Alice was happy to hear from them, at least she sounded as happy as she ever did, Cara… was ignoring them. They met at Levi’s place the next day, right after class. Liz and Alice showed up at the same time, which saved Levi having to entertain. He'd been worried about that, so much that he’d been practicing things to say all afternoon.

Liz was enthusiastic as always, and Levi had never seen Alice so talkative. She warmed up to Liz almost immediately and the two of them were busy getting to know each other when Paul showed up, twenty minutes late.

"Sorry for the holdup," he said, juggling drinks and pizza boxes. "I figured we'd get hungry."

They didn't complain, Levi didn't have much food to offer anyway, so it was probably for the best. They spent the time talking and eating, comparing notes about the last few weeks. Liz seemed to have a great time, laughing and eating with the rest of them. Levi’d been really worried she'd feel left out, not being part of what they'd been through. He really shouldn't have worried. They had tons of questions for Liz, and she was happy to answer. They showed off their respective adjutors. Alice's looked a bit like a ferret, and was wound around her left arm.

"Yeah, I'm a lefty, so that's where it got me," she said. "Speaking of which, how'd that thing get all the way up on your shoulder like that?" she said, pointing with a piece of pizza to the one on Paul's shoulder.

"Yeah, about that, I uh, I sort of threw it when it started moving. It got me anyway, I mean, I've never seen a pen fly before. It really hurt." Liz and Alice laughed, but Levi rubbed his arm, remembering the searing pain.

It was Paul who insisted they make their group official.

“So, there was another reason I was a little late,” he said, pulling out his laptop. “I’ve got something I think we need. What do you think?”

He showed them a webpage with a banner across the top ‘study group 9’

“What is it?” Alice asked. She looked as confused as Levi felt.

“It’s a name for our group, we can give it a different name if you guys don’t like it.”

“No,” she said, I can read, but what is all this?” She gestured to the whole computer. “What are you doing?”

“Aw come on, I’m just messing with you. but really, this is a group app to set up meetups, post ideas, share info, cool stuff we’ve discovered, whatever. And the best part is that it’s totally private, so there’s no worry we’ll be leaking anything. Also, it’s totally compatible with the library’s platform so we can use it to schedule study room reservations through it too.”

“Connolly’s so not going to approve this.” Said Levi, imagining Paul trying to pitch it to him.

“Levi, come on, he said to keep it private, and I swear this is private as they come. He doesn’t have to know every little thing, does he? Alice, Liz, back me up on this.”

“It sound cool.” Said Liz. “And besides, I’ve always wanted to be part of a secret group.”

Alice put a hand on her shoulder. “Liz, you know you grew up with a secret group, one that fights monsters from another dimension.”

“Yeah, but it’s not the same,” she protested. “I’ve never hunted monsters or anything. Most I ever get to do is our summer survival training.”

“Your what?” Said Paul.

“You know, survival training. My dad takes us out into the woods and we live off the land and hunt and we practice hand to hand combat, that sort of thing. Basically a normal family camping trip.”

“Normal, sure,” said Paul.

“Yeah, fine, we can do the app thing,” said Levi. “But Connolly better not ever hear about it. I get the feeling he doesn’t believe in technology. He checks his time on a pocket watch and I’ve never seen him with a cell phone.”

“He won’t hear a word of it,” promised Paul, raising his hand solemnly like he was being sworn in or something. “Well, that just leaves you Alice, what do you think?”

“Fine, it’ll probably be just a waste of time but don’t expect me to do anything with it. I’m just doing it cause Liz’s giving me sad puppy eyes.”

Liz nodded vigorously, giving a double thumbs up.

“Hey that’s the spirit! I’ll send you all a link to download the app. But what about the name? That one’s just a filler.”

“I like it,” said Liz, “it’s like a code name. No one’ll ever know a thing.”

“Cool, we’ve got a website, we’ve got a code name, can we puh-lease talk about what’s been going on.” Said Alice.

Paul threw his hands up in mock surrender, “Alright, I give up, how about you start.”

It turned out Beth had been more forthcoming with Alice than Connolly had been with Levi or Paul, even going so far as to spend several hours with her, explaining how the books worked, among other things.

“There’s a lot she didn’t tell me. She said it was traditional to let the initiates -that’s what they call people like us- figure a lot of it themselves. She says there’s a bond that we need to form with the book, and I can’t do that if she told me everything.”

Each section in their books, she explained, had puzzles attached to test them and prepare them. And each of them were tailored to their user.

“So it’s like a handbook, or how-to manual for all things supernatural,” said Paul, tossing his up in the air and catching it.

“Guide,” said Levi, “I like the sound of that. It sounds better than just saying ‘the book’ all the time.”

"Yeah, I guess, but anyway, it has something to do with these adjutors," she said, displaying the one on her arm. "Somehow they sense our strengths and weaknesses, and they make the book reveal what they think will best help us.”

