Bridget stared at her ceiling in distraught and got lost in thought.

Ugh, first Benjamin, then Sebastian, and now Clause too? Just what is going on here? Why is everyone disappearing suddenly? Will Lauren be next? Is there something going on that I'm not aware of? I have to sort this out fast. I know nothing good will come out of just lying here in my room doing nothing!

She stretched her arms and got out of bed.

Bridget peeked out of her door and glanced from both sides. Nobody in sight at the moment. She slowly closed the door and snuck around the hallway to leave her dorm and get to the monster school. She might know where to search for the others and the reason behind their disappearances.

Bridget finally made it to the gates of the magic school: Streterra. It felt eerily quiet and dark, with the school closed and empty. She leaned over to push the spider gate, and to her surprise, the gates opened.

Good thing the gates are already open for me. That seems a little too suspicious. I wonder why the people working here forgot to lock this. Oh well, can't stand here too long, or I'll get caught...

.-.-.-.

As Bridget walked down the hallway, it occurred to her she never thought about how different it was when no one was around, and in complete darkness with a few lights flickered on. It felt like she was somewhere else away from her school. Just as the uneasiness got to her, she came across the grand doors that led to the Mirage Library.

She stepped closer and reached for the doorknobs; a faint noise came from the other side of the door. Bridget looked down and found that a slight crack had already opened the door.

Books and papers scattered everywhere in the library, bookshelves toppled onto tables, and all of them were out of place! Sparks of what seemed to be magic flew about.

One bookshelf shook and slid to the side, revealing a secret passage. A person in a dark cloak came out with a spell book in one hand and a conjuring spell sphere in the other.

"So, this is the power that they hid away all those years ago..." The cloaked one muttered to himself. "If this is the one, then I can use powerful spells beyond imagination!"

What...? Bridget shook her head, confused as she tried to listen in without getting spotted. Was this a good idea, after all? She couldn't make out who was speaking softly to themselves. The person uncloaked himself. Troy? What's he doing here!?

Troy flipped through some pages in a black book with a purple pentagram on the cover until he found one he was content with and placed the book on the table. He reached into his pockets and pulled out a purple hat, placing it on top of the book's page. He chanted incomprehensible words resulting in the other books surrounding him, rising and circling his body.

He closed the book, with the hat still inside, as it glowed ominously with lightning shooting out. He shut his eyes and raised his arms as high as he could and threw the book into the air.

Bridget wiped her eyes as the smoke subsided, but when she tried to get a better view of what laid within, she couldn't believe her eyes. Troy and the book disappeared from her sights! Was her mind playing tricks on her? Even though he wasn't there anymore, she could still hear him talking to himself.

"No way, it worked. I can't believe it! It's just like the old man said, to think they would try to hide it from us until now. Oh man, I can't wait to tell my boss about this.

With this book in our possession, we can do anything we want, and perform any spell we please! Including..."

Oh no, I need to tell someone about this! Bridget glanced at the corridors in a panic.

The library doors closed in on itself. Bridget stepped back and rushed off as a dark shadow slowly formed from within the cracks at the bottom of the door, moving across the floor. It shot out quick as lightning, zigzagging until it had caught up with Bridget, stopping right at her feet.

The shadow rose and took the form of one of her classmates, Benjamin. Despite the similar appearance, something about this version did not look right, and she wasn't sure what it was. The different colored hats? The voice? The eye color?

"Hey there, you didn't happen upon the library by any chance, did you?" He asked.

"Ah!" Bridget exclaimed, then stammered. "Look, I don't know what you're talking about Troy- I mean..."

"You're a horrible liar, aren't you?"

"So what if I know? What are you up to?"

"Tell you what, if you keep this a secret between us..."

"I refuse; absolutely not!" Bridget thundered quickly.

"I didn't finish. If you promise not to tell any soul about this, then I will spare you."

"What if I still say no? What will you do about it?"

And just like that, Troy, disguised as Benjamin, threw dark matter orbs at her. Bridget dodged some of them. However, a force hit her from behind, causing her to tumble across the floor. He leaped into the air and went to punch at her, but she blocked him with her hand.

Troy tried to go for another hit, but Bridget blocked that too and pushed him away while trying to regain her composure.

He sprayed a sickly colored mist in her direction. Bridget crouched onto the floor, held her nose, and rolled away from it until she hit a wall.

She got up and noticed him running on the wall, defying gravity. She used an ice spear and propelled it like a missile. Troy threw down some lightning grenades that caused the ice missiles to explode, making the shattered fragments fly across the room.

Bridget encased herself in a bubble-like shield to prevent herself from getting encased and closes her eyes. Just when she thought the ruckus had stopped, Troy spewed out shadow mines onto the floor, prompting her to back up against the wall.

Troy created a spiked ball and threw it over like he would throw a bowling ball. Bridget fired a magic projectile at it, but it continued to roll as if nothing happened. The ball went over the mines, causing a chain reaction as they exploded into the shadowy fog.

She jumped out of the way, trying not to get hit by the spike ball, but noticed the fog catching up to her. Bridget covered her mouth while coughing, trying not to breathe in the mist as she squinted her eyes, trying to see where he went and how she could find the exit. Suddenly, Bridget felt something grab her by the feet and found herself pinned to the floor. She looked down as thorny vines tangled around them her legs.

As a purple light headed toward her, Bridget prepared a magical barrier to protect herself from the incoming laser attack with one hand and tried to fend off the vines by freezing them with the other side. The vines froze over and broke into glittered fragments as Bridget attempted to escape.

She had to tell somebody, anybody, about this imposter on the loose. Troy threw some heat-seeking orbs down on the ground near her to trap her. He lured Bridget inside, holding her tightly as he dragged her down into the dark void.

"Why?" Bridget cried as she tried to break it off and pull herself out using energy magic. "Why are you doing this, Troy?"

"It doesn't matter; you wouldn't understand, but don't fret, you'll join the others soon enough..." As the spell he cast on himself depleted, Troy grabbed the cloak and covered himself with it, leaving her to fall into the darkness.

The void disappeared without a trace, as a shadow of another man, witnessing the whole thing, rushed over to save Bridget, but was too late to do anything about it.

He pounded his fist on the floor as his body quivered in silence.