Chapter 8

Bri

Two weeks later, I slipped around the cameras in the house and into my father’s study. My feet worked the floorboards by the window, until I found just the right one. I pried it gently up with a butter knife from the kitchen. Beneath it was a small pile of books, some of my dad's prized trinkets including his chain watch, and some books on magic he insisted I hide before he died. I had adhered to his every last wish, all that remained was revenge. He had said when the time came, they would make sense to me. They had sat here for 10 years waiting for this day. The day I refused to be their pawn and their property. They had a contract in blood I was not consulted on or asked about, nor did my blood adorn the scrap of old parchment willfully. They had held me down and stolen it. I was 14 then. My mother kept it under lock and key, hidden somewhere inside her apartment upstairs. After the night of being confronted about Andy’s kiss, everyone backed off except for my new little messe