Something Deeply Hidden

Roots of trees rupture through the ground and extend up, aching for sunlight. They won’t find it here, not tonight.

Their leaves brush the ceiling, and their branches conform to the shapes of the bookshelves. I’ve never experienced nature taking over a place in such a way, let alone something as precious as a library.

Animal nests have been built in several corners, bookshelves and the books inside them are caked in dust, and chrome-coloured stair hand railings have been plagued with rust and are beginning to deteriorate. It’s likely been a while since anyone’s even visited this place, let alone worked here—a shame. The aesthetic of this place is lovely.

“This place is cool,” Kupla said. “Not what I expected at all.”

“Yeah,” I added. “Bit creepy, though.”

He didn’t reply. I could tell he agreed, though. You spend enough time with someone you pick up on their nuances. Here, I could read Kupla like a book, and the fact of the matter is, concern was painted on his face. No matter how hard he tried to hide it.

A silence filled the air as we inspected the library’s ruins. We stayed within reaching distance of each other, just in case.

“Doesn’t help that the sun’s just set,” Kupla said, breaking the silence.

“You’re the one that suggested we do this tonight. Let’s go exploring, you said. You’ve been looking at those random Facebook posts too much. Be thankful we found a library and not a psych asylum or something.”

“True, true. You’d not be able to handle that,” Kupla said, laughing. Projection at its finest. “Hear that fucking croaking? We must be near a creek.”

“Maybe,” I said.

“We haven’t looked at that room yet. Let’s go there next.”

“Okay,” I said. “Don’t be too loud. Animals are living here. Don’t want to bloody startle them and have ‘em jump us.”

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever. We’ll probably need a light soon. Has your phone got much battery left?”

“Yeah, a fair bit. We’re fine,” I said when a book caught my eye. It had a red spine, and all surrounding books' spines on the shelf were black. It stood out like a sore thumb. I picked it out and observed it. “A Grim Dawn,” it said on the cover. I turned it over to read the back, but there was nothing there. The book had been wiped clean, which was weird because every other book on the shelf was dusty.

Inside “A Grim Dawn” were drawings. It didn’t take long for us to realise they were some type of blueprint of the library. I was about to place it back on the shelf, losing interest, but the fact that it was cleaned and formed as a thought in the back of my mind. Someone had looked at it recently.

“What’s that bit meant to be?” Kupla said, staring intently at a small square drawing off to the side. If it were a room, it was pretty plain. Maybe it was for storage. The print of it was merely a square with a circle in the centre.

“It has to lead downstairs somewhere,” he added. “It doesn’t make sense otherwise. Look at this part connected to it.” He was right. There were two large rooms connected to the small “storage” square.

Kupla walked past the black-filled bookcase to the other side of the room. I could hear the rough scratching as he ran his palm over the rusty handrail. “Going by that book,” he stated, “if the entrance were anywhere, it would be roughly here.” There was another bookshelf in its place. The books inside it seemed somewhat random yet normal. Nothing noteworthy stood out.

“What about behind it?” I said, and Kupla tried pushing the side of the shelf.

“It’s moving,” he grunted, dusting off his hands on his black long sleeve. “I need your help.”

The shelf left scrape marks on the floor as we nudged it over, and behind where it originally stood, clear as day, was a door to another room. A hidden room.

The room only had two things inside it. One of them was a glass window, which looked out to the back of the library. Kupla opened it, screeching and fluttering of bats circling the peak of a giant Eucalypt tree pierced our veil of silence. “I can see a creek right there beside the tree. You were right.” The croaking was slightly louder with the window open.

In the shape of a circle, a piece of rope is right there in the middle of the floor. Trees and plants had not yet reached this room. Or, if they previously had, they’ve since been removed. A bat flew past the window in a blur of speed, and Kupla stepped back with a flurry. In frightened Kupla style, he remained silent. I could see past his faux stoicism. He was deep in thought as he observed the small room.

“Is it just me, or does this room look… not as dusty as the rest? Like, clean, almost,” he asked.

He was right again. The room had the appearance as if someone had been in it recently. And it can’t have been for the view.

“That rope there has to mean something. Pull it up a bit,” I said.

Kupla curled the rope around his fingers and yanked. The middle of the ground opened up, revealing the silhouette of a declining staircase. The rope was attached to a trapdoor. Darkness blanketed the rest of the room downstairs, and it was impossible to make anything out. We would have to walk down ourselves.

“A hidden room inside of a hidden room?” Kupla asked.

I shrugged. “Guess it’s time for the torch then, aye?”

