Library Secret Keeper

It was almost midnight, the kind of silence that exists only in libraries: eerie, serene, and watchful. Or so it seemed, a dark shadowy figure wearing a black cloak brushed past the students who were up late studying. The library was dim, illuminating the shadows from the students and the figure. The human-like shadow moved around the library in haste, as if they had an urgent change of plans. Out of the few students who were up late, only one boy felt something was off. It wasn’t the hurried pace or the weird cloak that gleamed into the moon. It was that the place gave an uncanny sense of something mysterious that it left behind - a mystifying aura that made him feel uneasy and anxious. He knew something was up, this preternatural feeling made his stomach churn and skin prickle. His hunch screamed at him that he should follow the shadow of the figure. He stood up aggressively and pushed the chair in. He quickly packed his books up and followed the man. It was a mission of some sort, running around and finding people to take in for questioning. Of course, he couldn’t question a random stranger walking around a library. He tried to look nonchalant, yet failed to not make eye contact. 

The figure jerked their head back and stared into his soul. It gave a peculiar feeling of ice and coolness. His veins felt chilled all of a sudden and nothing would move. His eyes seemed to droop down on their own and his body stood there, motionless. At this point, he knew something was off. No sane person would stare into some stranger and chill their veins, leaving them immovable. His vision blacked out and he couldn’t hear anything or see anything. It was a sort of void abyss, with nothing in existence. Dark and perpetual blackness spread on incessantly. 

Within seconds, he was back to normal, and the vision of darkness left his mind, while the coldness in his veins retreated to some unknown force. He looked down at his hands, thinking of what just happened. Looking up, he saw nothing but a normal shelf of library books. He was in the mystery section and saw a book that he used to love reading. Yet at this moment, he couldn’t care any less. There was a strange feeling of power that rang in the air - lingering and floating from where he stood. The uncanny feeling was depleted, and everything felt back to normal. There was only one thing on his mind at that point though. The mysterious figure has left, leaving no trace whatsoever behind.

The next morning he woke up to the bright sun shining through his window pane, creating beautiful patterns on his floor. He sat up and scrunched his eyebrows. He couldn’t quite make out if what happened yesterday was just a dream. He couldn’t remember what he did after the figure left. With loosened ease, he got ready for a normal school day - unaware of how inaccurate he could’ve been. 

On that particular day, he had a test. Walking in the door that was so familiar had a yet different feeling. He could sort of feel it as if he could reach out his hand and pull it in. He had no reason to do so because no one would ever want to. It was that same uneasy aura from yesterday in the library. At this point, he was doubting existence itself, or if he just dreamed through two days' worth of life. Gulping, he opened the door and took a seat at his desk. The feeling was erupting now, feeling more and more intense by the second. He was scared of the test, let alone the feeling of uneasiness. This same feeling had him stop studying and stay awake all night. 

With a quick sigh, he picked up his test, fully aware that he would fail. On top of not studying, there was this feeling that could knock anyone to their knees. For some strange reason, no one in the room besides him was feeling it. The feeling kept him from answering the problems effortlessly. For each question, he felt like it was a kilogram of stone added to his shoulder. But for some strange reason that he couldn’t understand - or anything at this point - he knew all the answers. Which of the following deserts could be found in South America? Looking at the answer choices, a jolt went through his brain. Without hesitation, he instinctively circled ‘Atacama’. The next question was similar - Which two countries border the Dead Sea? Again, with no delay, he circled ‘Jordan and Israel.’ The rest of the test that he was sure to fail continued like this until he finished. He realized that the feeling was gone during the test, having no issues taking the test or feeling the aura emitting from something; or someone. 

Feeling exasperated, he left the test room and went back to where the feeling all started. The library. At this time around, lots of people were trying to study and find a seat. People were lying down on couches, reading, and even snacking on tables. Nothing out of the ordinary. He took a deep breath and went to where the figure froze him into a dark abyss. The mystery section. He stood there for a while, thinking that whatever he was going to do next was stupid or not. There were a few other students in that aisle, so he waited for them to leave. To not act dumb standing there, he found the book he used to love - The Libraries Secret Keeper. He stopped reading it after a few weeks since the plot was getting boring and nothing was happening much. On top of that, it has nearly 40 books in total in the series. He sighed and looked to his left and right. No one was there. He had to do it before someone came, or it would be embarrassing. He quickly ran to the spot where the figure last disappeared. 

From where he stood, he stared at the wall. Or so it seemed he did, but he was more focused on the air in front of him. Yesterday, when he was trapped in the abyss, it was for a millisecond, yet it felt like an eternity. Anxiously, he put his arm out to ‘touch’ the air. Nothing happened. He tried swatting it, yet nothing happened again. With full-out force, he punched the air and his body weight made him fly forward into a literal tear in the air. He stumbled into the tear and landed his feet on polished marble. He looked back from where he came from and saw a tear - sort of like a tear from a book or a paper. It was just there. Some students passed by the aisle, but none of them seemed to notice. Or maybe, they didn't notice. He gulped and tried to close the tear by pulling each side of it together, but nothing happened. It was as if he was reaching out to air. Panic kicked in, and he realized he was in an abyss again. He couldn’t quite make out what was happening. It was as if he was close to the tear and could grab it from both sides. But his vision was tricking him. Or maybe wherever he was he was tricking his mind. He dropped to his knees and huffed. Where was he? What happened? Why can't no one see this? He looked down and his heart stopped. It was again, a void. Of pure white. It seemed to stretch on and on, leaving no signs of stopping. He couldn't understand how he was standing - or anything. He looked behind him. A strange green glow emitted from the distance. He looked back to see nothing. The tear was gone. He stood up, legs wobbling, and walked straight. His mind was hurting and couldn’t comprehend what had happened. It was as if he was scared, yet not scared. It was serene as if nothing was happening. But for some reason, his body kept on reacting frightened, yet nothing in him was. He turned back to still see the green light. With nothing else to do, he walked towards it. It was as if nothing was getting closer or farther away. It was like walking in place, but feeling yourself walking. Soon enough, the green light came to life, and everything around him changed. It was a feeling of nature - pure and elegant. Yet it wasn’t nature - it was the presence itself. A whole library filled the space, with a gigantic book in the middle, showing on page 15, and in the middle of it was the cloaked man - no - woman. She smiled and brought her arms open,

“Welcome to a new chapter of your life, Cid.” And the page flipped. 

Nov 9, 2024 , By Chris Shao