“Guide,” said Paul.

“What?”

“Like Levi said, book sounds too generic. I like guide.”

“Fine, guide."

"That's really cool," said Liz, leaning over Alice’s as she opened it up. "It would be so much fun to have one of those. So how'd it test all you guys so far?"

While all their experiences so far were pretty similar, Levi was the only one with an adder stone.

"It's a good thing I didn't need one of those," Paul said playing with the stone. "But I am a little jealous that the old man gave it to you and not me. How come you didn't say anything about it sooner?"

"I guess I should have, but he made it seem like a secret and, since he didn't give one to anyone else, I figured it might be better if I didn't say anything. Things were weird enough as it was."

"Yeah, I hear you," said Paul. "Kinda, don't bring it to class if there's not enough to share sort of thing."

They were fascinated with the stone of course, each taking a turn with it, though no one saw anything unusual. Alice thought she saw something out the window, but it turned out to be a stray dog.

Eventually they tired of this and returned to the books.

"This is really cool," said Liz, looking through Alice's guide. "I like how it's all a puzzle." I never had one of these, but Conny told me a little about them, and Reggie showed me his. It's fun thinking you're being prepared for dealing with the bigger stuff." Levi didn't like the sound of "bigger stuff" and one look at Paul's worried frown made him think he felt the same. Alice didn't seem to mind, or maybe she just didn't catch that part.

"Hey Liz," Alice said.

"Hmm, yeah?" She looked up from where she had been tracing the wing of an illustration of a rather hideous looking bird-lion thing with her finger.

"What exactly are the adjutors?"

"Yeah, good question," said Paul. "I'd really like to know what's stuck to my shoulder."

"Umm, that's a good question," she said, tapping her petite nose thoughtfully. I guess they're like helpers, or keys, or something. I dunno, I never really thought about it. I know they're connected to a single person and a single book."

"So how does that work?" asked Alice.

"Well, they're attached, it's just with magic."

"So you don’t really know." said Paul, looking skeptically at the guide, "Are they dangerous?"

"I don't know, probably not."

"Alright," he said, tossing his guide on a chair. "But I still don't get it. It's a book that's not a book, and these are keys that aren't keys. Instead they read our minds and give us tests. And, by the way, they’re probably not dangerous. I'm not sure I'm made for this." He lay back on Levi's bed, draping his arm over his eyes.

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

"Maybe you've been spending too much time with those frat boys," said Alice, "I bet it's made you dumber."

"Could be," he said, peeking out from under his arm. "But it has its perks. Where do you think I stole this pizzas from? They were all so drunk they didn't even realize I swiped em."

"Wait," said Liz, stopping mid bite. "You stole this? I don't know if I can eat anymore."

"Oh don't worry. I didn't really steal it, it's more like communal property. They were done with them and would've just tossed them the next morning, they ordered way too many. It happens all the time. If anyone asks, I can always give em a few bucks but Logan, the guy who bought em, he has filthy rich parents who pay for everything. He charges everything to this card of his and won't even care."

"Okay, if you say so," said Liz, taking another bite, but she didn't look fully convinced.

Wanting to change the mood, and also because he was struggling with his guide, Levi turned to Alice. "So Beth said you were already way ahead of us with your book. So, like, what'd you have to do so far?" He'd wanted to ask her since she'd walked in the door but she had a weird sort of intensity that really intimidated him. If he was totally honest, he’d actually been a little freaked out around her since she’d confronted him with the whole ‘death coming to get him’ bit when they first met. But he wanted answers, so he'd been trying to work himself up to asking her all evening.

"Oh yeah," said Paul. "She said you got way far. I've only read this brief history bit. How about you fill us in?"

She smiled unpleasantly at Paul. "I don't know if I should tell you, I mean, won't that stunt your growth or something. Some things you’ve just got to learn for yourself right?"

"You're a terrible person, you know that right?"

"Yeah, I know.”

“Seriously though,” pressed Levi, “what did you find out?”

She grimaced.“Not that much more really. The guide keeps giving me challenges and stuff, and each one reveals a little bit more. It’s got to be the most frustrating book in the universe. Anyway, what I’ve got so far is mostly history of the hunters, well that and some descriptions of monsters, with pictures and stuff. And then there’s the fun part."

Paul was sitting up now, looking interested. "Yeah the fun part, that sounds promising. What's that?"

“Don’t know. I'm not that far ahead of you. Beth did tell me there's supposed to be info on types of magic and how to counter them, techniques for dealing with monsters, that sort of thing. Beth says there's a whole chronology chart too that's way up to date. And when I say up to date, I mean present day, like the airplane crashes and land popping out of nowhere over Christmas time present day. But," and here her face scrunched in a frustrated scowl. "Beth says a lot of it won’t show for quite a while. Stupid training wheels."

