SERAPHINA'S POV
I'm in an ethereal world of books, stacked into an impossible number of shelves arranged in columns that go on until what looks like infinity.
The inside itself is wider than my eyes can depict, with walls taller than twice of Raven Wood High stacked on top of itself.
The air even smells different- that addictive woody smell that comes from the pages of the millions of books stored in here.
It's all so beautiful and marvelous, a book lover's heaven. Olivia would faint more than once if she could see this right now.
I slowly walk between shelves, running my hands across the dark brown, sturdy wood that holds the books, feeling its smooth lamination.
Every corner is perfectly labeled, so whoever is in here can easily find what they need. Whoever maintains a place like this definitely knows what they're doing.
I stop, curious, at an aisle and reach for a first edition book on "The Technicalities of Wolf Shifting." I have no interest in it, but the vibe in the room prompts me to pick it up.
I stop myself before I can, suddenly recalling the chain of events that led me here in the first place, and I pull my hand away.
It feels like I'm betraying every single decision I've made about fixing things with Artemis.
It was never my intention to walk in here, to use the card I wanted so desperately to return back.
I have to leave.
Footsteps quickly approaching draw my attention to my right, and I peek through the tiny spaces between the books.
I spot the security guard from before, searching for the intruder-being my humble self. I swear under my breath, going down to my knees and quietly crawling away.
When he isn't looking, I make a run for it in a random direction, not knowing where the bloody exit is. I stop once I'm carefully hidden again, taking deep breaths to calm myself.
Now, I need to think of a way to get out of here and force that witch Kamila to take back her stupid golden card.
I'm deep in thought when a gentle gust of wind blows through my hair. I look left, knowing for a fact that there's no draft nearby.
'Seraphina,' I faintly hear the voice that plagues my dreams every night, calling to me as always, lulling me like a siren's call.
I shake my head- not today, Satan. No way am I letting the crazy shit that happens to me put me in more crap than I need.
I ignore it when it calls again, closing my eyes to drown the voice out. It finally grows silent in my head, not a single sound besides my own breathing.
Just when I think it's over and it's passed, I hear it again-closer, more real than a faint whisper, even feeling a presence right next to me.
"Seraphina," her voice is the clearest I've ever heard it.
My eyes fly open desperately, and what's in front of me stuns me beyond measure.
I can finally see her face clearly, the face behind the voice that's been calling out to me all this time, and I instantly see just how gorgeous she is.
She's like an angel that glows. Pale green eyes stare at me intently, and her bright pink lips smile back for no reason.
There's an immediate sense of warmth that washes over me with the soft look in her eyes, and I can't place my finger on it, but I'm filled with a subtle peace, weighing lightly in my chest.
Like all my worries wash away in an instant.
"Sera," she says. I blink again, focusing on her face.
Before I can respond, she floats away in her white flowing gown, rounding a corner while her eyes still watch me.
'Follow me,' her actions scream, and I do.
The first foot goes ahead, then the second takes the lead, and soon I'm running after her, throwing all caution to the wind.
I could be imagining this mysterious, gorgeous woman right now and blowing my cover, but I can't be bothered. It's like I'm suddenly possessed with nothing else besides pure curiosity.
I lose her eventually, spotting only the ends of her white dress from the corners. I take countless turns and bends, letting myself get lost in the maze until I'm led to a dead end.
Well, not necessarily a dead end.
It's a wall with a door. The words 'Keep Out' blare at me furiously from the sign attached to the frame.
I know I shouldn't go in there. This isn't one of those horror movies where the protagonist blatantly ignores the signs, walks into a trap, and dies.
But this is where she ran to, the woman in my dreams, if at all I really heard her, or if I'm just hallucinating again.
Still, I want to know what's behind that door, why whatever it is led me here. I think for a moment that the door looks locked, and how badly I want to get in.
Again, that air flows by without a source, and the door just casually creaks open in front of me.
"Weird," I mutter under my breath.
For a door with such an obvious sign to not enter, they don't seem very keen on stopping anyone from walking in.
I shrug, not thinking much of it, and step closer, pushing through. On the other side is a wall of old, dusty cobwebs that collide with my face first.
I muffle my scream, getting it off me in seconds. After that, I open my eyes and take in the small, shabby room.
It looks like an old, dusty wine cellar that smells like mold, but instead of wine, there are two bookshelves in here, all with books that are more ancient than the ones on the outside.
A tiny window sits high on one corner of the wall, being the only source of light. Strangely, it's enough for me to see.
My legs move on their own, taking me forward, and my hands run across the books aligned neatly.
Some are scrolls and animal skins rolled up to preserve knowledge of a time before books were invented. Others are books with paper browning from age.
I pick up the first, flipping through the ancient letters that seem similar.
"Wolfbane recipe curated by the Astria tribe's best brewer," I read, pausing to process the language with ease before dropping it and picking another immediately.
"Cultivating Your Inner Power as a Daughter of Astria," I read out loud.
I slam it shut again, feeling my own heart quicken with different emotions, excitement being the top.
This is it! The stash of Astria tribe knowledge hidden away, and what I've been searching for for months.
It almost feels too bad to be here, after all that talk of not wanting to anymore, but dammit, I can't contain myself.
I go through each, flipping through pages of what seems like strange concoctions that look like potions, how to cook a pig in less than five minutes, how to draw flames from your bare hands.
There's every possible thing pointing at the kind of lifestyle they lived, and it all seems like it's taken straight out of a fantasy book, all of them pointing toward the existence of magic.
Like they were actual witches.
I skim through more, hungry for more, wishing I could read all of them, learn from each of them, but that's clearly not possible.
I draw closer to the end of the shelf until my hand stops at the very last book, wrapped in old paper. I pick it up, unraveling it slowly while my curiosity reaches its peak.
The book is old, made of animal skin and pinned together with wood that oddly remains in perfect condition.
It's a thick, sizeable book, bigger than the red one from Artemis's room, and it just... calls to me.
It's as if there's an alarm blaring in my head, screaming at me that this is it, this is what I need, and nothing else matters.
I open it, filled with intense curiosity, and get to the very first page.
I've gotten used to watching the strange words morph into something I can read easily, all while glowing with an ominous light.
"This is the beginning to our end, how it all began with the wolves-those foul monsters. If only she hadn't trusted them first... I miss you, Grendaline Morriet..." the first paragraph reads, starting on a solemn note.
My heart, for some reason, fills with a bit of her resentment and a deep pain in the process.
However, I'm suddenly overwhelmed by the feeling of being watched. I can feel eyes digging into the back of my head, and I go high on alert, turning back swiftly.
I see something, someone peeking through the door but pulling away once I look. It's not the entity that led me here, that's for sure.
I walk out of the room, looking around, but whoever it is, they're gone-like the wind, sprinting away before I can talk to them.
Too many weird things keep happening to me in here.
I turn back to the room, grabbing the handle, and it's locked. Like thick-chains-wrapped-around-the-door-handle-and-knotted-with-an-even-thicker-padlock-at-the-end locked.
My eyes widen from the shock that hits, followed by pure confusion, while I tug and pull at the handle continuously, waiting for it to open up.
I doubt my own reality and sanity, wondering if all of this was just my imagination, while still holding the book I took out in my hands.
It was open just a second ago, I swear.
"Hey! You, stop!" I swerve around, realizing the guard has spotted me again, running up to me from a far distance, and I panic.
I look at the book in my hand and back at him, realizing I have no choice at this point. The door's locked, so I can't return it, and there's no way I'm letting myself get caught in here.
So I run for it, as fast as my human legs will let me, with the mysterious book in my arms.