Lucky for Paul it was Sunday. So he could go to hunter training and then help with any research. He stopped by the study to see if any progress was made. He found Thalia there on the floor. The bags under her eyes were very noticeable.
“Did you sleep?” he asked.
“Don't need it”. Thalia said. She looked up and noticed who was talking. “Oh Paul good, I do need your mom.”
Paul was confused. “My mom?”
“Yes Grace. She knew the Winter’s had journals about the human/monster town plan. That's how she knew what Autumnvale was in the beginning. We need those, I think. Ask her if she can get her hands on them.”
He asked Thalia about making his own truth stone. She wrote down the instructions and gave it to him. He was really excited to try and make one. He even decided he would paint a face on it like Eddie.
Paul did what he was told and went to Grace. His mom and he made up a lie together. They were gonna say she decided to tell him about the society, and he wanted to learn the history. It sounds believable to him. And luckily it was. Mrs. Winter gave him quite a few journals.
The journals were super helpful. It allowed him to get the names of other families there when they sealed the tomb. He gave them to Eddie to see if he could track them. Eddie was happy to do it.
The mission was at a standstill. There was nothing they could do if they couldn't get the tomb open. Paul was staring at the cave wall. He stared for a couple hours in between reading the journals. The lightbulb went off. Paul took Thalia's advice and trust his gut.
He went over to the brothers’ house to see if they were there. Both brothers were present, Quinn and Tyler were even there.
“Did you ever check out that cabin you didn't know about?” he asked Zane.
Noah butted in. “We have a secret cabin.”
“Yeah it was by Drew Reinhert's cabin weirdly enough.” Zane replied.
“If you don't know it existed it probably belongs to ancestors or people born after you two became vampires. Might have something in it.” Aiden suggested.
Tyler laughed. “Deus ex machina man!”
No one had any idea what he was talking about. Tyler noticed the blank faces so he explained. “It's a plot device in stories, it's when an unsolvable problem is suddenly randomly resolved by something no one saw coming."
Tyler looked around and the men's faces screamed still confused. “No way to find the werewolf we're looking for, then you see the exact files you need to track him down. Then we had no way of finding Ethel, that was an unsolvable problem. Then a random plant from her shop ends up on your table. I'm just saying I think it's your superpower. You kind of fall into resolutions. We're gonna go to this cabin, and it will magically have a step by step guide.”
They drove as close as they could to the cabin but had to walk a mile in the woods to get there. Paul quite enjoyed the hike in the woods. When they arrived at the cabin it was surrounded by overgrown plants. The hinges on the door were rusted shut. The lock was too.
Zane ripped the door off. The cabin was buried in dust and cobwebs. Paul was thankful he took his allergy pill this morning. He decided to check the bookshelves.
There were some really old looking books. He found some old fiction books that definitely were first editions. In the back of his head he wondered how much they’d sell for. He also found account ledgers. The others found nothing helpful. Some clothes and some really old food. It appeared this trip was a waste of time.
“Alright Paul, use your super power.” Tyler joked.
“Okay well anything useful I would want to hide.” Paul responded.
“Okay according to the movies. Check for loose floor boards or if anything is taped under drawers. Even false bottoms.” Tyler suggested.
The guys checked around once more looking for anything hidden. They practically tore everything apart. The morale in the room was very low. They took one last look around. Paul was staring at the floor when he noticed it was all scratched by the wall. He stared a bit. Tyler noticed and started to stare as well. “Please be a secret room.”
There was in fact a secret room. The men pulled the bookshelf from the wall, and it hid a closet with a spiral staircase going underground. They went down the steps. Paul was mesmerized by the room. It had books and artifacts and some old weapons. It kind of reminded him of a museum.
Zane looked around, “Okay please don't touch anything. Some of this stuff could be cursed. Just locate the books.”
“Imma call Thalia. Paul, can you call Mr. Everald. We're gonna want them here. Also have them bring my sister.” Tyler instructed.
Two hours went by and the rest of the group would arrive. Thalia had a book and a gym bag that had a glasses clinking sound every time she took a step. “Okay so there is an identification spell you can try, but it might be tricky because this is a basic spell. There are different levels of curses.”
“What do we need to do?” Beatriz asked.
“We go from artifact to artifact. One at a time. I'll walk you guys through the steps.” Thalia responded.
Mr. Everald found a useful book. It was a catalog of everything down there. He handed it to Paul and Aiden. “Go through that and see what's here. I'm going to get artifacts boxes and hex boxes. I wanna take all this back to the household.”
“I'll come with you.” Zane volunteered.
Paul and Aiden went upstairs to sit and go through the books. Everything in there seems like it was from a movie or comic book. There was a fairy offering bowl that trapped fairies. Witches bottles to steal some magic from witches. A page on something called the Nanteos Cup, it was a cup that healed people. Paul thought this part was cool, learning about magical objects. Although some of the stuff was gross, like severed hands and hearts in jars.
There was also a list of books. Some seemed to be history books. Others seemed to spell books of different types of magic. There were a couple that blew his mind. One was named, Lemegeton Clavicula Salomonis”. It was a book from the 17th century about demons. Yes, demons. Paul was speechless. “Are demons real?” Paul asked out loud.
The two teens rushed downstairs to ask Thalia “Are demons real?”
Thalia chuckled, “Yes, demons are real.”
Tyler's face lit up “No way!”
“Are angels real too? Beatriz asked.
“That I don't know. I've never met one. And I've never met anyone who has. Now can you two focus, we are just about done.” Thalia instructed.
Paul got a text message to meet at the car so Aiden, and he walked a mile in the forest. Zane and Mr. Everald returned with some extra people. Delilah, Melissa, and Quinn came to help.
Zane handed him a box. “Okay we're gonna take everything not cursed first I have a truck parked by the cars. This is gonna take a while so let's get started.”
He decided to text his mom to let her know he would be home late. It took hours. First they had to take a box from the truck, walk a mile with it, load it up while packing it carefully and walk a mile back. Paul was terrified of holding a box with a curse item in it. What if he dropped it?
It was well into the night when they finally headed back. All that walking was good for one thing; it made him exhausted so sleeping was easy.