The Old, Abandoned Library

She stood still in the aisle between two very old bookcases. They were built to withstand time and it showed. The small gaps and nooks were filled with cobwebs and their little tenants yet the bookcases seemed untouched by the unforgiving hands of time. Solid they stood guarding the old, musty books of all shapes, colours and sizes. The girl touched the wooden surface, mesmerized by the strength it carried with it. As she touched it she could feel something in the air. As if she was not alone.

Her fingers traced the extravagant patter carved in the corner of one of the shelves. It was a beautiful floral motive, where the lilies had intertwined with ivy leaves. The girl smiled as her fingers traced each of the leaves, leaving soft streaks in the dusty blanket. The girl looked back at the aisle, looking to see where the shelves ended, yet all she could see was that they disappeared into the dark.

It was dusk hour outside, and the sun had slipped behind the horizon a while back. With that the light had faded away slowly but surely. "Is that... mist?" the girl wondered looking at the dark. She thought that the floor was covered in a soft, white, fluffy carpet. The longer she gazed at the tiled floor where it was swallowed by the dark shadows, the more she could swear the mist grew closer and closer to her.

"Boo!" a sudden slap on her shoulders and loud shrieking laughter filled her ears, making her jump three feet high.

"Cas, you scared me to death!" she gave her friend annoyed look, and gazed back at the end of the aisle, yet the mist was gone. "Something is not right," was the last thought before the rest of their group came around.

"There you are Clara," a young and very slim boy exclaimed, "we began to worry you abandoned our mission!"

"And leave you all to fend for yourselves?" Clara teased back, "pff, someone has to keep an eye on you all!"

It was the four of them. Best friends since they learned to walk, and like any group of friends they all had their roles to play.

Cassandra, The Life Of The Party. No matter what occurred, her spirits could not be wavered. Whether the sun was shinning, or the world was ending, she always would walk the plank laughing, her blond curly hair bouncing.

Tim, The Butterfly. The poor boy barely uttered a word in crowds. Most people had not heard him speak at all up to this day, however, once it was just the four of them, he blooms out of his cocoon like a little butterfly. Perhaps sometimes a little too much, for the things that come out of the boy’s mind surprised even his friends.

Andrew, The Know It All. He was a slim and very young looking boy. Eager to prove himself to anyone and everyone. Although his smart brain had lack of breaks. The boy had no idea when to stop which often than not got them all in a mess.

And there was Clara, The Mom. She kept them all together, and sometimes in line. She made sure they all got home safe, they all were okay. She'd be the one each of them would come to, to tell their secrets and worries, knowing she'd keep them till the day she died. She loved them all dearly, and they loved her too, though not a word of this was spoken. It was a feeling to be felt and experienced, not outspoken and paraded.

"Where is Tim?" Clara asked, seeing it was just Cas and Andy.

"Setting up camp," Andrew said walking back to where Cas and him had come from, "come! You have got to see this!"

Clara followed them down an aisle of books, looking around at the shelves. Each one was decorated with a different type of ornament, yet all of them bare the same aura. One that demanded reverence. They took turns left and right, walking deeper into the maze, until they came to a circular hall.

It seemed like it was the centre for the library. All paths would lead them back to this place. The floor was decorated with what looked like smoothed pebbles, of all different shapes and sizes. They covered the floor beneath their feet, painting a very abstract mosaic. Clara tried to see what it may be but the image was so large, that she could not work out what it looked like. Clara looked up. Above their heads the ceiling was high up, where it moulded into a dome, covered in stained glass. There were shades of green, blue, red, all coming together to pain a tree engulfed by an octopus. "What an odd combination," Clara thought.

"Where is Tim?" Andrew looked around. In the middle of the opening laid four backpacks and three neatly laid out sleeping bags. The pillows seemed thrown wherever one may find them, yet the fourth sleeping bag was scrunched up closer to the farthest side of the hall.

The light had started to fade, as the dusk had turned to night and the last scruples of sunlight had faded away, leaving only darkness and faint glimmer of the moon. It peeked through the dome into the hall giving the girls and their companion a very faint silhouettes of what was in front of them.

"Maybe he chickened out," Cass giggled, tickling Andrew as she said it, "he doesn't like the dark."

"Tim is not a chicken," Clara quietly said walking towards the sleeping bags, "something is not right."

"Oh, don't start," Cass whined, "we all agreed. A night in this place to mark our last year in school."

That was the pact. They all had agreed and sworn by it. This building sat in the woods, up in the hill, behind a thick stone wall, forgotten by all. Tales and myths roamed around the village folk about disappearing children, ghosts and wild animals that guarded this place. Ass usual with an odd building that stuck out like a sore thumb. However, as far as the four were concerned it was simply an old library, forgotten and abandoned.

"Where is Tim then?" Clara asked waving her hands around as she looked back at the others.

"Maybe he just heard a sound and went to investigate?" Andrew shrugged, "that's his sleeping bag over there."

Clara walked closer to the discarded fabric, until she stopped, seeing the spider webs knitting the bottom of the shelf together with the tilled floor.

"The webs," she whispered.

"What's that?" Cas asked, confused.

"The spider webs. They are everywhere," Clara looked around them. As far as she could see in the dim light of the moon, everything as covered in them. Well, almost everything.

"Well, yes silly biscuit," Cas giggled, "what else would you expect?"

"It is a pretty old place," Andre shrugged picking up his own backpack and looking for a flashlight.

"Then why none of the books are covered in them?" Clara asked. Both Cas and Andrew looked puzzled. He finally found what he had searched for and turned on the small flashlight, casting a light towards one of the shelves. Indeed. Everything had cobwebs and dust over them yet the books sat almost untouched, their titles cast in gold glimmering in the light.  As if someone had placed them only yesterday.

