The Fable of Marcus

by Sajjad Tameez

  Chapter 5

  Journey to the Great Library

  That night, Marcus could not think let alone sleep. Every time he would close his

  eyes, he could see the symbols appearing again. And there was no point writing them

  out anymore, he had already covered the entire room that he was sleeping, the walls,

  the floor, even across his arms – this is getting ridiculous! Especially, as it made

  absolutely no sense to anyone.

  Across the building, Richard also sat awake, looking through the books and the

  illustrations that Marcus had doodled everywhere. Even Arthur and Amy could not

  sleep; they were working on defence strategies and were incredibly paranoid that the

  Dark-Tec armies would attack in full force.

  ‘What do you think about the boy? I mean what is he going to do?’ Amy asked.

  ‘I am not sure, but I have full faith in Richard and he knows what he’s doing. We just

  need to do our jobs and defend this town, with our lives if we have to!’

  ‘They will come to get him. Won’t they?’

  Arthur did not reply, but his silence was enough to confirm it.

  He had gathered the limited weapons they had. Although they had some of the more

  advanced weaponry, which they recovered from the Dark-Tec robots that they

  managed to defeat, it was nothing in comparison to what they would be faced with.

  This is why Arthur dedicated so much of his time in designing weapons, like his

  infamous arrow guns and remarkable swords and daggers.

  Around the town, it seemed as though everyone was still awake including the First

  Politician and his followers. They were all gathered together having a discussion

  about Marcus.

  ‘The boy has these...these things all in his head. These things we don’t understand and

  can’t do anything with; are we willing to die for this?’ The First Politician said

  quietly, still in pain from the wound on his shoulder.

  ‘But what about the legends, all the stories about the boy?’ One of his followers, a tall

  and well-built man, asked.

  ‘Fairytales! They are just stories told to children to give them hope. They are lies!’ He

  hissed.

  ‘What’s the plan then?’ The man asked.

  ‘We kill Richard!’ The First Politician said in a deep and evil voice.

  ‘But... kill? Are you sure? It’s Richard; he has done so much for us and what about

  Arthur?’

  ‘What Richard has done for us does not give him the right to get us all killed now...

  does it?’

  His followers stared at one another, not entirely convinced that this was a good idea.

  ‘I don’t know about killing the old man! I definitely don’t want to cross Arthur.’

  Another man spoke out.

  ‘Fine! Let’s all just sit here and let the Dark-Tec forces come and tear us from limb to

  limb, not to mention what they will do to our children!’

  ‘What about Arthur? He will never let any harm come to Richard.’ The tall, well built

  man spoke again.

  ‘Don’t worry about Arthur; I will deal with him myself!’

  Back in Marcus’ room, a feeling of unease was building further as Marcus began

  assuming that what was happening to him would never end. That he would black-out,

  continuously hallucinate, eventually become an insomniac and die an arcane and

  horrible death.

  Marcus could hear a gentle knocking, and instantly assumed that it was his mind

  playing tricks on him. The knocking sounded again, only louder this time. It was

  coming from the wooded door. Marcus crept out of bed and staggered to the door,

  adrenaline feeding his muscles.

  ‘Who is it?’ Marcus called, not expecting anyone at this late hour.

  ‘It’s me Nicole... well, are you going to let me in?’ She whispered loudly. Marcus

  opened the door and she rushed in with a long hooded cloak. She removed the cloak

  and smiled brightly.

  ‘I thought you might not be able to sleep. I heard what happened at the library, are

  you ok?

  ‘Yeah... I think so.’ Marcus replied and yawned widely.

  ‘What’s wrong with you... sorry... I didn’t mean it like that.’

  ‘It’s ok, I really don’t know.’

  ‘Well, I couldn’t sleep either. I want to go.’

  ‘Go where?’ Marcus asked.

  ‘I want to go to the great library, you know, the one on the outside.’ Her eyes were

  now glowing.

  There was another light knock on the door. ‘It’s ok,’ Nicole said and quietly opened

  the door.

