I turned to walk back home and started to cautiously climb down the jagged rocks. But something made me stop cold.

Anu had indeed become a monster. But how did she disappear? And how did her brother?

Also, how come Anu was a victim of the RUBY spell and not Akash? At least I didn't see that so far.

How come we were standing in front of the repair shop that day and nobody saw us?

I turned around and walked up to Esperanza's clinic again. I hid behind a tree and listened. I heard the loud, raspy voice of the guy who kicked up such a horrible row.

'This Amethyst. Name your price.'

My heart froze in my chest. No way. It was my only key to finding Anu. She can't do that!

'I already told you, sir. It's not for sale'

Good. Now he's in for a hard time.

'Woman it's you and three children and their father in a petty middle-class house. The price I'm offering you shall keep your grandchildren full and content'

'Indeed. But the trust of my clients is far more precious than your few million rupees. They come to me with hope and not whims in their heart'

How could she speak in such even tones? If I were her I'd have given him a black eye by now.

'Esperanza, you're making a mistake'

'In any case, I wish to be the one to pay for my own mistakes.'

'That's not very smart, Espie dear'

'You may save up your smartness for your descendants, Gustavo'

Well done, girl.

With that, the fatso walked out of the door mumbling expletives under his breath.

I hopped out from behind the tree.

'Esperanza! I had a few questions'

She got a terrible shock.

'Child, what is the meaning of hiding in trees like that? You gave me a fright!'

'Sorry. But may ask you a few things?'

'Yes?'

'How did Anu disappear into that pit in the ground?'

'It's something all magic victims can do and the person is transported to wherever the castor wishes. That's why I said you need to know who cast the spell on her'

'Is there anything I could refer to?'

'I think so. You come with me. Thank goodness you waited. That awful Gustavo simply barged in here like he owned the place. Stupid lout'

I followed her back into the house. She removed a dirty, matted red curtain to reveal a dark passage.

'Come. Let's go'

Let me just say walking into that dark passage with a stranger was awfully creepy. You bet I'll charge Ali for this when I find her.

All of a sudden a wave of light nearly blinded me. When my eyes got used to it, I was awestruck. In front of me, I saw the biggest library I'd ever seen in my whole life! Racks and racks nearly ten feet high were overflowing with all kinds of books and scriptures.

She led me to a rack and handed me a big, red, hardcover book. The cover was blank so I asked her what it was about.

'It's a book on the history of witchcraft and black magic. This book is under a spell. When I seal it under your name, anybody else who opens the book will see math written across the pages.'

I laughed. This was a great way of punishing people who couldn't mind their own business.

'You come now; I seal the book in your name, eh? But remember, it lasts only a week. And you can get a book sealed only two times in a row as other people refer to these books too.'

'Deal'

She took out a huge maple leaf and sprinkled it with a large amount of white powder. She asked me to place my left hand on the leaf and wait for a minute. I think she was taking my hand print. When I did, blue smoke arose from the leaf and I nearly yelled in horror, for it looked like my hand was burning. Esperanza smiled and assured me that nothing would happen. After a minute, all that was left was a piece of leaf in the exact mold of my small, dainty hand, impressions complete. I was pretty amused. This must be a dream

She then proceeded to place the contoured leaf from where she picked up the book.

'There you are. Now, remember the rules. By signing on the leaf, you've sworn that you will follow the customs of the library and if you fail to keep your promise, this leaf will go to the Archive of Guilt', she pointed to a large black trunk hidden beside the last rack, 'and you'll be barred from borrowing any other books in the future. This book can be snatched from you too. We have spells for that'

'But what is this place? Your clinic is only a tree in a hole!'

'Ah, Maitreyi. It is underground. Anu was a regular borrower here too'

So that's where she got all those books. And yes, I remember she had a different book every week!

'Oh, I see. Thank you so much, Esperanza. I'll go home now.'

'Bless you, child'

With that, I started for home. Thankfully I had a rucksack with me, so I stuffed the book in there and tied the loose straps together in a knot around my waist. After being sure of securing it I began climbing down the valley. The moment my feet touched the ground, I sprinted and stopped right at my house. Mom was waiting.

'Where were you?'

Oh crap.

'I- I needed to grab a book'

Well, that's not a lie I guess.

'Which book? And why weren't you home studying? You know right that you have your board exams in March, don't you?'

Oh man, so many questions.

'Mom, I woke up at five in the morning to study today'

This wasn't a lie either. I've been studying double hard ever since I started my little investigation so that I could wind up a good portion before I went to Esperanza's. I wanted to make sure that this whole Anu mess up didn't affect my studies.

'But it's useless if you spend the rest of your day dillydallying. As it is this Anu fiasco is so distracting. And what book have you brought let me see?'

I had no choice. My Mom was the typical FBI agent who could interrogate you and catch you stealing chocolate from the fridge. My heart was beating hard fast as she flipped through the pages. But the spell lived up to its name and she didn't see anything wrong.

'Okay. But since when did you develop such an interest in trigonometry? You're not even a maths student!'

Yep, I'm a biology student.

'I need it for physics, Mom. And now can I please go back?'

This wasn't a lie too. If I had a rupee for every time I heard "sin theta" and "cos theta" in the physics class I'd be a millionaire by now.

'Fine. But don't waste any more time'

I sped up to my room. If only I didn't have to collect that book I would've been back in time.

I covered the huge book in newspaper and put it on my bookshelf and got down to study. I'd read this in the evening for indeed, a lot of my time gets eaten up in this mess.

I couldn't wait to explore the secrets it held.