Bold Letters

The library wasn't an uncommon place to find Emmeline. She was often huddled up in a cozy corner, several books spread out beside her. Either that or it'd be half past closing hours and the librarians would be desperately trying to coax her out as Emmeline tried to think of grand excuses to stay and read some more.

There was one librarian, though. She often let Emmeline through the old back door of the library, and let her stay and read late into the night. In Emmeline's opinion, this librarian was one of the best. While in the opinion of the public eye, she was often described as "grim" or "shady".

But, as many would say, "Ignorance is bliss!" Emmeline was surprised by how many times she would hear that phrase a day. Her curious personality couldn't help but question what they meant, but every time she did, she was just given the cold shoulder.

Every day Emmeline walked to the library on the far east side of the city. It was her favorite one because it had the "grim" librarian. A giant wall made of steel towered over it. The same wall that surrounded the entire city. But nobody seemed to question it. When Emmeline did, she'd be told off with the same line. "Ignorance is bliss," the people would simply say.

Emmeline opened the wooden doors which quietly pushed inwards. The silence of the library and the dusty, stale smell of the books gave her a surreal feeling every time she entered the old building. It was always dimly lit by candles, because the wall cast a long shadow over the library blocking any sunlight from filtering through dirty windows.

This library wasn't perfect, but it was her library. The one she had gone to ever since she was younger. At the time, she had often complained about how unkempt it was. But now, at her age of fourteen, she'd grown fond of the ancient feeling of the place.

At the front desk, the grim librarian was waiting for her, like she was everyday around two o'clock. The two of them had developed somewhat of a routine. Emmeline walked in, asked if there were any new books in stock, and then the grim librarian would nod and pull out a couple fresh books from below her desk.

"What do you have today, Miss. Librarian?" Emmeline sang cheerfully. It had been a good day, and she was excited to see what new stories were awaiting her. The grim librarian looked at Emmeline for several long moments. This was unusual. Why did she look so sad? "Is there something on my face?" Emmeline wondered aloud, holding her cold hand up to her cheek.

"No, sorry. Just lost in thought," the grim librarian said, in her smooth, oily voice. "Emmeline, would you like to come to the back with me?"

The back? Emmeline had never been to the back before. That's where all of the expensive books were, full of extravagant stories and knowledge. At least, that's what she's heard. But she was more than happy to get a glimpse at the books behind that thick, wooden door located next to the front desk.

"Of course!" she burst out. "Is it some sort of special occasion? Am I even allowed to be back there? Have you read any of the books in the back? Are they good?" The questions started pouring out, like they often did when a new, fascinating topic was brought into light.

The grim librarian looked startled. "Emmeline! Keep your voice down!" She glanced at the front door of the library, and a couple of the windows, as if nobody should overhear. Her voice lowered to a whisper. "It is a special occasion, no, you are not allowed to be back there, I've read all of the books, and yes, they are good," the grim librarian murmured as she answered each of Emmeline's questions, one by one. Although Emmeline was happy for answers, the grim librarian left out many details.

It seemed the grim librarian could tell Emmeline's questions were bubbling up inside of her, because she quickly led Emmeline to the back door. "Why don't you just see for yourself, yes?"

As they stood in front of the door, Emmeline studied it closely. It was thick and made of an old, mahogany wood. Three bulky iron locks were around the crystal door knob, and the grim librarian was slowly fiddling with her keys, attempting to find the right ones to unlock the large door.

The back door seemed to be the most expensive thing in this library. It definitely stood out among the stale, old books and oak bookshelves. Emmeline wondered why such a secret room would have such an obnoxious door. But, she tried not to think about it. As soon as she entered this room all of her questions would be answered anyways.

The grim librarian unlocked the first silver lock. It fell and clanked on the hollow floor. The lock made an obnoxiously loud sound and the two of them jumped. The grim librarian seemed a little more anxious than usual. She kept glancing around as if eyes were peering through every crack in the walls. Emmeline's heart started to beat a little faster.

