The Midnight Library

It was late October. The air was brisk as night settled in. Rain had begun to fall softly right on que orchestrating the perfect setting for Halloween. Tall picturesque Victorian houses from the late 1800s stood like grand nostalgic reminders of an era long ago. They watched over streets of the historical district like sentinels guarding my journey home to the house at the top of the hill. The ornately trimmed houses, each one with its own distinct charm and secrets from ages gone by, were aglow with amber light. The wide wrap-around front porches were decorated for Halloween, lights, witches, ghosts and goblins. Occupants of these grand homes were busy with the duties of closing out the night. Many of their younger occupants were most likely busy counting the loot gathered from the night's Trick or Treat festivities. 

I had stayed late at the library, which sat at the edge of Main and East, to give out candy. The library was once the home of one of the most prominent mayors in our history, so it was a tradition to stay open on Halloween to hand out treats to the community. It’s a special event I enjoy as the librarian.

The library had not only become my place of employment for the last few years but it had this strange sense of familiarity to me. It’s like I had always been here, or been here before. It had become a second home. I loved being there, even alone at night on Halloween despite the local lore that the library is haunted.

As I turned the corner, up ahead in the darkness in front of my house, I thought I saw a dark figure, like a cat staring down at me. I continued to walk up the hill but as I got closer there was nothing there. I shrugged it off and unlocked the door. 

Settling in my favorite rocking chair in the darkened room, pajamas on and tablet in hand, I reflected on the happy faces tonight. Now, It was time to start the finishing touches for all the upcoming holiday programming at the library.  

Movement in the doorway to the kitchen jarred my gaze away from my work. It took a few seconds for my eyes to adjust. I looked around. Nothing. Realizing it was almost eleven thirty, I headed to my bedroom, hopped in bed and shut the lights off.

I hadn't been asleep long when I was awakened by the loud sounds of scratching at my front door. I sat up quickly, panic grabbing hold of me. I jumped out of bed, running quietly to the front door to be sure it was still locked. I stood to the side to keep from being seen by what I assumed was an intruder. Pulling back the curtain ever so slightly, I looked out the window to find no one was there. The scratching had stopped. The trees were swaying back and forth in the wind. I laughed to myself. Too much Halloween tonight. 

Unlocking the very heavy large wooden door, I walked out onto the covered front porch. To my suprise, there stood a rather plump, large black cat with stunning citrine eyes that sparkled in the night like canary diamonds.

He circled around my legs, brushing up against me and purring. His emerald collar had a gold name plate on it, “Pyewackett”.

”Hello Pyewackett” I said to him, reaching down and scooping him up to cradle him. Surprisingly, his fur was not damp from the rain. Perhaps he had been taking refuge under the porch or under the wicker chairs and table I kept on the porch.

I looked closer at his name plate. No address and no phone number. I set him on the floor and looked up and down the street. It was late and there were no lights on at any of the other houses. In fact, it was incredibly dark. It was almost like the entire street had been swallowed by the night.   

I looked down at him, pondering what to do. As I was thinking of my next step, it was as if he had his own agenda. He was circling around my legs again, almost pushing me off the porch. 

“Hey, buddy! I know you probably need me to bring you home but I don’t know where home is.”

He bounded down the 5 steps to the sidewalk in front of my 1890’s Victorian. I could still see him thankfully, due to the glow from the orange and purple Halloween lights adorning the front porch. I watched as he walked away, part of me thinking, he will be ok. He knows his way home. The other part of me wanted to take him inside and give him a can of tuna and a warm, dry place to spend the night. Most things are best sorted out in the daylight. 

He was having none of that it seemed. He looked right at me, his eyes still sparkling. and let out a very loud yowl. I looked around, half expecting all the neighbors to turn on the lights to see what was happening. 

I shook my head, reached back, locking my door and conceded. 

“Ok, you win, let's go find your home.”

We continued down the street, in the darkness, wind howling, leaves blowing. I pulled my sweater around me trying to block out some of the cold damp air. 

Pye would walk ahead and then walk back to make sure I was walking along with him. It was as if he was pushing me to hurry up. Walking as fast as I could, only being led by the light on my phone, I tried to stay on the sidewalk. Going fast was not an option at this time because it seemed that every single street light was out. I had never experienced my street in such total and Isolated blackness. The wind had stopped. The rain had stopped. Everything was still, frozen. 

