Chapter Three: The Library

A silver SUV drove up to the Anderson House. Once it stopped, the driver side door opened and a woman in a dark, pin striped business suit with a pin striped skirt stepped out. Her heels click softly as she made her wait to the entrance with briefcase in hand and ash blonde hair up in a professional bun. Once she reached the door, she calmly rang the doorbell.

The surprising amount of racket on the other side of the door caused her to raise an eyebrow, but it was the boy wearing a jacket and a blue/white shirt that caused her to frown slightly as she said, "Good afternoon, I do believe Miss Anderson is expecting me, Karen Wallis."

"Oh! Right!"the boy answered with a grin and stepped aside, "She's in the dining room with the others, come on in."

The woman took a discreet sniff of the air while the boy wasn't looking and asked, "Others?"

The boy turned to answer as they kept walking through the lobby. "Yeah, my brothers…we work for Mi..Miss Anderson as her servants."

"Really?" the woman said with a half-smile, "I can't wait to meet these brothers of yours. Mr..?"

"Oh! My name's Matthew, "the boy sudden stopped just at the entrance to the dining room and held out his hand, "Sorry for not introducing myself earlier."

The woman smiled and shook the boy's hand and said, "It's a pleasure to make you acquaintance, Matthew. Now why don't you introduce me to the rest of your family?"

As they entered, the woman could see four other males, three on one side of the table and one sitting next to Mika on the other side. The apparent leader of the group stood up to greet the new comer as Matthew was about to make introductions.

"Allow me, "said James as light flashed off his glasses.

"Sure, "said Matthew as he made his way to the back of the table to sit next to the other male and Mika.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Ms. Wallis, "the eldest brother said, "I am James. You have already met Matthew. These are my other brothers Eric, Sam and Damien. You already know Miss Anderson. We are the Miss' servants and …"

"Excuse my interruption...James, "The woman said as she placed her brief case on a small table near the doorway, "And please don't play me for a fool. Mr. Anderson did not leave Miss Anderson any servants nor do I see her father providing them. Why don't we shine a little light on the matter?"

The woman then raised her hand said something that sounded part bark and part growl, a bright silver light flashed from her palm blinding everyone else in the room. Sam cussed as his eyes watered and was about to attack only to be held back by Mika holding his upper arm. As their sight cleared, they noticed they were now in their true demon forms.

Sam growled, "What the fu…"

"How did she?"Matthew asked.

James moved as if to protect his brothers and Mika and growled, "Who are you?"

"Protective, "the woman said with a tilt of her head as she observed. Each demon had reacted differently. The blue and red demons moved to flank their brother as the green one took extra special care to keep Mika close to him and safe. The one with the black marking though was standing there quietly as if listening…

"She means us no harm, "Damien said in his demonic but still kind voice, "All she wanted was to see the truth."

"Mind reader?" the woman asked looking at the demon with black markings. Damien nodded and the woman frowned, "Then where are your shields?"

"Shields?"

The woman face palmed and muttered something under her breath. "You mean you have lived this long without anyone teaching you how to shield your mind? That's insane."

The woman then turned to face the apparent leader of the group and said, "I don't apologize, but I had to be certain of your intentions in regards to Miss Anderson. Coming here to find Incubi claiming to be the servants of a young woman living on her own…"

James asked, "And your conclusions?"

"You are protective of her as if she was a member of your own family, "the woman answered frankly, "She and the green one are in a relationship of sorts…at what stage I cannot be certain. Five incubi brothers, pretending to be human servants Mr. Anderson's granddaughter…You must be the demons he helped bring over from the Abysmal Plains."

"You know about us?" Matthew piped up.

"Who do you think gave him the extra energy he needed to survive the spell?" the woman answered, "Bringing one demon alone is difficult enough and may kill the weaker or more inexperienced mage. Five demons…did you have no idea what the cost would be? "

The brothers looked at each other, concern and confusion on their faces. Seeing this, the woman sighed and said, "Obviously not. Seems like you all might find some use of studying in Mr. Anderson's Library."

James frowned and said, "I have gone through the library extensively. There is nothing about magic or the five worlds among its books."

The woman smiled and said, "Not his library…his Library. The one you found is the one for the mundane world. You can't find the Library without being keyed to it or touching someone who is. This house has many secrets. Even I may not know them all."

"Hum...that's nice and all, "said Mika with a blush, "but could you guys…like put on some pants or something?"