We descended the stairs slowly, an obnoxious creak with every step. A feeling of anxiousness spiked the lower we went. I spoke nothing of it and hope Kupla felt the same. Eventually, both of us had reached the bottom. I shone my phone light ahead of me, and a thick, black rat scurried from one side of the room to another. Kupla jolted back, tripping on an uneven tile. He fell to the ground.

“Fucking rat,” he sighed. Dusting off, I could tell he was trying to keep his cool. Despite appearances of the previous room, this one looked as if it hadn’t had any life inside it for years. Dust and dirt layered everything in sight. Webs weaved by spiders stretched across the floor and audibly cracked as I passed through them. Kupla stood up, dusted himself off yet again, and shone his light around with me. In the far corner of the room was a bed. White sheets draped over both sides and fell down the end of it. Somewhere in the middle was a large red stain. Cobwebs covered the pillow and bed frame.

“Something tells me that stain isn’t wine,” Kupla said as we edged closer to the bed. “I’m scared to think what’s in the other room if this is in the first fucking one.”

“Other room?” I asked.

“Remember the drawing? There were two rooms connected to the small one upstairs. What the hell is in the other one?”

“Mm, good point,” I added.

A gust of wind permeated throughout the room, and the door we came in through shut with a slam.

“Did you shut that window before we came down here?” I asked.

“Nope.”

“Great. Just what we needed,” I said. I continued exploring the room a little further. By now, we were both past the point of pretending that we weren’t scared, the room had a creepy vibe to it, and that was that.

“Man, this is enough for me,” Kupla said. “I’m heading back up. Come help me with this door.” I looked over at him. His shadow towered over him as I aided him with my light. His was shining on the stairs as he quickly ascended them.

“The door didn’t look too heavy. You’ll be fine,” I said. Just wait a minute for me, and I’ll come out with you.” Again, I turned my attention back to exploring the room. I cast my light in front of me, and it revealed a wall with funny markings on it. I edged closer and realised it’s a tally. Someone was counting something, and I didn’t feel like knowing what.

“Nah, I don’t wanna wait. This place gives me the cre--” Kupla’s voice trailed off. “Uhh… you need to come see this. Like right now.”

“I had the same thought,” I replied. “Look at this weird tally on the wall.”

“I don’t care about a fucking tally, man. The other side of this door has scratch marks on it. Like a lot of them. Someone’s been fucking stuck here and tried to escape. Help me with the door now.”

The tally could wait. I rushed over to help. The scratch marks on the back of the trapdoor were no joke. Whatever level of anxiousness I had previously had evolved into nausea. The thought of being trapped here made me sick. At least I haven’t seen any skeletons around, I thought.

“I’m bailing, fuck this place,” Kupla said. He pushed the trapdoor open and looked down at me. “Coming?”

“One sec,” I said. “Just need to take a better look at that thing on the wall.”

“I’ll wait here. Be quick.”

I stared at the wall and counted. I wasn’t sure what the carved numbers meant, but it had to be something. Whatever it means, it’s happened a lot. At a glance, there are over a hundred markings carved into the wall. The tally and scratch marks were enough for me, and I didn’t want to look for the other room. An unexpected sense of dread had begun to course through me. The hair on my arms and back of my neck stood bolt upright. A strange coldness took the air. I forgot I was even in a library.

“Kup!” I called out. His head appeared from upstairs. “Yeah?”

“Coming now. Just checking you were still around.”

I was climbing the stairs when I looked at Kupla. I began to ask him a question when I noticed a frown on his face. His eyes squinted. It was a frown of focus. “Thought I saw somethin’, never mind,” he said. The frown faded.

But not for long. I was on the final stair, with my hand on the trapdoor, ready to leverage myself up, when Kupla’s face wore the frown again. “What?” I asked. The frown lessened, but his eyes widened. “Behind you!” he yelled.

Before I could turn to look, I felt it. All at once. The stinging cold. The dread. Nausea, they all intensified. But they were nothing compared to the sudden puncturing of the fleshy part of my neck. I tried to shake free to no avail. The creature was strong. Too strong. I couldn’t even budge. The creature was draining me at a rapid pace, and I could feel consciousness smoothly slipping away.

When I woke, Kupla lay sprawled over the staircase. He’d been torn apart mercilessly. Blood travelled down the remaining stairs and pooled at the bottom. I felt like I could smell it. I was overcome with a craving I wasn’t sure how to satiate. My phone light was gone, but I didn’t need it to see anymore. The fear, the dread and the cold had all passed. They were replaced by an ache to stretch and a longing to feed.

A scuffing sound came from across the room. It was not the creature from before, but a man. He was dressed in all-black. He looked me in the eye, and a self-satisfied smirk played across his face as he began adding to the tally on the wall.