Something wasn't right. If this serene, quiet librarian seemed troubled, Emmeline felt troubled as well. Her palms started to sweat and her thin eyebrows furrowed. Maybe the people were right. Maybe ignorance is bliss.

"Report any strange or suspicious activities to the authorities immediately," they would say. "This is strange. And suspicious! You saw an officer patrolling street 6379 on your way here, maybe if you run you can catch up to them!"

Wicked thoughts kept chattering in her head as the grim librarian fiddled with the last two locks. Why would Emmeline ever think to report her? The grim librarian wasn't bad! She was helpful and calm. She was caring! Sure, she had her own way of showing it, but she wasn't suspicious. Was she?

"Don't you find it suspicious that her library is right next to the wall?" their voices would echo in her head. "Never touch the wall. She's practically right up against the thing!"

The second lock had been unlocked, quietly this time, and the grim librarian was busy opening the third lock. How easy it would be to sneak out of the library and dash to the nearest officer.

It was odd. It seemed Emmeline's thoughts were having a tug of war between what she believed, and what she was told. But which one was true? She believed the grim librarian was kind in her own way, but she was told that the grim librarian was nothing but her name. Grim.

Ignorance is bliss. She could move on with her day. Leave and never come back. Pretend she never knew the grim librarian in the first place. Emmeline clenched her fists, torn. If she didn't leave now, the grim librarian would open the back door and Emmeline would have to go in.

Emmeline's curiosity must have gotten the better of her. Her feet were cemented to the floor with her eyes piercing the lock as she waited for the grim librarian to open the mysterious door. Once all three locks were set aside, the grim librarian glanced back at Emmeline. "Are you ready?"

She didn't know how to answer that. Frankly, Emmeline was quite frightened. Her heart was beating unpredictably, and her forehead was wrinkled with foreboding.

The grim librarian didn't wait for an answer anyways. By the time Emmeline had opened her mouth to speak she was already slowly pushing open the heavy door. A muffled creaking sound came from the wood floor beneath it. The room behind the door was pitch black and a cold air flowed from it. Emmeline caught her breath.

It was a lot less grand than Emmeline had imagined, but it still sent chills down her spine to see the room opened for the first time. After years of passing by this door and wondering what was behind it, she would finally get to see.

The grim librarian handed her a lantern. "I have to keep watch over the library. You will have to go in alone."

"But it's so dark!" Emmeline shivered.

"That's why you have a lantern with you. Don't worry, there's only old books in there," the grim librarian reassured. Emmeline looked at the grim librarian in her eyes. Emmeline always found her eyes odd. They were a smooth, silver color. They always seemed pensive, like they were deep in thought. The grim librarian nodded firmly at Emmeline.

Emmeline stepped into the room slowly, and an even stronger gust of cold air hit her. It was the opposite of the stale, warm air of the library. Her lantern enlightened the room, revealing iron book shelves with disorganized books, scrolls, newspapers, anything with a story, scattered throughout them. The room wasn't as big as the library, but it was still large.

"Good luck Emmeline," the grim librarian called. She then shut the door and Emmeline could hear her returning to work, acting as if nothing happened. Emmeline was on edge. She had never been in such a dark room by herself before.

She started walking by the shelves, reading the covers and headlines of all the different writings. All of them were normal. None of them had some mystical, foreign stories that Emmeline imagined they would have had. There was still a tingle of excitement, though. New stories that she hasn't read before! Tons of them at that! Where would she even start?

As Emmeline toured the room, one book stood out to her in particular. Among the brown or gray pieces of works, there was a book with a colorful and unique cover. It looked like a very lengthy read. It was thick and heavy as Emmeline carefully pulled it off the shelf.

She nearly toppled over as she gripped the book. It was more heavy than she had thought. Slowly putting it on the floor, she hauled the front cover of the book over as she read the title aloud.

