Justin had teleported to the Miskatonic University and had already looked around the building at night. He couldn't, unfortunately, find the way the power came into the building, which is what he had most wanted. If he could cut the power, it would negate some of the security systems. Unfortunately, the door into the private collection would probably lock as a precaution, but he felt he could deal with that when the time came.
As it was now, he was checked into a hotel room. He put his wards up again, making sure they were double strength. Someone had gotten through back when he was in Anchorage, and he hoped that they hadn't traced him here. It was a good thing he was changing locations anyway, since he would have had to if he hadn't. He vaguely wondered if Max would do the same thing, move since he had been found out, but he decided to worry about that later as well. After all, after he transported to the Amazon he might be able to trace his signature, unless he had been gone for a while. But his last efforts had revealed that Max was still in the Amazon – he had even found himself a tribe of savages to lead. How sweet – and yet he still wasn't keeping up obscuring wards. Alex on the other hand was keeping up wards, but Justin worked through them. She was still just lallygagging around in Rome. At least he was searching for something that would make him all the more powerful. Certainly after performing the rituals outlined in the book, he would be the most powerful wizard in the family, that is, if he wasn't already.
His story to the check in person was that he was checking out Miskatonic University, which was strictly true. In fact, when he did get out of this with his wizard powers, he might still come here. After all, there might be a chance that he'd get access to their department again. Not to mention, if his plan went off properly, he would have to return the Necronomicon eventually. He had no reason not to, after all, he wasn't a common thief. Alex, maybe, but certainly not him. It was just...interlibrary loan. From Miskatonic's private collections to the personal collection of Justin Russo. Still, that could wait until tomorrow.
The next day, he got his wakeup call from the hotel at promptly 6, as he had asked, and he got up, dressed and showered, taking his time, since the library didn't open until 9 anyway. He even had a leisurely continental breakfast, taking full advantage of the fruits, cereals and instant waffles they offered. He checked out of the hotel with his bag, and headed for the university. Fortunately for him, the hotel mostly catered to parents of students who were visiting, so it was very close to the campus.
On his way to the library, he saw a young man walking the other direction. Thinking he might need a student ID, he approached him.
"Excuse me sir," he said.
"How can I help you?" he asked, not in an unfriendly manner. Clearly he was used to being asked for help, and probably figured that this fellow was visiting the campus (which was true) and was asking directions.
"You will give me your student ID,"Justin said, casting the charm. Obediently, the student reached into his wallet and handed it over.
"Thanks, I'll give it back," Justin said, almost apologizing, but still leaving the fellow in a dazed and confused state. This was perfect.
Justin entered the library, and handed the borrowed ID to the check-in woman. "Are you sure this is you?" she asked, quizzically.
"It is me, you will let me in," he said, again casting the charm. She obeyed like the victim before her. How weak these mortals' minds must be. She swiped him in, and he went and looked around.
The first thing he looked for was a door to stairs down, or an elevator. The circuit breaker would probably be in the basement somewhere. When he found a door that looked promising, it was locked and said "Employees only"
"We'll see about that," Justin mumbled, and cast an invisibility spell. This was one he had learned on his own. It was quite powerful and extremely handy. Next, he cast the unlocking spell. It took a few minutes, but the spell worked its magic and he was in. Just as he had suspected, there were stairs down. He began descending, keeping an ear out for employees walking up the stairs. His vigilance paid off – eventually he heard someone coming up the the other way. He froze and clung to the side of the wall, still invisible. He saw the worker walking up, a youngish woman wearing a plain gray skirt and white blouse. She was carrying three books upstairs. Apparently they had some storage downstairs. That wasn't where the Necronomicon was allegedly held, though, so it didn't interest him, except that it was where the circuit breaker would be.
He ventured down, finding a long corridor. He followed it toward the end, looking at the doors on either side. One was marked "Maintenance," so he took a shot that this would be the right door. Inside, he found a boiler, a backup generator, a wall full of pipes, and lo and behold, the circuit breaker. He opened it up and cast a delayed spell. The simple telekinesis spell would flip the switch, and the delay would do it at the exact right time. He set it for 1AM, and then turned to the backup generator. He cast a delayed telekinesis spell on this too, this one to simply flip the switch 'off'. Both of these would be easy to diagnose and solve, but hopefully by then he would be out of there.
He left by the same path, dispelled the invisibility spell at the top of the steps when he thought no one was watching. Unfortunately, he was wrong. The employee from earlier was just around the corner.
"Where'd you come from?" she asked.
"You will not ask," he said, casting the charm.
"Um, no, I am asking. What do you think you are, some kind of Jedi?" The charm seemed to not work on her. Perhaps librarians were stronger-willed. He would have to bluff his way through this one.
"Ha, no no, I was just looking for the the Tumpkin collection."
"The Tumpkin collection? I believe it's in storage. That's restricted right now. You're not allowed down there."
"Oh, but one of the last extant journals of the little known philosopher Edward Wates, England 1052 is one of them"
"I see you know your stuff! Well, I can't help you, but I can tell you that the collection will be open for public viewing in the fall."
"Well thank you very much. I'll quell my curiosity until then."
He left her there, apparently out of trouble. He sighed with relief when he was out of sight.
That night, at precisely 12:58 AM, he came back to the library. He stood outside the door and waited until 1AM, when he heard an audible click from the door. For safety reasons, the electronic lock should disengage when the power goes out. He cast the unlocking spell and made his way in, using a light spell to find his way. After that, he only had to get to the back, where the door to the private collection lied. It too was disengaged, but locked mechanically. He tried casting the unlocking spell once more, but even after a couple minutes, it didn't seem to be able to get through. The lock must be sophisticated, either that or it had magical protection. He hadn't considered that, so he cast a detection spell. He was somehow not surprised to see a faint magical aura. The unlocking spell wouldn't do any good – it was time for force.
He shot a fireball at the door. Funnily, despite all the locks, including magical, it was a wooden door, which was consumed quickly. He stepped through the door and into a room, full of shelves. He ignored them for the most part, because in the center was a glass case, inside which a book lay. He removed the glass top, and since both the electric systems had been disabled, he had little fear of tripping an alarm. He looked at the book, bound in leather that was said by some to be human. It was indeed the Necronomicon.
"Edgebono yootoosis" he said, casting the duplication spell. He left the duplicate. It wouldn't have the text inside, but it might fool people for a while. Of course, there was still the matter of the door. He cast a mending spell after passing through the archway, fixing it up almost as good as new. Again, it would at least delay people in pursuing him.
Then he strolled out. He opened the door the to library – only to be confronted by three very angry-looking men.
