A/N: Sorry for the delay. I'm afraid life has run away with me for quite some time. I'll try my best to update more frequently. *apologetic face
Disclaimer: I don't own Gravedale High, and if I did, I would definitely be reviving it for another season or two.
Later, in the library, Vinnie found himself riffling through ancient tomes on misfortune, newer articles on hexes, and everything in-between. Vinnie was more than a little intimidated by the sheer volume of books in the Gravedale library. It's not that he'd never visited the institution; he'd just never seriously attempted to research anything using it. Usually he just sat across from Reggie at one of the enormous hardwood tables, watching his friend shuffle through what seemed to be millions of books, typing away at his odd computer, chattering on about complex subjects that Vinnie could never quite grasp.
Now he was at a bit of a loss as to how to go about this whole researching gig.
"Hey, Reg, what about this one!" he called to his werewolf pal, who was confined to sitting at the table after a bookcase had nearly tipped over and squished him.
"You'll have to be more specific!" Reggie called back.
"Oh." Vinnie realized he hadn't read the name of the book he was looking at.
"Silence!" A crackly voice hollered from somewhere across the library. Vinnie ignored the voice, and proceeded to read the book's title quite loudly.
"The Effects of Cursed Objects on Supernatural En-en…Something."
"Entities," Reggie corrected. "Yes, bring that one over as well."
Collecting the various books Reggie had confirmed as useful, Vinnie walked back to their table, dodging the hissing catlady librarian who'd come to investigate the racket, and plopped the impressive stack down in front of the young werewolf. Vinnie balanced the wobbling tower of books as they immediately threatened to topple over onto the studious werewolf.
"Thank you, Vinnie," Reggie said, cracking open the first tome on the pile. Meanwhile, the catlike librarian reappeared, towering over Reggie with bared fangs and claws. Vinnie's eyes widened, and he tackled the cat librarian, wrestling away from the oblivious werewolf.
Reggie took no notice of the ruckus behind him; too busy poring over the archaic Latin script in an ancient journal. Midway through the first chapter, his eyes widened, and he leapt to his feet, knocking over his chair, tripping, and smacking his head on the table.
"Reg!" Vinnie exclaimed, quickly shoving the squalling cat librarian down a set of spiral stairs and leaping up to help his friend. "You okay?" he asked, pulling the scrawny werewolf to his feet.
"Yes, thank you Vinnie," Reggie assured him, sounding a bit dazed and wobbling a bit. Vinnie decided to keep a grip on his arm, just in case. "Where did you get those awful scratches on your neck?!" Reggie exclaimed. "And your jacket! It's positively shredded!"
"Let's concentrate on one problem at a time," Vinnie chuckled, straightening the werewolf's crooked bowtie and glasses.
"I believe I've discovered the source of my recent misfortunes," Reggie continued, squinting concernedly at Vinnie as the vampire righted his fallen chair with his free hand and guided the unsteady werewolf into a seated position.
"Yeah?" Vinnie asked.
"Yes, this passage here," he pointed at a line of spidery text that made Vinnie's head hurt looking at it. Thankfully, Reggie continued. "It details an object called a lunar-monitor, which was used by a particular coven of Spanish witches before the Inquisition. They used this object to calculate the passage of the moon through the heavens, predicting the prime moment to conduct their rituals. However, one of the lesser witches, by the name of Esserfelda, envied the position of the head of this particular coven, and aspired to take her place. To do so, she would have to dispose of the witches ahead of her in the line of succession, without appearing responsible for their deaths. She discovered that the witches in question planned to use this lunar-monitor together to predict the perfect moment for a specific ritual, and secretly placed a curse of misfortune upon it. After consulting the lunar-monitor, each of the witches involved suffered terrible misfortune, culminating in their collective deaths. Esserfelda's deception was eventually revealed by one of her cohorts, and she was burnt to death. The remaining witches sold the lunar-monitor to a peddler, and that's the last mention of it in this journal."
For a moment, both teens were silent, absorbing the enormity of what Reggie had discovered.
Finally, Vinnie broke the silence.
"What makes you think it's this luna-thingy that's got you jinxed?" Vinnie asked.
"Because," Reggie moaned, throwing his arms up in the air, "Last Sunday night, I was searching the attic for a particular telescope to use in my astronomy experiment, and I stumbled across an object matching the exact description of the lunar-monitor described in this journal. I satisfied my curiosity as to its function by experimenting with its use in my project. I managed to match the passage of the moon along my astronomical charts, and stored it away with the rest of my astronomical equipment. "
"What was it doin' in your attic?" Vinnie asked, raising an elegant black eyebrow.
"I'm a werewolf, Vinnie," Reggie sighed. "I believe my Uncle Remus purchased the device from an antique store, to determine when the moon would be at its strongest. Of course, he was crushed by a falling tree some years ago…" Reggie lapsed into silence, and Vinnie fidgeted agitatedly.
"So," he broke in, "What's the fix?"
"Pardon me?" Reggie queried, snapped out of his thoughts.
"How d'you fix this?" Vinnie repeated, gesturing at Reggie and the book.
"Oh!" Reggie exclaimed. "Well, the journal doesn't specify."
"What?!" Vinnie hollered. "What'ya mean, it don't specify?!"
End Note: Ha! Take that, a cliffhanger! (Promise I won't leave you hanging for too long) And now we know more about the cause of Reggie's curse. But what's this? Is there a cure? What happens when Reggie's luck runs out? Will Reggie have a fatal accident like his Uncle Remus!?
Oh, and thanks to all of my loyal followers for your monumental patience with my slow progress. Red velvet cupcakes for everyone.