“I trust your aunt is doing well.” Lunette slowed her pace and nodded, clutching her books tightly to her chest as she made her way to exit the school. Jerrard matched her speed and casually placed his hands into his pant pockets. His eyes narrowed to her meek figure, watching her try to evade the plethora of other onlookers. “And you’re sure you’re prepared for what’s to come?”
Lunette lifted her face to view his own, “Of course, I would have never agreed to be your…” Lunette’s voice then became hushed, her mouth barely opening “witch thing.”
The two continued to walk down the school’s hallway until Silas’ face was visible amongst the crowd. “From what I understand, it seemed like you were trying to help us.”
Lunette bit the inside of her cheek, “No, definitely not. It was just something that happened.” Lunette thumbed over her forefinger, more specifically, the one Silas had bit. “Anyway, it’s almost been a week since the break-in and people are still looking at me weirdly.” Lunette’s shoulders rose as they approached Silas. “Can we go?”
The two men nodded, and the group left the school and made their way to a familiar car. Lunette took her regular spot in the back seat and tried her best to enjoy the car ride to the Moore estate. After the attack on Lunette’s family, it was clear that whatever was going on with her was dangerous for everyone. While the town was convinced the latest attack on Lunette’s family was a random robbery gone wrong, she knew the truth.
This so-called family of vampire demons and Lunette were now under an agreement, a contract of sorts. In exchange for her protection, Lunette would become the Moore’s secular witch. What this truly entailed would soon be explained as the car pulled into the property and close to the mansion. Like the previous times, Lunette entered through the main door and followed Jerrard and Silas until they met a bookcase at the end of the hall.
“Library?” Silas asked Jerrard. The brother’s locked eyes and Jerrard nodded and led his hand to a leather book with dusty gold bindings. Like Walter had done before, Jerrard pressed the book into the shelf, letting it sink into the depths. The bookcase began to respond with a large click, like a key being turned in a lock. Gears and pieces were audibly heard yet the only thing Lunette could see was the shelving unit swing inward slowly. A small breeze tickled her skin and darkness enveloped on the other side of the passageway.
“After you.” Jerrard motioned his hand for Lunette to pass through first. The girl lowered her brows and stayed put. Silas shook his head, seeming to be annoyed with his brother’s teasing, and stepped through himself. Jerrard motioned with his hand once again, and through a bit of hesitation, Lunette passed through.
Though the entrance appeared dark at first, once she had strode through, Lunette could see the complete room around her. Her eyes widened as they followed the stone walls and roofing of a large library. Withered grey stone lined the walls, running from the matching floor to the curved ceiling. Four major pillars seemed to hold up the dome at four outer locations and in the center of the ceiling hung a large black chandelier that webbed out smaller lighting fixtures across the area.
Lunette stood atop a small area of the second level of the infrastructure. This level merely outlined the perimeter of the building, with many staircases spread about that lead down to the first floor. Silas leaned his lower back against the stone railing, waiting for everyone to join him. Lunette couldn’t help but let out a breath of air, taken back by it all. She made her way over to Silas and peered over the banister to the various shelves and books below. Lunette placed her hands on the railing, propping herself up further. The stone was almost painful to touch, its cold exterior stealing heat from her fingertips.
“Where are we?” Lunette asked, a smile etching on her face. She brought her hands back to her to fold over her chest as she continued to scan the lower level. Almost all the walls were etched out to serve as shelving units and a major portion of the layout consisted of stone bookshelves. All the racks contained an array of books, scrolls, trinkets, display cases, and statues.
“We’re in the Devil’s Library.” Silas answered, his eyes checking Lunette’s reaction more than the building.
“The what?” Lunette raised a brow but couldn’t fight back a small laugh.
“It’s one of the devil libraries, actually.” Jerrard corrected, finally joining in. “You know of the Vatican’s Library?” Jerrard began walking down the closest staircase and Lunette followed in suit, eager to descend.
“I mean, I guess? The Vatican’s in Italy, right?’ As she reached the bottom of the steps, she continued to follow Jerrard. Immediately she became distracted, a trickling feeling on her head. “Sand?’ She took a slight step back. Sure enough, a light flow of sand had begun to fall from a crack in the ceiling.
“Yes well, we’re under that library.” Jerrard finished. Lunette’s eyes widened; a palm outstretched to catch some of the sand. Another feeling met the top of her head as Silas dusted the earth from her hair before walking away. She dropped her hand back to her side, using her thigh to wipe the rest of the sand away and exhaled.
“Why are we here?”
Jerrard and Silas had stopped at a small round table with a few old chairs alongside it. The table itself was worn down too but seemed stable enough to hold the stack of books and scrolls pressed into the middle.
“You wanted to know everything about us, and yourself. So, here we are. The Devil’s Library has just about everything you need to learn. Think of this as another form of education.” Jerrard grinned and looked around the library himself.
Lunette became doubtful. Despite the library appearing like it contained a vast array of knowledge, she wasn’t sure it had all the answers to her questions.
“You can always ask us too.” Silas chimed in. “Both of us may not be able to be here, but someone from our family will always be near.”
Lunette eyed both men curiously, “Why? What do you guys have to do?”
Jerrard seemed almost pleased to answer this, jumping into it right away. “Well, now that you’ve asked, I think it’s a perfect time to explain what we really are, and what we do. Try to keep up.” Lunette swallowed hard and took a seat, the chair creaking under her weight. “You already know, or at least should be coming to the terms that we are demons, you humans would refer to us as vampires, but it’s all the same. We are among many of the demons, spirits, and entities, that walk among this world. However, sometimes, annoying little creatures like to upset the order of things. And so, that is where we come in.”
Lunette’s brow furrowed, unsure of where the conversation was going. Silas took this opportunity to sit near Jerrard, who in turn remained standing. “Our clan, family, group, or whatever you wish to refer to us as - Has an important role to maintain a balance between the mortal world, the one you walk in now, and the many worlds that surround it.”
“H-hold on, what?” Lunette could feel her face scrunching.
“What is it?”
“What do you mean there are different worlds?” Jerrard gave a slight sigh and readjusted his glasses.
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