Chapter Four: Her Worst Nightmare
"The girl opened her mouth to tell her deepest, darkest secrets and no one believed that such an innocent girl would be able to live such a dark double life, but it was true. Her secrets helped her keep the mask, but eventually the mask came too heavy of a burden to bear and when she shed the mask, the world never saw her the same way again." -Anonymous
Patricia looked around the dark, cold room and lights appeared next to some of the shelves and the room gradually grew lighter and warmer until it was as if it was day time inside of the library and it no longer seemed chilly and abandoned. Nina wondered to one of the shelves and dusted off one of the spines of a book. She looked at her finger, which was now covered with dust and squinted her face. She walked down the aisle and stopped at another book. She looked at it for a moment and traced the embossed title down the side. "There's just one thing I'd like to know," Nina said while trailing off to another shelf. She looked at a book and then her head jolted up to look at Eddie and Patricia, "Why are we here?" As the two shrugged, a figure in a long white cloak came forward. Nina dropped the book on the ground with a loud THUMP when she realized who the figure was.
"Alexandra," Eddie said, "it's good to see you again. You're looking…" Eddie paused for a moment because, after all, what do you say a woman who's been dead for a millennium or two. He said the first thing that popped into his head, "well." Nina and Patricia both stifled laughter behind their hands and Eddie's face grew redder by the second.
"Eddie," Alexandra said with a laugh, "there's no need to put out fake compliments. I've been dead for two thousand years; I know what I look like." She giggled and there was a moment of silence before she spoke again. "I believe that this is the first time I've been able to really speak with the new Knowledgeable One…" Patricia looked up at the ghost and a shutter went through her body. Alexandra smiled at the girl's discomfort and spoke directly to her, "Patricia, let's take a walk." The ghost guide offered her arm and as Patricia took it, she gave an "it'll be alright" look back at Eddie. Patricia looped her arm through Alexandra's and they walked off.
Once they were out of ear shot from the other two, Alexandra began to speak, "You and I both know that someone is watching you, but let's cut to the chase. I know that you know why this person is watching you and I know that you have a good idea who it is."
Patricia was silent for a moment and then Alexandra stopped walking and gave a stern look to Patricia. "Victor's the watcher and he thinks that I know how he can become immortal."
"How come you haven't told your friends?" Alexandra asked.
Patricia said with a sigh, "I don't know… I guess part of me wanted to believe that he had given the whole immortal thing up. And then another part of me didn't want to worry them." Patricia hung her head in defeat.
"Oh, Knowledgeable One… you are so naïve." An evil smile drifted across Alexandra's face as she spoke again, "The whole reason for the Trio is so all three of the parts can work together and you haven't been playing your part." The ghost paused for a second and then continued as she stared right into Patricia's eyes, "And so you will be cursed until you find out more about our little pal Victor and his plans." As Alexandra talked her face grew more devious and the atmosphere seemed colder and darker. "Your curse is going to be that you can hide nothing from the Trio and this so called Sibuna group. But you still cannot tell them about Victor. After this, it will seem easy to share." After this, Alexandra puffed into an air of fire and smoke. Patricia stared into the flames as they disappeared and she knew that she wasn't playing ball with a little school girl. This ghost, knew her deepest, darkest fears and was bringing them to life.
The Trio was transported out of the library and back into their rooms into a deep dreamless sleep. Only Patricia knew of her curse, but the others would be bound to notice soon.