Shaw tapped her phone on the kitchen island where she sat on a stool, slumped and staring at the refrigerator. It had been almost three weeks since she'd heard from Root, and she was starting to think that the best course of action was just going to Root's house and forcing her to talk. Maybe Root really did just need space, but Shaw wasn't willing to give it to her until they'd talked again. She'd been texting and calling Root since their fight, but there had been no answer.

Shaw wasn't even entirely sure that it had been a fight. Root had just refused to listen to anything she said, and got defensive even when Shaw tried to de-escalate. Shaw tapped her phone again, dropping her head back. Was this just normal teenage girl stuff? The magic part definitely wasn't.

She dropped her phone onto the counter and crossed her arms, resting her forehead on them. Root being so angry worried Shaw, as much as her glowing eyes or apparent weather-controlling abilities. Root was a lot of things, but she wasn't an angry person. Every time she'd talked about her parents, she'd been upset, sad that they'd left, but she'd never seemed so furious about it.

The boys hadn't been able to get in touch with Root either. Shaw had just mentioned that they'd had an argument, leaving out the details. They'd been surprised, too. Root had never acted like this before. Shaw remembered the empty look in her eyes, no iris or pupil, only red. Shaw sat up again, picking up her phone, and sliding off her stool.

Shaw had been up since five, trying to decide what to do. Glancing at her phone again, she saw that it wasn't even noon yet and groaned. She was tired of waiting around for Root to get back to her. If Root was still in town, she'd be at her house, and so that's where Shaw was going to go. She hoped Root hadn't done anything to herself. She remembered their talks about Hanna, and how upset Root had gotten. Shaw hoped she wasn't going to be too late.

Crossing the hallway, she stuck her head into the living room where Lionel was playing video games. "I'm going to Root's. Alicia and Nathan will be back on Monday. If you need anything before then, go to Harold's."

"I'm sleeping over at Harold's anyway. His parents are out of town, too." Lionel paused his game and looked at her. "Have you heard from her at all?"

"No." Shaw's jaw clenched. It was weird that Harold's parents were away, too. She clicked her tongue. "I'm just going over."

"Well, good luck. I hope she's ok."

"Me too."

She grabbed her keys and wallet and headed out the door. Alicia had bought her a new car after hers had been smashed. After some hesitation, Shaw had told her about Root's eyes and the anger, but Alicia still wouldn't tell her anything. She and Nathan had just disappeared on a 'business trip' and Shaw was left with Lionel.

As she drove to Root's, Shaw remembered that Alicia and Nathan were both scientists until recently, just like her parents, and Root's parents, and Harold's and John's. It was odd that such a small town had such a large population of scientists. Not that Shaw's parents lived in this town.

She thought back to what Alicia had said on Valentine's day. 'We should never have brought her back here.' For the first time, Shaw wondered where she'd been born. Her parents moved around so much that she'd never thought about it. Her father had just called her a 'child of the universe'. He said that's why he was teaching her about the constellations.

Rolling to a stop at the stop sign that marked Root's road, Shaw sighed. There was a lot about herself that she didn't know, and now she was starting to think that there was a lot about her parents that she didn't know. What were all their work trips about? Why hadn't they brought her a long on their last one? Where had they gone?

She sat at the stop sign for a moment, thinking about her parents. The memories of their trips came back. She could remember doctor's visits, foreign daycares, her parents having armed guards. It had been so long since she'd really thought about the trips with her parents. She usually just thought about the plane trips where they played cards, or the roadtrips where they named constellations.

She'd been in seventh grade when they'd died. Frowning, Shaw realized that was the same year Root's parents had disappeared. She turned right quickly, hurrying down the road toward Root's house. Their parents were all scientists. They'd disappeared in the same year. Both she and Root had magic, and they'd both ended up in this same nowhere town. That was too many coincidences to discount.

She slowed as she passed through the wide open gates and drove down the driveway. The house seemed even more sinister than it had before. It stood tall, dark against the bright sun. Three floors of windows stared down at her, and Shaw felt watched despite knowing that all the rooms stood vacant. She parked in front of the double doors and turned her car off.