I looked at my watch. It was almost midnight. Starting to become more aware of my surroundings, I realized there was not a soul around. No cars. No people. No lights on. Nothing. This was not a good idea, me following a strange black cat into the night, in my pajamas, with only my keys and cell phone. My over dramatic mind started to work double time and I thought about leaving the cat on his own and turning back. 

Just as that thought entered my mind, he came trotting back to me, rubbing up against my legs, as if to give me comfort, telling me it will be ok. 

“Ok, Pye. That will be my nickname for you, Pye. I was going to call you Fang because you have such beautiful white teeth but I think Pye fits you better.”

He purred again, rubbing against me and walking on.

”Where is it that we are going?” I asked. I knew he wasn’t going to answer me but talking to him kept me from running all the way back to my house. I shook my head, realizing what I was doing was way behind my usual good judgment. How did a smart, independent woman wind up in this situation? 

Pye trotted on ahead and would disappear for a second and then look back at me, his eyes sparkling off the light from my phone. When I reached the end of my street, he was waiting for me at the stop sign. I looked to the right and in the distance I could see the bold silhouette of the library. He looked back at me and headed in that direction.

”Did you follow me home tonight?” I said, still half expecting a reply. This adventure had been strange and if he talked back, well that would just be fitting. He just kept on walking. He was on a mission, and I was his companion.

Just then, thunder rumbled in the distance and a loud smack came from the bushes beside us. I jumped, shining my light into the trees. Pye stood his ground hissing loudly at whatever was there, placing himself between me and whatever lurked in the dark. He lunged forward and made this horrific sounding meow. And then, he continued walking like nothing was wrong. I quickly followed him, hoping whatever was there, was not following us too. 

Approaching the library, I could see Pye turn down the driveway, instead of going to the front door. Maybe he wasn’t going to the library after all. Maybe he was heading up the side street. I hurried to keep up with him as he started to run. 

“Hey, buddy!” I yelled in kind of a whisper as I tried to avoid waking all the neighbors. Pye stopped and turned back, sitting down, seemingly impatient with my ability to keep up with him. 

“Ok, where are we going? The library is closed and I know you don’t live in the library.” He looked at me and walked to the back door of the building. He stood up on his hind legs and scratched at the ancient wooden door. I stood crossing my arms. 

“You brought me to the library? Seriously? No one is here!” Just then it started to rain pretty hard. I reached in my pocket for my keys. Thankfully I always carry the library keys with me. I reached and unlocked the old metal lock, the mechanisms clanking loudly in the silent night.

The old door squealed as I opened it, as if in protest to being woken up from its long slumber. No one ever uses this door. I was surprised my key actually worked. 

Pye gave a loud thankful purr and bounded into the entryway, jumping up on the ledge of the foundation. Inside before us stood another door. I was not sure I had ever seen this door before. It was ancient as well with metal scrollwork adorning it and a beautiful stained glass window that glimmered from light on the inside. The handle had an intricate lock on it. I was sure I didn’t have a key for this one and there should not be lights on the inside but honestly, I didn’t usually go into the basement. 

Pye reached his polydactyl paw up above him and swatted a large ornate key that was hanging by a very beautiful cast iron hook with a black cat silhouette on it. Starting to feel like I was in some kind of hallucination, I looked at him and took the key. 

It was very heavy, solid cast iron and as cold as a glacier. I reached to put the key in the lock and the church bells from down the street struck midnight. Startled by the sudden sound, I pulled back, hesitant to unlock the door. Pye reached his paw out and nudged my hand. 

The lock turned, click, clack, thud. The giant door swung open revealing a room that I had never seen in the 5 years I had served as librarian. Pye jumped down and sauntered in like he had arrived home. 

We walked down a long hallway towards a light that appeared to have the orange glow of smoldering embers in a fireplace. I was as nervous as I was curious so I walked on following my new friend. 

Reaching the end of the hallway, a grand gothic room opened before us, with hundreds towering shelves, spiral staircases and a ceiling that seemed to go on for eternity. The air was filled with the scent of aged paper and sage. I walked along the stacks, letting my fingers brush against the worn spines of the books. I felt like I had entered another realm. This place felt alive.

