A history of the United States

Kaitlyn fairly skipped across campus. The sun was shining down making her blonde hair look like a halo around her head. She waved to her best friend, Emily, who was coming out of their dorm, but kept moving toward her favorite destination. Nothing was going to deter her today, she had been looking forward to this all week. As she started up the stone steps to the library she thought to herself “I’m such a nerd”. 

Kaitlyn stopped just inside the library door and breathed deeply. She always felt comforted by the smells of the library. The old wood, the slightly musty smell of old books, the lemon polish used to keep the old wood looking like new. Most people she knew hated going to the library, preferred using electronic devices to do their research and reading. But not Kaitlyn. She had loved the library since her 1^st visit at 3. She had always been comfortable and at home there. She loved the feel of the books in her hand, imagining who had read them before her, who had poured their heart into writing them. The older the books, the more she loved them. Besides, you didn’t need batteries or electricity to enjoy them. 

She quickly ran up the stairs to the 3^rd floor. All the oldest books were located on the 3^rd floor, the historical novels and earliest research books. She veered toward the back wall, the one section she hadn’t explored yet. Here were the historical research manuals, the books of magic potions and spells. She was particularly interested in the magic books and what the writers had used in their spells. As a history major Kaitlyn found it particularly interesting how the authors had believed in what they were doing but also the items they had at their disposal. She felt that these books gave a much better understanding of history than just reading the speculations of textbooks. She especially liked to discover things she had never heard of and having to research them. She could think of no better way to spend her Saturday afternoon. 

She started on the bottom shelf of books, perusing titles for something interesting. She pulled a title from the shelf and skimmed the book but decided it wasn’t what she was looking for. As she moved to the 2^nd shelf from the bottom she was about halfway across when she came across the title of a book that piqued her interest. THE ART OF BUILDING SECRET ROOMS definitely sounded intriguing. She pulled the book off the shelf and opened it. She heard a creak and turned to see if someone else had ventured up here but saw no one. She turned back to the book and thumbed through it. Well that was extremely weird. The book was blank. It had an ornate leather cover with gold embossed writing and gold vines decorating the cover but the entire inside of the book was nothing but blank pages. They weren’t even numbered. Just blank yellowed pages. Kaitlyn was mystified. She had never seen anything like that before. Who would put a book in the library that was blank? And who would take the time to make such an elaborate cover but nothing inside? She took a couple of pictures with her phone and started to slide the book back in its place. The book wouldn’t go back onto the shelf. She shoved a little harder but it wouldn’t budge. Kaitlyn pushed the books on either side a little farther apart and ran her hand over the shelf. As she rubbed her hand toward the back of the shelf she could feel something sticking up. She ran her fingers over it and the little knob sticking up pushed back down into the shelf. As it did so she heard a whoosh of air and suddenly the entire bookcase swung inward. Kaitlyn stood there with the book in her hand and it took several minutes before she could even process what she was seeing. She was looking into a huge room, running all along the back of the library shelves. The room was approximately 20 feet by 10 feet. She stared in awe. Her mind couldn’t process fast enough to comprehend.  The 39 pairs of eyes staring back at her were completely unnerving. 

Kaitlyn’s mind finally kicked in and she took a small step forward. She was horrified by what she seeing. On the far side of the room were shelves, floor to ceiling. Each shelf was divided into cubicles and in each cubicle was a very large glass jar with a head inside. Thirty nine in total. Kaitlyn was both repulsed and curious at the same time. She wanted to run but the denial of her mind to what she was really seeing made her move forward. Not willing to think too much about it just yet, she just walked down the row of heads and stared. As she reached the end of the shelves she stopped in front of one of the heads. As recognition dawned on her she gasped and stepped back. She took another look at the heads in the jars and felt like she might vomit. What was going on here? This had to be a joke of some sort. Her mind was whirling, trying to make sense of what was going on here. She pulled out her phone and started trying to find the information she needed. Her phone wouldn’t work in the room so she stepped out into the library. As the information started coming up on her phone she let out a small gasp. The pictures started downloading to her phone and she became more horrified with each picture that popped up. She stepped back in and started at the beginning, matching each of the heads to the pictures on her phone. She just couldn’t wrap her head around the fact that what she was seeing was real. It had to be fake, a joke, a trick. But why were they hidden here in this room at the library? Kaitlyn didn’t know what to do next so she started to back slowly out of the room. Just before she got to the doorway she heard a small click and the door suddenly swung shut, trapping her in the room. She tried to push the door open but it wouldn’t budge. She started to pound on the door, screaming for help. She pounded and screamed until she was exhausted and sank to the floor. The tears continued to run down her face and she beat weakly on the door until she was completely out of energy. She curled up on her side and fell asleep, one hand still on the door.

When Kaitlyn finally woke up she looked at her phone. It was a little after 2 in the morning…more than 12 hours later. She saw she had 20 text messages and 25 missed calls. As it dawned on her that her phone was working, she realized she was no longer in the secret room. She was laying under the research table on the 2^nd floor of the library. What the hell? How did she get here? She crawled from under the table and ran up the steps to the 3^rd floor. She went to the bookcase and searched frantically for the book but it was no longer there. She removed books from the shelves and searched for the switch but couldn’t find it. She kept moving her fingers under the books but the shelves were smooth and no switch popped up when she removed books. She finally gave up and looked at the mess. She was so frustrated she decided to leave the mess and come back in the morning. She went down the stairs. As she neared the 1^st floor she could see the night librarian at her desk and several students talking to her. She strolled past them and out the front door. She went back to her room and tried to appease her roommate who was frantic when she reached the room. She explained that she had fallen asleep in the library and how sorry she was that she hadn’t heard her phone.  She quickly made amends and crawled into her bed.