It took her a moment to gather herself and step out of the car. A part of her wondered if she'd come too late. She should have gone as soon as she'd gotten the new car, but she'd tried to respect Root's request for time. Stomping to the front doors, Shaw grit her teeth. Root had better just be ignoring her.

The doors were unlocked and Shaw pushed them open easily. The hinges creaked loudly, echoing into the foyer and up through the chandelier. Despite the summer heat outside, the house was freezing. Shaw shivered. The feeling of being watched grew.

She started for the staircase to Root's parents' bedroom, but the same feeling that had urged her into the lake made her stop now. Somehow, she knew that Root wasn't going to be upstairs. Following this new instinct, she walked around the stairs to the right, and found a thin door beside the grand staircase.

As she reached for the doorknob, it swung open without a touch, a blast of metallic smelling air blowing against her and pushing her hair from her face. The smell set her teeth on edge, and she ran down the narrow staircase into the darkness below. It went further than she expected, but when she got to the bottom, another doorway led into a brightly lit room.

It was a laboratory, or it used to be. A thick layer of dust covered three long tables, various sets of glass equipment foggy from age. The room wasn't too large, but as Shaw stepped inside, she didn't see Root. The way her skin crawled told her she'd come to the right place. A path had been cleaned on the dusty floor, and it led straight to the back wall.

Shaw followed it slowly, a knot forming in her stomach. The wall was covered in documents, too many to count. There was a map of Pennsylvania on the wall, along with a map of New York and Connecticut. Various locations were circled in red, and Root had written 'Why are they all churches?' on the Pennsylvania map. Shaw moved along the wall, stopping in front of a picture.

It was an old man that she recognized instantly. Mr. Greer, her CPS case worker. He'd been the one to show up at her house and tell her that her parents had died, and he'd been in charge of moving her from place to place. He'd brought her to Alicia and Nathan. She reached up to pull it down, but Root's voice stopped her.

"What are you doing here?"

Shaw turned around to see Root standing in the doorway across the lab. She looked tired, face drawn and pale. Her eyes had gone back to normal, but she seemed to shiver with energy. Shaw noticed she was wearing her dog pajamas.

"You weren't answering my calls," Shaw answered. "I was worried."

"I was busy." Root gestured to the wall. "I found some answers."

Shaw looked again at the photo of Mr. Greer stuck to the wall with a purple thumbtack. "What kind of answers?"

"About my parents," Root said from right behind her. Shaw moved aside, trying not to betray her surprise. "And yours."

The knot in Shaw's stomach tightened. "I asked you not to look into them."

"I asked you not to leave."

"And I haven't," Shaw snapped. She shook her head. "Can we talk now? I haven't seen you in three weeks, and we never talked about our relationship and the magic-whatever."

Root looked at her carefully, her face giving away nothing. Shaw wondered if this is what she looked like, and understood why people got unnerved. After a moment, Root reached past her and took down the photo of Mr. Greer. She held it up for Shaw to see.

"This is John Greer," she said quietly. "My old science teacher. He was in charge of the robotics club, where Hanna died. He was supposed to teach AP Bio, but he quit over the summer."

"I know him." Shaw frowned. "I didn't make the connection before. He's my Case Manager. He brought me here."

"He brought you back here." Root pinned the photo onto the wall again. "You were born in this town, just like me. The people who lived in this house with my parents? That was you." She smiled sadly. "We grew up together, Sameen."

Shaw shook her head, pain blooming in her temples. "I grew up in New York," Shaw breathed, her throat burning as she spoke. "We traveled a lot. I'm not from anywhere. I don't remember you. I would remember you."

"Your parents moved away when you were five, and I was four." Root walked over to the map of New York, pointing to a red circle in Manhattan. "That's your parents' apartment, but you never spent too much time there. Wouldn't want Greer to find you."

"What are you talking about? How do you know this?"

"You have to let it in, Sameen." Root moved to her, eyes wide. She put her hands on Shaw's shoulders. "This is what we were born for."