"Bold Letters, by Wyatt Wilkinson." The synopsis of the book didn't give much. It merely stated that the book was about two separated brothers, who sent letters back and forth from across the world.

The writing style was definitely unique. The paragraphs and pages were separated as if they were real letters, compiled into a book. Something especially odd Emmeline found was that each letter at the beginning of a paragraph was bolder than the rest of the text.

"Dear brother,

Where have you been? You have no idea how long I've

been searching for you only now to just find you've been

on the other side of the world.

Ava has been worried sick you know. She doesn't even go

to school anymore. I thought her education was

important to you.

"Lucifer has been gone for months now! When he get's

back, he'll get what's coming to him!" she would say. "I'll

burn all his clothes, that's what I'll do! It'll make him

never run away again!

Look, everybody is worried about you! Especially me..."

Emmeline paused her reading. The bold letters at the beginning of every paragraph. They spelt something didn't they? "Wall." It had to be a coincidence, right? Emmeline immediately scanned the next couple paragraphs, picking out the bold letters.

"Wall is bad. It is fake. Do not trust them." The bold letters really were spelling out sentences. Emmeline froze. Everything seemed dizzy, as if the world was crashing in on her. These sentences she was reading all contradicted what the other people had told her. Which was true? Some random book, or the people of the city she had grown up with?

Soon enough, Emmeline found that every piece of text in that room had their own secret code that made out similar sentences. "Danger. You must escape. Officer's lie." Her heart sped up and she grew into a panic as she continued to decipher the codes, pulling books and newspapers off the wall in an unorganized manner

The sentences warned of the danger of the city inside the steel wall, and that there are several other cities surrounded by similar steel walls. They are cities identical to her own, down to each street and each neighborhood.

The sentences tell of beautiful landscapes full of more plants than you can imagine, just outside of the wall. They tell of other creatures, different from humans. Creatures that walk on four legs, creatures that fly, even creatures that can breath underwater.

"They control you. Find their secrets. End the capitol." Emmeline rushed to find more useful information. What was their secret? How is she supposed to escape? Where did these texts come from?

Her heart dropped as she heard a scream coming from the other side of the old mahogany door. It was the grim librarian. The scream was long, shrill, and agonizing. Emmeline had never heard such a scream of pure agony before. Life inside of the walls was happy, wasn't it? Everybody is safe inside of the walls, right?

How badly Emmeline wanted to cuddle up and hide in a corner, reading her favorite books and forgetting about everything she had just read. Forgetting about the scream she had just heard. They were right. Ignorance was bliss. But it didn't seem like Emmeline could ignore it anymore.

Her chest felt as if it was about to burst as Emmeline crept towards the door. Banging and murmuring was coming from the other side. Emmeline could hear it, the communicators of the officers beeping, and their deep robotic voices as they investigated the library. They seemed to be there forever, shoving chairs aside and misplacing books as they investigated the library.

Why did they come here? How did they find out that the grim librarian knew about their evil doings? None of it made sense. Like always, Emmeline had so many questions burning inside of her. But, she wasn't sure she would get an answer this time.

After several moments of silence, Emmeline hesitantly opened the door. Quietly stepping out she looked around into what seemed like a completely different library than the one she was in earlier this today. Everything was destroyed and toppled over, and on the floor... was red.

The metallic smell of blood filled the room. Emmeline felt like gagging. She shakily walked over to where the blood was coming from. There she saw her. The grim librarian on the floor, with her next snapped. She was laying there in an awkward position. Her silver eyes were wide with frozen terror. She was dead.

Emmeline felt like crying, but she couldn't. She felt like screaming and running away, but she didn't know how. All she could do was stand there and stare in horror. It seemed Emmeline's shock had blinded her, because before she knew it, a green gas had filled the room, causing Emmeline to topple over with fatigue.

The last thing she remembered seeing was two officers, coming to remove her, and the grim librarian's body.