CHAPTER THREE

By the middle of the second day of school, Jade felt something nagging at her. What the hell is wrong with me? She wondered. Something was pulling at her, urging her to...

"Penny for your thoughts?" Beth asked as she appeared next to Jade.

"Do you want to get out of here?" Jade asked as she suddenly realized what was bothering her.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, do you want to leave town for a couple of days?"

"When?" Beth asked in surprise.

"Right now," Jade replied.

"Um, Jade, we still have half a day of classes left before the weekend," Beth reminded her.

"I need to go back to New York for a couple of days."

Beth's eyes widened with shock. "Jade, you can't go back there... With everything the cult put you through... What if they try to hurt you again?"

"With what I did to my parents, the cult won't be crossing me anytime soon, Beth. There's just something that I need to take care of. I'd like to show you where I grew up, but if you'd rather stay here and sit through boring lectures, feel free..."

"It's not that, it's just... I've never cut class before."

Jade couldn't help but smile. "There's a first time for everything," she said.

"We could get caught," Beth replied nervously.

"We won't. I know every exit of this building, and I know where security is at any given moment."

"I don't know, Jade..."

"Beth, I promise we won't get arrested or expelled for cutting a couple of classes. I really do need to take care of a problem, so I've got to go with or without you."

Beth sighed. "Okay," she said at last. "I'm not letting you do this by yourself, so I guess that means I'm in."

"Great. We'll run home, pack a couple of essentials, and grab Joey from Clarissa before we go."

"You're bringing Joey?" Beth asked in surprise.

"He misses New York," Jade replied.

"Are you sure he'll be safe?"

"Yes. And if we run into any trouble, he can open a door back to Salem before anyone can get near him... So, are you ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be, I guess."

"Good," Jade said. "Let's go."

~*~

There were only a limited number of things that Cierra Denton would say she was in love with. The first, of course, was Alex Paxton, her first real boyfriend and the man she hoped to spend the rest of her life with. A close second, however, was acquiring knowledge. The enormous library at her new college was definitely making its way onto the list.

It stood alone on campus, an entire building dedicated to books. The huge oak doors and several floors of tall, sturdy bookcases were old fashioned and gorgeous, and there were books on every subject one could possibly come up with. She had never seen a library quite this large. Even the Unit's library was only about a fourth of the size of this one.

When I die, this is what Heaven is going to look like, Cierra paused to think before losing herself in a row of books on science.

It seemed like only minutes, but four hours later, Cierra came across a locked door. An entire floor of books lay behind it, but the sign on the door said RESTRICTED. KEEP OUT.

Loving a good mystery as much as a good book, Cierra considered bringing Jesse by to pick the lock, but she shook her head and tried to be practical. There was probably a good reason that the books were locked up. Maybe they were old, falling apart, and too fragile to lend out. Of course, those were some of her favorite books to look at. Maybe they were school records. Maybe they were nothing of interest at all... Or maybe they were so interesting the school did not want anyone to see them.

"I've got to get in there," Cierra whispered aloud. To her shock, the lock suddenly clicked. Although she didn't really believe it would work, she pushed on the door, and sure enough, it opened.

Excited beyond words, Cierra crept inside and closed the door quietly behind herself. She was startled to realize that every book she was looking at had something to do with the Occult. There were books on psychic abilities, demonology, witches, warlocks, vampires, ghosts, parapsychology, and just about everything else. She'd only ever seen books like this at the Unit's library before, and those were heavily guarded.

"What the heck is an occult library doing in a college?" Cierra wondered aloud. She picked up a book with no title on the spine and studied the cover. It was plain, leather-bound, and black. There was no writing on the cover, and she couldn't help but be curious as to what she was looking at. She opened the book.

Instantly, the book flew at her face and began attacking her. Her nose started bleeding as the book slammed against it. Her face was scratched up from paper cuts that felt like they came from a hundred tiny razor blades. She frantically tried to swat the book away, but it continued its assault. It came at her impossibly fast, and Cierra screamed, suddenly not caring that she was in a library and should therefore be quiet, especially with the fact that she was in a forbidden room.

Suddenly, all sounds stopped, and everything turned a strange, faded shade of yellow. She was no longer looking at the book. Instead, she was looking at the rest of the library from the floor. And slowly, the ceiling was turning black.

At first, Cierra thought that she had gone deaf and was going blind, but she quickly realized something even more impossible was happening. The black ceiling was not a ceiling at all, but the cover of the book slowly closing, and she was trapped inside.

~*~

It was never a good sign when Alex Paxton's scroll glowed. "Great," Alex said with a sigh. "More riddles." The silver scroll had been given to him at birth, a gift from the Powers That Be to help him find and guide the other members of the Silver Society. That was great, in theory, but the scroll rarely gave him a straight answer and was typically more frustrating than helpful.

Reluctantly, Alex unrolled the scroll. In the pretty calligraphy which always appeared on its surface, the scroll read, Cierra.

Alex was instantly on high alert. "What about Cierra?" He asked, ready to fight with the scroll if necessary. Riddles were not going to cut it if his girlfriend was in danger.