I walked along, touching the enormous stacks of books, almost unable to believe that they were not some dream. There were literally thousands of books here, some small, some large, some thin, some thick, all of them old. The bindings were very worn. Some of the writing on them was in what seemed to be an ancient text, something I had never seen. I wanted to sit down and investigate all of them but Pyewackett was urging me forward. 

We walked through an arched doorway into another room which was glowing with orange and yellow firelight. This room was much smaller but still more book shelves lined the walls. Before me, was a podium, carved of wood, with beautiful scrollwork, some similar to that on the ancient books. A very ornate chair was next to the podium, carved in much the same design as the podium except covered in a beautiful deep green velvet. In the chair sat another cat, this one black, and orange with just a highlight or two of white with beautiful emerald green eyes. She wore an emerald green collar just like Pye’s. Her’s said Daisy. 

I walked around to the back of the podium. The book was closed. I reached for it, caressing the embossed text and scrollwork on the deep brown leather cover. I could feel the book begin to vibrate almost like a heartbeat. I pulled my hand back. Daisy reached her paw up and nudged my hand. I looked over at Pye who was observing. I lowered my hands and opened the book.

A bright light came out of the book as if it was electrified. The words on the pages were not in my language but in that of the same ancient text on the books in the library. I scanned the page trying to make sense of anything. Suddenly, the words on the page started to move and shift and shimmer! 

“This cannot be possible! It has to be some kind of illusion!” I said, transfixed by the words swirling on the ancient page before me. 

In deep green letters, outlined in gold my name began to appear! 

    WELCOME TO THE ENCHANTED HALLS OF OUR ANCIENT REPOSITORY ADELINE BRADBURY.

    WE HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR YOU FOR A LONG TIME.

LOOK AROUND AND HEAR THE WHISPERS OF LONG AGO STORIES AND ECHOS OF ANCIENT HISTORIES. EACH BOOK OF PARCHMENT BOUND WITH LEATHER HOLDS COUNTLESS SECRETS, EACH SHELF A PORTAL TO ANOTHER WORLD. 

   AS YOU EXPLORE THIS NEW REALM, TREAD CAREFULLY. THOSE WHO ARE GIVEN MUCH KNOWLEDGE, MUCH MAY BE EXPECTED OF THEM.

 RESPECT THE POWER OF THE KNOWLEDGE AND MAGIC THAT SURROUNDS YOU. 

   RETURN AS OFTEN AS YOU WOULD LIKE, BUT REMEMBER, ONLY THOSE WITH PURE INTENTIONS MAY ENTER THE REALM OF WISDOM. 

  MAY YOUR JOURNEY BE FILLED WITH ENCHANTMENT, KNOWLEDGE, AND ENLIGHTENMENT.

At that moment, I felt like I was frozen with fear or I was turned to stone by some crazy spell. I looked around for my two new friends and they were both curled up, on the emerald chair, fast asleep.

I looked back at the book and the words had returned to the ancient scroll. I closed the cover, not sure what to do next. Why had this black cat brought me here? Was any of this even real?

I looked around behind me suddenly feeling very overwhelmed and needing to sit down. Another very large, very comfortable looking emerald chair sat next to the fireplace with a book resting in the seat. I walked over, picked up the book and sat down. 

The cover was the same leather and scrollwork of the very large book I had just opened. This one, however, was in my language. As I started to read, I realized it was a guide of sorts to not just the library but to life, a new life with this new found odyssey. Pye jumped up into my lap and I leaned back into the soft overstuffed chair and fell asleep.

Sunlight glinted through the floor to ceiling windows pulling me unwillingly from my dream. I stayed snuggled in the soft, warm quilt not wanting to move. It was so early and my mind outlined the list of morning chores to get done before heading off to the library. The library. The events of the previous night began to invade all of my senses. I could see the doors, the stacks of ancient books, smell the scent of the aged paper, sage, and smoldering embers from the fireplace. I could feel the softness of the plump black cat in my lap curled up on the green chair by the fireplace. 

“ No more chocolate for you before bed” I said out loud to myself as I rolled over and sat up. Twisting in the covers, something heavy was by my feet, keeping the covers fixed in place. I looked and looked again. I rubbed my eyes and blinked to clear the cobwebs of sleep away. It could not be. It’s impossible.  

Laying at the foot of my bed, sound asleep, was the plump black cat, Pyewackett.