Page 85 of Monster's Baby

“I can’t imagine not being able to access my magic,” I said, sitting in it.“I’m sorry you had to experience that, and I look forward to hearing the full story after I figure out which one is Aiden.”

“I will tell you everything,” the professor promised.

I breathed in and out slowly, trying to stay calm.So much information had just been thrown at me that it was difficult at first, but eventually, I sank into my mind palace.

I had been in a few others’ brains here at school, hunting for suppressed memories.Everyone was different.There had been a girl who had memory stones at the bottom of a lake.My favorite had been Clarissa’s, which had been a forest, with each tree representing a memory.

Mine was a library.

I had gotten the idea from the school’s librarian, Mr.Brecken, the previous year, when he’d shown me how to watch a book replay its contents.

My library, on the outside, looked like Blackthorn Academy.On the inside, nearly every available space was filled with books.

Each day was an individual book, and every night, I could come into the library and organize my thoughts; copying spells, potions, and events into separate books for each.I had books on each of my friends, too, with conversations we’d had within their pages.

I hadn’t organized my thoughts in a while, though.Not since the beginning of the school year.I’d been so caught up with the Magical Olympics and taking care of a baby that I’d fallen asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

I didn’t have to go far for the recent events.I knew exactly where to look, and opened the book I chose on the podium that appeared beside me.I started at the end of the book, flipping back a few pages to when I was at the top of the stairs, and the description within the book came to life above the pages.

I watched the fight again, but it was even more difficult in miniature.

“I’m going to try something else,” I murmured out loud.

“You’re doing just fine.”Professor Reynolds’s voice filtered into my subconscious.

It was nice to have his confidence bolstering me.

“I’m going to get my memory to recreate the scene for me,” I said, picking up the book in my mind and taking it with me into a new room I created in the middle of the foyer wall.

One of the benefits of this library not existing in real life was that I wasn’t bound by the constraints of physics.The rooms could overlap if I wanted the space.

This new room was completely empty.

I set the book down in the center, and made the image expand to fill the space around me.Now, I was standing in the middle of the action.I could get up close to the two Aidens, examine their facial expressions at close quarters.

Once they started throwing spells around, I had to pause the action and slow it down, though.

That helped, thankfully.

Originally, I had thought that the Aiden at the doorway was the real one; that he was stopping the fake one from leaving.

But I had never seen such a cruel expression of anger on Aiden’s face.

Even with his family, when he’d been nearly livid with anger, he hadn’t twisted his features up into this vicious mask.

I shivered.

“This must be the shapeshifter,” I said.

I had to continue watching, to make absolutely certain.

I now noticed more differences between the two.They had both been casting spells furiously, but with the speed slowed down, I could see that the doorway-Aiden was primarily casting offensive spells, and dangerous ones at that.The Aiden in the middle of the room was defending, preventing spells from doing damage or redirecting them away from me.Every once in a while, he would send a spell at the door-Aiden, but it was always a containment spell, not an attacking one.

I was even more certain of my decision by this point, but they moved, and I hadn’t seen which was which.

Or had I?

It was possible my subconscioushadseen their movement while my main focus had been on getting down the stairs.

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