It disappeared.

The words disappeared.

Why would it just disappear?!

That was all Azzie could think about while in class.

At first, she thought that maybe her mind was too fried to continue reading, so she fell asleep and dreamed she was still reading the book. However, when she did wake up, the same book and all the books from the library were plastered all over her bed and the words were still gone.

Her roommates gave her a weird look because of it, as it was oddly weird to have that many library books on your bed. She didn't understand how the words could've vanished the way they did, but it became clear to her that somehow, possibly, this wasn't just a necklace that granted wishes, but something much more.

Could there be more to the story?

"Ahem?" Lost in her thoughts, Azzie was startled back to reality by the sound of her professor clearing her throat. She quickly sat up straight, her heart racing, as she realized she had been daydreaming in class. The tall, brown-haired woman looked down at her with a stern expression, demanding her attention.

"Care to answer the question, Miss Greenwood?" Professor Ravenheart insisted, pointing toward some words on the blackboard in the form of a question.

"Umm," Azzie glanced at the board, reading the question. What remedies are used to create a Wisdom potion?

Ravenheart crossed her arms over her chest, growing impatient. "Time is ticking, Miss Greenwood."

Azzie nervously scanned the classroom, feeling the weight of her classmates' expectant gazes. She knew she had to come up with an answer quickly, but her mind was still preoccupied with the mysterious disappearance of the words in the book.

Subconsciously playing with her hair, she answered, "Sage leaves...." seeing the young professor's expression, almost like approval, she continued. "Ginko Bibloba leaves, honey—for the taste, Lavender, and umm...," she trailed off again, anxiety creeping in.

Finally putting the book behind her thoughts, she opened her mouth again and said, "Chamomile flowers. It's the last but extremely predominant ingredient," she finished, Professor Ravenheart smiling satisfiedly.

She sighed in relief as Ravenheart gave her the nod of approval. After class, she noticed Drew in the hallway talking to some boy with dirty blonde hair, but ignored her, walking right past, still upset with her from yesterday.

Her and Drew did everything together, starting from when they were just kids, so to have her reject doing something that seemed fun felt like a betrayal.

Drew watched as Azzie walked by her, not saying a word. She knew Azzie too well to know what she was doing. It was one of her manipulative ways. Whenever someone tells her no or she doesn't get her way, she guilt trips them which forces them to apologize.

However, Drew had fallen for it many times and was not going to let it happen again. Despite the girl being her best friend for as long as she could remember, she had matured enough to not let her manipulate her and get her way. It was the kind of situation that showed their differences in comparison to their houses, with Azzie being in Dragon House and Drew being in Snake.

"Drew?" Nate called, waving his hand in front of her face to get back her attention. She blinked, returning to reality. "Sorry, what did you say?"

He chuckled lightly. "I said would you like to sit with me for lunch? If you want to," he offered, blushing nervously.

Drew's lips turned into a bright smile, easing Nate's nerves, as that answered his question. "Yes, of course!" Nate smiled big at her response, expecting her to have denied the offer.

"Of course what?" Drew rolled her eyes at the annoying voice, knowing who it was immediately. She turned around, seeing the smug brown-haired boy standing in front of her.

"None of your business, Erik. Just go away. Don't you have classes to attend?" she retorted, crossing her arms. She couldn't bother with him today. She already was dealing with Azzie's manipulative pettiness as is.

"Don't you have lunch? It's not like you to skip out on Berry Soup. You know, Nate, that's her favorite," he smirked, his cocky behavior all too familiar to her.

Nate looked down at the floor, the confidence he once had before now gone. "Erik, just go! You're making him upset!" she turned to him, asking him if he was okay. He nodded, not looking back up.

Erik ran a hand through his hair, looking away from them as they had their moment. His blue-green eyes caught a glimpse of someone; a familiar face, his shoulders immediately stiffening. He looked back at them and said, "Anyway, I'm gonna head to class. The last bell's gonna ring any minute, and quite frankly I'd rather not be here in front of you both, soooo, good day to ya!" he saluted, and turned around, walking away from them.