Cierra's name vanished and the words, Lost in a book appeared.

"This is news?" Alex asked. "Cierra is always lost in a book. If she didn't have to sleep, she'd probably read twenty-four hours a day."

Again, the previous words faded away, but no new ones appeared this time. "Why the hell did you worry me for that?" Alex asked aloud. Shaking his head, he put the scroll down and got ready to go out.

~*~

Jade, Beth, and Joey had been on the road for over three hours when Beth asked, "Shouldn't we have told Alex that we were leaving town?"

"He's not our keeper," Jade replied.

"There's a Silver Society meeting tonight."

"There are phones in New York, Beth. We left the state, not the dimension. I'll call him."

Beth looked at her surroundings. "Where are we?" She asked.

"Connecticut. We should hit Upstate New York in about a half an hour, and we'll hit the Bronx a little after that."

"You drive really fast. I thought this would take longer."

"I'm in a hurry, and driving sure as hell beats running."

"You really didn't hitchhike or anything to get out to Salem last year, did you?"

"No, I ran the entire way. I was just so desperate to get out of town, it didn't really matter how I did it."

"Connecticut is pretty, but some of the towns have really unusual names," Beth said as they continued driving. "Mystic, Old Lyme, East Lyme, New Haven, West Haven, East Haven... They sure have a lot of Havens!"

"Did you know that Massachusetts and Connecticut both have towns named Satan's Kingdom?" Jade replied.

"It's sort of ironic that Satan's Kingdom isn't in Salem," Beth said.

"The witches must have scared him away," Jade replied as she laughed, too.

"So, what are we going to do once we get to New York?"

"We're going Downtown."

"Like... to the Village?" Beth asked in a terrified whisper.

Jade laughed. "Maybe, if you can handle it, but no, I meant even further Downtown, by the Staten Island Ferry."

"Are we going to Staten Island?"

"Gods, no. That place has no right to even call itself part of New York City. Besides, I have no desire to gain holes in my neck."

"What do you mean?"

"Staten Island is, like, eighty-five percent vampires, and they don't like devil worshippers in their territory."

"You aren't a devil worshipper."

"I was raised by them. It's the same thing when it comes to territory."

"Mama, we go park?" Joey suddenly asked.

"Yes, Baby, we're going to Battery Park. I know it's been a long time since you were there. And, maybe we'll take Beth to Central Park, too," Jade replied. She sighed. "I miss Central Park."

"You never talk about New York, or missing it," Beth said softly.

"I don't miss the bad stuff, but I do miss some things... St. Mark's Place, for example. There just aren't enough decent punk shops in Massachusetts, although Salem has its fair share. And Central Park is like an escape from everything else. It's almost like entering another realm. Everything in Salem is peaceful. Central Park is one of the only peaceful places in New York. And I miss the Met... Gods, do I miss the Met."

"What's the Met?"

"The Metropolitan Museum of Art... They have an Ancient Egyptian section that I always seem to get lost in. They even have a temple there. I used to love meditating in it."

"It sounds interesting."

"It's beautiful. New York is a great city. It just has a really dark side to balance out the good parts. If you want, I can probably score us rush tickets to a Broadway show this weekend."

"What's a rush ticket?"

"Rush tickets are the seats in the front that they sell for about twenty bucks each at the last minute just so the theater is full. A lot of the better shows offer them. Plus, I know a lot of the people who work at the theaters. I used to hide out in the theaters when I didn't want my parents finding me. Musical theater gave my father a headache and my mother was too sensitive to the ghost energies you can usually find in the older theaters."

"Wow. I feel like I have my own personal tour guide!"

Jade laughed. "You do. I'm going to show you New York the way only a New Yorker can."

"You're not going to decide to stay there, are you?" The slightest note of fear crept into Beth's voice.

"As much as I miss New York, Salem is my home now. Besides, I like Salem more. It's quiet, and I can actually think without getting a massive headache."

"Mama, wanna open door so we go fast?" Joey asked.

"No transporting us, Joey. I need the time to drive. It relaxes me." The fact that she was not old enough to have a full license didn't factor into the equation as far as Jade was concerned. She was a good driver, and she always heard the cops through telepathy before they could catch her speeding.

" 'K... We go soon?" Joey asked hopefully,

"Yes, Baby, we'll be there very soon." Jade took a deep breath. She was going back to New York, something she had been fairly certain she would never do. This was going to be an interesting trip.

~*~

"Where are Jade and Beth?" Aideen asked. She, Arnie, Dylan, Randy, Jesse, and Melissa were standing in Alex's living room waiting for the meeting to begin.

"I have a better question," Melissa said. "Where's Alex?"

"He'll be back in a minute," Cassandra Jones said, joining them. "He had to run out for some food."

"Did the pizza delivery guy get eaten again?" Dylan asked casually.

"No, actually, not this time," Cassandra replied seriously. "Alex just wanted a change of pace."

"What's he picking up? I'm starving," Randy said.

