Evening at the Elwood

Beep-beep-beep. Beep-beep-beep. Beep-beep-beep. The tiny sound of my digital watch notified me of the new hour, but I could tell it was way past leaving time with only the moonlight illuminating my corner of the library. 

Voices came from outside. I shifted to my knees and peeked through the window above me. 

“What are you boys still doing here?” It was Mrs. Henderson, the old lady who worked behind the counter. It was the first time I had ever seen her outside of the library. She was nice and all, but I always thought she lived in the library attic or something, if there was one.

“You haven’t seen Ugly Ed-- I mean Eddie, have you, Mrs. H?” Crap, Blake was still outside. 

Mrs. Henderson stopped in her tracks. “That’s not a very nice nickname, is it, Mr. Livingston?” I couldn’t really see her face, but I had hoped it was a stink eye.

Across from her, I could see Blake’s eye-roll clear as day.

One of Blake’s lackeys, Justin, laughed and said, “Eddie loves that name though!”

“Yeah!” The other lackey, Matt, piped up. “It’s just a friendly nickname.” The two laughed together, and my grip on the windowsill tightened in annoyance.

“Well,” Mrs. Henderson started, “your friend isn’t here. The library is closed for the night.”

“Whaddya mean, Mrs. H?” Blake raised his voice. “We’ve been waitin’ out here for God knows how long and haven’t seen one crumb of the little shit!”

“Excuse me?!” Mrs. Henderson yelled right back. “Don’t you talk to me like that, young man. I wonder what your father would say if he heard you were harassing the poor, old, defenseless librarian.”

Blake flinched. “I-I’m sorry, Mrs. H,” he stammered out. “It’s just that, we’ve been waitin’ out here a while, and Eddie hasn’t stepped foot out those doors.”

Mrs. Henderson scoffed. “You must be mistaken. I remember him checking out a book and leaving around quarter past.”

“I swear,” Blake insisted.

“It’s just not possible.” She paused. “I checked every inch of the library before I locked up. There’s no way anyone could still be inside.” She started towards her car again.

“Wait!” Blake started running after her, lackeys on his heels. 

Mrs. Henderson’s voice was barely audible, but I could make out the threat, “I suggest you head home before I call your father!” 

I let out a breath. It felt like I hadn’t dared let my lungs move an inch that whole time or they’d notice me. I loosened my grip on the windowsill and rubbed my now-damp hands on the wall. I fell back down into my seated position on the floor. I gazed into the dark and dynamic shadows of the bookshelves and suddenly felt the reality of where I was. The fear of Blake and his lackeys getting me felt distant and almost funny. Every shadow and unknown corner filled me with uncertainty and dread. The angular cuts formed pointy headed monsters; the dark abyss at the ends of the shelves morphed into tall and unmoving figures; any little creak or crack became the steps of a murderer waiting for me to let my guard down. 

I covered my eyes and started slowing my breath. It was still the good ol’ Elwood Library. Nothing different about it! But I really hadn’t thought that far ahead. Before Mrs. Henderson left, the library felt like my safe haven. But now it looked like a room in a horror game.

Rumble. 

I screamed.

After a moment, I opened my eyes and realized the noise came from my belly. I chuckled nervously at myself before standing and moving to the table closest to me, where I left my bookbag. I had brought my normal salt and vinegar chips, chocolate bar, and bottle of Sprite that I always brought on my Friday trips to the library. Mrs. Henderson didn’t like us eating in here because of grease stains and stuff, which I totally understood, but nothing beat getting swept up in an amazing book with a bag of chips by your side. Unfortunately for me, that was exactly what happened earlier, and nothing was left besides crumbs and two sips of lukewarm soda, the worst temperature for Sprite.

I threw my bag down on the table in frustration. What was I going to do all night? I had no food and no entertainment. The moon wasn’t even strong enough to help me pass the time reading. But oh! Maybe there was a small lamp at a desk somewhere, away from the windows of course, so I wouldn’t catch anyone’s attention. 

Flinging my bookbag onto my shoulders, I started toward the dark shadows. I imagined the Elwood Library during the day. The main desk would be over here to the right, the back room through a door to the side of the desk; further on would be rows of tables amongst bookshelves. One of those desks had to have a lamp, but my heart pounded imagining myself rounding every bookshelf and finding something or someone. I followed the wall past the back room door with my hand. It was covered in darkness, so my eyes needed time adjusting. I saw an opening on the right. It was the staircase to the second floor. The second floor was smaller and had more scientific research books and stuff, things that were a little too dry for my taste, so I never really went up there. There possibly was a lamp, but who really knew--

Bang! Bang!

My heart jumped out of my chest.

“We know you’re in there, Ugly Eddie!”

Bang! Bang! Bang!

No! Blake came back! I ran up the stairs without a second thought as the banging continued. I quickly scanned the 2nd floor for a secure spot. Darting to the right, I let the moon light my way around. There was a door in the back corner. I tried the knob, and it opened surprisingly easy. Behind it was more stairs going up. What the heck? Where could these stairs lead? Was there really an attic in the library? I thought it was just a joke!

The banging stopped. I froze and listened closely. The heartbeat pounding in my ears was almost as loud as the banging had been. 

The sound of glass being broken echoed through the stacks. I held back a scream. My body pushed me up the unknown staircase, slamming the door behind me. My feet thudded on the wooden steps, which grew increasingly shoddy and dirty. I yelped a few times, my hands touching rogue spiderwebs here and there. 

