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"Sorry about that," Li-Yang says, watching Ryker pocket his knife, an unreadable expression on her face. "He doesn't know much."

"And you do?" I shoot back, plopping down on top of a comfortable velvet red armchair. The library looks like something out of a fairytale, mahogany bookshelves stretching up to the ceiling. In the dark light, I can make out a faint inscription on the high, domed ceiling, engraved in the middle of a painting of beautiful constellations. 

In Death, there is Life.

"I know more than you think I know," Li-Yang catches me looking at the inscription, but says nothing, instead of taking the armchair across from mine. "I'm not an enemy, Nora, so just trust me when I say that you're digging too deep." The orange flames dance in the fireplace cast dark shadows across her face, making her look exhausted.

"How do you-"

"Ryker and I were tasked to keep an eye on you if you ever chose to come here," she continues, picking at the holes in her black jeans, "His father, Baz, and my father were Madame Aurelia's right-hand men, the bridge between her and the school. There's a reason why she never shows her face. She was believed to be the greatest villain, the villain that all heroes feared. Her power was mighty, mightier than any villain that came before her."

"What is her power?" I asked, voice low.

Li-Yang doesn't respond at first, staring into the fire, brown eyes dull. "She was a Lunar. The greatest Lunar of all," she whispers, turning to me, " Lunars have control over the two central elements, light and dark, but from a young age, Madame Aurelia could do more with her power, more than the normal Lunar was able to do. It corrupted her. The amount of power she could wield drove her mad."

"Mad?"

"She killed herself," Li-Yang's voice drops an octave, taking on a gravelly tone similar to rocks on rocks, "but she's not dead. Nothing with that much power is."

"Then where is she?" I'm shouting now, but it doesn't really matter. I heard the thoughts of the librarian as she left for the night, shutting the heavy wooden doors behind her, as silent as a mouse. Maybe she forgot we were in here. 

She didn't. The shuffling of her feet and the guilt in her mind led me to believe otherwise. Something was coming. I just needed to find out answers before it did.

"She's in all of us. Every student, every teacher, every person who has ever set foot in this school," Li-Yang looks up sharply from the flames, black hair falling out of her high ponytail, "This is how she lives forever. This is how her power survives."

"Mind control?"

"In Death, there is Life," Li-Yang replies vaguely, "Her spirit lives, even though her body doesn't."

"How do you and Ryker play into this?" We're running out of time. I can hear the thoughts of a lone person walking down the hall.

Okay, so after I kill them, I get a burger right? I'm hungry.

Of course, Mary, but you need to kill her first.

I will, I will. Where did you say she was again?

"Our fathers are the clan leaders, and Madame Aurelia's left and right hands, so to speak. We were raised like royalty, expected to receive nothing less. Ryker and I grew up together, but we're nothing to one another. Not anymore." 

"What happened?" I ask, hearing the thoughts coming closer and closer. A bang sounds from the end of the hall and I know we're out of time. Li-Yang hears it too. Springing up from the seat, she flicks her hands towards the fire, putting it out. The room goes dark, all light snuffed out as if underneath a blanket.

The doors creak open. Heels click on the tile floor, the only source of noise in the wide room. 

They're here, right?

Mary, just move.

"Well, this has been fun," Li-Yang whispers, lips barely moving, "I promise, I'll tell you the rest as soon as we can meet again. I'd get out of here now if I were you." She takes off her black combat boots, sinking her socked feet into the fluffy maroon rug.

"You don't need help?" I whisper back, absentmindedly casting out a net with my thoughts.

Madame, this library is huge, and I'm hungry.

Shut up, Mary. This will all be over soon.

They're close.

"Nah," Li-Yang grins, bright white teeth glinting in the darkness, "The librarian loves me. Can't have Mary Lewis's blood all over these million dollar carpets."

"Mary Lewis?"

"Nora, get the hell out of here." Li-Yang hisses, shooing me away with a hand. Snapping her fingers, a propulsion of red-hot tongues of fire stream from her fingertips. Placing the palms of her hands together, she spreads them apart, a giant sword of fire placed neatly in her hands.

"That's got to be the coolest thing I've ever seen," I whisper, unable to move.

Li-Yang smirks at me again. "Thank you. Now, shoo. Let the big girls talk."

I run down the labyrinth of large mahogany bookshelves, the white moonlight from the huge glass windows shifting them into a thick forest of teeth. The back of my neck prickles, cold with the gaze of an enemy I can't see.

There are always monsters in a forest. Sometimes you can hunt them, but most of the time, they are as dense and slippery as the forest itself.

Not all monsters can be seen.

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Mary Lewis Wilson watches as the red head of Nora Abraham slips out of the library, as quick and as fast as a hare. 

"Do you want me to go after her?" She asks the voice in her head, clamping her hand over her mouth when she realizes she's spoken out loud.

  Dammit Mary. The voice replies, clearly agitated, Try not to let Li-Ya Chen know we're here. You're terrible at this. Go after Li-Ya first. We need Nora alive.

So why did you pick me? Mary was fully aware of everything that had happened to her before Madame Aurelia had invaded her brain.  One minute she had been in the shower, and the next she had been throwing on her shorts and Hufflepuff Quidditch shirt, tying her blonde hair back into a bun. Her slippered feet had shuffled across the floor and suddenly she was no longer in control of her own body.

She had heard stories of Madame Aurelia's power. Stories fed to her by people whose faces she could no longer remember. She remembered their fear. It was palpable, still scarring even after they vanished. Mary knew that asking for answers was dangerous. In this school, nobody was safe, but she still sought them out anyway.

She...she is a monster.

She can invade your mind and she can force you to do horrible things.

Mary, please don't go. She'll kill you.

Her mothers voice rings through her head. I couldn't bear to lose you too.

You won't. Mary had reassured her, but her mother had shook her beautiful brown head and smiled past the tears in her eyes.

You don't know that.

Mary shuffled towards the end of the library where she knew Li-Yang was waiting. The lights were completely off but Mary could see a faint glow, like the light of an ember coming from the end of the hall.

Madame, with all due respect, are we sure she's the one? Mary would do a lot of things, but she wouldn't attack the only person who'd ever been nice to her at this miserable school. Li-Yang would be the only one who would smile at her during orientation, the only one who would stand so close to her during training, close enough for Mary to smell her jasmine perfume. It drove her crazy.

Yet, here she was, ruining every shot she had with this girl by trying to kill her.

I know how you feel about her, Mary. Madame Aurelia's voice rang in her head. But she knows too much. She could be the ruination of this school, of your reputation. You want to get in here, don't you?

She hated the words she was thinking of. Hated everything about them. But her greed was infinite, stronger than her common sense.

Yes.

Then kill her.

Mary rounded the corner of the bookshelves, face to face with Li-Yang. She was stunning, as always. Her soft black hair was tied back in a high ponytail that Mary wanted to rip off of her head and run her hands through. Her brown eyes glimmered, full of life and love. Her eyes were the doors to her soul, and her soul was the most beautiful diamond Mary had ever laid eyes on. She really didn't want to do this.

"Well," Li-Yang sighs, adjusting her grip on her fire sword, "Let's get this over with, shall we?"

"Don't I get a weapon?" Those words weren't Mary's. They were Madame's and they were hers, but her words were unspoken, never to be uttered while Madame Aurelia was in her head.

I love you. I don't want to do this. Please understand. Mary hoped her eyes conveyed everything she wanted to say as she waved her hand and plucked a sword out of mid-air.

"Let's dance, then." Li-Yang nodded, eyes soft. She understands.

Mary felt her feet moving. Then she felt nothing at all.

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