The Page Age

The bell tinkled softly, but clearly. It was a rare thing, perhaps for the tinkle of a bell to even echo in the ancient bookshop, as there were rarely even customers.

It was a cloudy Thursday afternoon. The sun drifted lazily across the hems of several clouds. The roads shimmered in the heat of the midday sun with an occasional whirl of a car or perhaps a motorbike.

Sebastian Rome, seventy eight, but still up and running, ran the bookshop across the street, The Page Age. He now sat across the bookstore window, puffing lazily on a cigar and glancing half-heartedly at a newspaper when the bell on the bookstore echoed. He blinked, incredulously and his eyes widened as a gentleman strode into the bookshop.

Sebastian got up at once - it was a miracle, a customer had never walked into the bookshop in what seemed like decades. But here the stranger was, striding comfortably in, as if it was his daily routine.

"May I - may I help, young man?" he said, stowing his newspaper away and eyeing the man with avid interest.

The gentleman stared directly into Sebastian's eyes, cold and dark, with fury. He sneered, as he looked around the bookshop. "This is what you call a bookshop?" he said, scoffing as he began to pick up a book and skim across the pages flatly.

Sebastian swallowed, and took a good look at the stranger. He was cloaked in black robes - velvet, by the looks of it, and he carried a small, but peculiar briefcase. He was thin-lipped, and had a hooked nose. Strange, very strange.

"Why no, young man. We - we have a spellbinding selection of books in the other section, if you catch my drift."

The gentleman's mouth curved slightly into a faint smile. "Do you have any books on - potions?" he said, lowering his voice to a barely audible whisper at the end.

"But, of course. If you will just follow me - do mind the mess, I rarely get customers." the old man limped, hammering his cane onto the hollow ground thrice.

Immediately, the shelves began to disappear, moving aside to reveal a thick wooden door blanketed in branches. Vines curled around the doorknob, as the old man opened the door with a twisted smile.

The door revealed thousands of shelves, accompanying millions of books. Sebastian wiped his eyes delicately on a rather gruesome handkerchief. "My, my, I forgot how nice it felt to be down here." he said.

The gentleman looked curiously at him. "I wonder how you don't get customers - ?"

Sebastian sighed. "Well I suppose you'd better find out, haven't you?" he said, languidly.

The gentleman was evidently confused, but he returned the smile lucidly, and walked in.

There were millions of books, from How To Charm a Werewolf and Remedial Potions for Old Wounds to Fairies and their Gruesome Nature and Bibbity Rabbit and his Short Stump.

"I didn't get your name. Mine's Sebastian."

The gentleman attempted a small smile. "Gail. I daresay my name is unusual. Perhaps even unheard of, but my mother was intent on giving me a unique name."

"Our kind is dying, Gail. You are some of the first of our kind to enter the bookshop," Sebastian said, sadly.

The gentleman spun around sharply, and smoothened his hair unconsciously. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, that this bookshop was preserved for people like us, magical people, but no one has entered, for - decades, I presume." he said, dragging on his cigar placidly.

The gentleman suddenly turned pale, and his cheeks lost color. "Sebastian? I - are you seeing what I'm seeing?"

A book was hovering in mid-air - its pages were open broadly, and the book was glowing.

"What the-?"

Sebastian turned a sickly shade of green. He ushered the gentleman in hastily, and shut the door behind him. "No, no - this cannot be happening - it has - it has not occurred for centuries - decades, in fact."

The gentleman frowned. "Perhaps you'd like to explain-?"

Sebastian opened his mouth, but instead, shrieked in alarm. Books were soaring off the shelves, and the ground had started rumbling. The shelves floundered down with a staggering thud, and dust flew up into the air.

The hovering book began to whirl impatiently in circles as it continued to suck in the books, and finally, it began to take Sebastian and Gail off their feets.

They shrieked helplessly.

"What is going on Sebastian?" Gail yelled through the turmoil.

"Just - hold on tight, young man!" Sebastian said, desperately grabbing onto a shelf, and clinging on.

As if on cue, the two men tugged on their feet, and within a split second, had vanished - however impossible it seemed - into the glowing book.