"Oh, yeah," Liz said. "That reminds me, someone's got to fill me in on your little adventure. I know I'm not in the club exactly, but come on."

"What? You’re totally in the club and yeah, we'll give you the whole rundown," said Paul, reaching over to grab Alice's guide, "but first, really Alice, that's all you got?"

"Hey, no you don't." She said, pulling it away. "Maybe I got a little further than that, but if I tell you, there's no reason for you to do the work. Admit it, if you know you'll just quit trying won't you?"

"Maybe, but who knows, I might surprise you." There was a moment of silence with Alice giving him a deadpan stare. Then he laughed. "Okay, yeah I don't buy it either. Fine, keep your secrets, I'll read em myself soon enough."

"Sure you will. Well, when you give up, I'll let you boys pay me for the cliff notes."

"I'd really like your help though,” said Levi. “Could you guys take a look at mine, I think it might be broken."

"What do you mean broken?" asked Alice.

"I mean Connolly said new clues pop up with each section, but mine's a blank page. Yours all have clues right?"

"Yeah, yeah they do," said Paul, "let's have a look."

Flipping the guide open to the last page, Levi showed them the blank page. "See, nothing."

"Here, let me see that," said Paul, he looked at it from every way, squinting at it, holding it up at an angle, finally he tossed it on the bed. You're right, it's hopeless. That sucks you got a broken one."

"It's not hopeless," said Alice, rolling her eyes. "You're just not smart enough to figure it out. She picked it up and they all gathered around. As they did so the page began to shimmer.

"Woah, Levi, it’s doing something."

"Shut up Paul," said Alice. “Let's see what's going on.”

Finally, the shimmering faded and words appeared on the page, written in a thin script, one letter at a time, as if someone were writing with an invisible quill.

Not all things can be done on your own, remember that friends are a strength greater than intellect.

"So, uh what does that mean?" asked Paul.

"Silly, it means just what it says," said Liz," I bet it wasn't going to open till you'd quit keeping to yourself and had us look. Good thing we did."

"Yeah, good thing, does that mean it will open now?" asked Levi.

Alice tried the page, it turned noiselessly.

"Hey," she said. "This is different than mine."

"What do you mean?" said Levi, "I thought they were all the same."

"So did I, but it's different." She read the next few pages carefully, tracing the writing with her finger as she went. "No, this definitely is different. It talks about the same events, but it's from a different point of view. I think it was written by a different author."

"Cool, so it means mine might have stuff yours doesn't have?"

"And vice versa. Paul, I think you need to get working on yours too. I guess you can't just read the cliff notes after all."

The rest of the night was spent swapping stories with Liz, comparing notes from their guides, and wondering what other strange things might be in store. As he sat back, laughing and talking with his friends, Levi realized that for the first time since coming to New York he felt like he was home.

###

As the evening drew to a close, the bright glare of the clock on the microwave warned of the late hour. Even with morning classes waiting, they all seemed loathe to leave. It was a relief not to be alone any more. But, after the final slice of pizza was eaten, and the final drink was drunk, they said their goodbyes.

"Thanks everyone, weird to say but this was the best time I've had in a long time," said Paul.

"Yeah, me too," said Alice. "It's good to have someone to talk to."

Levi nodded, happy that he wasn’t the only one to feel this way.

Soon though, they went their separate ways, though Liz hung around a bit after the others left.

"Thanks for inviting me," she said, as she sat on his desk, swinging her feet, "that was fun."

"Yeah, of course, everyone liked having you. And besides, you know way more about all of this than we do, it kinda makes you the expert."

"Hmm, an expert, I like that. But, I'm your friend too right? I'm not just here because you need a tutor?"

"Of course your my friend," said Levi, surprised at the question. "Everyone else likes you too, whether you know all about magic, monsters, and all that or not."

She smiled, looking even more cheerful than usual. "Oh, good, I've always wanted friends my age."

Levi hesitated. It was an odd thing for someone to say. "Don't you have other friends?"

"Sure, "Connolly", and Beth, and the others, and all my neighbors, but none my age."

"Really? You're so likeable, you seem like you'd have tons of friends."

"Well," she said, looking at the floor. "I didn't go to school, so most of the people I knew growing up were my parents' friends or my brother and sisters. That's why I'm so happy to be in college finally, I've never been around so many people my age in, well ever. I've got three sisters and a brother, but

they're all younger than me, so that doesn't really count."

"Wow, you were homeschooled? I can't even imagine what that would be like." Levi said, thinking what it would be like to hang out with his family all day. It didn’t sound that bad.

“It was more than that. My family is a little… Well they’re a little different. I mean we know about all of this stuff.” She pointed at Levi’s guide. “And since most of the people I spend time with are like you guys are now, you can see why I don’t get out much. If school was like this, I think I really missed out.”

