19. Alex

19 ALEX

“I miss the days when our most rebellious act was egging the next-door neighbors,” Laylen states as we hurry across the dark parking lot and head for the academy.

It’s late enough that the only people here should be security and a few professors who like to linger around after hours. I’ve heard rumors that a group of professors hang out to drink and smoke. But those could just be rumors.

“We got busted when we did that,” I remind him as I draw the hood of my jacket over my head.

Laylen does the same thing. “I know. And that proves my point—we suck at being sneaky.”

We reach the bottom of the stairs that lead to the castle’s entrance. Crickets are chirping in the distance, but that’s the only noise that dances through the night. A few lights on the upper floor pierce the darkness and offer a warning that people are still here.

“We were ten then; we’ve gotten better.” I jog up the stairs, and he rushes after me.

“Have we?” he asks as we stop in front of the double doors.

“I guess we’re about to find out.” Holding my breath, I gradually open the door to avoid making noise. “Remember, keep your head down. That way, if the cameras pick us up, our faces can’t be seen. I’ll try to get the footage erased, but it’s better to be on the safe side.”

He nods as I slip inside the building then grabs the door and hurries in before letting it close by itself.

Since almost every light is off, it’s hard to see as we make our way down the hallways. Nevertheless, we manage to get to the professor’s office without any mishaps. I’m not about to relax, though, especially when I go to pull the door open.

“Dammit, I forgot we locked it,” I mumble as I dig my pocketknife out of my pocket then crouch down in front of the lock and stick the blade in it.

“Can you pick it?” Laylen asks, standing stiffly beside me as he looks left and right.

“I don’t know.” I wiggle the knife around. “Turn on the flashlight on your phone. I can’t see.”

“If I do that, we’ll be spotted more easily.”

“It’s a risk we’re going to have to take.”

He curses me from under his breath as he snatches his phone from his jacket pocket. He shines the light on the lock and, within a few seconds, the door is open and we’re sneaking inside.

I shut the door behind us and lock it. Then, keeping my head low, I grab a chair and drag it over to the corner. I use that as a stool so that I can reach the security camera and disconnect it.

“How long do you think it’ll take for security to notice it’s down?” Laylen asks as he pulls back the hood of his jacket.

“Probably a while since they haven’t noticed that.” I point at Professor G.’s lifeless body, still hunched over his desk. It’s starting to smell like rotten flesh.

I tug the collar of my shirt over my nose to avoid breathing in the stench.

“Yeah, good point.” Laylen pulls a face at the body. His flashlight has remained on, and he begins shining it around the room. “What are we even looking for?”

I hop off the chair. “I’m not sure. Something that’ll help us figure out why anyone would want Professor G. dead. If we can figure out the why, then maybe we can figure out the who.”

“You mean, who possessed Gemma’s dad?” he asks as he wanders over to a bookshelf.

“That’s the plan.” I start roaming around the narrow space, digging my gloves out of my pocket. “Don’t forget to put your gloves on. They could bring a witch in to search for fingerprints.”

He does as I instruct, and we spend the next handful of minutes ransacking the office, looking through desk drawers, tossing books off of shelves, rummaging through file cabinets. By the time we’re done, the place is a mess—papers all over the floor, along with books, pencils, files, etc. And we have absolutely nothing.

“There has to be something in here.” I scratch my head. “How can there not be a single clue as to why someone would murder this guy?”

Laylen has a bottle of whiskey in his hand that he stole from the professor’s desk. “Evidence may have been here at one point, but it doesn’t seem like it is anymore.” He untwists the cap and takes a swig.

“Bro, you’re drinking a dead guy’s whiskey,” I say, a little grossed out.

He shrugs then wipes his lips with the sleeve of his hoodie. “He’s not going to drink it.” He offers me the bottle.

While I’m grossed out, I’m also anxious as fuck, so I take a drink, set the bottle down, sink down onto the edge of desk, cross my arms, and think. “There has to be something in here.” I scan the room again, looking for anything. My gaze ends up landing on the single book that remains on the bookshelf. “Why’d you leave one book on the shelf?”

