I was awake when I heard the knock on the door, but it still woke me up. That whole night I'd been lying there, just waiting for any noise that told me the killer was trying to break in. My door was heavily barricaded. I laid under my bed instead of on top, armed with a fork from dinner. If he did somehow find a way in, I'd attack the tendons in his heels as a way to immobilize him.

It wasn't a fool proof plan, but it was around my only option. The hotel I'd woken up in had a magical barrier around it. As stupid as that sounds, it was a real barrier I tried and failed to go through.

And all of the monsters and magical elves walking around were real too. The oldest human in the hotel, the only adult human, told me that we were in a place called the demon realm, a place inhabited by witches and demons.

That meant, even if I somehow broke out of that dump, I'd have nowhere to go. But that didn't mean I was going to just sit there and be slaughtered.

"Sk–*koff* *koff*. It's just *koff* me" the person on the other side of the door hacked. I didn't recognize the voice very well, but the hacking gave it away. The killer wasn't the one knocking, the witch behind the desk was.

I still didn't one hundred percent trust the situation. The killer could have been with him after all. I wriggled out from under the bed and carefully removed the desk and nightstand I pressed against the door. Ready for any sudden attack, I glanced through the peephole.

I didn't see anyone other than the sickly emerald haired teen, who looked half dead. That didn't mean there wasn't someone else there, but the cloaked killer wasn't directly on the other side of the door.

"Sorry to bother you, Skyler," the older witchling wheezed when I opened the door. As he talked, I tensed, ready for any surprise guests who wanted to shove their way to the door. "But your needed on the third floor*koff* *koff*".

"The third floor?" I finished for him. He nodded while trying to keep more coughs from escaping. "Why?".

"Does the name "Luz" ring a bell?" he rasped.

Of course, I knew who Luz was. She was the one who showed me the odd notebook with letters I was sending to "a friendly stranger". I didn't remember writing any of them, but the aforementioned human did warn me that my memory would get fuzzy while being trapped in here.

"You mean the bellhop?".

"That's her. She's gathering all the bears to *koff* *koff* *koff*".

"Bears," I repeated. "What does that mean?".

"They're humans that were summoned here by the killer".

"But why "bears"?".

Edric's watery golden eyes flooded with a cluster of emotions, all negative. It's as if the word tugged at his heartstrings the more anyone said it.

"It's co–*koff* *koff* *koff* complicated".

I decided to let the whole bear thing go. The witch in front of me could barely speak, let alone answer a bunch of questions.

"I'll head up to the second floor then".

I know I was rather quick to trust the clerk. For all I knew he was leading me to his boss to be slaughtered. But I had some odd feelings that made me believe him. Maybe I just felt bad for him, or maybe I could sense his dislike of said boss. I'd be angry too if I was being forced to work in that kind of condition.

"Follow me" he choked before being thrown into a coughing fit.

"Can you make it to the third floor?" I questioned.

"Yeah" he huffed. "This is just a really bad mold".

The trek up the stairwell was very slow. We had to stop at every landing for the sick witch to catch his breath, and he looked nearly dead when we made it to the top.

On the third floor, which looked much worse than the first, a group of humans my age was huddled together. They were softly chattering, some confused and a bit irritated while others were fearfully suspicious.

"Be *koff* quiet and stay close" The only non-bear called out. "There's a large animal protecting this floor".

"A large animal?" someone asked in alarm. "What do you mean by "a large animal"?".

"It's a dust bunny, it *koff* *koff*".

"A dust bunny?" I echoed. "Aren't bunnies, like, small and cute?".

"Not *koff* *koff* not this one. Its head touches the c–*koff* ceiling. He's friendly but spont–*koff*-aneous. So, stay clo–*koff* *koff* *hack*".

More hesitant than ever, we all followed the stranger. It was a short walk for everyone but him. He was about to collapse when we made it to our destination.

"There's one more *koff* person we need to pick up" he panted. "But I'm not allowed in there. Can on…one of *koff* *koff* you go in and grab Amiyah".

"Why aren't you allowed in there?".

"Just do *koff* *koff* *koff* *koff*".

Pushing past everyone, I unconfidently told him that I would go in. Like I said, I trusted the young witch. Though that didn't mean I fully trusted the whole situation. Who knew what was on the other side of the door that kept him from going in and who knew what this Amiyah was like.

The sight on the other side of the dirty worn-down door was a pretty big surprise. The hotel clerk wasn't lying. The giant rabbit he warned us about was indeed on this floor, and it was huge!