It made her start to make more sense, he thought. There was always something just a little different about her. Good, but different.

She seemed a little down after admitting what she did, so Levi tried to cheer her up. "Well, I don't know that you really missed out on much, school wasn't all that fun, especially high school."

"But I've heard so much about it, I know it's not like the movies or anything, but if it's anything like college, I really missed out. What was it like for you?"

"Trust me, you didn't miss much, college is way better."

He hoped she'd leave it at that. He hated to think of her finding out what he'd been like. That awkward kid, standing against the wall. In a strange way, their adventure over Christmas had given him everything he'd hoped for, even if it had almost killed him. Even though it was an odd group, somehow just knowing that they were all connected helped him fit in. It was nice to be part of, well part of whatever this was.

Happily, she didn’t press him.

"Ok then, I'll believe you," she said jumping off the desk. "Well, I'd better be going too then."

She was soon bundled up and ready to go. Before she left, she stopped for a moment, seeming to hesitate. Then, going up on tiptoes and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before practically skipping out the door.

"See you in class tomorrow, she called over her shoulder." And with a flip of her ponytail she was gone.

Levi was surprised by the kiss, the warmth of her lips lingered far after she was gone or, well that was probably his imagination. Still, he could feel their imprint, smell the soft, warm scent of her hair. They lingered there, even as he lay there trying to sleep.

He couldn't stop wondering what exactly the kiss meant. She was just happy to be invited, he thought, that was all. But then, hadn't she'd seemed just a bit nervous at the end, after the others left? And maybe the smile she'd given him was for him, not just because she was happy?

"Yep," he muttered to himself as he drifted off, "definitely overthinking things."

###

The next month they met regularly, and even Alice had to admit that the virtual workspace was useful. Actually, she was constantly posting links to news stories, tabloids, scans of old looking manuscripts. Levi began to wonder when she had time to study.

When the four of them weren't meeting, or cramming for the next exam, they were trying their hardest to figure out the next clue. Though, as a rule, they agreed to try to work out their riddles mostly on their own. If the purpose was to train them, Alice reasoned, having someone else help them would be cheating. The others agreed with her... mostly.

If getting help was cheating, Levi cheated every chance he could. Well, he used every excuse he could to talk to Liz anyway. Besides, he reasoned, the adjutor didn't seem to object, and neither did Liz.

Nothing more was said about the kiss, and Levi’s stomach started churning every time he thought of bringing it up. At least they were spending time together, so that was something. The problem was, he’d never had a girl actually want to spend this much time with him. He thought they’d had a moment there but did they? And if they did… What was he supposed to do now? Paul would probably laugh at him, Alice was way too intense for him, Connolly probably hadn’t asked a girl out in about a thousand years, No way he’d even mention girls to his mom, he’d never hear the end of it. In the end he called his brother.

“Hey Levi, it’s been a while, what’s up?”

“Hey, uh, you busy?”

“Yeah, for you, of course.”

“So, I’ve got a question, and don’t laugh okay?”

“Yeah, sure.”

“You promise you won’t laugh?”

“Promise.”

“So, I’ve got this girl that I like, and I think she likes me and we’re spending a lot of time together and, uh, I, um.”

“You wanna know where to go next?”

“Well, you know I never had much luck in high school.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know.” There was a heavy pause. They’d both been embarrassed by girls trying to use him to get to his brother. “Look, if she really likes you, then she’d probably waiting for you to make the next move. If you like her then you’ve got to ask her out, it’s as simple as that.”

“Yeah, ok, got it. Like a real date then?”

“Yeah, like a real date Levi. And Levi”

“Yeah?”

“Don’t wait too long or she’ll give up.”

“Ok, got it. Thanks.”

“No problem. Anything else?”

“No, I’ll see you around.”

“Ok, bye.”

###

Still, he kept finding reasons to put off asking her out. It’s not like he didn’t see her just about every day. In fact, most days the two of them could be found in some corner or other, looking over the guide and its obscure text. He just was really, really good at psyching himself out. Still, he had a great time with Liz and he could tell she was having a good time too, so he didn't feel too guilty about cheating. The first time he asked for her help though, she been skeptical.

"I'm not making you miss out on your training, right?" She asked, looking torn.

"What? No, of course not."

“But didn’t you guys promise to do things on your own?”

It was fair, and he knew it, but he just couldn’t bring himself to tell her the real reason he wanted to hang out. In the end, he tried the best line he could think of. “You saw the message on my guide," he told Liz. "I'm supposed to ask for help. It told me to. So really, you're helping my training, not hurting it." He winced when he said it. It sounded like a lame excuse and he waited for her to call him on it.”

Instead she just looked… relieved? "Huh? Oh yeah, you're right. Well if it helps your training I suppose it's okay."

Wow, he thought, that worked?