Laylen takes another drink of the whiskey. “It was stuck. I yanked on it a ton of times, but it wouldn’t budge.”

I stand up, hurry to the shelf, and yank on it. When it doesn’t move, I slip my fingers behind it and feel around until— click . “Jackpot.” The book angles forward at the same time the bookshelf shifts, unlocking a secret passage hidden behind it.

“Dude, I pulled on that thing so hard. How the heck did you get it to move?” Laylen asks as he steps up beside me.

I shift the shelf and glide it to the side, opening the entrance to the secret passage all the way. “There was a little latch behind it.” The passageway is a narrow, dark tunnel that leads to who knows where? “Shine the light down in there.” With my eyes trained on the passageway, I crouch down to withdraw my dagger from my ankle holster.

Laylen shines the light down the tunnel, revealing cement walls and a dirt floor that angles downward. “It looks like it goes beneath the school.”

I nod in agreement then slide my foot forward.

But Laylen places a hand on my shoulder. “What if whatever killed Professor G. is down there?”

“There’s no way. Not when the only way in here is from the side we’re going in. And it was locked.” I take another step forward.

With a begrudging exhale, he follows behind me.

The deeper we get, the chillier the air becomes. Water starts dripping through the cracks in the walls and ceiling.

“I feel like we’ve entered the underworld,” Laylen grumbles.

“It really does,” I agree as I walk with my knife poised in front of me. “It feels like it’s endless.”

Just as I say it, I feel a zap through my body. It’s not like the electric current I experience whenever I’m close to Gemma. It’s sharper but, at the same time, has a similar-like quality to it.

“There’s something down here.” I quicken my strides.

“Wait up.” He jogs after me. “What the heck is the rush?”

My mind goes back to when Gemma told us about the machine that’s in my father’s basement. She mentioned that she was drawn to it before she could even see it. The connection flowing through my body right now feels just like how she described it, almost like it’s whispering for me to get to it.

“It’s …” My words fade as I reach the end of the tunnel. What’s in front of me is both awe-striking and terrifying.

“What the hell is that thing?” Laylen asks as he slows to a stop beside me.

The iridescent glow of the machine reflects across his face, highlighting the worry there.

The machine resembles the one Gemma and I entered in class, except this one is slightly different. It’s framed with metal and has a visible electric current that zaps and cracks as it seemingly charges.

“I’m not sure. Hold on.” Grabbing my phone from my pocket, I snap a photo of it then send it to Gemma.

Laylen watches from over my shoulder. “You want to see if it’s the same thing as what’s in your dad’s basement?”

“Yep.”

My phone pings with a message.

Pretty Violet Eyes: Yeah, that looks exactly the same as what I saw. Where the heck is it? It looks like you’re in a tunnel.

Me: We are. There was a secret passage in Professor G.’s office. Is everything going okay with you guys?

Pretty Violet Eyes: Well, Henry showed up here, and he’s possessed, so we knocked him out and locked him in the bathroom with a binding spell. The creature that is possessing him is a total dick.

“She says it so casually.” Laylen shakes his head as he reads the messages. “She’s so weird.”

“She is, but I like that about her.”

“Me, too.”

Me: Are you guys okay?

Pretty Violet Eyes: Yeah, we have it totally under control. Are you guys okay?

Me: Yeah, we’re just going to try to figure out what this machine is, and then we’ll be back.

Pretty Violet Eyes: Please be careful.

Me: You guys, too.

I pocket my phone then study the machine.

“So, pretty violet eyes, huh?” Laylen teases after a beat of silence ticks by.

I give a half-shrug. “It’s fitting.”

“When are you going to tell her you’ve been in love with her for a while now?”

“I never said I love her.”

“You never said you didn’t.”

I clear my throat. Emotions really aren’t my thing. “Can we focus on figuring this out?” I swing my arm in the direction of the machine. That’s when a lightning bolt of energy zaps out of it, wrapping around my wrist and jerking me forward.

Laylen shouts, but it’s too late. I’m already being pulled into the light.

Nothing but light.

Just like the dreams I’ve had for years.