Drew stared daggers at his back as he walked away. She looked back at Nate, reassuring him. "I'm fine, I promise," he assured her, even though deep down she knew he probably wasn't.

"Come on, let's get to lunch," she said, and led him toward the dining hall. Meanwhile, Ellie and Mia were at lunch, eating a bowl of strawberry soup.

Mia moaned in delight as the sweet strawberry texture lingered in her mouth. The perfectly ripe berries burst with flavor, sending a wave of satisfaction through her taste buds. "This tastes so good! " she exclaimed, unable to contain her enthusiasm.

She reached for a piece of bread, broke it, and dipped it into the soup, eagerly taking a bite, which did not disappoint. Ellie, curious, picked up her own piece of bread and broke it in half, then dipped it into the soup. The taste did not live up to her expectations, and her face twisted in disgust.

Mia noticed her discomfort and asked, "You don't like it?"

"It tastes disgusting! How do you even like this combo?" she questioned, the soaked bread being too soft and mushy for her liking.

She shrugged, chewing. "It tastes fine to me," and continued to dip another piece of bread into the bowl, savoring each bite. Ellie shook her head, placing the bread down, still disgusted.

Mia's eyes fell on a familiar head of reddish-brown waves and freckles, eating and chatting with one of his friends. Her cheeks flushed, pulse quickening as she gazed at him admirablely.

"You should go talk to him," Ellie suggested, interrupting Mia's daydream.

"Huh?" Mia snapped back to reality, vividly flustered.

"I said you should go talk to him. You clearly like him," Ellie repeated, already finished with her soup and moving on to her banana puff pastry.

Mia hesitated, unsure of herself. She had always been shy when it came to expressing her feelings, especially to someone she had a crush on. "Nah, I could never do that. What if he thinks I'm weird?"

Ellie scoffed playfully, taking a moment to finish chewing her pastry before responding. "I'm not gonna tell you you're not weird, because to be truthfully honest, we're all fucking weird and nothing we do can stop it," she began. "However, if he does think you're weird but in a negative way, then you know what he is."

"A what?"

"Psychopath."

Mia quietly gasped, not believing her friend's words. "Ellie, you can't just call someone a psychopath!"

Ellie chuckled mischievously, biting into her pastry, the soft-flakey bread crunching perfectly into her mouth.

Mia glanced back at the boy, and her insecurities came rushing back. Her heart raced at the thought of approaching him, the fear rejection of holding her back.

However, she knew if she didn't approach him sooner, then another two more years would pass and she would never get her chance. So, with a deep breath, she stood up, Ellie giving her an encouraging smile.

She returned the smile, but deep down she wanted to run away screaming and never look back. Taking another deep breath, her heart beating like a dream, she finally approached him.

He glanced up at her once he noticed her presence, his eyebrows creasing. "Uhhh, yes?"

Fuck you, Ellie! This was a terrible idea!

"Hey," she awkwardly greeted him with a wave.

"Hi?...." he responded back, looking oddly weirded out at the random girl standing in front of him. She was practically on the verge of a panic attack, but kept her composure.

"Do—do you mind if I sat with you?" she nervously asked, waiting for his approval.

He looked surprised but welcoming. "Not at all! Please, take a seat," he replied, gesturing for her to sit down. Slowly, Mia's nerves began to calm down, and she smiled in satisfaction, sitting down in front of him.

Ellie looked on in awe, happy that her friend found some courage. However, she had less courage herself, as she couldn't stop thinking about the blue-eyed boy she bumped into the day before.

They had potions class together, which was one of the hardest classes in magic school because of all the complex recipes and advanced techniques it involved. He sat in front of her, and it was difficult for her to focus when the possible love of her life was sitting there right in front of her.

However, she didn't want to get involved in relationships whatsoever. She wanted to focus on her classes and school work and get into a good magic school college or university, or even university for non-magical people.

Then again, her going to a non-magical school would mean temporarily stripping her powers, as the Council of Mages strictly prohibits magic from being used in the mundane world. It was a very flexible and reasonable law in her opinion. But besides that, she couldn't risk getting involved with boys. She had to stay focused.