Taking a deep breath, Shaw tried to think past the pain in her head. "Look, Root. I believe you, that our parents knew each other, and even that I was born here, but I need you to tell me how you found this out. Who is Greer if he isn't a Social Worker or a Science Teacher? Why did our parents split us up? What is the magic?"

"I can finally think," Root told her, excitedly. "It's like all my life, there's been this fog and suddenly I see everything! I've had it in me all along, but I couldn't get to it until we were back together!"

The hands on her shoulders started to burn, and Shaw moved them away. "You're not answering any of my questions."

"You're not listening to me!" Root yelled suddenly, her face twisting into a snarl. "If you're just going to leave again, then go! I don't need you!"

"Root," Shaw bit out through clenched teeth. "I said I wasn't leaving, and I'm not, but you have to tell me what you know. I can't help you if you keep being vague."

Root's hand slapped the map of Pennsylvania with a loud thud, and she glared at Shaw, the edges of her eyes reddening. "Our parents weren't really scientists, Sameen. They were experimenting with blood magic, and Greer was in charge of the whole thing. Two months after I was born, there was an explosion at a small church in Salem, Connecticut. Then, our parents moved us to Pennsylvania. Four years later, I get registered at Blair Elementary School, back here in Connecticut, and your parents buy their New York Apartment. When we're in seventh grade, your parents die, Hanna dies, and my parents disappear. Greer puts you in foster care, and I get left alone in this house."

Shaw tried to follow what Root was saying. They're parents were experimenting with blood magic? Did that mean this was all real? Until now, she'd felt like there was some sort of deniability, but if Root was telling the truth, then they really did have magic. She looked at the wall of papers.

"Where did you learn all this?"

"It was almost too easy," Root snorted. The red started to fade from her eyes. "I looked at my parents' bank account again, the deed to the house, your files. I pieced it together. It was like the information wanted to be found."

She sighed, scratching her head. "So… What now? Did you find out how to control it?" Shaw didn't like how quickly Root got angry, and she didn't want to think about what would happen to her if this just went on forever. "Is there some sort of grand task we're meant to do?"

"We weren't born to kill God, if that's the type of task you mean. I'm not sure exactly why we were born. Other than to have this magic, anyway." Root grinned. "I'm glad you're staying with me, Sameen. I didn't want to go to Norway alone."

Shaw whipped her head around to look at Root. "Norway? Why are you going to Norway?"

"That's the last place our parents went," Root answered. She crossed her arms. "I think my parents are dead, too. I think they all died together, and I think Greer killed them. I'm going to find out why they died, and avenge them."

Shaw's headache grew worse, and she pressed a cool hand to her forehead. Root was talking about murdering someone. If Greer had killed her parents, Shaw wasn't too upset about his dying, too, but she didn't want Root to be the one to do it. Who knew what killing someone would do to her. Shaw was pretty sure that she'd be fine afterwards, but Root wouldn't.

If Root was going to Norway, then of course Shaw would go with her. A promise was a promise. They still didn't know anything about using their magic, though, and Root wasn't exactly stable. Shaw took a deep breath.

"Ok," she sighed, "Norway. Maybe we find out who our parents knew there? Shouldn't we learn more about the magic first? You like science. Let's do some experiments of our own."

"I like your attitude, but there's no time." Root hurried along the wall and stopped in front of six, crinkled papers. "I found some letters from my parents to Alicia. They talk about a spellbook. I want it."

"You think it's at Alicia's house?" Shaw frowned. "I've never seen it."

Root gave her a condescending smile. "Alicia and Nathan are part of this whole thing. You think they don't have a secret room, too? I'm pretty sure Alicia has all the texts they were using."

Shaw rolled her eyes at the fact that Root expected her to know about a secret room when she hadn't even known her foster parents were part of something she also hadn't known about. Root was so confident in her theory, and the information she'd found, but Shaw still wasn't entirely sure if all of this was real. She would go along with it to keep an eye on Root, and because it wasn't entirely out of the realm of possibility.