"That is odd," Andrew's brow furrowed. Cas suddenly grabbed the flashlight from Andrew's hand and cast it's light past Clara into the aisle of one of the pathways.

"Easy!" he exclaimed, surprised by the girl's sudden move, "what is the matter, now?"

"Look," she said, pointing to the dark. As far as the light could reach all they could see was the shelves and books. A second, two, thirty, and then a minute passed. Nothing.

"What are we supposed to see?" Andrew asked, shuffling on his feet. He had started to get uncomfortable. He too hated the dark, and Tim was not a boy who would just disappear.

"Wait," Cass whispered. Clara looked back at the aisle and finally noticed what her friend had seen. The mist. It was subtle, like a translucent fog, seeping closer to them, as if someone had spilt a bucket of it and it just slowly would make it's way towards them. Like water. Fluid and quiet.

"When was the last time you heard of a fog in the middle of the library?" she looked at Andrew with piercing look, without shifting the beam of light.

"It's possible with the right humidity and temperature," Andrew answered walking towards the fog. Clara stood up from where she was and walked with him closer to the fog.

"Where is Tim?" she whispered.

"He can't be far," Andrew gave her one of his crooked smiles, that showed off his dimples, "he probably went looking for us and ended up lost. This place is huge."

"Guys," Cas shouted after them, her voice bearing a hint of panic, "this does not feel right."

"It's just a fog," Andrew laughed, looking back at her over his shoulder.

"Look," Clara said, pointing to the floor. There, covered by the fog sat a book. A few feet further there was another one, laying skewed on the tiles and half eaten by darkness there was one laying on its back opened to the middle of the story it hid in it's pages.

"I must be dreaming," Clara whispered, "but I think the fog is coming from the book."

"When has the fog felt hot?" Andrew asked, looking at his feet that were now engulfed in thicker clouds of grey and white.

"You're asking me?" the girl looked at him as she kneeled down to pick the book up. Before her fingers could even brush over the pages a quiet rumble made her freeze. It was barely audible, yet they all felt it. A tremor through their feet.

“We need to go,” Cass shouted at them.

“Not without Tim,” Clara retorted. Cas’s shout had snapped her out of her panic, that she felt in her bones, she reached for the book again. This time the tremor was stronger, making her nearly loose her balance, and she heard a loud thud. As if a large boulder had been thrown on a soft grass.

“Clara, we really need to go,” Andrew put his hand on her shoulder and gently pulled her towards where Cas was, when Clara saw a talon appear on top of the pages. The pages seemed to have become translucent where the talon sat. It was big, as long as her palm, black and scalley like a lizard.

“Run,” she whispered getting up and backing away, grabbing Andrew’s hand as she did so.

“What?” he exclaimed but one look at the book at the edge of the flashlights beam and he understood exactly. The talon had started to grown into two, three, out of the pages into the light, half swallowed by the dark a claw appeared.

“Run!” Clara turned pulling Andrew with her and they ran, as they ran past Cas, Clara grabbed her hand and dragged her with them. They dashed down the aisles of the shelves into the dark, half illuminated by the pitiful beam of the flashlight.

“What was that?” Cas gasped as they stopped on a corner of the maze of shelves. She had not seen all of it, but she knew something had appeared to scare both her friends and her.

“I don’t-“ before Andrew could answer, a rumble of a bellowing roar shook the very core of the library. The bookshelves swayed under the power of that roar.

“Give me that,” Clara quickly snatched the flash light and swithced the light off.

“What are you-?” Cas shrieked, until Clara shushed her.

“Do not move, do not talk,” she whispered, “it’s looking for us.”

Another rumble, that sounded a lot closer, shook the bookcases more violently. It was so powerful that the trio held on to the nearest shelves to keep to their feet. It was a terrifying sound. Like a thunder that crackled above your head before the blast. They could hear wheezes and crackles coming closer. However, the closer they came the more they sounded coming from above. Until another rumble, sounding like a blast of electricity came from right above their heads. The power of it made all three get to their knees, to withstand it. Something had landed above their heads, holding onto the shelves on either sides of them. Cas had squeezed her ears shut, her teeth biting her lip as hard as she could not to utter a word and give away their hiding place. Andrew was sitting on his bottom, looking up in awe and horror. Clara looked up and felt like the air had left her lungs. The few skylights gave enough light to see a shape of a scaly belly, coupled with feathers, that looked as sharp as a knife, glistening in the dark. The creature was so large all they could see were the sharp talons digging into the bookcases as it held on to them. A great sniffing sound came from above, and a swoosh of air made the trio know the creature was moving it’s head to see where they were.

Clara suddenly got on all fours and slid across the tiled floor. If she could make it a bit further away, she could distract the creature long enough for Cas and Andy to run for their lives. She slid further and further, listening for the sounds of the moving creature, until her leg caught a book, opening it.

Clara suddenly felt a gust of wind pulling her backwards. She grasped and grappled for anything to hold on to, yet the smooth floor provided no help. She turned on to her back and looked at what was pulling her back, thinking it was the monster, yet to her surprise it was the book she had knocked. The pages had opened a hole in the ground where whirlpool of wind had formed, pulling her closer.

“Andy, Cas! Run!” she shouted before the whirlpool pulled her in, as she closed her eyes. Yet once she opened them she felt as if she was falling. All around her were letters forming words that were falling along with her. She looked down, to see where she may end up and saw the world bellow her feet forming in all shades of black and grey. A world inside the book.