Once I was sure my father had left the house, I checked to make sure my mother and Rose were still asleep.
Without wasting time, and knowing I could have very little of it, I rushed off to my father's study.
I can't believe it.
I never thought Dad could be involved.
But he knows something, and based on that conversation, he isn't just going to tell me.
I'm not stupid, I know this is dangerous. But what am I supposed to do? The vampires, Ian, he could come back and kill me. Or Rose.
And if there are more, and I'm clueless, I'm just waiting to die at that point.
The magic, he knew about that, too.
He mentioned Misty, Jesse's mom.
How many witches are there?
Who else knows?
I couldn't open the desk drawers fast enough. Most of the contents were his actual work documents, files on the company employees, IT stuff. I tried not to make much of a mess as I flipped through the folders.
After finding nothing, I opened the laptop on top of the desk. It was password protected, and I cursed under my breath as I began typing in whatever I could think of. Birthday, address, wedding date, my birthday, Rose's birthday, none of the numbers connected. Eventually I locked myself out.
As I sat there in the chair, I thought about what to do next. The room was mostly empty, just a desk and a bookshelf. That was my other option.
The bookshelf was littered with books of all kinds. It might have taken me hours to search through all of them. But there was a section that stood out to me where every book was without words on the spine. My guess was that if anything on the shelf held a clue, it would be found in one of those books.
About a quarter of the way through the section, my frustration began to sink in.
There was nothing so far, and I had been searching the room for an hour. My questions were looking like they'd remain unanswered.
Though it was Monday, my father often came home early, as he could do most of his work from home. I could be running out of time. At this point, he could walk in at any moment.
And it was a race against the clock for when my mother or Rose awoke. They were not going to be happy with any answer I gave them for snooping through the office.
Still, I couldn't stop now, when I had found nothing of value and had been unable to get into the laptop. I had to at least find something.
About ten minutes later, I opened a book that looked older than the rest, the cover having been worn down to the point you couldn't read it.
I felt the same kind of energy emanating off of it, the kind I had experienced in my palms and seen Jesse conjure.
The book felt light despite the thickness, and was rough like it had been wet before. The corners had barely any color, the rest a faded red.
This one.
Upon opening it, I noticed the center of the pages hollowed out, replaced by a singular key.
The silver key was small, cut in an unusual shape, and had no numbers on the top like the rest of my father's set. It appeared to have been shaved off, sharp to touch and hard to remove. It was as if it were glued to the back cover.
Several minutes of prying at it later, I retrieved it. I shut the book, placing it back on the shelf.
Now what does it go to?
It had to have been important to be sealed away. There was no doubt in my mind that something else in the study fit the cut, it was just a matter of finding it.
None of the desk drawers had been locked, and being that the room had little in it, I kept my eyes on the shelf. I studied the wood like I had carved it, brushing my hands across the surface as I searched for anything out of the ordinary.
I reached the end of the shelf, and a familiar, electric feeling summoned my attention. I stared at the wood, taking into account that it seemed slightly different in pattern than the rest of the shelf.
I furrowed my brows as I prodded at it, pulling off a piece of laminate to reveal a keyhole. I held the key to it, confirming the match.
I sighed as I thought about what exactly I was doing.
What will I find?
Is it worth all this trouble? What if it's something I don't want to know?
No, I've come this far. I'm too invested. Why hesitate now?
I put the key in and, as expected, it fit perfectly. I turned it cautiously, feeling the shelf move as I did so. The front of the shelf popped open, revealing a single box inside, about the size of a shoe box.
I bent down and pulled it out, feeling the weight. It wasn't heavy, but it wasn't light. I tried to pull it open, but I thought it might be locked.
I scanned the front for a moment, but heard shuffling in the room nearby. I panicked, putting the box under my arm and locking the shelf once more. I pulled the laminate back over it, smoothing it down to appear untouched.
I then darted across the room, rushing to the childhood bedroom and quietly shutting the door.
I sat in front of the door as my eyes glossed over the box. I touched the front and pulled back immediately with a gasp.
The pulsing of energy was stronger, so strong it felt like a static shock. No doubt there was a lock there, of some kind.
I touched it again, peeling away paint that had been covering it. It hurt my hand a bit, but that didn't deter me. Once I'd uncovered it, I saw a shape I'd seen before.
It was cut for a large diamond, two on the sides, a ring. I new exactly what ring it was just by looking at it.
My mother's wedding ring.