What greeted me at the top was complete darkness. I blinked as my eyes adjusted once again, hoping to find any sort of refuge. Three or four cardboard boxes lining one wall came into view, then some more spiderwebs. The last thing that came into focus was one of those tables from downstairs, but this one was in the middle of this weird attic. It must have been an attic of some sort, probably just for storage, but there weren’t that many boxes around. The room almost looked bare bones. The table in the middle didn’t look broken or anything, but something felt off. I slowly approached the table and saw something flat on it. I blinked forcibly to try to bring it into focus.

A chill went down my spine. It was a Ouija board. What the heck? Why was there a Oujia board in the library? I had heard of these before but had never seen one with my own two eyes. My cousin Darla had called it a “Wedgie” board because she heard that it could get ghosts to give your enemies a wedgie. My other cousin Francis just laughed in her face though and said it was actually pronounced “Oo-jah,” because that’s what ghosts say, like “Oooo” and then “Jah!” to scare you. I didn’t have the heart to tell them the truth, but the truth was I didn’t know much more than them besides how to say it.

Muffled yelling echoed up the stairwell. They were close. I had to do something. They were probably going to know I was here once they saw the door. 

I stared at the Ouija board. All I could remember was just random little bits I’d read or heard from other kids at school. You were supposed to use a triangle-shaped thing to allow the ghosts to speak to you, and you could ask them questions and stuff like that. I placed the triangle thing on the board. It was small, so I could only fit the first two fingers of each hand on it. 

Taking a deep breath and closing my eyes, I asked, “Is there any spirit out there who could help me?”

I waited, my heart pounding. 

I asked again, “Is there a spirit here? I really need help.”

The muffled yelling downstairs was even closer now. They must be on the second floor. 

“Please.” I begged. “Someone hear me.”

I could hear Blake’s words now. “Ugly Eddie!” The three of them called. “Time for the ass-whoopin’ of your life!”

My arms started shivering. “Please,” I whimpered.

The shouts of Blake and his lackeys sounded right outside the door now. I felt a tear fall down my cheek. 

“Ugly Ed--”

Silence, then screams.

I opened my eyes. I heard the three boys thudding away hurriedly from the door and through the library, screaming like little girls. A part of me wanted to jump for joy. But another part of me felt my stomach drop. What the heck could make them run away like that? 

I looked down at my hands. I didn’t notice during the screaming that the triangle had moved to “Hello.”

Another shiver down my spine. 

“Uhh, hello,” was all I could stammer out. I tried as hard as I could to not pee my pants at that moment. 

My hands were moving once again, slowly moving through some letters now.

G-O-N-E

My mind raced with what it meant. The ghost was gone? An item was gone? Oh, did it mean that Blake was gone? Or that I was gone from home or something? Or did it want me gone? I wanted to ask, but my lips wouldn’t separate. My cheeks actually started to get sore from my mouth being pursed together for so long. 

The triangle slowly moved up to “Bye.” It took me a few moments to be able to move my hands off the triangle. When I could lift them off, I bolted down the stairs, screaming just like Blake and his lackeys had. I stopped at the front door. They had left a jagged, gaping hole in the glass. I pulled my sleeves over my hands and around my face and stepped through, careful not to catch my bag on any jagged edges. I took one last glance back at the library before running as far as I could toward my house before needing to catch my breath.

“Oh, my! Is that Mr. Williams?”

I sheepishly tried avoiding eye contact with Mrs. Henderson as I approached the library’s main desk. “Hello, Mrs. Henderson,” I mumbled.

“We’ve missed you!” She was leaning very forward in her chair. “What has it been? At least a week! You never leave it that long between visits! Everything okay, Eddie?”

I was already flustered, but her saying my first name took me aback even more. “I’m fine, Mrs. Henderson. What about you? I noticed the door.”

“Oh, it’s nothing.” She shooed the air with her hand. “Just some young hoodlums. But that won’t stop us here from enjoying our little library and all it has to offer.” She gave me a comforting smile.

I hesitated before saying, “Um, Mrs. Henderson? I have kind of a strange question.”

She looked surprised. “Oh? Shoot.”

I took a deep breath. “Is Elwood Library,” I paused, “haunted at all?” I felt my face turn red. “I’m sorry. That was a stupid question--”

“No! Not at all, Eddie!” She shooed the air once again. “That’s a very interesting question.” She shifted in her seat, tapping her fingers together. “Someone did die here, a few years back.”

All the blood that had gone to my cheeks fell out of them in an instant. 

“It was my husband.” She paused, taking a breath. “Back then, he used to pick me up every night I worked here. One night, he came early and went to take a nap in the back room. When I was ready to lock up, I tried to wake him, but he had passed.” She wiped a tear away with her finger.

My body felt stiff, but I managed to say, “I’m so sorry, Mrs. Henderson.”

“It’s fine, it’s fine.” She sniffled. “He went without pain and with me by his side. That’s all you can hope for.”

I made a small grunt of agreement. 

“Anyway!” She shooed the air again. “You here to check out a book?”

I remembered the weight of the book in my hand and placed it on the counter.

“‘The Art of Ouija’? What would you want a book like that for?”

“Research.”

She raised an eyebrow and scanned the book.