The Book of Shadows

“What in the world were you thinking?” Andi said as soon as she walked through the door.

“I was thinking that Heim wasn’t leaving any time soon. I was thinking that he didn’t need to come inside to see all of this and start asking questions about it,” Beatrice said, waving over the strewn books thrown about the room. “I was also thinking that it would be best for me not to be involved in whatever was going on until we figured out exactly what it is that is going on.”

“You trying to go for deniability here?” Andi shot back.

“Not really,” Beatrice denied. “How I see it is that there are only two of us we know about. If one of us gets tangled up in something, then the other one needs to be free of whatever it is. It’s not like we have a group we can count on right now. It’s only us.”

“Well. Have you found anything yet?” Andi asked, feeling foolish that she didn’t come up with anything Beatrice had said on her own.

“Nothing that seems to make sense,” Beatrice said, finally looking up from the book she was thumbing through. “But there has got to be something that helps in one of these books.”

“It’s going to be a long night,” Andi sighed. “I’ll make a pot of coffee.”

“I already did. It should be finishing up now,” Beatrice offered. “Hey, I may have actually had to produce some coffee for Heim,” Beatrice added when Andi shot her a look. Andi disappeared into the kitchen and reappeared with two mugs of coffee, handing one mug to Beatrice.

“This just feels off,” Andi commented while picking up one of the books and making herself comfortable in her normal chair.

”What now?” Beatrice asked before taking a sip of coffee.

“For years, I drank out of the same mugs and now they are just gone. It just feels wrong,” Andi said with a look of bewilderment. “It’s like the coffee even tastes different.”

“It’s all in your mind,” Beatrice said with almost a laugh. "Wait. Listen to this,” Beatrice continued, sitting straight up to read the entry out loud.

“Years ago, there was a great sleep that took place. The different clans rested, resulting in their sagas going dormant and turned into legends that were thought of as old wise tales. Some clans rebelled in protest but were quickly bound never to practice again. Clans disbursed soon after and vowed to keep the secret within their ranks, afraid the gatekeeper would be awakened one day and the secrets of old would be lost, unable to protect their respective clans.”

“That really doesn’t help that much,” Andi mused. "It would also have helped if your grandmother had numbered or dated these. We don’t even know how long ago the ‘great sleep’ took place or even if we are researching the books in the right order.”

“She did put in a notation that it was told to her by an elder,” Beatrice said. “And at least it answers the question of why we felt the need not to reveal our family's secrets.”

“Clans?” Andi mused. That would indicate others. How many others are there?” Beatrice shrugged her shoulders.

“Refill?” Beatrice motioned to the mug. Andi handed hers over, then switched the book out she was thumbing through for another one.

“Are you even reading them?” Beatrice inquired while returning Andi’s coffee mug.

“Nothing makes sense. The only thing it seems we are accomplishing here is gathering more questions than answers,” Andi declared, getting up. She walked to her desk and retrieved a notebook. Placing it on the desk, she scribbled down something before handing it to Beatrice.

“What is this for?” Beatrice asked.

“We need to put all of this in some kind of order. I started with things that we needed to find out the meaning of,” Andi explained.

“Maye?” Beatrice questioned.

“I came across a passage that said “Beware of the Maye,” Andi answered. “What the hell is a Maye?” Beatrice picked her phone up and started searching.

“It says here it means May,” Beatrice quizzically answered. “As in the mouth of May.”

“That can’t be right,” the frustration in Andi’s voice clear. “Beware of the mouth of May. It makes no sense. Try narrowing down the search to something specific.”

“Like what?” Beatrice said.

“Try Maye in witch craft... or Maye in mythology... or,” Andi paused, thinking.

“Here’s something. Oh boy,” Beatrice said, looking up from her phone. “This isn’t good. It mainly says...soul-eater”

“I don’t like the sound of that,” Andi added.

“Apparently, they can change your soul and make you evil, but they can also be a charmer and seducer,” Beatrice continued.

“Definitely beware of the Maye,” Andi repeated. “That is if the Maye is even still a thing.

“What makes you think the Maye is not still a thing?” Beatrice inquired.

“A couple of reasons,” Andi explained. “But the main reason is that everything seems so vague.”

“Well, we are here, so I’m into believing whatever these books mention is here also. I just wish we could find something about the crescent mark and what the gatekeeper means,” Beatrice said, exchanging her book for a larger one.

"I can’t argue with that,” Andi responded.

“What the...” Beatrice started thumbing through the pages.

“What?” Andi asked.

“This book is completely blank,” Beatrice said, flipping the book toward Andi as proof.

“What’s that?” Andi pointed toward the page. Beatrice looked at the book, then toward Andi again with a questioning stare. “The indention. Looks like something is etched on that page.”

“C...O...M,” Beatrice started tracing the indention while Andi grabbed her phone already thinking it would need to be searched. “P...A..R...U...I....T.”

“It says it’s Italian for reappear,” Andi read and hit the button for pronunciation. “Comparuit,” came from the speaker.

“Comparuit,” Beatrice repeated.

Beatrice dropped the book as a hush scream echoed through her head when the book started illuminating a white light.