Nefarious watched as Mariana left the room and walked down the corridor to the stairs where she disappeared. He wondered why she was blaming herself. It did not make the least bit of sense to him. After all, it was his decision to begin taking up Necromancy. He crossed his arms and cocked his head over to one side. He told her that he was interested in controlling time like she could. That was one thing. But he was trying to take up Necromancy. That was a totally different thing. Or... maybe it was two in one. Perhaps controlling time like a Necromancer could, meant that you had to have the ability to perform Necromancy. And if that was the case, it was the only reason she was teaching him.

But now that he had began Necromancy, and was sure he had a shot against her when the time came, the feeling of hatred he knew all too well had faded. It was still there, somewhere inside him, but he no longer felt it. It felt good, but he wondered why it was happening to him. He wondered if anyone else was the same way.

"I have no clue..." he said to himself. "But... that makes sense." Though he was tired, he was in no mood to go to sleep. Especially now that the sun was up. He walked down the corridor opposite that of which Mariana had taken, and found the living room. He laid down on the couch, pulling a pillow over his face.

It would be in his best interest to sleep, and he knew it, but he thought back to something that Mariana had said earlier. Right when he had asked her to teach him Necromancy. She said something about the "Necronomicon". He had only heard of such a book. It was also called the Book of Dead Names. Or in some cases, the Book of the Dead, or even the Book of Evil. It is said to have been written in the blood of the victims of the Necromancer, and bound in the flesh of the same victims. That book had a seriously BAD reputation.

It was originally written in Arabic by Abdul Azhared, and the first English copy was made in 1586, translated by Dr. John Dee. Every copy in every language was said to have been destroyed or hidden by the Church. But, from the sound of Mariana's voice, that was only a rumor.

She must have a copy! Nefarious got excited thinking about it. He stood up abruptly, smacking his shin against the coffee table. I'm going to find it! Just like an eight year old on a treasure hunt, he ran to go find her room with high hopes in finding the cursed book. He stopped in mid-run when he realized he had no clue where her room was. He went to the kitchen in search of Dr. Cortex. He was a little disappointed when he only found N. Gin sitting at the kitchen table.

Oh well, here goes nothing.

"N. Gin!" Nefarious greeted him. He turned around and smiled.

"What's up?"

"Oh, nothing much. Hey, would you have any idea where Mariana's room is?" He tried not to sound 'strange' when he said it.

"Yeah, it's on the top floor. It used to be the attic. Why?"

"Umm..." Crap! Hurry up and think of a non-perverted reason! "She, um... wanted me to put out all her candles. She said she doesn't want to start a fire."

"Oh. Okay." That seemed to satisfy N. Gin.

"Thanks!" With that, Nefarious ran out of the kitchen and up the stairs until he reached Mariana's room. He began to feel a slight bit afraid. He was going to be walking right into the domain of a Necromancer. What if there were traps for mortals? No, there was no need to worry, he was sure of it. He slowly reached for the door handle, turned the knob a little to the right, and he heard a soft click. Pulling open the door, he looked inside.. He took a couple deep breaths and stepped inside, flipping the overhead light on. He wanted to run in fear for his life

Mariana's room looked like a crypt, a torture chamber, and a sacrificial chamber all in one. There was an altar, a guillotine, several bloody swords, maces, battle axes, knives and cleavers. Blood covered the floor, appearing to be quite fresh. In the center of the floor, also covered in gore, was a large, black pentacle. On each of the five points of the star was a lit candle. The bookshelves had old books and jars of things where you could not see the insides, and Nefarious was very grateful for that. The only thing that was nice about the room besides the antique dresser with a mirror on it, was the bed. It had sheets, pillows and blankets made from the finest black silk. The mattress was extremely soft. He began to get strange thoughts, but immediately blocked them out of his mind.

Next to the bed, he noticed a suit of knight's armor from the Italian Renaissance. It was in almost perfect condition.

"So... you were a knight, too, huh? Not just a Necromancer..." He was impressed.

He then turned away from the armor, only to come face-to-face with a skeleton. He jumped back as it looked at him with an evil grin on its face.

"Where... is... my Master...?" It questioned him in a hissing voice.

"Mariana?" Nefarious was almost too afraid to speak. The skeleton, which he now recognized as a Banshee, had no legs. She was floating in mid-air. She nodded at his question. "N... N. Sanity I-Island..."

The Banshee smiled wider. "Thanksssss..." She hissed and disappeared.

Nefarious was clutching at his heart, trying to slow it down. "Don't... mention it?"

Damn it, Mariana! He thought. Of all the things you could have been, you just had to choose Necromancer, didn't you?

He looked at the bookshelf until he found a book that was written in blood, and seemed to be bound by flesh. He sat on the floor in the middle of the pentacle and began reading it.

Ten hours later, he had nearly finished the book when someone hit him hard in the back of the head with another book. He turned around to take a look at who it was. To his surprise, Mariana was standing there. She wore black robes. Her eyes were black as pitch as she bared her fangs.

" Che diavolo stai facendo?" She yelled at him in Italian, meaning, "What the hell are you doing?" Before he had time to answer, she took the Necronomicon from him, shoved it back in the bookshelf, grabbed his wrist and pulled him out of her room.

" Cosa c'รจ di sbagliato?" He asked her, a little concerned, meaning, "What's wrong?"

"What's wrong?" She quoted him, yelling again. "You, Dr. Tropy! I specifically told you not to do anything stupid! And what do you do? You read the most evil book on Earth and in Hell!"

"How is that stupid?" Nefarious questioned her.

"How is it not?"

He grabbed her shoulders. "Calmati." Meaning, "Calm down."

" Zitto!" She yelled again, meaning, "Shut up!" "Oh, and don't you even think about sweet-talking me in my own language! Even though... you are good at it..." Her tone softened and her volume reduced to a whisper. "Why did you read it, Dr. Tropy? Do you have any idea of what it will do to you if you were not meant to be a Necromancer?"

"I read it out of curiosity and a hope to get Necromancy sooner. And... no. I have no idea. Please, forgive me, Mariana." He really meant it as he apologized to her. That was another unusual thing for him.

She nodded and pulled him into a hug. "I really hope you were meant to do this." She said.