"How can a boy who eats enough food for an entire football team ever say that he's starving?" Melissa teased him.

"Didn't you notice that he only had four sandwiches at lunch today?" Arnie asked. "I mean, have a heart, Missa!"

Randy blushed. "I was running late this morning and didn't have time to make the usual amount... And I'm a growing boy. I can eat as much as I want to," he protested.

"Alex is getting Chinese," Cassandra said. "He knows what everyone likes and said he'd pick something up for each of us."

A couple of minutes later, Alex returned. The Silver Society members immediately dove into the Chinese food. After a couple of minutes, Alex asked, "Okay, where are Beth, Jade, and Cierra?"

As if on cue, his phone rang. Alex hurried to pick it up. "Hello?" He answered.

"Hey Alex," Jade said. "Beth and I can't make the meeting tonight."

"Why not?" Alex asked. "Are you guys okay?"

"We're fine, but we're kind of over five hundred miles away right now."

"Excuse me?" Alex demanded.

"I needed to take care of something in New York. We'll be back on Sunday night."

"Are you insane? Jade, it's not safe for you to be-"

"I didn't call to ask permission, Alex. I'm just letting you know where we are so you don't worry. Goodnight."

Alex growled at the phone as he heard it go dead in his ear. "Who was that?" Melissa asked.

"Jade..." Alex replied.

"You look mad. What happened?"

"She and Beth took it upon themselves to leave the state... Which is fine, if Jade really needs to, whatever. I'm not going to tell her she can't take care of whatever is going on, but... but... She hung up on me, and that's just rude."

Aideen started laughing and said, "Poor Alex... It's Jade. Be glad she even bothered to call you."

"So, we know where they are," Arnie said. "Where's Brainy Smurf?"

"Cierra should be here by now... She's usually early, and she's never late..." Alex was suddenly concerned. "The scroll showed me her name earlier... It said she was lost in a book."

"So maybe it's a really good book and she lost track of time?" Melissa suggested. "Why don't you call her?"

Alex dialed Cierra's number. There was no answer. "She's not picking up," he said, growing more worried by the second.

"Maybe she's on her way," Jesse said.

"I've checked out her college," Dylan added. "The library is huge. Maybe she's just lost in there."

"I hope you're right," Alex replied. "I have a bad feeling..."

"Come on, Alex, it's Cierra. How much trouble could she really get into?" Arnie asked.

"Do you not remember the time she ran away to find her biological father who just happened to be a warlock? Or the time she got kidnapped by an immortal serial killer who wanted her knowledge for himself?" Aideen asked. She noticed that Alex's right eye was beginning to twitch. "Sorry, Alex... That probably didn't help."

"I need to find her," Alex said. He began mumbling to himself as he walked out of the room.

Once Alex was out of earshot, Dylan said, "Man, Cierra has really rotten luck." He shook his head. "What do you think it is this time?"

"An army of hexed paperclips have bonded together and created a cell that she can't escape from," Melissa replied, deadpan.

"No, she probably got kidnapped by an angry leprechaun," Arnie suggested cheerfully.

"Unlikely. She's not Irish, and Saint Patrick's Day is too far away," Aideen replied practically.

"Gremlins," Jesse decided.

"Zombies," Randy said at the same time. He shuddered. "It's always zombies."

"Zombies don't usually kidnap people," Aideen pointed out.

"They do if they're instructed to," Randy replied. He shuddered again. "I really hate zombies."

"We know, dude," Dylan said. "That's why you cry like a bitch every time you see one."

"I do not..."

Aideen patted Randy on the shoulder. "You kind of do, but that's okay," she reassured him. "We love you anyway."

Alex returned. "Let's go to the college and see if we can find her," he said as he hurried out the front door. The others followed him, barely able to keep up with his pace.

~*~

Being stuck inside of a musty old book with no way out could be kind of boring. Cierra, being Cierra, did the only thing she could think of in her unusual situation... She started wandering around the pages of the book and reading the words at her feet.

THOSE WHO READ THESE WORDS SHALL BE FOREVER BOUND TO THE PAGES OF THIS BOOK. MY STORIES SHALL BE TOLD! PERHAPS THIS SHALL TEACH THEM TO TAKE MY SKILL AS A WRITER MUCH MORE SERIOUSLY.

Oh dear Gods, Cierra tried to say aloud. She was startled when her words did not make a sound, but appeared on the page before her. This is some failed author's attempt at revenge? Great... Just my luck!

As she wandered through the other pages, Cierra began to get very nervous. Many thoughts were scattered throughout the book, getting more and more frantic the farther back she got.

How did these other people get out? Cierra wondered, again watching the words appear on the page. Her question was answered on the next page, when she saw two skeletons clinging to each other. The people had clearly been dead for a while. Further searching revealed dust, much of which seemed to be forming from bone fragments from more skeletons. She could smell rotting flesh and saw a corpse that was perhaps three months old, judging from the state of decay.

Cierra struggled to process what she was seeing without getting sick to her stomach. Finally, she sighed and said, I think I'm in trouble...