(Some time later)

Over the next few hours, Ms. Wallis went over Mika's mundane inheritance. It seems she got more from her grandfather than just the house. Upon graduation, multiple trust funds opened up to her as well as a household allowance. Ms. Wallis explained that this was because her grandfather didn't want her father to know just how much she was inheriting until she was free to move out on her own. It was up to Mika what to do with the money now. James watched on as Mika decided to actually start paying the brothers for their work to ensure they had some spending money and the means to start a new life outside of the Anderson House if they wanted. Ms. Wallis' own paycheck would also be coming from the same household allowance. The other funds were divided into possible investments, school funding and funds to go into something like an allowance for Mika.

"This doesn't mean you can go out and start your luxury car collection, Miss Anderson, "said the woman firmly, "You grandfather specified I would have some say in your spending habits for the next few years until you grew use to the amount of money you have and fully understand that it is not limitless. A nice car to drive you to and from school, nice clothes and spending time with your friends is expected and encouraged. If you feel that you need something that costs more than the allowed funds, let me know and the reasoning behind it. Depending on that I will determine if additional funds will be added to your personal bank account."

"Miss, "said James, "You don't need to pay us…"

"Actually she does, "said Ms. Wallis, "If she doesn't she would have to explain why she isn't paying you come tax time. I don't think we can get away with giving them the real reason. Trust me, it's better for her if she does."

"You guys almost done?" Sam's voice filled the room as he entered the dining room, "You've been in here all afternoon."

James and Mika both looked at Ms. Wallis who answered, "Actually aside from me filling out a bit of paperwork that can wait until morning, we are done with Miss Anderson's finances. If you two want to take a break before we go to the study show Miss Anderson the rest of her inheritance, I'll be more than happy to wait."

"Finally, "Sam rushed over to Mika and pulled her up from the chair. After giving her a small kiss on the cheek, he said, "Let's get out of here before she changes her mind."

Ms. Wallis chuckled as the two raced out of the room and muttered something about puppy love. James raised an eyebrow as he said, "You seem rather comfortable about Miss Anderson's and Sam's relationship."

"Let's just say that's one lesson I learned a long time ago, "she answered as she filed away the papers into her briefcase, "So long as she's happy and he doesn't hurt her, what they do together is their business. But if he hurts her…"

James could have sworn he saw the woman's eyes flare red for a few moments. He was about to comment about it when Matthew raced out of the kitchen, pass them and out to the lobby. He yelled out, "Excuse me!"

"Matthew!" Eric cried out, walking into the dining room, covered in some sort of white, sugary concoction.

James sighed and moved to excuse himself. Karen smiled and said, "Go deal with family matters while I go freshen up some. I'll meet everyone in the study in a bit."

(Study)

As Karen entered the study, she found Damien already waiting. Smiling to herself, she should have figure he would be in a hurry to learn anything that could stop him from constantly reading minds.

"Yes, "said Damien turning to face the woman, "but I'm also worried…I'm not very good at reading. I'm working on it but if the book I need is complicated…"

"That's quite alright Damien, "said the woman in an understanding manner, "I can teach you how to shield your mind and it's just practice. We can work on your first lesson this evening once I have everyone keyed into the Library. Mika's training can wait for a bit once the fuss over her increased income settles a bit."

Damien frowned and said, "She plans on telling her father that she has no interest in joining the family business. Sam seems to have rubbed off on her, giving her…more confidence."

"Thank God, "the woman said, "That girl needs to stand up more to that father of hers. What little I seen when she was younger, he was a real…I rather not say."

"Asshole"

"Damien, I'm leaving my shields down at the moment because I know it's one way to earn your and your brothers' trust, "the woman said in a slightly angry tone, "Don't make me regret it."

Damien just smiled and chuckled.

"Hey!" Matthew said as he walked in, followed by a now clean Eric.

"James has gone to collect Sam and the princess, "Eric said as he sat down in one of the wing back chairs, "I do hope this doesn't take long."

"Huh…like what else do you have to do?"asked Matthew.

It was Damien who answered, "He just found out that he is actually going to be paid and wants to use Mika's computer to see if …"

"Please, Damien, "said Eric with a smirk, "I know you can't help but read our minds, but that doesn't mean you have to announce our thoughts to the world."

The last of the group entered the now rather crowded room. "Thank you all for coming, "Karen Wallis said, "Since this is your inheritance, Miss Anderson, you should be first to see the Library."

The woman held out her hand with a gentle and welcoming smile. Sam gave Mika a playful push with his shoulder. Mika stepped forward and took the woman's hand. "Now this will be easy, "Karen said and then used the other hand to touch the corner of a bookshelf, "What do you see?"