I went rigid as its ears twitched. The dusty gray creature turned towards me with his pale eyes shot wide open. Then, thankfully, went back to paying no mind to me.

It was too focused on the two people in the bed beside him to care about me. One of them looked just like the witch outside. Their emerald hair was the same and both of them had unnaturally sharp golden eyes. And, from the looks of it, they were both just as sickly. The teen laid up in the bed had bandages wrapped around her head. Her eyes were also murky and half observant.

The other girl struck me as familiar, despite the fact that I'd never seen her before. I could tell from the normal round ears she was a human just like I was. Both her vivid eyes and hair were a reddish orange. She couldn't have been related to the young witch next to her, yet I got a sisterly vibe from the both of them.

The bear was the one who noticed me first. My presence made her flinch and defensively shrink back.

"Relax" I told her. "I'm a bear, just like you".

"Bear?" she asked, still just as frightened. She turned towards the room's other occupant. "Isn't that what you say I am?".

"You're a bearer of fabric flesh, aren't you?" the witch uttered.

"Bearer of fabric flesh"? Is that what "bear" was short for? My body shivered and I grimaced. I didn't know what they meant by "fabric flesh", but hearing the phrase made my skin feel…all… ick.

"Care to explain what that means yet?". Amiyah huffed.

"You won't believe me," the strange witch lamented. "Not until you all bathe in Edric's blood".

"Edric?".

"Her brother," the redhead answered.

"He's your brother too," Edric's sister cried. She pressed part of her face into the dust bunny's chest fluff. "We tried so hard to keep you safe, but neither of us could stop it".

"Stop what?" I questioned growing even more confused about everything.

"The elevator. I tried to stop her from going, but it was my sister's destiny to die".

I stared over at Amiyah who simply shrugged. As she did her possible sister snatched her by the arm and pulled her close. The bear let out her anger with a huff before shoving the odd conversation we just had to the side.

"Is there anything I can help you with?".

"I was sent in here by Edric… I think. The witch who's always behind the desk?".

"He's still alive?". The older teen grew even more disheartened at that. "How is he?".

"He's got quite the cough," I replied. "And he's had some trouble breathing".

"Titandammit" The tired twin hissed. She flinched as if the news physically stung her. "Why can't it just be over with already? He must be hurting so badly".

"Lilith said that they were going to get him help, remember?" Amiyah soothed.

"So, there's a one percent chance my brother won't die. Forgive me for not celebrating".

"What does Edric want?" the other bear asked, once again moving the conversation along.

"He says Luz is gathering all of the bears. He won't tell any of us why though".

The mention of the bellhop's name made the bedridden witch perk up. She shot a smile towards the redhead beside her.

"Weren't you just talking about Luz?".

"I don't know what the hell you're talking about" Amiyah flusteredly huffed. "Why would I talk about Luz? I mean, there's nothing wrong with talking about her. She's actually really nice. But what would I have to say about Luz, other than she's really nice, and supportive, and, admittedly, really pretty—".

"Alright. We get it. You're gay for Luz". The fawning bear was shoved off the bed by her sibling-like friend. "Now, don't leave her waiting".

Amiyah made her way to my side but, before she turned towards the door, she commandingly pointed at the freakishly big rodent in the room.

"Dusty. Make sure she doesn't move until her dad gets here".

The beast simply snorted, then plopped his head against the sick witch's chest. She let out a frustrated hmph, that spawned a chuckle from the both of us.

"I don't see why you were so worried about that rabbit" I told Edric when we both exited back into the hallway. "I think he's kinda cute".

"Cute and deadly aren't mutual– *koff* *koff*. Let's just get to Luz".

The trip to Luz was even shorter than the walk to Amiyah's room. She was just up the way, in a cranny with a broken ice machine and an open elevator shaft.

The friendly human stood in front of said elevator shaft. She stared down at the floor in front of it in a daze. What she saw, only she knew.

She didn't even notice the crowd behind her until Edric began to cough. When she finally spotted us, she nearly stumbled into the elevator shaft. The brunette took a moment to stop her racing heart before backing away from the dangerous pit in front of her.

"Okay," she murmured to herself. "Let's not stand too close to that".

"Evening, Luz. I brought all of the bears, just like you a–as–*koff* *koff* *hac*".

"Thanks again" she uttered while beating on the witch's back. "Go get some rest bud".

"I wish" Edric rasped. "I'm still on the clock for two more hours".

"Can you survive two more hours?".

"We'll see".

Before Luz could respond to that, Edric staggered away. The bellhop worriedly watched him leave, then let her worry out with a sigh.