Soon enough, lunch was over, and everyone swiftly ran to class or their lockers, not wanting to be late. While everyone tried getting to class, Azzie was in her room, once again, trying to read as many books as she could to find out more about the necklace, however, as expected, the words kept disappearing before she could read more.

"What you got there?" Azzie screamed, causing Aminah, her Samolian Junior roommate, to be startled. Aminah glared at her deadly, mumbling, "Waalan gabadh," (Crazy girl) under her breath as she resumed her studying. During lunchtime, she always used her free period to either study or do homework. Azzie never really understood it, but then again, she was Azzie. She never understood anything.

She turned back to Cairo and said, "What do you want, Cai? I'm busy."

His eyebrows creased in confusion as his eyes roamed the books laid out on her bed. "I can see that; you're reading," he replied, gesturing toward them.

"You never read," he recalled, knowing her too well to know she had never read a book a day in her seventeen years of life.

"Well, now I am. And besides, this is important," she replied, flipping through a new book to see if it had anything related to the necklace. She was not going to stop until she got a hold of the jewel. She was almost determined but didn't understand why.

Cairo, now curious, asked, "How so?" For someone who had never read a book, she sure did show it, as her eyes moved expeditiously past the words rather than reading slowly or at a normal pace.

"I don't know. It just is," was all she said, making him even more perplexed. "Well, umm—" he began, scratching the back of his neck. The sound of Aamina flipping a page in her notebook was all that could be heard in the awkward silence that lasted only five seconds.

"Well, uhh—I was just wondering if you maybe uhh—wanted to go out? On Friday?" she didn't respond, her mind focused on reading as many pages as possible till she found at least something related to the necklace and if there was any truth to it regarding granting wishes without vanishing.

"Uhhh....Azzie?" he called, but still, no answer. "Azzie? Az? Azzie?.....AZZI—?!"

"What?!" she yelled, annoyance clear in her voice, but not looking up as she continued to skim through the pages with her finger.

"I asked if you could go out with me on Friday. Maybe even Saturday? I know you always say no but—"

"Yes," she cut him off, subconsciously in her own mind, not knowing what was going on as her main focus was on the book.

Cairo's eyes widened in surprise as he registered her response, having expected the usual "No" but was caught off guard instead.

He wasn't even sure she'd heard him correctly, hesitating for a moment. Azzie's attention remained fixated on the book, her finger tracing the words as she searched for any clue about the mysterious necklace.

Hiding his excitement, Cairo nervously asked "Wait, really? You mean it?"

Azzie's head shot up, her brows furrowed in confusion. "Huh? What are you talking about?"

Cairo's smile immediately dropped, his heart sinking into his chest at the realization that Azzie had not been listening, therefore having no recollection of what he'd just said.

"Oh, nothing," he replied, brushing it off, his voice tinged with disappointment. "Just a misunderstanding, don't worry about it."

"Okay," she responded, and returned her attention to the book. Cairo looked down in disappointment, having expected it after all.

Aminah saw the interaction, trying to hold back a laugh. "كانت تلك باردة" (That was cold) she replied, irony clear in her voice. "هل ترغب بالتحدث عن هذا الأمر؟"(Would you like to talk about it?)

Cairo turned to her and glared, knowing she was being sarcastic. "اسكت" (Shut up). Aminah just chuckled and resumed her studies.

"I hope you guys are not talking about me in that language," Azzie warned, her eyes still not looking up from the book.

Cai just shook his head and stepped out, wondering why he even bothers.

Suddenly, Azzie got an idea.

"Cai, wait!"

___

"Th—this is the place?" Cairo asked, shivering as he and Azzie made their way through the familiar frigid forest, their drenched bodies feeling like their skin was gonna fall off with just one tap of a finger.

"Uhu," Azzie replied, her teeth chattering as she kept her arms wrapped around herself. She convinced him to teleport to Vesnovia with her and help to somehow find out where the necklace was and discover the possible secrets it held.

