Page 36 of Monster's Mystery

“We should probably head back,” Aiden said. He glared mildly at Chuck. “Unfortunately, we don’t get any more alone time.”

Chuck winced. “Sorry. I wasn’t expecting to find you. I just wanted to get away for a little bit.”

“It’s fine.” To Aiden, I suggested, “You can stay tonight again, if you want?”

“Yeah, all right,” Aiden replied, pretending indifference.

I took his hand and the three of us headed back to the portal.

“Hey, Chuck,” I asked while we waited in line behind the other students. “What was that package about?”

“Package?” he said, suddenly looking shifty. “What package?”

“In the woods the other night, you paid one of the townspeople for delivering a package.”

“It wasn’t me,” he said quickly.

“Oh, come on. I may have been busy, but I recognize you when I see you,” I scoffed.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said shortly, and pushed ahead in line, cutting off any further chance of interrogation.

“That was weird,” Aiden remarked.

“Agreed.” I furrowed my brow in thought. “I can’t imagine it being anything nefarious, though. He’s racist, but not evil.”

“You and I have very different definitions of evil,” Aiden muttered.

“You know what I mean.”

We stepped through the portal in the back of the statue, returning to the academy just in time for lunch.

We were all rather subdued at lunch, trying to figure out what avenue to search next. Or at least, that was whatIwas trying to decide. I wasn’t sure about my friends. Bruce, in particular, seemed troubled.

“I have to run,” I finally said after fifteen minutes of silent eating. “I need to look at the last few books for this Herbology essay. I feel like I’m so close to the truth.”

“Need any help?” Aiden asked.

“You’d just be a distraction.” I booped his nose. “A pleasant one, but a distraction nonetheless.”

“Guilty as charged.” He grinned at me. “Good luck.”

“Thanks.” I scooped up a last piece of watermelon with my fingers and popped it in my mouth, giving my friends a wave as I headed out of the cafeteria.

Instead of heading to the main part of the library, I decided to go to my ancestor’s hidden study room. Perhaps the portrait of my multiple times great-grandfather Darragh would have a suggestion.

To get to the hidden room, I needed to go through the restricted area, but with my TA’s pass from Professor Akhtar, I had no problems. The hidden passage in the back wall was right where I expected it to be found, and I passed multiple other hidden doors on the way to my own. I wondered if any of them belonged to students attending school right now, and if they even knew they were there. I hadn’t ever come across another student in the hidden corridor, and I’d only discovered it in my second year. For all I knew, there were multiple hidden corridors all along the walls of the restricted section. There wasn’t any way for me to find out, though. Not without potentially giving away a secret that had been passed down within families for generations.

I sighed with relief when I opened the Doyle study, the familiar odor of old books filling my nostrils.

“Siobhan!” greeted the portrait. “Welcome back!”

“Hello, Darragh,” I replied, happy to see him. I would miss him when I left school. “I’m not here for a pleasant chat, unfortunately. I’ve got class in twenty minutes.”

Darragh leaned forward attentively. “What’s on your mind, child?”

“The dark forest is leaching magic. I was wondering if you’d ever heard of that happening.”

“Interesting.” He stroked his beard. “Leaching to where?”

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