"Is he gonna live?" A short haired bear asked from the back of the group.

"I don't know," Luz answered honestly. "Let's hope so".

"Why have you brought us here?".

Everyone's eyes fell on Luz. Forcing a smile onto her face she welcomingly stepped forwards and spread her arms out.

"I've gathered all of you here tonight to bring you a blossom of hope!" she thundered dramatically. "A light in the dark! An icy escape! A flame that will free us! I bring to you tonight a way to fight back against the killer!".

A sea of gasps filled the corner of the hallway, my own included. That last sentence caught my attention like a snare. Other than utensils from the kitchen and the things in our hotel rooms, we were completely defenseless against the witch hunting us. Not to mention, we'd never really gathered together to discuss a plan of attack before.

"Spit it out then" a broader freckled kid called.

"Two words," Luz explained excitedly. "Glyph magic".

Babble flew into the air like birds. Almost everyone seemed skeptical of Luz's answer.

"But I thought the barrier around the hotel disabled magic," Amiyah pointed out.

"And I thought us humans couldn't do magic," I added.

I didn't know much about this world. I'd only been there half a week. But I had done some talking with some of the witches from the third floor that explained a few things for me. Apparently, witches have a sac of bile on their heart that pumps magic through their veins. Boscha, a tri-clops I'd befriended, even went on this huge tirade about how humans couldn't be witches.

I wasn't quite sure how to feel about some of the stuff she said. The other two witches with us, Bo and Cat, kept looking at each other while Boscha was speaking as if there was something the angry witch wasn't mentioning.

"I see you've met Boscha," Luz grumbled. "But no, humans can do magic with these".

As if she were performing a card trick, she flicked her wrist and revealed four slips of paper. Each of them had different strange symbols on them all kept inside a perfectly drawn circle.

"These are glyphs. They pull magic from the isles and turn into different spells. There are four main ones: light, ice, plant, and fire, but you can also combine them together to create even more spells".

"So they work, even when the barrier's up?" Amiyah concluded.

"Er…no…" Luz stammered. "But the barrier won't be up for much longer".

"How do you know that? Have you found a way to take it down?".

"I'm not sure exactly when or how it's going to happen, but I know for a fact it's going to happen".

"Once Edric dies, right?". Amiyah was hesitant to bring up the sickly witch. Her voice was laced in a bittersweet sorrow.

Luz's nervous excitement fell. She let her smile sink into a more honest frown.

"Nobody knows. From what her sister foresaw, we were all convinced that Amity would survive". The tired teen brought her dulled brown eyes back to the stain in the carpet. "We were wrong".

She then brought her attention to the redhead beside me. The bellhop stared into her amber eyes as if she was searching for something.

"But we do know that fire will free us".

Luz plucked one of the pieces of paper from her pile and had us pass it around. Inside a large circle there were two smaller circles connected by a few triangles. Near the bottom of the strange symbol was a black dot.

I'd never seen it before in my life, I swear. But when I grabbed the slip of paper from Amiyah, the scene in front of me was washed away. In a sliver of a moment I went from standing in a weathered hotel to a dusty playing field surrounded by dry red grass.

"Are you sure about this?". The question came from a familiar face beside me. Boscha, who was in a black sports uniform and heavy war paint, stared at me impatiently.

"I'm confident," I answered. I didn't know how but I knew what the triclops were talking about.

"What if you get hurt? We can't afford an injury this close to the playoff season".

"Do you trust me, Bosch?".

My simple question made the team captain pause. Her worry didn't disappear, but she shoved it down with a breath out.

She nodded towards me before racing back out into the field. Cat followed behind while a witch who looked very similar to one of the bears behind me stayed on the bench. Amelia was great when it came to offense, but when facing a team like Glandus, we needed to focus on defense.

How I knew the name of that witch I'd never met or the name of the team we were up against was beyond me. I just… sort of knew.

The attack plan was simple on paper and insane in practice. As soon as she was able to grab the ball Boscha began to rush towards the goal. Just like the both of us suspected, a multi-horned witch ran past her and stood in her path. He raised his arm, prepared to draw a spell circle, but Boscha struck first.

She lit the ball in her hands ablaze and hurtled it forwards, towards the defense. In the meanwhile, I b-lined towards the scene. The ball rammed into the Glandus student, throwing him backwards. Before he could hit the ground, I jumped off of him and grabbed the still flaming grudby ball.

It burnt my fingers like the summer sun, but I didn't need to hold the ball for long. Once I flew far enough into the air, I hurtled it straight towards the goal. I didn't think it was going to make it at first, but, before anyone could stop it with a spell, it just barely missed hitting the bottom of the goal post.

