'Okay, so Samarth, you might think I'm crazy, but this is a fact. Somebody has cast an evil spell on Anu and now nobody knows where she is'

'As in?'

'Do you remember Anu talking about a psychic to you? A woman with a crystal ball?'

'Oh yes! That Esperanza woman?'

'Exactly. Here's the thing. I've been visiting her for five days now, and her crystal ball has given me a hint that she's under an evil spell'

'Really? And how do you know she isn't cheating you?'

'It's our only hope of finding Anu. Even the police can't find her and now it's up to us to do something'

'That stuff is garbage! Do you really believe a ball of some tainted glass can help us track down the twins? And this coming from you? I thought you always looked for a scientific explanation to everything!'

'That's precisely what I thought at first. But what I ended up coming across is just too good to be ignored!'

'Okay, so what all did you see?'

In the next twenty minutes, I explained everything to him in detail, red eyes, and everything.

'So now she's a monster and we have to hunt her down'

'Yep. Esperanza says we need to find out who cast this spell, for the victim can be transported anywhere the castor wishes to'

'But that could take years!'

'In any case, it's better than giving up forever! Look at her family, they're in shambles and you can't hear a peep out of our class, they're not the same at all! Just a little longer and the police might give up too. Does it mean that we'll agree to this? That Anu and Akash have been blown away by the wind and they won't come back?'

'Alright then, where do we start?'

'And hey, I'm bringing in my cousins Dhruv and Devika on the team too. I've explained everything to them' 

The reason why I brought them on was that I still couldn't trust Sam fully. So I needed somebody to have my back. But of course, I wasn't telling him that!

'I have no issues with that'

'Okay then, where do we start?' 

'So first, we visit Esperanza'

'But hey, you said you've visited her a bunch of times. Why waste any more time on her?'

'Samarth, my boy, she's our only key to finding Anu'

'And what do we tell the police, that we're looking for Dr. Evil because he's probably gaslighting our friends?'

'The problem with you is that you think way too far. What we're telling the police comes later. First, it's hunting down the twins. Then comes the rest. Now if you're done, may we leave? The clinic will be held up in another hour for lunchtime. If you don't hurry, we'll have to wait for an hour with nothing to do'

Wow. I was becoming sassier by the minute! I don't remember the last time I felt that way, or if I've ever felt that way at all.

'Let's go!'

'Thank you!'

'We reached her place in ten minutes flat. Today, there was another woman sitting next to Esperanza, from what I could see from a little distance. I thought she was probably with another client who forgot to latch the door, so I ushered Samarth to step out. But by then she'd seen us and called out to us pleasantly.

'Ah, Maitreyi! Do come over. What a pleasant surprise'

The moment we stepped closer and saw the other woman, we nearly got a heart attack.

'YOU! I-I mean I'm sorry, I didn't mean to react so violently-uh-' I was embarrassed.

'Weren't you the cleaning lady at Antara and Akash Singh's house?' Sam filled in for me.

'Yes, it's me. I'm her childhood friend, dear children' she replied, pointing to Esperanza.

'Oh I see' I replied, much calmer now. 'How come I haven't seen you in two months?'

'She's a worker now in a small factory. So now she has no more time for cleaning' Esperanza filled in for her friend. 'Isn't it, Sylvia?'

'Yes. Indeed'

I couldn't help feeling happy for her, now that she was in a better position. 

'Today Sylvia is taking sessions in my place. I have a terrible headache'

'Oh I'm so sorry', I replied. 'But we haven't come for a session. We wanted to visit your library if that isn't a problem'

'Oh, sure! Come, I take you, eh?'

'Thank you and I'm so sorry to bother you since you're not keeping well'

'Ah, it's nothing! A little walk every now and then is good for me' 

Saying so she lifted the curtain.

'Hey, Maitreyi? Where are we going?' he whispered, nudging me.

'You wait and watch!'

When he saw the library, he was exactly as bamboozled as I was when I came here the first time.

'What is this place? And all of this is sitting in a tree?'

'It's underground bro!' I chuckled.

'Alright then, what have you come for?' Esperanza asked finally.

'Actually, I've come to borrow another book'

'Another one? You are done with the first book?'

'No, not really. But I wanted to read up a bit more'

'Okay then, get yourself signed' she said as she picked up a big, black hardcover from a rack.

'It's showtime, Samarth!' I whispered to him.

I pressed my hand on the powdered maple leaf on the book cover and blue smoke began rising out from underneath my hands.

'Hey, HEY! You're burning up! HEY!' Samarth yelled as I crowed with the laughter of a villain. Esperanza was laughing too. 

'Pull yourself together, sonny! Nobody ees burning up. It's just taking her hand print'  

'Oh' he replied, flatly.

'Now come on, get yourself signed too. Or you'll see trigonometry across the pages!' I laughed.

'What?'

'Yep. It's a privacy spell. If anybody apart from the signed borrower opens the book, they'll see trigonometry written across the pages. Cool no? Check for yourself!'

I opened the book as he craned over for a look.

'Holy mother of..... this is amazing! Why can't I get my love letters signed like this?'

I stopped cold.

'Sam, do you mean....'

'Relax, paranoid. I was just kidding. I'm not going out with anyone'

'Thank God!' I laughed. Maybe he wasn't such a bad guy after all if it weren't for his entire felony mess he got himself into. I guess he felt lighter, now that he let things out.