Blood Moon Lake

Chapter 28

I moved before I thought. I tackled Chase to the ground, and I heard a thump from behind me. "What the hell!?" Chase spat glaring up at me. Oh, I did not think this through. Chase shoved me off of him and onto the floor. Scrambling to my feet, I blocked Chase's path trying to slow him down. Leo and Carmen were wrestling behind me, and I knew if Chase got past me, we would be out of luck. Leo's whole element of the surprise plan didn't affect them that much. Which sucks because it was our only chance. I am basically skin and bone, there is no muscle on me. I cannot win in a fight, and I have no idea how much fighting experience Leo has had. So, we're screwed. "Move it," Chase growled. "Nope," I replied standing firmly in place. "Kid you do not want to fight me," he warned. "I know," I told him, "But I'm not letting you anywhere near that book." "Okay," he said drawing his fist back. I dogged on instinct. If there's one thing I know about fighting, it's that you want to avoid being hit. Chase swung again, I ducked and tried to throw a punch of my own. I managed to land a hit. I'm not sure how effective it was but my sister always told me I had bony knuckles so who knows? I wasn't lucky enough to dodge the third punch. It hit me right in the stomach. I felt the air leave my body. I've been hit in the stomach before, by a soccer ball. This was much worse. Chase has muscles, he is the guy you see on the street that you know goes to the gym. It felt like I was being hit by a bag of bricks. I fell to the ground wheezing, and he barreled right past me. I hope Leo fairs better than I did. Hopefully, he's better at fighting than I am. I mean he was part of a gang he should have more skill.

I should probably help him... once I catch my breath. Once I was able to breathe again, I stood back up and went to help Leo. I would say he was faring pretty well on his own. Carmen had a bloody nose, and a split lip while Chase had several teeth-shaped indents on his hands. Joining in, I managed to grab Carmen's arm before he could hit Leo in the back. "You finally decided to join?" Leo snarked. "Sorry if getting the air knocked out of me took a few seconds to recover from," I said. Our fight continued for a while longer, I would dodge and try to keep the brothers from punching Leo and Leo would try to hit or kick them. "What is going on here!?" Margret shouted. We all stilled and turned toward her. She stood in the doorway with Amelia behind her, Margret raised her eyebrow waiting for an answer. "Leo and I woke up and we wanted to see what the adults were doing so we went to find them and when we found them, they were chanting. Which made me panic so I tackled Chase and I think Leo just followed me," I explained. "You were trying to perform a spell?" she asked turning toward Amelia, "You didn't mention that when you came to get me." Amelia turned red, "I forgot about that." "Sure," Margret scoffed, "Would you like to tell me what spell you were performing?" "A protection spell," Carmen answered, "We figured it would be helpful against the demons." "Interesting," she replied grabbing the book, "How did you get back here?" "We found it while we were wandering around," Chase said. "Don't lie," Margret told him, "It makes you look more suspicious." "The path led us here," Amelia told her, "We were wandering around and all the shelves stopped moving and the path led us back here." My eyes widened that was what happened to us. Well, we had to ask but that's what happened. "The path just appeared?" She questioned. "Yes," Amelia replied, "We got back here and started looking around the room, we found the spell and figured why not have more protection."

"I see," Margret nodded. She turned to Leo and I, "How did you two get back here?" "We asked Viva to take us to them, so she did," I told her. Margret frowned, "Viva shouldn't have led anyone back here. This part of the library is only accessible by me." "Then how did we get back here?" Carmen asked. "I can think of one reason," she muttered. Greer. It makes sense Greer can cast the same spells as Margret can I'm sure they could temporarily take over the library if they wanted to. Margret shook her head, "Either way, I'm glad you two stopped them. Spells are dangerous if you don't know how to cast them properly, I was in school for years before I knew how to do them properly. Someone could have been seriously injured. Now follow me I'll get you fixed up." We followed Margret out of the room and began the trek back to the front of the library. As we walked, I could feel my body begin to ache. I had taken a good number of punches and I was finally receiving the backlash. Stupid scrawny body. "It looks like a feral raccoon tried eating my hand," Chase complained, "Why did you have to bite it?" "Because it's a great way to get people to let go of you," Leo said. "How do you know?" Carmen asked. "I've used it lots of times," Leo replied, "Worked every time my dad grabbed me. Eventually, he threatened to pin me down and file my teeth if I didn't stop." "That doesn't sound good," I told him. "Why do you think I stopped biting him?" he asked. "I don't think I like your dad," I told him. "Meh," Leo shrugged, "You gotta meet him before you decide that." The five of us continued to chat until we finally made it to our destination. Margret led us to the same messy room she healed Leo in. "Stay here," she commanded, as she began to rifle through papers. The room wasn't any cleaner than last time. We stood there in silence as we waited for her to find what she was looking for. Eventually, she came back with four round bottles filled with pink glittery liquid.

