The Man on Cedar Grove

It was cold. Colder than usual. Ocean could feel her fingertips freezing as much as she could barely feel her toes.

She sighed in frustration and pain trying to open the icy, cold library door. Only simply trying to return a book, she finally got the door open using her coat's sleeve.

The Forbidden Tree was the book she placed on the front desk of the library.

She stood rubbing her hands furiously to get some type of warmth, but it didn't help that the inside of the library felt even colder than outside.

She was greeted by a woman.

"Hello sweetie, come to return a book?" the woman asks examining it. Her voice was rough but almost calming to Ocean's ears.

"Yes, ma'am. May I go look for another book while you go through with the return?" asked Ocean.

"Just wait a minute sweetie," Ocean observed the woman thoroughly. She noticed that she was wearing forest green, a knitted cardigan that made Ocean feel hot even in the cold weather.

Her skin was pale but gave off a temporary glow that made it seem like she was the sun that was missing from the sky.

Ocean happened to notice the pinned name tag on the woman's chest, Perry, the tag read.

"You may go now." Said Perry. But before Ocean could completely turn around, she spoke again, "wait! If you would like, you can borrow two books, and get any other two books of your liking for free," she smiled. The way her cheeks lifted and the sight of her pearly, white teeth made Ocean's hands warm suddenly.

"Uh, sure. Thank you." Perry nodded as a gesture to say You're Welcome. 

Ocean headed to the back of the library where it was filled with books of fiction. Of fairytales. Of places, Ocean could travel too without having to move an inch, filled with people she could speak to without opening her mouth. With fiction, the world felt timeless.

The ground was worn out, mostly because of the number of people that have walked upon it.

The lights were dim but lit enough for the books to be seen.

Ocean took off her coat and set it on the table beside a bookshelf with Adventure books.

She went off to find an urban fantasy book that her friend had recommended to her the week before.

Searching through the various oak shelves, Ocean finally finds the book. But just to make sure it's the right one, she heads back to her coat to find her phone.

Reaching into the coat pocket, she is met with her phone and a small piece of paper that has now fallen to the floor softly.

"What?..." Ocean asks herself. She looks at the card and somehow cuts her finger at the tip. Wincing in pain, Ocean flips the card over while sucking the blood oozing out of her finger.

Meet at the alley of Cedar Grove. Bring a fallen flower.

3 pm.

Her eyebrow raised in confusion. She thought about this as being a possible prank but questioned that at the fact that no one was up here but her and aging dust.

Still conflicted, Ocean rested the card on the table and went back to her previous task.

She took a picture of the book and asked her friend if it was the right one.

Replying with yes, her friend hung up the phone first, leaving Ocean with the mysterious card and the book she picked up, The Crook and the Ocean. 

Heading back to the shelves for another book, Ocean couldn't help but think about the card she had gotten.

Who would've given it to her?

Why her?

Now finished with choosing three more books, she grabs her coat and decides to leave the card at the table, choosing to forget about it. She read a few chapters of the book and closed it after chapter 3. She headed to the desk the woman was at.

"Were you able to find everything you were looking for, sweetie?" Perry asked, grabbing the pile of books from the top of the desk and placing them down to the second level of it.

"Yes, ma'am," Ocean smirked.

The woman gestured for Ocean's library card, and when she pulled the library card out of her pocket, she was met with the same falling card as before. Sharp as ever with clean-cut lines and calligraphic written lines, that looked type but wasn't, which was easy to figure out from the detail in the I's and G's.

She handed the woman her library card and proceeded to pick up the card that creepily invited her to an alleyway she swore never to go to because of its eerie, cold feeling even without the winter weather.

"Thank you," replied Ocean as she was handed back her card and the now bagged books.

With her coat back on, Ocean walks back outside and the wind slaps her in the face. A stinging sensation ran from her eyes down to her cheeks that made her kiss her teeth as she realized Cedar Grove was just a few blocks ahead.

She sped up her pace in an attempt to fly by the open alleyway, hoping whoever was, or might be waiting for her wasn't there.

She finally made it to the alley and paused.

She wanted to continue walking, but something about the alley felt different. The creepy feeling that filled her being every time she walked past, left her body.

She felt more secure.

She once again looked at the card that said 3 pm.

The time read 2:57.

Ocean then saw that the card mentioned bringing a fallen flower. Looking around, she saw a slightly frosted flower with dark pink tips and faded white petals.

She picked it up blowing off snow, curious about how it still looks so alive when even the leaves from the tree she found the flower under, were completely dead.

She looked down the alley and hesitated at first but decided to step forward once.

She saw that there was a single lamp standing at around 9 feet tall, with a small bulb that somehow lit up the dead end of the alley completely.

She continued walking after getting over her hesitation and expected more but found what she had expected from the beginning.

She turned to the path that opened back up to the street and turned back to the mossy, brick wall.

