Professor Grayson's Point of View
I dropped my coffee mug the moment I saw the library's back door hanging open like a broken mouth.
The mug shattered on the ground, sending hot coffee everywhere, but I barely noticed. In forty years of working at this library, I had never seen that door open without permission. Ruby was too careful, too responsible. She would never leave it unlocked.
My old legs moved faster than they had in years as I rushed toward the building. The morning air felt cold against my face, and my heart was beating so hard I could hear it in my ears.
"Ruby!" I called out, but the only answer was the wind howling through the open door.
I stepped inside and immediately knew something terrible had happened. Books were spread across the floor. Chairs were overturned. The smell of spilled hot chocolate filled the air, and broken cookies crunched under my feet like tiny bones.
But it was the silver light coming from the basement that made my blood freeze.
I had been fearing this day for twenty years. The day the magical world would finally find our little library. The day Ruby would be pulled into the magical chaos that I had spent decades trying to keep away from her.
I grabbed my walking stick and hurried down the basement stairs, my knees complaining with every step. The silver light was getting brighter, and I could hear something humming - not a person humming, but the sound of old magic waking up.
At the bottom of the stairs, I found Ruby standing in front of the secret room I had sealed years ago. The door was wide open, and she was holding the Awakening Book in her hands like it was made of fire.
Her eyes were closed, but tears were running down her face. The book was shining so brightly it hurt to look at, and Ruby was glowing too. Silver light was pouring out of her skin like she was made of moonbeams.
"Ruby!" I yelled, but she didn't hear me. She was somewhere else, lost in whatever dreams the book was showing her.
I had seen this before. Fifty years ago, when I was still a monster hunter, I had watched the Awakening Book choose its last Guardian. The man had been a great wizard, and even he had screamed when the book bonded with him. But Ruby wasn't yelling. She was crying, like her heart was breaking.
I knew I had to stop this before it was too late. I raised my walking stick and spoke the words I had hoped never to use again.
"Somnium finis. Awakening end."
The light flickered and died. Ruby's eyes snapped open, and she looked at me with confusion and fear.
"Professor Grayson?" she whispered. "What's happening to me?"
I wanted to lie to her. I wanted to tell her everything would be okay and that this was all just a bad dream. But the time for lies was over. The magical world had found her, and now she needed to know the truth.
"Sit down, child," I said gently, bringing her to a chair. "We need to talk."
Ruby clutched the book to her chest, even though it had stopped shining. "I don't understand. Last night there was a man with red eyes, and then I found this room, and the book started talking to me."
"The man with red eyes," I said carefully. "Did he hurt you?"
"No," Ruby said quickly. "He was... he was sad. Really, really sad. Like he'd been crying for a hundred years."
My heart sank. I knew exactly who she had met. Asher Nightfall, the shadow monster who lived in the mountains. I had been hunting him once, long ago, before I learned the truth about what he really was.
"Ruby," I said, sitting down across from her. "I need to tell you something I should have told you years ago. Your parents didn't die in a car crash."
Ruby's face went white. "What?"
"They were killed by a vampire named Seraphina Dark. Your parents were Guardians, just like you're becoming now. They saved this library and this town from supernatural threats. Seraphina killed them because they wouldn't give her the Awakening Book."
Ruby stared at me like I had grown a second head. "That's impossible. Vampires aren't real. Magic isn't real."
"The book in your hands says differently," I said softly.
Ruby looked down at the book, and it pulsed with silver light as if it was agreeing with me.
"I don't understand," she whispered. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because I was trying to protect you," I said. "I thought if you never knew about the magical world, it would leave you alone. I was wrong."
Ruby stood up and started walking around the small room. "My parents were killed by a vampire. I'm some kind of magical Guardian. The sad man with red eyes is a shadow demon. This is insane."
"I know it's a lot to take in," I said. "But Ruby, you're in trouble. If Seraphina knows you have the book, she'll come for you. Just like she came for your parents."
"The shadow demon," Ruby said suddenly. "Asher. He warned me about someone dangerous. Was he talking about this Seraphina?"
I nodded grimly. "Asher Nightfall isn't bad, Ruby. He's broken. A hundred years ago, he tried to save a village from a fire, but his powers got out of hand. He's been punishing himself ever since."
"He looked so lonely," Ruby said, and her voice was full of sadness. "Like he needed a friend."
"He does," I said. "But knowing him puts you at risk. Seraphina has been trying to catch Asher for decades. She wants to use his shadow skills to build an army of darkness. If she thinks you're important to him..."
I didn't need to finish. Ruby was smart enough to understand.
"She'll use me to control him," Ruby said.
"Yes."
Ruby sat back down and opened the book. The pages were covered in words that seemed to move and change as she looked at them.
"The book is showing me things," she said. "Visions of the past. I can see my parents fighting monsters. I can see Asher as a young man, before he became a shadow devil. I can see Seraphina burning down villages."
"The book is preparing you," I said. "Teaching you what you need to know to be its Guardian."
"But I don't want to be a Guardian," Ruby said, tears starting to fall again. "I just want to be a teacher. I want to help people find books and answer their questions. I don't want to fight monsters."
"Sometimes we don't get to choose our destiny," I said. "But Ruby, you have something your parents didn't have. You have the power to see the good in everyone, even creatures that others fear. That's a rare gift."
Ruby wiped her eyes and looked at me with purpose. "What do I need to do?"
"First, we need to make sure you're safe. Then we need to find Asher and tell him that Seraphina is coming."
"How do you know she's coming?"
I pointed to the broken door upstairs. "Because she was already here. She's been watching you, Ruby. Waiting for the right time to strike."
Ruby's eyes went wide with fear. "Do you think she'll come back?"
"I know she will," I said. "The question is when, and whether we'll be ready for her."
Ruby stood up and tucked the book under her arm. "Then we better get ready fast."
As we headed toward the stairs, I felt proud of how brave Ruby was being. She was scared, but she wasn't running away. She was choosing to fight.
Just like her parents had.
But as we reached the top of the stairs, I heard something that made my blood freeze.
Slow clapping.
Someone was clapping their hands in the main library.
"Well, well," said a woman's voice, cold and cruel. "Isn't this touching? The old hunter and the new Guardian, planning their little fight."
I pushed Ruby behind me and raised my walking stick. But I already knew it was too late.
Seraphina Dark stepped out of the shadows between the bookcases, her red hair gleaming like blood in the morning light. She was even more beautiful and frightening than I remembered.
"Hello, Professor," she said with a smile that showed her teeth. "Miss me?"
Ruby gripped my arm tightly. "Is that her?"
"Yes," I whispered. "That's Seraphina."
The vampire queen looked at Ruby with hungry eyes. "And you must be the little Guardian who's been making friends with my shadow demon. How wonderful."
"Asher isn't your anything," Ruby said bravely.
Seraphina laughed. "Oh, but he will be. You see, dear child, I have something he wants more than his freedom."
"What?" Ruby asked.
Seraphina's smile got bigger and more terrible.
"You."