"What are those?" I asked. "Restoration potions," she answered, "They heal cuts and bruises. The only downside is if you drink too many your head explodes." "Good to know," I said taking the bottle she handed to me and drinking it. I gagged; it tasted like spoiled milk. "Oh my gosh, that tastes awful," I coughed, "What is in that?" "Ingredients you've never heard of," Margret chuckled, "The people who make them flavor them like different things, so you never know what type you're getting." "Why would they do that?" I asked. "Because it's funny," she replied, "I know the man who started the trend." "And you didn't stop him!?" I exclaimed. "Of course not," she grinned, "I'm the one who encouraged it." "I hate you," I said. "I hear that a lot," Margret laughed, "No one means it." "Now I don't want to drink it," Leo grumbled. "Just take it like a shot," I told him, "You shouldn't taste a thing." "You've never taken a shot before," Leo snorted opening the bottle. I raised my eyebrow, "And you have?" He just shrugged and drank the potion. "Oh, that didn't taste too bad," he said. I rolled my eyes, "Of course, it didn't." "Come on," Margret called, "Your friends are worried about you." Following Margret out of the study, we headed to the lounge where Anna, Ella, and Jack were. "There you are!" Ella shouted when we came in, "Where were you!?" "We woke up and decided to look for Amelia, Carmen, and Chase," I told her. "You were gone forever," she cried, "We were worried about you!" "Aw, you missed me?" Leo joked. "Mm, it would have been fine if you didn't come back," Ella replied. "I'm hurt," he said. "Whatever," she snorted, "But it's a good thing you came back too. We might need your lock-picking skills again." "Luke, did you hear that?" Leo gasped, "She admitted I was useful." "Shut up," Ella scoffed. "No," he replied sticking his tongue out at her. I rolled my eyes, "Now, now children. No fighting." "Sure, thing mom," Ella snickered plopping down in one of the chairs. "I'm going to stop you there before you go on a tangent," Jack said.

I shook my head, "No fun, no fun at all." "Sure," he snorted, "Sorry for not letting you embarrass yourself in front of people." "I was not going to embarrass myself! I exclaimed. He raised an eyebrow, "Really?" "Yeah," I said. "Are you sure about that?" he questioned. "Yes," I told him. "One hundred percent positive?" he asked. "I'm insulted," I replied, "Accusing me of being immature." "I mean he's not wrong," Anna piped up. "Says the cheater," I scoffed. "Don't bring our marriage into this!" Anna shouted. "Well, you shouldn't have had an affair," I said. "Oh my gosh," Jack sighed, "This is exactly what I'm talking about." "The fact they're married?" Leo asked, "Or the fact she cheated?" "They're not married," Jack said. "Are they dating?" Leo questioned. "No," Jack replied. "Then what are they talking about!?" Leo cried, "Why are they being so confusing!?" "It's a joke," Jack explained, "They pretend to be married, and Luke discovered not too long ago that Anna had an affair with Ella and I." "Dang," Leo whistled, "That's gotta suck." "It does," I sniffed. "Well, if you wanted you could marry me and be with someone who wouldn't cheat on you," he joked. "You wouldn't!" Anna exclaimed, "Luke you can't! Think of the kids!" "I already told you we're over!" I declared, "And the kids aren't even mine! They're Jack's!" "Bruh," Margret laughed, "Are you kids on crack?" "No," Ella said, "We just like messing around. We have quite the plot, it's like one of those telenovelas." "I can tell," Margret laughed. "I feel like my brain is melting," Chase groaned, "Make them stop." Margret rolled her eyes, "Fine." Clapping her hands, we all stopped talking and looked at her. "It's time for you to go," she declared, "It's midnight. You need to get a move on." I sighed, well looks like we'll be on the move again. safety was nice while we had it. Let's hope we can sort this out soon, I want to get home. I nodded, "Okay, thanks for letting us stay." "You're welcome," she replied, handing me the backpack, "You know how to contact me when you figure out who Greer is." I took the backpack and headed for the door. "Good luck," she said as we stepped out. With that, the shield was lowered, and the door was closed and locked behind us.

Sorry I forgot to post this last week! Totally slipped my mind, you get two chapters today!