She'd definitely done magic out in the snow on Valentine's Day, and Root did make that lake boil over Spring break. Alica and Nathan let her stay with them even after she turned 18. Mr. Greer had brought her to Connecticut instead of finding her a new family in New York. She wondered about her other foster families. Had she really been too much trouble, or were they just keeping keys and cars from her to keep her close?

Shaw licked her lips and stuck her hands into her pockets. "Ok, I guess I'll go home and look for the book. Are you going to look around here?"

"No," Root answered quickly. "It's not here. I would know. I'm going to work on my magic, and make plans for Norway. You go look for it."

"Shouldn't I be practicing my magic, too?"

Root's eyes immediately turned red, and heat radiated from her. "You don't think I'm powerful enough on my own? I don't need your help!"

Realizing that saying she was there for Root wasn't working, Shaw just nodded. She was just going to have to be there for Root and maybe when this was over Root would be calm enough to talk. Shaw wanted answers, too, and she wasn't going to let her girl run off into danger by herself.

"I trust you," Shaw murmured. She turned away, heading for the door. "I'll call you if I find it."

Root didn't answer, and Shaw crossed the lab in silence. When she reached the stairs, she looked over her shoulder. Root was staring at her hand, watching it tremble dramatically. Her eyes were still glowing, but this time, instead of secondhand anger, Shaw felt fear.

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Shaw slammed the front door to her house closed, and threw her keys onto the side table. She had no idea where the secret library would be, but she had to search it for some blood magic spellbook. Sighing, she rubbed her forehead.

The pain had diminished now that she was a further away from Root, but she still wasn't sure she had the energy to turn the house over and then fly to Norway. Now that she was home again, Root's explanations felt ridiculous. Their parents were involved with blood magic? Her case worker was a… a what? A witch? A Satan-worshipping science teacher?

She sighed, and put her hands on her hips. Taking a few steps forward, she stopped when Lionel stuck his head out of the living room. She squinted at him.

"I thought you were sleeping over at Harold's?"

"I am," he confirmed, "but not until later. You weren't gone that long."

Shaw shrugged, annoyed again that she hadn't been able to stay with Root. "Well, you should go over early. I need the house."

Lionel scrunched his nose. "John and Harold are hanging out. They'll let me know when it's safe to come over. Why do you need me to leave? Is it a Root thing?"

"What did your parents do for a living, Lionel?" Shaw shifted her weight, crossing her arms. "Scientists?"

"No," he laughed. "They were religious scholars. I'm not totally sure what that means, but they had a lot of books and they were always taking trips."

Shaw took a deep breath. It would make sense to keep Lionel under watch, too, if his parents were involved. If they were part of the project, and Alicia was the librarian, then Lionel was an easy access point to their books and records.

"When did they die?"

He frowned. "Why do you need to know? When did your parents die?"

"Five years ago." She nodded at him. "Answer the question."

Shrugging uncomfortable, he answered. "Five years ago. Do you think their deaths were related?"

"I'm sorry, Lionel." Shaw looked away from him, staring at the wall across the hall. His parents had obviously been killed for their involvement with Greer's project. Shaw knew that she and Root hadn't killed their parents themselves, but they had been protecting their children, and that had led to their death. "Hey, you like solving mysteries, right?"

He still looked a little unsure of her, but he nodded. "Yeah? I guess."

"If you were Alicia and you were hiding a secret library, where would you hide it?"

"Why do you need to find Alicia's secret library?" he asked. "How do you know she has one?"

"Lionel," Shaw snapped. "Are you going to help me or not?"

He put his hands up. "Ok, jeez. Just asking." Thinking for a moment, he pointed up the stairs. "They'd probably put the entrance in a room we didn't go in."

"Good point."

She started toward the stairs, running up them two at a time. Behind her, she could hear Lionel chasing after. It was probably wrong to involve him in this, but he was already involved. Just like the rest of them, he was in this town for a reason. Shaw stopped in front of Alicia and Nathan's bedroom door and tried the knob.

It was locked. She shook the door angrily, knowing it wouldn't open. Another door opened, and she turned to see Lionel disappearing into his room. He walked out a moment later, something clutched in his hand.

