Fina opened the diary as they got into their room. She had had to wake the sleepy heads up when it was getting too late. Zora had woken up again after a bad dream and had decided not to sleep again.
Both were staring at the diary as if they have never seen one before.
"Do you think it's from a student of Elfina?" Zo asked as she adjusted her glasses.
"I guess so. Carly Brooklyn. I don't know"
"Maybe we should open it to find out" Zora said
Fina untied the rope binding the leather to its cover and opened it.
Carly Brooklyn
1900
Fina gasped.
"1900?" She asked in surprise.
The diary has a yellow faded color and smelled of dust.
Fina turned another page and frowned suddenly.
"What? What is it?" Zora asked
"The pages are blank" She replied as she browsed through the pages.
Zora grabbed the diary from her and adjusted her glasses.
"That's weird. I was getting very excited"
"I will return it back to the shelves tomorrow" Fina said and stretched to put the diary on the table.
As she did so, the diary fell from her hand and hit the floor.
"Maybe we should try to open it with a spell. Magic" Zora suggested as Fina bent to pick up the diary only to hit the glass cup filled with water on the table which fell to the floor and splashed on the diary.
"Oh, no, no, no. I have to return this back" Fina said
"If you don't find this question stupid, whoever owns that diary is probably ten feet in the ground now"
"You know~ wait. Zo, get me some water" Fina said as she saw a faint ink where the water had splashed unto.
"What? Are you thirsty?"
"No. I think it's an invisible ink"
"That's not water, Fina. That's soda with lime"
Fina gave her a 'I dare you to continue look' and she shut up, grumbled and walked to their room to get the drink.
"Here" Zo said
Fina unscrewed the cap and poured it at the tips of the pages. The invisible ink appeared fast and became clear.
She opened the first page and saw a diagram.
"What's that?" Zo asked, drawing more closer beside her.
"I think it's a symbol of something" Fina answered
The symbol showed a representation of a star shaped heptagon with a ruby in the midst.
"I have never seen it before" Zora said
Fina opened the next page and another symbol came into view.
"That's an ivy. They are poisonous plants" Zora said
Another page showed a book. A very strange book with a large opened red eye. Fina dropped the book on the floor and tried to calm herself.
"That is one scary book" She said
"Don't be such a wimp" Zora said as she picked up the diary. "I will stop them from getting it. Till death claimed me. They will never get it"
"That sounds pretty much like anger" Fina said
"Yeah. I think you should see this"
Zora showed her a picture of a spider spinning its victim into a cocoon.
"When James sucked the air out of Amber because she refused to be manipulated by him" Zora read "This is when the calm wave turned into a violent one. Three repeated deaths. One same goal. And it will all begin with a dream. Again. Until someone gets rid of the book. Permanently"
Fina went totally pale.
"Are you okay?" Zora asked
"I had a dream. That…that….of the spider. I mean dreams are just dreams but it is scary when it's related"
Zora shivered.
"Did she say anything about the book except for how it looked like?" Fina asked
Zora scrambled through blank pages until she finally got to the end.
"Tonight, It all ends. Tonight, I will destroy their cherished dream. Tonight, I will have the invisible coded book. Tonight,...we all die"
"That's it?" Fina asked
"How do you search for something invisible?" Zora asked
"The same way you feel things. The same way you feel air without seeing it." Fina replied
"Well, that's weird" Zora said
"Yeah. But I just had the feeling that the Rashford twins aren't lying. What if there are dark secrets?" Fina asked
"Elfina has been built for centuries. It will certainly reek of secrets. Every one has secrets but the in-depth of some are extremely greater." Zora said " You do know we have Zedler's class tomorrow?"
Fina groaned loudly.
"I don't ever want to wake up again" She said
"Zedler is scary" Zora said "But we must go to her class with a well rested face."
After hiding the diary in a safe place, they both went back to sleep.
*******
Mrs Knight delivered their rings in the morning before they went to class.
Zedler's class was a bit on the dark side. Dark stained glass. Dark chandeliers. Dark walls.
The students shivered in fear as they walked in. Zedler was sitting on a chair, gently stroking her Grey cat on the back.
"I deal with mystical creatures" Zedler said as a greeting to them all. "It's scary, wild and exciting"
She said with not a single hint of expression.
"There are some of you who are naturally born with powers. Others accumulate it. We use our powers sometimes as a defence and sometimes …..to destroy"
Her cat sneered at them all and hissed.
"Mystical creatures. You must have certainly heard of them before. There are some in Elfina and there are some outside the gates. In the foreign world. Creatures like the Basilisk which have a deadly venom and gazes lethally. Creatures like the Cockatrice which are part lion, part goat and part snake. This evil beasts are a natural in the world and may attack anytime."
Zedler paused suddenly.
"I will only teach you how to face the wilder animals, you learn the rest yourself"
She stood up and walked to the center of the class where she waved her book wand and a giant blue moving spiral appeared on the board.
"The spiral is a portal to the monster world. You have to be careful and send them back" Zedler said
She clapped her hands and a Gorgon appeared.
"You have to be quick. The spell word is Duvius. Duvius defeat monsters. As Mr Walker must have already told you, you shouldn't wave your wand like a drunkard but with a normal twists of the wrists. To top it off, you must know the name of the monsters you are dealing with. Believe me, it's extremely important. CMANTUSGORGONISDUVIUS"
The monster was snatched back into the monster spiral.
"When you are dealing with spells, you mustn't be too loud or too silent. It is certainly in between. Aries first. Talon Smith" Zedler called.
"What a she devil" Talon whispered to himself.
He cleared his throat but sweat beaded down his forehead as he stood at a distance in front of the spiral.
Talon clapped his hands and the monster appeared.
He rummaged through his brain for its name.
"Which monster has lots of snakes head?" Talon whispered to himself.
"Speed. And I forgot. They attacked after ten seconds" Zedler said
"What?!" Talon screamed "That was the most important!"