“What did you find? Did you even find the book?” Penelope asked.
“It took me a while, but I did. I found it in one of the rooms, which by the way all have plaid wall paper,” Rachel replied.
Penelope and Hunter both let out a laugh and Penelope said, “Oops, sorry!”
“But anyway, I finally found the book. It was magical. The page opened right up to the Red Amulet. I didn’t have to do anything, it just knew what information I was after,” Rachel said in amazement. “Did you know that?”
“Yes, I forgot to mention it,” Hunter said.
“That’s a big detail to forget, Hunter,” Rachel said.
“I know, totally slipped my mind though,” Hunter said.
As the stood there talking, the sky opened up and it began to pour. The three quickly ran inside the nearest mausoleum to take cover. As they entered the dark, cold structure Rachel took one whiff of the stale air, and couldn’t help but think that she was inhaling the scent of dead bodies. The rain was coming down in sheets and it started to leak inside the mausoleum and drip onto the floor into a large puddle.
Hunter reached into his pocket and took out a lighter and lit it so they could see each other. They stood there, all staring at each other, not knowing what their next move should be.
“So, what did the book say?” Penelope started.
“Yeah, tell us what you found?” Hunter added. “You are our only hope now of saving Benji.”
“I didn’t get a chance to read it,” Rachel said.
“You what?” Hunter said. “You didn’t read it?”
“What were you doing that whole time?” Penelope said.
“Calm down guys, don’t worry,” Rachel said.
“Don’t worry? What do you mean don’t worry? You missed your only opportunity to find the Red Amulet,” Hunter said. “This is my brother’s life you’re playing with.”
“Hunter. Listen to me. I have it,” Rachel said.
“Have what?” Hunter asked.
“Before I left I tore the page out of the coven book. I took it with me.”
“You what?” Penelope asked.
“I took the page. I have it with me,” Rachel said, feeling good about herself.
“I can’t believe you did that!” Hunter said, smiling. “Genius!”
“What do you mean genius?” Penelope snapped back. “Not genius.”
“Not genius? What are you talking about Penelope?” Hunter argued.
“Don’t you know that you can be tracked down if you are in possession of any part of that book?” Penelope said in fear.
“What do you mean?” Rachel asked.
“Well, if you have a page of that book, the coven members can track you down and turn you. They will find you easily so long as you are carrying that page with you,” Penelope answered.
“But, I…I didn’t know that,” Rachel said, feeling scared.
“Hurry, what should we do?” Hunter said quickly.
“We have to read it,” Rachel said. “We have to figure out what it means.”
She reached into her pocked and took out the folded piece of paper. It crinkled in her hands as she unfolded it. Pieces of the gold etched drawing started to chip off and fall to the ground into the wet puddle beneath their feet.
“What does it say?” Hunter said.
Rachel looked down at the words and tried to decipher them, but couldn’t.
“It’s in another language,” Rachel said.
“What language?” Penelope asked.
“I’m not sure,” Rachel said. “It looks like ancient Latin to me, but it also is etched with hieroglyphics, too.”
“What?” Hunter said. “Let me see.”
Rachel took another glance at the piece of paper to confirm what she said was accurate and then handed it over to Hunter for him to look at.
“Wow! Look at this!” Hunter exclaimed. “I haven’t seen this language in thousands of years. It’s written in the old Coven Code.”
“Coven Code?” Rachel asked.
“Yes, it’s similar to Latin, yet very different at the same time. It is often confused for Latin, so I see why you thought that,” Hunter said.
“And the pictures?” Rachel asked. “Are they hieroglyphics?”
“No! That’s part of the Coven Code as well,” Hunter replied.
“Well what does it say? I can’t read it?” Rachel asked.
Penelope took one look at it and shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know,” she said.
“Hunter, do you know what it says?” Rachel asked hopefully.
Hunter looked down and then shook his head, too. “No! I don’t know. It’s so ancient it’s before my days on this earth. Even though I’ve been around for a long time, it is still foreign to me,” Hunter said.
“Well, what do we do now?” Rachel asked.
“What do we do?” Penelope chimed in.
“Well, let me see…” Hunter said, scratching his head.
“We have to find someone who knows how to decipher this code. But who?” Penelope asked.
Rachel waited, in silence as they all stood around thinking of who might know this ancient Coven Code.
“Oh! I know!” said Hunter. “It’s a long shot but I think I know just the people who can read this for us.”
“Who?” Rachel asked.
“Who? Who?” Penelope asked.
“My parents,” Hunter replied.
“Your parents?” Rachel asked. “But…”
“I know, that’s the problem,” Hunter said, cutting her off. “I haven’t spoken to them in many years.”
“What are we going to do then?” Penelope asked.
“We have to find them,” Rachel said. “We have to! For Benji’s sake.”
“I can’t go see them,” Hunter said, putting his head down.
“What do you mean you can’t go? You have to go!” Rachel said.
“I can’t,” Hunter repeated. “I can’t bear it.”
“What happened?” Rachel asked, with a worried look on her face.
Hunter was silent and Rachel didn’t want to pry anymore. She knew this could be painful for him, and didn’t want to push her luck. She didn’t want him to tell her things he wasn’t comfortable with.
Nobody spoke.
Then after a few minutes of silence Hunter said, “It’s a long story really, I don’t want to talk about it.”