Something I almost remember

"So, you are trying to get the book in order to return it to the family?" I asked Mike. "But you also think it contains a hidden secret?"

"Yes." Mike said. "I want to inspect the book first. If it leads to something hidden, then I can return everything to them at once."

"Let us help you, Mike." I said after a moment of silence. "It could be dangerous, and it will be safer if we work in a group. Plus, more minds to think things through and figure things out."

I knew from the expression on his face that he was about to protest.

"You told me the other day how impressed by my smarts you are. You told me that I learn faster than other shapeshifters my age. Let us help you, because if something bad happens to you, who is going to take your place as my teacher?"

Mike sighed. "Alright." He conceded, "But if things ever get really bad, and I tell you to run, just run."

"Deal." I agreed. I looked from Serina to Kyle.

"Deal." They said in unison.

I opened my purse and located the book. "Here." I said as I held it out for him.

He carefully set the book on the bench beside him, out of sight of the room in general.

"Alright! Hope you are all hungry." The waitress said cheerily as she neared the table with our food. She set our plates down, and I thanked her before she left.

"After we eat, we can resume this conversation. I intend to take the book back to my place to see if I can't find anything." Mike said quietly.

Half an hour later, with breakfast done, we paid the bill and Kyle gave me a piggyback ride out to the car.

It was decided that Serina and I would ride with Kyle and he would follow Mike's car. It wasn't far, only about a twenty-minute drive, until we went up a driveway to an older home. Kyle parked the car and we got out. Serina helped me as we followed Mike to the front door. By the time Mike had it unlocked, Kyle had joined us and all four entered.

As Mike locked the door behind us, he said, "From here, we are headed to the basement. I have a whole workstation set up down there for inspecting and preserving old texts. The sunlight just works to degrade the old paper fibers faster."

Kyle, Serina and I all just looked at each other, as Mike walked to the top of the basement stairs and flicked on the light. As Mike disappeared down the stair, Kyle moved ahead of Serina and I, to be the first to go down.

"Come on." I said to Serina.

"The stairs are steep, so hold on to the railing, for gosh sake!" I heard Mike yell up.

By the time we were all in the basement, and our eyes had adjusted, it was easy to see the large space had been converted roughly into three parts, one part laundry room and storage, one part library and one part laboratory. Mike stood at a worktable with the book open in front of him.

Mike glanced over his shoulder at us. "So far, I haven't found anything. I will have to research more methods of revealing hidden messages in books."

I looked around at some of the books on a nearby shelf. I let Mike, Kyle and Serina examine the book together, as I walked down the shelf. I large, old book caught my eye. I took it off the shelf and examined the cover. It was a shapeshifter's book of spells, but it wasn't one that I had ever heard of. I couldn't say why, but for some reason, it looked familiar. Maybe it was the worn, brown leather cover, the yellowing edges of the pages visible while the book was shut, or maybe the familiar 'old book' smell. I opened the cover. "Advanced spells for human form transformation." I read aloud.

I gasped in shock and shut the book suddenly, to look at the cover again. 'This makes no sense!' I thought. 'This is a shifter's book, but we can't change our human form. We only have the human form we are born into.'

I opened the book again to reread the title page. I hadn't made a mistake; it still read: Advanced spells for human form transformation.

Holding the book in my hand, I walked back along the bookshelf and rounded the corner to see Mike waking towards me, followed by Kyle and Serina.

"Ah! There you are." Exclaimed Mike.

"We are going to leave." Kyle said, "Right now we have no more ideas to uncover hidden information, and Mike said it could take weeks to figure it out. He will get back to us if he finds out anything important in the meantime."

"Okay, but…" I was interrupted by Mike.

"Oh, I see you found it."

"Huh?" I asked in confusion.

"The book." Mike gestured with a finger. "I picked up a copy of that and thought I should give it to you. But I guess it found you first. I know you love books and thought you might find it interesting."

"But inside the cover it says its…"

Mike waved a hand like he was shooing away flies. "Complete, utter nonsense! I've come across a couple of copies of it in my time. It is believed to be the result of someone with too much time and money on their hands, who also liked practical jokes."

"How strange…" I murmured.

"Take it with you, at any rate." Mike told me.

We started up the basement stairs, and Mike said, "Although I will be busy with figuring out that book's secrets, I will continue to make time for lessons. So, make sure you study and don't get too absorbed in that book."

"What makes you think that I will do that?" I asked.

"You have that look on your face; the one that says you are on to something and you are not going to let it go."

"I do not have that look!" I said defensively furrowing my brow at him.

"This is not the time to be stubborn with me." He said firmly, as he unlocked the front door, opened it, and held it open. Kyle and Serina exited.

"Go on. The sooner you go, the sooner I can get back to my research."

I sighed. "Fine. Goodbye, Mike. Call me if you find anything."

A half-smile appeared on his face. "Bye, Sam. I will."

I got in the car, where everyone else was already waiting. Kyle started the engine and drove towards home.