"Move over," he said, grinning. "I can open it."

She stepped out of the way, watching as he knelt in front of the door, sticking two small pins into the keyhole. "How the hell do you know how to pick a lock?"

"I watched a youtube video," he muttered as he worked. "John and Harold and me have been learning spy stuff. Me and John want to be spies. Or cops."

"John and I," Shaw corrected. She chuckled. "I think cops are explicitly against lockpickers."

"Well, spies know how to lock pick, so that solves that problem." He laughed, opening the door. "There you go!"

"Thanks." Shaw pushed past him into the room and looked around. It was just a bedroom, nothing out of the ordinary. She turned to Lionel. "Ok, spy, what next?"

"Hmm." He walked into the room, moving in a slow circle. Pointing to the closet, he frowned. "Shouldn't there be a window here? There's one on the outside of the house?"

"Is there?" Shaw thought about it. "Oh yeah, the one with the curtain. Good job, spy boy."

She crossed the room quickly and yanked the closet door open. It was full of coats, but she pushed them aside, finding a crack that ran up and down the back wall. Pushing it gently, it moved sideways, revealing another room beyond. She climbed over the shoe rack on the floor, ducked around the coats, and stepped into the hidden room.

It wasn't large, barely big enough for the desk that sat pushed against one wall. The other walls were lined with bookshelves, each one completely full. Shaw moved to the desk, looking it over. There was nothing on it but a photo album and she opened it carefully.

The first few pages had pictures of a tan-skinned baby, wrapped in white cloth in a crib. Then, a second, smaller, baby with pale skin, lying beside her in the same crib. It must be her and Root, Shaw realized, brushing her fingers over their little faces. In every picture, Root was reaching out to her, her tiny hand clutching at Shaw's.

Smiling, Shaw looked through the next few pages. Only a few more were filled. The two of them holding hands at a park, sitting in high chairs, in the laboratory at Root's house. Shaw shivered at the last picture. They were strapped into car seats, both of them scowling. The image tugged at something in her, reminding her of something, but she couldn't form the thought.

"Hey," Lionel said quietly, "these are my mom's books."

Shaw shut the album and turned around to see him holding a thick book. She moved to him and peered over his shoulder. The textured cover was so faded that Shaw couldn't even read the name. A blue smudge stained the side of the pages.

"I spilled blue gatorade on this one when I was a kid." He looked up at her with suspicious eyes. "Why do they have my mom's books?"

"I don't know if I should tell you," Shaw answered honestly. She scratched her forehead. "I don't know if you'd believe me."

"Is this some sort of money scheme?" he asked, skeptically. "I was in a house where they just collected kids for the paycheck. Alicia and Nathan seemed nice, though. I wouldn't have thought they did that."

Shaw rolled her eyes. "It's not a 'money scheme,' it's…" She sighed, looking at the books around them. "Root and I have magic. Not like Harry Potter. It's something else. Root thinks our parents- Mine and hers- were involved in some… I don't know blood magic power project."

"Ok," Lionel muttered, sliding his book back into place on the shelf, "you don't have to be mean about it. Just don't tell me."

"I'm not-" Shaw took a deep breath and gestured at the room around them. "Alicia and Nathan adopted us because our parents were involved, and Root's parents left because of the project, too. Harold and John? Their parents are 'scientists,' too."

Lionel glared at her, crossing his arms. "Then prove it."

Shaw groaned, throwing her hands up. "Forget it! I told you you wouldn't believe me. I can't do magic on command. It's like an anger thing. I don't even need your help anymore. The book is probably in here."

"You're looking for a specific book? Which one? I know all of my parents' books."

She shook her head in frustration. Lionel didn't believe she had magic, but he was still going to hang around and help her? It was better than looking around on her own.

"Um, a spellbook?" She shrugged. "Root wasn't specific. Maybe for blood magic?"

"No, my parents didn't have anything like that." He put his hands in his pockets. "They were more into theory."

"It has to be here, Lionel." Shaw started scouring the bookshelves. "I can't go back empty-handed."

"A fight with your girlfriend?"

"Shut up!"