"Y–you didn't tell me we were gonna fall into an ice bath!" he barely exclaimed, flinching as the cold air hit his teeth.

He had agreed to accompany Azzie on this wild goose chase because he couldn't resist her determination, even though he had no idea what they were searching for. All he knew was that it was some necklace she had an obsession over. He huddled closer to her for warmth as the freezing air bit at his skin.

"The book didn't tell me either, so I guess we're even," she replied, walking slowly in her soaked uniform that once again felt uncomfortable to be in.

Cairo couldn't help but chuckle at her response, wondering what in heavens she and him were doing in a place with cold air like this. He wasn't one hundred percent vampire after all.

"I looked up the temperatures on Google and it gets like this when it's nearing fall. So technically if we were dry, we would be warm," she
explained, the sound of a twig snapping as she stepped on it.

It went silent for a while, the only sound being the chirping of birds in the trees and squirrels running about.

"You know," Cairo began, breaking the silence, his voice muffled by his chattering teeth, "I still don't understand why you're so fixated on this necklace. What's so special about it?"

Azzie glanced at him, her eyes still scanning the surroundings for any sign of an outside entrance for them to leave the forest. "I don't know," she admitted, her voice laced with a hint of frustration. "But there's something about it, something that's drawing me in. I can't explain it."

Cairo nodded, his breath forming small clouds in the frigid air. He understood the feeling of being inexplicably drawn to something, even if it seemed illogical. It was the same feeling he had for Azzie, despite her often aloof demeanor.

The air became more colder on their skin, causing their uniform to feel uncomfortable in certain places. Cairo sighed in frustration, having had enough.

His body was gonna go into hypothermia any second now. "Okay, I've officially had it," he began, stopping, making Azzie stop in her tracks as well, confusion written on her face.

"It's time to bring out the wizard genes," he said, and took his wand out from his pocket.

"Pretty sure you mean witch genes," Azzie tried to correct, watching him as he did the spell.

"Aero Driscia," he chanted, and just like that, in a rippling effect, they were dry. Relief washed over them as they finally felt the warmth they'd been dying for, and continued on their way.

"And it's wizard, not witch. There's a difference," he corrected, responding to what she'd said previously.

"Right, but like, you're half vampire too though, so how does that work?" Cai stopped again, causing Azzie to become irritated.

"Would you quit stopping!" she exclaimed, evidently annoyed.

"How is it that I like you so much but you're so.....never mind," he said, cutting himself off and began walking again.

"So? So what!?" she questioned, but he continued to walk away. "Cai!? Seriously?" she called again, throwing her hands in the air.

"I don't know where we're going, so you might as well catch up with me," he warned, reaching a pond. Azzie ran up to him, immediately stopping in her tracks. Her breath hitched, heart beginning to race as she recognized where they were.

"Uhh, Cai?" her voice shakingly drew out. He turned to her, seeing nothing but fear written all over her face.

Concern was written all over his, and he quickly asked, "What's wrong?" reaching to grab her hand, but she flinched away, causing him to frown.

"We— we have to get out of here," she declared, her voice now quavering and hands shaking. Cai became even more worried. "We have to get out of here now!"

Cairo's heart skipped a beat as he witnessed the panic in Azzie's eyes. Without hesitation, he grabbed her trembling hand and pulled her away from the pond. The urgency in her voice sent a surge of adrenaline through his veins, and he knew that something dangerous lurked in the vicinity.

As they hurriedly made their way through the dense forest, Azzie's fear seemed to intensify. "We're going the wrong way.....Cairo, we're going the wrong way!"

Before they could turn back around, it was already too late. Azzie's heart sank into her chest at the familiar growling sound that once chased her away.

"What is that?" Cairo asked, looking around to see where the growling was coming from. His heart too began to race, the suspense and fear killing him.

"It's already here. We have to go, now! Come on!" she urgently demanded, grabbing his hand and dragging him around the pond, being careful not to fall into it.

"Would you please tell me what we're running from?!" Cairo asked once again, growing frustrated as he ran away with her.

