The Lost Witch

Chapter twenty-one

***Hey guys, almost coming to an end of this story. A few chapters left to go. Let me know what you think. As always, vote, comment and follow me***

"This is hopeless," Kendall moaned, rocking back in a chair so far she almost collided with an aisle of books. Her eyes were droopy and red-ringed, three different books laid sprawled open in front of her, with another dozen stacked hazardously in a messy pile beside her.

The library was near deserted at this time, apart from the ancient looking librarian somewhere on the first floor of the library, humming softly to herself. Paige half expected the library to close its doors when the school did, but a single entrance remained open at all times, allowing anyone access to the school's impressive literacy section. The library had a surprisingly impressive selection on all the creature's society deemed dangerous or monstrous. Dozens of rows on the third floor of the library contained information on some of the most vile creatures in history.

"I never knew there was so much lore on monsters," Paige sighed, retrieving a new book off the shelf and replacing it with one she deemed useless. She turned to Kendall, her face almost as sunken as her friend's. "Didn't Mr. Beddoes say these creatures barely exist? Why the hell is there so much information on them?"

"People are fascinated with monsters," Kendall said in a dreary voice, her head rolling to the side to look at Paige. "Besides, I think a lot of these books only just repeat each other." In a huff, she slammed the cover of a nearby book and shoved it aside.

Paige understood why Kendall was frustrated, three hours and they had a handful of books on demons. But unlike Kendall, Paige had a stronger motivation to continue on for another three hours. Kendall wasn't being stalked by a monster from hell, Paige was. And she was determined to prove it.

Kendall, on the other hand, still had her doubts. "Do you really think Aaron is a . . . you know what?" Kendall had hesitated and refused to say the word 'demon'. "It just seems very unlikely. I mean, Paige, he's been a student here for years. No one's died."

"Think about it," Paige insisted, sliding into a chair and plonking her new book on the desk. "If you were a creature the world deems a monster, would you kill people where you live? You'd go elsewhere to hunt."

"Where'd you get that idea from?"

Paige looked up from the open book. "Criminal Minds."

Kendall snorted a laugh at her answer, not entirely surprised she relied on a TV show for all the answers. "I've never seen it."

"It's a good show," Paige said, turning her attention away from TV. "What about all the deaths in Mayan? From the Feral . . . What if it's not actually a Feral?"

"You think Aaron killed those people?"

"I dunno. But what else could Aaron be?"

Kendall leaned forward in her chair, her eyes level with Paige. "Perhaps a werewolf? We've all seen him transform into his wolf, Paige. Do demons even retain their original abilities?"

"I don't know," Paige admitted. "I haven't found any mention of it."

"Neither have I." Kendall stood and started gathering several books into her arms. "Come on, Paige. It's late. We're both tired. Let's start again tomorrow, okay?"

Paige rubbed her tired eyes, knowing that Kendall was right. It was late and they were both hungry. As they bickered back and forth about the best place to grab some dinner, Paige organised her stack of books and picked out a few to take home. Mr. Beddoes had given her a few places to start, while she was focused on demons at the moment, she had gathered a few books about salamanders, draugrs and revenants. She was fairly certain Aaron wasn't a human-psychic so she was at least able to cross that name off her ever-growing list.