A loud crack shook the house and Lionel stared at Shaw, wide-eyed. "Holy shit," he whispered. "What did you do?"

Shaw looked around the office to see if anything had changed, but nothing had. She quickly ran to the desk and grabbed the photo album before racing back to the bedroom. Everything was normal there, too, and she went into the hall.

An odd light was shining from her room, and she crept toward it, watching as it rippled from under her door. Lionel stood behind her, waiting as she pulled the door open. She had to squint as the light grew brighter, white and almost hot.

Stepping into the room was like diving into the lake where she'd rescued Root. The air felt thick and warm, a soft, comforting feeling tugging her forward toward where the light was streaming out from under her bed. She knelt beside it, and when she stuck her hand underneath the bed frame, the light dimmed.

Blinking in the sudden darkness, Shaw saw that the light was emanating from a cracked floorboard. She stood quickly and gestured for Lionel to come over. She pointed to the headboard.

"Help me move the bed," she ordered, grabbing the footboard. "It's under there."

He nodded and they pulled the bed away from the wall, leaving it in the center of the room. Climbing over it easily, Shaw dropped to the ground in the now empty space. The base board was short, barely two feet long. A long crack ran along it and she pushed the two sides in, wiggling her fingers to get a good grip.

Once she had the two halves in her hands, she lifted them aside, tossing them behind her and out of the way. Under the board was a book, the cover and title both matte black, and Shaw couldn't read the name. She reached in carefully, her hands growing hotter as she got close, and picked it up.

The light disappeared completely when she touched it, and she climbed to her feet, moving to her bed. Sitting, she looked at the cover, trying to read it. Lionel sat beside her, staring down at it, too.

"I can't tell what it says," he sighed. "It's like… My brain doesn't like it."

"Yeah," she muttered. "Mine either."

Opening the book, she groaned. All the pages were the same as the cover. She could see that there were letters, and she knew that they were words, but none of it meant anything to her. It almost seemed like the words were twisting on the page.

She flipped through them quickly, her thumb brushing along the edges. The black writing on the pages moved like an optical illusion, and she started to feel nauseous. Her stomach lurched, her thumb jerked, and a paper cut split her skin.

Pulling her hand back with a hiss, she looked down at her thumb, annoyed at the dumb slip. The book had distracted her, and she'd lost control of her finger. Pressing on the pad of her thumb with her index finger, she watched a small drop of blood bloom out of the cut.

It ran down her thumb with surprising speed and landed on a page of the open book. A blinding light flashed, and Shaw was flung back across the room, slamming into the wall, her breath knocked out of her. She dropped hard to the floor, gasping to suck in air.

Lionel stared at her from the bed, his face pale. "What was that?" he asked, breathless himself.

Shaw shook her head, holding out a hand. He hurried to her and helped her stand, grunting as he pulled her up. They just stood for a moment as Shaw struggled to breathe. She'd probably have a nasty bruise on her back soon.

Finally able to take a normal breath, Shaw walked back to the bed and looked at the book. There was no drop of blood, as if the book had absorbed it, but the words were suddenly clear to her. It hurt her head to look at it, but the page that lay open was a map. She didn't recognize where it was, and none of the rivers sounded familiar.

Root would want to know that she found the book. Shaw hadn't really expected to find it, but she had, and now they were going to go to Norway. Whatever was waiting for them there had better provide some answers. Shaw felt like her blood was vibrating inside her body, a lot of energy with nowhere to go.

She closed the book. The title stood stark red against the black cover. 'Samaritan.' The word made her uneasy, even uneasier than she already was. Her mouth opened to say the name, but she closed it again, clenching her jaw. She knew better than to speak of the devil.

Looking at Lionel, she frowned as he took a step backwards, looking scared. He swallowed hard, and pointed at her eyes.

"Shaw," he whispered, "your eyes. They're just black."

Blinking, she stepped around him, moving to the mirror above her dresser. Her empty eyes stared back at her, entirely black and bottomless. She didn't feel too different, other than her headache, but obviously something had changed. She turned to Lionel.

"I have to talk to Root."