As I stood there in the middle of the field, blowing on my slightly burnt fingers, the rest of the grudgby team all crashed into me.

"I can't believe you just did that!" Cat cried in excitement.

"And it actually worked!" Amelia joined in just as elated.

Boscha ruffed my strangely silver hair.

"And that's why we're number one" she howled more than loud enough for the other team to hear. "Never should've doubted you, Skara".

Skara. That name rang in my head. I couldn't remember where, but that name struck me like lightning. I'd heard it before.

"I've seen this before". Amiyah's statement fully pulled me out of that strange daydream. The bear was staring down at another symbol, her eyes wide in realization.

"Really?" Luz questioned. The life flashed back into her. She was barely able to hold herself back from jumping for joy.

"This turns into a ball of light doesn't it. I think you've shown me this before".

"When?". The tone in her voice was curious, yet I could tell from her posture she already knew the answer.

"I don't know for sure, but I was sitting up against the wall. I remember being angry at my mentor, Lilith. You cheered me up by showing me how you did magic".

"Your mentor Lilith?" Luz echoed.

"No…wait… I… I can't remember it, but that tall witch, with the raven hair. I can remember her teaching me…something". The irritated teen growled in frustration as she strained her mind. The magical human in front of her touched her arm soothingly.

"This hotel doesn't just mess with magic, clearly. But with these symbols, not only will fragments of your memories return to you but you will have a way to stop the killer when the time is right". From a bag beside her, Luz pulled out a bunch of pencils and pieces of notebook paper. "Now who's ready for some learning?".

…

That first lesson wasn't very long, at least according to Luz it wasn't. We simply went over the first glyph she found; the one Amiyah swore she'd seen before. She started off by telling the story of how she discovered it before she had us write it over and over again. By the time we were all finished, the sun had just barely started to rise.

It was now a couple hours later. I tried to go back to sleep but my empty stomach wouldn't let me. After telling Luz's mother, Camila, my breakfast order, I made my way over towards Bocsha and her crew.

"Well, I had a very weird night last night" I started once I sat down. "Luz wanted all of the "bearers of fabric flesh" to meet her in front of the third-floor elevators".

"What for?" Cat questioned. Before I could respond, Boscha jumped in.

"Please don't tell me you had a pity party" she scoffed.

"A pity party?".

"You do know what happened in the elevator shaft, right?".

The two other witches at the table looked back and forth between me and Boscha. Their ears flattened in worry as if, at any moment one of us would explode.

"I know something happened since Luz kept starring at it weirdly" I answered. "Was someone murdered there?".

"Not just anybody" Boscha grumbled. She was going to say more but Bo interrupted.

"Luz's girlfriend died there".

It was sad to hear but it made a lot of sense. No wonder Luz kept staring at the elevator, especially when she had brought up Amity.

That name was sort of taboo around there. Whenever someone mentioned her, everyone would go real quiet. It was as if half the hotel knew who she was and was hit pretty hard by her death.

"Amity, right? What happened to her?".

"I'll tell you what happened," the angry triclops growled. "The loser she left US for left her to die".

"You mean, Willow?".

The name came out of nowhere. I knew who the witch was, but I'd barely talked to her and the witches I did hang around didn't talk about her much. Yet I knew that was the witch Boscha was talking about. I somehow knew that both her and Amity were connected.

Boscha, Bo, and Cat were all stunned. By the way they all stared at each other, I could tell they were confused in many different ways. That confusion didn't stop the former's rising anger though. Her three eyes shone with strong resentful fury.

"Out of all the things you could've remembered, it had to be her!" the witch yowled.

"I…what?! What do you mean?".

"For Titan's sake, Skara! All those years of us hanging out you can't seem to recall, but you remember Amity leaving us for that half-a-witch?! And, let me guess you're not angry about it either!".

There was that name again. And just like in that little vision I had; it was directed towards me. The whole thing gave me deja vu. The witch's mistake didn't feel like a mistake. Was Skara a nickname of mine? Was that what I wasn't remembering?

"Have we met before? Did I know all of you before all of this?". Boscha tensed, opening her mouth so she could continue her rant. But then her grief fueled fire cooled into steam. Her anger was still there but it was paired with a desolate defeat.

"No," she huffed. "No, we haven't".

After responding the triclops stood up from her seat with a scoff and marched back towards her room. Bo and Cat went to apologize for their friend's outburst, but I asked them a question first.

"Who's Skara?".