"Beautiful flower you have there," said a voice behind Ocean that made her jump. "Oh sorry love, didn't mean to frighten you. I'm guessing you got my note?" Ocean turned around slowly hoping it wasn't some serial killer with a butcher knife or some chainsaw ready to cut her into pieces and sell her through the black market.

"Ah, it's okay," Ocean replied. The Man she looked at was tall but seemed small compared to the lamp he leaned on. His hair dark as night, with eyes even Ocean could tell was a violent, hazel from the distance between them. He was wearing a long, button-down coat, that was black with dark grey silk inside. His pants seemed raggedy but if one were to take a closer look, they looked well made and expensive.

His shoes were shiny, jet black, that blinded Ocean at the sight of them.

"Let's have some tea, shall we?" His voice firm, the man motions for Ocean to follow him and behind walking off to a door that Ocean did not see before.

He opened it and didn't look back, almost as if he knew Ocean would follow.

And she did.

She scurried to the door before it closed, and felt the heat of the room build up over her body and smiled a smile that meant 'Thank God'.

The man gestured for her to sit, but once again she hesitated and at the realization that she became a bit scared, he began giving her an introduction.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I haven't properly introduced myself." He said putting water in a kettle.

The room around them was warm, safe, silent. You couldn't hear the cars outside even with the window showing them passing.

There were no other doors, so this was all one room.

There was a table to eat, a desk to work on, a kitchen to cook in, and telling from the piled sheets and pillows, a corner to sleep in.

"My name is Emilio. I'm 23 years old and I live here. My birthday is February fourteenth and I like cookies." Before he could finish, Ocean opened her mouth to say something but Emilio stopped her with his hand in the air.

"I already know you. No need to introduce yourself."

Ocean grew a confused look.

"Ocean Skyes. 22 years old. Lives in a single bedroom apartment, absolutely adore reading, an amateur writer, and has no family. Or at least you do, but you cut them off after they refused to believe that you were sexually assaulted by your uncle. Am I right?"

Ocean smirked and his bundle of information, "you forgot to mention that I hate the cold," she smiled, trying to hold back a burst of nervous laughter.

"Well, I thought that was obvious from the way you get frustrated from just opening a door." Emilio laughed.

"What did you invite me here for anyway? And what was the flower for?"

"I just wanted to see if you could follow simple directions. Did you bring your book?" Emilio smirked offering a plate of cookies that Ocean couldn't resist.

"Yes. I'm guessing you mean The Crook and the Ocean?"

"Yes. Let me tell you a story."

Ocean nodded in approval and got comfortable in a seat at the dining table.

"Long ago there were four kingdoms. There was the kingdom of magic ruled by the King of Hearts, there was another kingdom completed with nature ruled by a king that could speak to animals. Another kingdom contained thieves and crooks and all sorts of criminals. The final kingdom was ruled by a just king, that fell in love with the King of Crooks..." Emilio paused to drink his tea. The way the story began almost seemed similar to the plot of the book Ocean read earlier.

"But the King of Justice was like no other king, for this king was a woman pretending to be a man. She filled everyone with her manly voice and almost boy-like body. Her and the King of Crooks would meet secretly at night, every night, because marriage between rival kingdoms was forbidden. But one night, as the King of Justice was on her journey at night to meet with the King of Crooks, someone had been following her." Emilio paused to finish his last sip of tea and began to pour another cup. He poured Ocean another for Ocean and she nodded as thanks.

"'My love, I don't know how much longer we can do this. I am tired of meeting in secret' the King of Crooks replied to his lady. She replied saying that they should make a law supporting the marriage of rival kingdoms. But the Crook, in turn, says that 'the King of Hearts and the King of Nature will not approve. And neither know that you are a woman'. In the next few minutes of watching the sky in silence, the King of Hearts jumps out from his hiding place with a sword drawn at the Crook's chest. The Crook and the King of Justice begged for forgiveness but the King of Hearts did not listen. But before Hearts could impale The Crook, Justice jumped in front of him and was killed herself. After grieving, the Crook snatched the sword from Hearts grasp and stabbed him in the heart..." Emilio paused again, almost as if he didn't want to say the rest of the story. But Ocean's look re-assured him that it was okay.

"The King of Hearts died, but what the Crook did not know was that by the hands wielding the sword, the one to kill its keeper will receive their powers and will be able to revive only one person they truly love. The Crook predictably chose Justice. But something went wrong with the magic, and somehow he ended up in the real world. He now walks the streets of an unknown place searching for a person connected to Justice so that they may marry and live happily again."

Her face in awe, Ocean childishly claps with cookies in both hands.

"That was good. It kind of sounds like a summary of what happens in this book. But what does that have to do with me?"

Emilio got up from his seat and opened a closet door, that Ocean had not seen before. He picked up what looked like a sword.

He looked towards Ocean with hope and asked: "can you keep a secret?"