Mika wasn't sure what the woman meant but then gasped as a glowing purple pentagram within a circle appeared over the books. At each point of the star, a book glowed. She heard Karen's instructions, "Press each light in turn starting from the top and go clockwise. If you feel a small drain, allow it. It will not harm you; it's just the portal 'tasting' your energy to learn who you are."

Mika followed the instructions and had to close her eyes as the circle lit up brightly. As the light faded, Karen released Mika's hand. "Do you see the small icon?" the older woman asked.

Mika looked over the bookshelf and then saw it, a much smaller glowing pentagram where Karen was touching earlier. Mika touched the icon and then the bookcase faded away to reveal an arched doorway.

"Go on ahead, "Karen suggested, "I'll key in the others."

Mika silently entered walked through the doorway and gasped as lights turned on automatically as if welcoming her. Aisle after aisle of bookcases full of books filled the enormous two story room. She turned around and then saw shelves full of scrolls lining the walls and not far from the entrance was a podium with a single thin book waiting to be picked up.

"This is amazing…"James said as he walked pass the girl. He could sense the magic in this room..demonic, shamanistic, elemental, holy…all seeping from different areas of the Library. And yes it deserved the capital letter in its name.

"Mr. Anderson was rather proud of it, "said Karen Wallis walking in after the last of the demons entered, "Last I heard the Anderson Library was the second largest magical library in the United States. The largest personally owned on Earth."

"How…it must have taken multiple human lifetimes…"

"Part of the library was left to him by his mentor, others given as other mages died off with no worthy students to leave their books to, some were purchased from those who had no idea what they had, "Karen paused for a moment as if to consider her next words.

It was Damien that spoke up, "Some were stolen from those who would have misused them."

Karen sent the youngest demon a glare and said, "Yes but it was either that or leave lives at risk or worse."

The demons frowned, each knowing that there were things worse than death and many of which could easily be caused by magic.

"Now those of you more mystically trained or attuned will have noticed the different types of energies. That is coming from books further back in the library in their own specific sections, "Karen said as she neared the podium, "The closer bookshelves are more for beginners or those whose have not yet determine which form of magic suits them. Many are just for research. Now this place is large and one can easily get lost. This book can help you with that." The woman picked up the thin book and opened it. The demons who could read and Mika huddle around her as she demonstrated. Tapping the pages almost as if it was a tablet, she could select subject, specific titles, run search and so on. "Now once you find the section or book you want, you touch this symbol of a quill at the bottom and close the book, "Karen said as she closed the book. The cover now had what appeared to be a map compass on the front cover with a small flashing light on one of the degrees. Karen turned the book some to show that the light would keep pointing to the same direction as it related to the room, "If what you seek is close by, you would follow the light's direction if it is far away the center of the compass will flash. Press that and you will be teleported to your location. To return or find your way back, open the book again and select 'Entrance' and do the same steps." Karen passed the book over to Mika to allow her to get use to it and continued, "There are some sections that are sealed off for safety and security reasons. As secure the Library is there is no way to make anyplace 100 percent secure. All we can do is hopefully make it too costly to try. Those sections will only become available to Miss Anderson and Miss Anderson alone once she passes certain tests to prove her proficiency in magic. I have no say in this matter. I don't even have access to those areas."

"Ms Wallis, if I may be so bold, where are we? The mansion does not have this much space?" James asked still amazed over what he was seeing.

"From what I can tell a pocket dimension, a place between worlds, "Ms. Wallis almost shrugged, "Something mages used to hide their valuables and werewolves would use to den up when they needed to hide from the world."

"Werewolves?" Matthew asked eyes widening, "Werewolves use to have places like this?"

Wallis chuckled and said, "Actually if you look a little closer you will notice that this place is more cave-like than tower or castle like. More like a large den. This use to be the home den to a large pack of werewolves that would often host meets between packs. Mr. Anderson was lucky to have found it."

Mika had to ask as she handed Eric the book, "You mean to say werewolves are real?"

"Sadly no longer, Miss, "James answered, "They were killed off by the Vampires centuries ago."

Wallis gave James a strange look and said, "Pardon me, but that's not quite true. Werewolves are extremely rare and I only know of one currently in existence. They are not completely gone but very close to it."

"What?!" James exclaimed.

"I can bring you documentation if you need proof, "said Karen Wallis, "It was actually a pair of werewolves that sold the property to Mr. Anderson before they died. From what he told me, they were ancient and ready to see their ancestors, they just wanted to make sure that their land and this den was in good hands."

"Damn, "said Sam, "Every time we talk about him, that old man sounds cooler and cooler."

Damien remained silent as he watched the woman Karen. For some reason, he could no longer read her mind.

To be continued…