Rushing up the stairs, ugh stairs, to try and get to Elvira, I almost ran face first into her, that wouldn’t have been fun with my horns, as she was also barreling down the stairs. “Ack!” I cried, side stepping just in time, though almost falling off the side. “Woah are you okay, Elvira?” I asked, even as she grabbed hold of me to keep me from stumbling.

“Me?” She asked incredulously. “I’m not the one that almost fell two and a half stories!”

“Eh I’ve fallen from higher...heights.” That doesn’t sound right.

“That is very concerning if true.” She muttered, steadying me on the stairs. “You were in a rush, did you find something important?”

“Yeah...” I shuffled for my notes, wondering why I had put them in my jacket pocket when I was going to show Elvira, then realized they were not in my pockets but my hands. Elvira watched me with I think might have been growing skepticism. “It sounds like we reeeeally need to stop this cuz we’re dealing with an apocalypse dishing demon named Killgrov.”

“Less than ideal...” Elvira muttered.

“Aaaand we have until an eclipse to do so.”

She winced at that, so did I. “Well...” She muttered, before breathing in, and adjusting her dress, composing herself. “I knew the timeline was thin to begin with but...Alright I found something as well, I will explain on the way.”

Without another word, she began to descend the stairs. “On the way to where?” I asked, as I darted after her.

“The Blackwood Institute.” She said, with a determined flare in her eyes. “Hopefully we can stop her in her office, if not we can find where the ritual will take place.”

As we fast walked, more like jogged, to the Institute I asked, “What about you, did you find anything more about Morticia?”

I could see from behind that Elvira’s shoulders tensed. “Nothing good. She’s ancient, beyond ancient. And...from what I could tell from some vague language in one of her old biographies, she used to be a sorceress.”

I blinked in shock and confusion at this. “That’s been illegal for three thousand years.”

“Yes, since the last great war.” She confirmed with a small nod.

Visions of a legion of undead filtered across my eyes, shaking me a little out of reality. I shook my head to refocus myself, focus on the matter at hand. “I mean it’s not unheard of to find some way or another to extend your life, but...”

“Given the context, I don’t imagine it’s anything good.” Elvira muttered. “We’re here.”

We stood before the woven wooden gates of the grand Blackwood Institute, an ancient blackened tree growing over a looming obelisk of a wizard tower, as students and teachers of all kinds filtered across the grounds. 

Elvira turned to me grimly, and gestured with her head. “Let’s go.”