Chapter 3 (A witch's bargain)

"He's a ghost,"

"What do you mean he's a ghost?" Mira asked, looking bemused,

"Mira, you have been hunted by those monsters, while I... have been hunted by him. I can't believe you guys can see him," Phoebe confessed.

Mira felt bad because she had been worrying about her own problems but had never thought that her friends had problems of their own that they were hiding from her, while she always bugged them with hers.

"His always in my dreams and also in my reality, but I usually see him in mirrors but now he's now able to walk freely," Phoebe explained, Summer turned towards his direction but he was no longer sitting there, she didn't say anything about it so Phoebe wouldn't panic,

The only sound that could be heard at the table was the scraping of cutlery against plates."We should go, we don't want to be late for class," Summer said and they all agreed, they packed their belongings and exited the cafeteria with a lot of questions on their minds.

After class, the three stood in an empty room together, discussing how they would go about it with Mira and Mrs. Grace. They all looked worried, but Mira didn't want them to; she wanted to do this on her own and not get her friends involved in her problem.

"Don't worry, I'll be back, and after all, I'm still on school grounds," Mira assured her friends, but they refused to let go.

"Okay, Mira "But if anything—I mean anything—goes wrong, just scream, and I promise I'm going to kill someone," Summer promised Mira with all seriousness.

"I will," Mira said, hugging both her friends before leaving; if someone had seen them, they would have thought that Mira was leaving for another continent.

But before Mira could leave Summer, yelled, "Do not eat or drink anything she gives you; it might be poisoned or a potion, and please be careful."

Mira left for Mrs. Grace's office with a racing heart. Mira was dragging her legs forward as if they were blocks of cement; the closer Mira got, the colder her feet and palms became. Finally, Mira had made it to Mrs. Grace's office. She took a couple of deep breaths in order to calm her racing heart, and the moment Mira raised her hand to touch the doorknob, the door opened, startling Mira half to death.

Slowly, Mira walked into the office. Warning bells rang in her head, telling her to flee for her life, but her legs had minds of their own. Mira didn't notice Mrs. Grace on her chair until the windows opened and a slight rush of wind blew in, and then the door slammed shut, almost making Mira pee in her pants; she looked around to see what it was, but it was nothing, and when she faced the chair again, she saw Mrs. Grace starting right at her,

Mira's face was as pale as paper, but she gathered her remaining courage and spoke. "You called for me," Mira said, raising her chin to make eye contact with Mrs. Grace.

"Indeed, I did, sit," Mrs. Grace commanded, pointing to a chair opposite hers. Mira hesitantly took a seat, looking out for anything suspicious.

"What's wrong? Why is your heart beating so loudly?" "Are you scared?" Mrs. Grace said, leaning closer to Mira with a smile on her face,

"Not at all, Mrs. Grace,"

"Good, because it would be a shame if someone like you was afraid of someone like me," Mrs. Grace said, standing up from her seat. She went to the mini fridge and brought out two bottles of water. "Take this; it would calm your racing heart down," Mrs. Grace said, handing Mira a bottle of cold water.

"Thank you," Mira said.

"I know you might be wondering why I called you here in private," Mrs. Grace said, gulping a mouthful of water.

"Yes, I am," Mira was becoming irritated with all of the questioning and answering.

"Good, let's go straight to the point; I want the grimoire, the one Phoebe has," Mrs. Grace said, leaning her back on the chair rest, gazing at Mira who was in shock. Mira thought of many things she wanted to do to her, but never did she think she wanted the grimoire. The main question that ran through her mind was, "How did she know?"

"I don't understand what you mean; what is a grimoire?" Mira played dumb to see if Mrs. Grace really knows that the grimoire is with her or if she was just making assumptions.

"And also, I'm not a witch to will it, I'm just a human. If you're looking for your lost book, go and ask other witches," Mira said, gathering all her strength for that lie. She didn't want anything, not even her heartbeat, to give her away. After saying that, the room turned silent and cold, and the only sound that could be heard was her heavy breathing.

"Mira, do I appear stupid to you? You turned out to be a good lie, but you see, I can see through your lies, so if you know what's good for you and your friends, give me the grimoire, or else..."

"Or else what," Mira interrupted, catching Mrs. Grace off guard, "what will you do, kill us or fail us in class, tell me?"Mira was getting angrier at Mrs. Grace's treatment; the fact that she was more human than her friends didn't give anyone the right to step on her.

"Haha," Mrs. Grace chuckled, almost humanly, "I've never seen such fire in your eye, Mira, and no, I won't kill you or your friends, and I also won't fail you, but I might expose you and your friends' secrets. I'll tell the high house that Summer is a lycan and also a demon and that Phoebe is also a half-vampire, half-demon who is holding the most powerful book on the planet and I know you know what would happen if that happens,"

Mira was shocked to the core. How did she find out, and what other things would she tell them to do in the future? Mira didn't know how to react to her current situation.

"You must be wondering how I found out about this. you girls were so careful, so how, hahaha."Mrs. Grace laughed maniacally as she walked over to Mira and sat on the table near where Mira sat, wanting to touch Mira on the face but Mira moved away.

"Tell me, Mrs. Grace, how did you come to know about us?"

"I'm a witch, and I've lived long enough to know the temper of a Lycan and the pride of a witch, your three unusual scents, and the grimoire energy that lingers around you three; I promise to keep my mouth shut only if you give me what I want."

Mira was shocked to hear what she said. What did she mean by a demon? Were she and her friends one? People always question why Mira and her friends' scents are so faint, but they never have the answer to it. Mira shook her head. This must be a trick or something, but she had to be patient because her friends' lives were at stake. "I was thought never to fall for the promises of a dark which," Mira said, dropping the bottle of water on the table.

"I don't care if you trust me or not, all I want is the grimoire. I'm giving you two days, and after those two days, I want to see the grimoire, or else..., you may leave and tell your friends to do the same." Mira slowly rose from her chair and exited the office, thinking about what Mrs. Grace wanted with the grimoire; the grimoire was indeed the most powerful book ever written, and the consequences of it falling into the wrong hands were diabolical; Mira resolved not to give the grimoire to Mrs. Grace no matter what.

The moment Mira stepped into the classroom, Summer ran towards her, like a mother hen,

"What happened in there?" Summer asked with an eyeful of concern.

Mira just nodded her head at Summer with a gaze telling her she'll tell them all about it when they get home. Mira looked at Phoebe, who had not left her seat, wondering why she looked upset. Mira didn't dwell on the matter for long as she had more important things to do. "Let's go, Mrs. Grace has dismissed you guys,"

"Thank God, I thought I'd go insane here; how do people manage to survive this for a month?" Summer blabbered.

They packed their belongings and were soon on their way; they had to walk home because they had missed the bus, and they couldn't wait for the next one because they had multiple part-time jobs. They talked the entire way back to their little houses, and Mira wasn't bothered by the monsters she saw along the way; she was just focused on her friends. They never seemed to run out of things to talk about, but Mira was still curious about Phoebe and why she had been given the cold shoulder.

They all went to freshen up as soon as they got home, Phoebe warmed up the leftovers in the fridge, they ate their lunch, and then they all went to work. All of them having numerous thoughts in their minds,