viva could you please take us to the adults? We want to see what they're up to." The shelves immediately stopped moving. A few seconds later they began to shift again and formed a path. "Wow, it worked," I whispered in shock. I wasn't expecting it to listen. "Thank you," I said. Then we took off down the path. The path closed behind us as we walked through the shelves returning to their normal shifting and unmappable path. We continued through getting farther and farther back as we walk. Twisting and turning in whichever way the path led, it took me a while before I noticed something was off. The farther back we went the older the books became. The titles went from, English to old English then shifted into Latin, and finally Greek and other dead languages. I frowned and grabbed one of the books off the shelf turning it over in my hands. There were thick layers of dust collected on top of it, the leather cover was chipped, and the pages were yellowed with age.

I was worried if I breathed on it that it would crumble to dust in my hands. "Leo," I said, "Come look at this." Leo came over to where I was standing and looked at the book in my hands. "Yes?" he asked. "Look at the book," I told him showing him the cover. "I can see the book," he huffed, "Why are you showing it to me? The cover isn't even in English." "That's what I'm showing you!" I sighed, "The library goes from newest to oldest. This book is in Greek! We're almost at the back of the library. I don't think the adults are supposed to be back here." "If you don't think they're supposed to be back here, what do you think they're doing?" he asked worriedly. "I don't know," I told him, "But whatever it is it can't be good." "Should we get Margret?" he asked. I shook my head, "No, by the time we find her it might be too late. My gut is telling me she isn't close enough for us to reach her in time." "So, we find them ourselves?" he asked. I nodded, "Yes, and we better do it quickly." We took off running down the path again, as I ran, I couldn't help the sinking feeling in my gut telling me something was very wrong. "What do you think is in the very back?" Leo asked as we ran. "I don't know," I answered, "But whatever it is it's in the back for a reason. Margret probably doesn't want people finding it." Leo nodded and we continued to run. The path seemed never-ending. It was like every time we made a turn it was replaced with another. I felt like we were going in circles. It's like when you're trying to find your way out of a maze, all of the walls look the same and you keep walking and walking until you're not sure if you've seen that wall before! It's the horrible sinking feeling when you don't know where you are, and every path looks exactly like the last. It just keeps going and going till you finally either find your way out or someone comes and gets you. Unfortunately, this time there's no one to come find us. No one even knows where we are.

Suddenly, a thought hit me and I slowed to a stop. "Leo wait," I called, "What if it's Greer?" "What?" Leo asked. "What if it's Greer?" I asked, "We can't just rush in there without a plan!" "We'll make up a plan as we go," he said, "We're wasting time!" "No, we're not," I told him, "If it's Greer we need to be prepared!" "If it's Greer we shouldn't be standing around talking," he pointed out, "Greer's supposed to be powerful or something right?" I nodded. "Then we can't stand around here talking about it because they're probably doing something horrible," He said, "And we need to stop them!" "But they're powerful," I stated, "We at least need something." "We have the element of surprise," Leo told me, "If it turns out to be Greer and they're all working together. One of us will try and take down Greer while the other takes care of the other two. The shock should stall them long enough for us to knock them out. Okay?" "That works," I said. "Great," he smiled, "Now let's go." Once again, we began running, I had probably wasted time by stopping us. But we needed some sort of a plan! We couldn't run in there like idiots expecting to fight an evil, powerful, world keeper! I mean if Margret can use magic that means Greer can too. And if Greer can perform magic that means they can take down the shield and let the demons in, and I know for a fact we can't fight the demons. Not without some holy water and a priest, and we don't have either of those. Unless someone here is a part-time priest, then maybe we have a chance. Maybe I should become a priest just in case this happens again. How long does it take to become a priest? Does that mean I would have to become a Catholic? Eh, who knows! I can worry about that later. Leo and I turned the final corner, and I felt my stomach sink. We were too late. Standing in a circle around a table with a book in the center, stood Amelia, Carmen, and Chase huddled together chanting a spell.

Haha! I got you on a cliffhanger! See you next week! Bye! 🙃