“I wonder what’s taking him so long. Did he get caught already?” Lauren looked over at her watch; Troy had yet to return. She took a peek out of the windows to see Streterra from afar, wondering when and if the doors would ever open up. Should she go over there and help? No, that would give a lot away.

Just as she grew doubtful, the front doors to the monster school swung open as a shadowed man in a magician’s outfit rushed outside. He looked around for anyone else nearby before heading off for the big blue building a significant distance from the school, which was also next to the big pink building.

Lauren closed the windows and shut the blinds as she went over to relax on a lime green chair and footrest, knowing that she wouldn’t have to wait much longer. It was easy for Lauren to sneak into the boy’s dorm without getting spotted. She smiled as she thought,

If Troy had to hide in the girl’s dorm, it might not have gone over so well.

Lauren wanted some away time for a bit. The room had a blue coat rack that looked like a lamp, a green lava lamp, some black dumbbells and other exercising equipment, and a firm bed with a red blanket placed on top of it. She could tell it was Troy’s room instantly.

Sometime later, the door opened, and a man in shadows entered the room.

“I have arrived at last.”

“What took you so long?” Lauren complained.

The man uncloaked himself. “Took me a while to find it and also had to be sure nobody spotted me.” Troy went over to turn on the lights.

“Nobody saw you with that book, right?” Lauren stood up from her seat to examine the book.

“Nope, as if I’d let anything like that happen.”

“Good work, Troy, let’s see it then.” He gave her the black spell book with purple streaks surrounding it; the book title said: ‘Hysteria, Codex of Darkness.’

Lauren took out another book called ‘Blood at the Ocean’ to compare and contrast the two, looking at the front and back of both covers. “This is fascinating, so we found both of the journals he made.”

“Yeah. However, there is a catch to using these spells...” Troy started.

“You mean you tested one out already?” Lauren asked.

“These spells only last for a short while, so we need to make use of it while we can...”

“Is that so?” Lauren muttered.

“But don’t you see?” Troy lightened up, “This is great! Our efforts, all these years, didn’t go to waste at all!”

“That is great to hear, but...” Lauren looked down at the floor with the two books in hand.

“What’s wrong?” Troy asked.

“Oh, nothing, it’s just... do you think they’d be proud of—?”

“We’re doing this for a good cause.” Troy placed his hand on her shoulder to reassure her. “Don’t worry; we will get our revenge. I promise you; they will pay for their insolence.”

Lauren stayed speechless for a short time; she’d never seen him this upset since that day when they met. “I... I already know that you dunce.” Her words slipped out of her tongue.

“Great to see that you’re back in reality,” Troy chirped. “Now, let’s get to practicing.”

“But you go first and demonstrate, so I don’t get hurt, in case a spell doesn’t work out well...”

“Certainly.”