Page 21 of Soul Bound (Cursed Descent (MistHallow Academy) #2)

21

LUC

The library at dawn is usually deserted, which is exactly why I’m here. That, and I can’t sleep—not after what we saw in the tunnels. Every time I close my eyes, I see that pillar of light and feel the ground shaking beneath my feet. I’ve seen some shit go down in Hell from torturous scenes to murderous rampages, to rituals that would make your skin want to crawl off your body and hide, but there was something about it that has given me the serious heebies.

I spread out the old maps of MistHallow across one of the back tables, away from the few early-rising students. Vex’s precise notes and drawings, along with the coordinates we managed to mark before everything went sideways, is sitting in his weirdly neat handwriting in the book I swiped while he was sleeping.

“You’re up early.”

I don’t jump at Vex’s voice, because I knew he was there. That bond thing has made it possible for me to sense where the others are at any given moment. I’m not sure if that is supposed to happen or if my Demon blood is amplifying it in strange ways. “Couldn’t sleep. You?”

“Same.” He pulls out a chair, studying the maps, before he picks up his notebook. “Good thing I trust you, or I’d have your head for stealing what’s mine. What are we looking at?”

“Patterns.” I ignore his threat and trace a line between two of our marked locations. “The tunnels didn’t make sense last night because we were thinking of them as paths. But look—” I overlay a newer map showing the known ley lines running through the grounds.

Vex leans in closer. “They match.”

“Not just match. The tunnels aren’t corridors, they’re the spaces between the ley lines. Like...”

“Like a web,” he finishes. “Or a net.”

“Exactly. And look at this.” I pull out an old yearbook I found buried in the archives. “1987. Three students went missing during what the records call ‘an unauthorised exploration of the lower levels.’ They were found two days later with no memory of where they’d been, their minds and bodies ravaged by what they saw and experienced down there.”

Vex frowns. “That’s not the only incident, is it?”

“No.” I slide over more yearbooks, each marked with similar stories. “1952. 1923. 1894. Always in the tunnels, always found with missing memories.”

“The astrological cycle,” Vex murmurs. “It’s building up to something.”

A shadow falls across our table. We both look up to find Professor Ward, the ancient librarian, watching us with rheumy eyes.

“Interesting reading choice,” she says, adjusting her spectacles. “Though you might find Madeline Cooper’s journal more useful. If you can find it.”

“Madeline Cooper?” I repeat.

“Class of 1923. Quite the researcher, that one. Always asking questions about the old passages.” She gives us a knowing look. “Her journal used to be kept in the restricted section, but it seems to have wandered off some years ago.”

Before we can ask more questions, she shuffles away between the stacks.

“Well, that wasn’t suspicious at all,” I mutter.

“She’s a good sort. Usually very helpful and looks the other way. But look at this.” Vex points to something in one of the yearbooks. A photo shows a group of students, including a girl with fierce eyes and a determined set to her jaw. The caption reads: Madeline Cooper and fellow members of the Historical Research Society.

“She looks way too familiar,” I say, studying the photo.

“No shit. She looks like our girl and look at what she’s holding.”

I lean closer, and my breath catches. In Madeline’s hands is a book. The one with shifting symbols on its cover.

“The same book Tilly has now,” Vex says quietly.

“This can’t be a coincidence,” I say, studying Madeline’s face more closely. “Do you think they’re related?”

“Probably if it’s the Druid line, it makes sort of sense.” Vex runs a finger over the photograph. “But if that’s the same book...”

“Then Madeline must have found something. Something important enough that her journal got ‘misplaced.’” I make air quotes around the word. “And now the book finds its way to Tilly. Just happens to show up right when all this starts happening?”

“Nothing just happens at MistHallow,” Vex mutters.

I start gathering up the maps and yearbooks, but something catches my eye in another photo. Behind the Historical Research Society members, barely visible in the background, there’s a door. A very familiar door.

“Vex,” I say slowly. “Look at this.”

He leans in. “Is that?—”

“The entrance to the ritual chamber. They took a photograph of it? How?”

“Obviously, it’s something we haven’t tried. Never even thought to. It’s not like we are all walking around with cameras on us. I miss that about the outside world. A phone would be handy right about now. But back to the door, look at the markings around it. They’re different from what we saw last night.” Vex pulls out his sketches from the tunnels, comparing them to the old photograph. “The patterns have changed. Like they’re...”

“Evolving,” I finish grimly. “Like the star charts?”

“Maybe. It says here that Madeline Cooper disappeared two weeks after this picture was taken. They found her three days later, just like all the others, alive but changed. She left MistHallow shortly after and was never heard from again.”

“The Historical Society records,” I say suddenly. “They must have kept minutes of their meetings, research notes, something.”

“If they still exist.” But Vex is already packing up his things. “Library archives after class?”

I nod, tucking the photograph carefully into my pocket. “After class, we’ll gather the troops.”

“Wait,” Vex says, grabbing my arm. “Look at this notation in the corner of the photo.”

I lean in closer. There’s a series of numbers scrawled in faded ink. “Coordinates?”

“No, look at the pattern. It’s like the ones from the tunnels, but...” He pulls out his notebook again, flipping to his sketches. “It’s inverted. Mirror image.”

A chill runs down my spine. “You think they were trying to reverse something?”

“Or contain it.” Vex’s voice drops lower. “Remember what Tilly said about the pillar conducting energy? What if Madeline and her group weren’t just studying it? What if they were trying to strengthen the containment? The curse.”

“And it backfired,” I finish.

The sound of footsteps makes us both freeze. Professor Ward appears again, this time carrying a dusty tome.

“You boys might find this interesting,” she says, placing the book on our table. “Observatory records from 1923. Quite a lot of unusual stellar activity that year.” She adjusts her glasses again, and her rheumy eyes suddenly turn sharp. “Very similar to what we’ve been seeing lately.”

Before we can respond, she’s gone again, leaving us with the astronomical records.

“Okay, she definitely knows something,” I mutter, opening the book. A thought hits me. “Vex, what if Madeline wasn’t trying to strengthen the containment? What if she was trying to understand it? To figure out what happens when it fails?”

“And left the journal for whoever came next,” he says slowly. “Left it for whoever managed to find it next. Us.”

“We need to talk to the others,” I say, gathering everything up.

A feeling of unease skitters down my spine, and I look over my shoulder to see who is looking at me. But I see nothing. That doesn’t mean something isn’t there, though. Something that’s been waiting a very long time for all these pieces to come together.

I just hope we figure out the puzzle before it’s too late, because whatever Madeline Cooper discovered down in those tunnels, whatever she saw that changed her, it’s happening again.

Only this time, we have what everyone else didn’t.

Matilda.

How that is going to play out is an unknown, and that makes me seriously worried.