"Where did you find these?" she asked him curiously. 

"One of the councilmen had these stored in his library. Though I doubt the man ever came to know or decipher what it was."

"He must have known these books had some sort of codes," Penny who was done with flipping the pages raised her head to look up at Damien, "He allowed you to take them with you?"

"The man died. I didn't kill him," he added, sitting on the bed and picking up the book of turnip, "Someone had him killed before we could go check the mansion and interrogate the man. Yes, he must have known about them but he was never able to decipher and understand what it meant until now if he still continued to keep it out in the open." 

"Why was the man killed?" Damien had returned back to the mansion late, making her wonder how important or delicate the case was which he was handling.

"He got two of the councilmen killed with some others. Also having sent the switcher to one of the houses where the chosen alignment of stars took place," he informed her, reading the parchment of paper that spoke about breaking the vegetable and smas.h.i.+ng it with a hammer. How odd, "He sent it on the word of the black witches. Can you tell me what the books are about?" he asked to have her nod immediately. 

Her eyes started to scan and as she read one after another, moving across the pages, she said, "They speak about summoning the spirits, about the incantation where you draw and mark the area for different kinds of energy. Both the white witch and the black witch have the ability to draw and channel the energy which requires sacrificial object which was why the white witches opted out of it, swearing to their fellow sisters to say on how they would never come to use it and taint themselves with the unholy lands and words that come from there," she then moved to another book, quickly skimming through to say,

"This one...it speaks about animals and other kinds…" she trailed, her brow knitting together which continued to speak about the animal. Turning the page she read, "Ah, spider. It speaks about cunningness and its way to trap others. The lone spider-"

"I think we found treasure," Damien interrupted her, "The book is about moon signs. What does it say apart from the animalistic behavior with their descriptions."

"Hold on," she started to move one page after another, pus.h.i.+ng it until she finally came almost to an end, "There is different handwriting here which is different when compared to who wrote this book. I think there were empty pages that have been filled."

"What does it say?"

Penny leaned closer to the book as the writing was much smaller here as if it were made sure that everything that needed to be said was put in here. 

She then read out loud, her voice soft on the crackling fire from the fireplace, 

"The book you have found is not something you should have been able to find, and if you are reading this, it means the stars have aligned themselves and death is close, knocking at every door which is what will happen. I write this in a state of haste where the hour is dark and it is where the hand of the time shows to the left. We all hoped and prayed that it wouldn't happen and if it has it means ill omens are bound to descend down the lands which you live in. The time is going to be dark and I fear that nothing will come to life and there will be nothing but death."

"If you have found this book it also means you have found the other sister and brothers of it. With what they are, they walk together. Where there is darkness, there is light and where there is both, there is the shadow to look for. The shadows are where you need to be cautious about."

"I have been unable to burn these books as they are under the protection of my older sister but I wish if you find these that you burn them until the very ash that remains. The world is not safe where we can bestow what we have found and learned. The more we learn the more we fall into the pit of darkness which we cannot return or turn back in time."

As she looked down the writing was much worse than the previous one where her eyebrows knitted together in concentration, "...The moon signs are part of every creature, witches, vampires and the rest that have been derived by nature. What we started as an intriguing subject was only later discovered that there was a trail of death in it. A path of darkness which we didn't realize we had carved. Yet, we are not allowed to burn what we have found or we are unable to do so. Every sign provides a link to fate, like a puzzle that can be made use of to create nothing but destruction and annihilation of all the creatures except for the black witches. I don't know but I see my sister change day by day. Her appearance and speech, her thoughts which once were calm are now volatile."

Penny sighed, "The rest is scribbled and I cannot read them," it was the time of midnight and her brain could not process the gibberish writing, "The sister must have tapped into the forbidden magic and had started to turn to a black witch."

"They must have created the books in their interest but it must have turned to be useful for the black witches." 

After a while, Penny asked, "Will you be handing these to the council or the church?"

"The council and the church has no use for it. I doubt anyone will be interested in how to cook vegetables."