"I don't know, okay? It chased me before and I never got a chance to look at it the first time I was here," she answered truthfully. The growling intensified, and by the sound of heavy footsteps, the unknown creature was right behind them.

Cairo reached his pocket for his wand, only to feel nothing. "Shit!" he uttered, knowing there was only one thing to do.

"Get on my back," he ordered, making Azzie turn her head to him and give him a weird look. "No time for questions. The more we talk, the slower we go and it catches us!"

Azzie knew he was right. She hesitated for a moment, unsure of Cairo's plan, but the urgency in his voice convinced her to comply. Without wasting any more time, she climbed onto his back, her grip tight around his neck. With a burst of speed, he sprinted through the forest, weaving between trees and dodging obstacles, desperately trying to outrun the mysterious creature that was chasing them.

As they continued to sprint through the forest, Azzie could feel the creature closing in, its hot breath grazing the back of her neck.

Cairo's mind raced, desperately searching for a solution. He knew he had to buy them some time. With a sudden burst of confidence, he veered off the path, spotting a towering oak tree, and headed toward it.

As they reached the tree, Cairo, with no time to spare, ascended them both onto it, swiftly maneuvering himself and Azzie to the thick branches above, blending into the foliage.

Holding their breath, they watched as the creature emerged from their sight. It was an enormous dark-grey werewolf-like creature, with spikey fur along its head, spine, and arms. They have never seen anything like it.

Memories of Azzie's previous encounter flooded back, filling her with a paralyzing fear. Cairo's eyes narrowed, his mind racing with ideas for a plan. He knew they had to act fast. With a flick of his wrist, he summoned a small vial from his pocket, containing a potion he had prepared for emergencies like this. He whispered an incantation, pouring a few drops of the potion onto his palm.

With a magical crackle in the air, Cairo flung the potion at the spikey-looking werewolf. It exploded into a blinding burst of light, momentarily disorienting the creature from its known location. Seizing the opportunity, Cairo signaled Azzie to hop onto his back once more, and they descended back onto the ground, quickly rushing to hide behind a nearby oak tree.

Azzie's heart began to calm down once they hid safely, and she looked at him in awe. "Thank you," she told him, meaning it.

Cairo gave her a warm smile, relieved that they were safe for the moment. "We need to keep moving," he declared, his voice steady despite the adrenaline still coursing through his veins. "That potion will only buy us some time. I think I dropped my wand somewhere while we were running. You have yours though, right? To get us out of here?"

Azzie paused, the realization hitting her. "Azzie? Do you have your wand?" he asked again, having a slight feeling that he might already know the answer.

Reading her face, he stared at Azzie, his jaw dropping slightly in disbelief as the weight of her reaction sank in.

"Are you fucking kidding me!?"

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This took me way longer to write than I had expected😭 it was supposed to be up on Friday but I kept having headaches and feeling sick. THEN it was the whole translating thing that kept being wrong every time😭 Both characters are descended from Arabic-speaking countries, with Cairo's family on his mom's side being from Egypt (His dad is Canadian and Canada was where he and his twin sister Billie were born originally), and Aminah was born and raised in Somalia before moving to Wisconsin.

Still haven't decided how long she's been there though. Will have to figure it out soon. I did decide Cairo and his family have been there since he was seven though. Anyway, cause obviously y'all don't care about none of that and I just wanted to explain what it had to do with the translation problem if I just gave a little backstory of where they come from. The translating part, however, was the most difficult. I'm actually surprised I even figured out how to translate Somali in a way that was easier, which was just typing the words independently and then typing them into the translator and combined later in her response to Azzie's scream. But the Arabic was so hard😩 please, if there are any Arab readers, please let me know how I did. I tried my best 😭

So sorry for that long paragraph, I just had to explain AGAIN why an update was late. I'm gonna be one of those "Update coming soon!" kind of writers who don't update "soon" enough, aren't I?😫 I just hope y'all like the chapter. Took me 3 weeks now to write.

Till next time!.xX
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