  ‘This is Thomas, Ryan, Mary and Louise.’ Nicole introduced the little group young

  girls and boys creeping in.

  ‘It’s nice to meet you.’ Thomas smiled and put out his chubby hand. And they all

  spent a few minutes getting acquainted.

  ‘So what’s the plan? Ryan said in a husky voice. Ryan was older than the rest of them

  by a year and a little taller than his average height. He had scruffy brown hair and had

  a long and pointy nose, which had a small arch in the middle as if he had broken it

  when he was younger.

  ‘We go tonight.’ Nicole said in a hushed voice.

  ‘I really don’t know about this...’ Mary stuttered. Mary was the youngest from them

  all and often behaved like it as well. Absolutely everything frightened her, so it was

  no surprise that what they were about to do made her tremble beyond her control.

  ‘Where are you going again?’ Marcus asked.

  ‘The great Library!’ Thomas mumbled while stuffing the remains of piece of bread

  into his mouth.

  ‘Well, are we going or what?’ Louise said in confidence and already walking towards

  the door. She tied up her long blonde hair tightly and zipped up her short black coat.

  They all knew she meant business when she tied her hair up, seeing as she was always

  so paranoid about her unusually large forehead.

  ‘Are you coming?’ Nicole said looking at Marcus. Marcus still in shock, now realised

  that they had been scheming this for a while and had just added him spontaneously to

  their well-rehearsed plan.

  Marcus, not knowing what to do and distinctly remembering Richard’s strict orders

  for not doing anything stupid, thought: ‘what the hell.’ In single file, they all crept

  out, trying not to make a noise. They were so careful in not alerting anyone that had

  already prepared silent commands and signals, which although Marcus was not

  familiar with, got the gist quickly.

  They silently ran through the narrow and dim corridors, almost comically, tip-toeing

  past the closed doors where people lay fast asleep. As they got closer to the outside of

  the small and populated area, they were faced with the tall-standing barricades. That

  prevented anyone from getting through; there were no holes, gaps and absolutely no

  possibility of climbing over.

  ‘What now?’ Thomas asked, huffing and puffing.

  ‘These are solid!’ Marcus said stroking the steel.

  ‘Well, we could let Thomas eat his way through!’ Louise remarked. Everyone paused

  for a moment, and then burst out in laughter.

  ‘Ha ha... very funny... very funny!’ Thomas said, annoyed and rolling his eyes. Nicole

  stopped laughing and had her game-face on, ‘come on, down here.’ She began

  walking towards a square metal slab on the floor. It looked like t
he entrance to a

  sewage system. Nicole wrapped her fingers tightly around the thin bars running across

  the middle of the slab and pulled. ‘A little help here...’ they all began tugging at the

  slab and after a lot of struggle they managed to open it. Instantly, nerves began to get

  the best of all of them and the thought of turning back became incredibly appealing.

  Mary made her feelings very clear, ‘guys, I have a real bad feeling about this. I think

  we should turn back.’

  ‘We have talked about this; we did not come this far to turn back.’ Nicole grabbed

  hold of Mary’s shoulders, ‘It’ll be fine. Trust me!’ If it was one thing that Mary did

  do, it was have full faith in Nicole. Nicole was like an older sister to Mary, the closest

  thing to family that she had. She smiled nervously then nodded.

  Nicole poked her head inside and noticed the metal ladders running down but it was

  too dark to see the bottom. She gently stepped into the small hole in the ground and

  began climbing down, ‘hand me a lamp from the bag. Thomas, who was carrying the

  small black rucksack, quickly removed a small lamp light; he lit it and handed it over

  to her. As she shone the light below, she noticed the ground was very far below and

  the ladder was not as secure as it first appeared. ‘Right, I don’t think this ladder will

  hold much weight, so it’s going to have to be single file. When I get to the bottom I

  will call you and the next person comes down. Ok?’ They all nodded in approval.

  Climbing down the gloomy and lifeless hole, she noticed great metal pipes running

  across the walls of it. The pipes looked old and rusty, there was no sound and signs of

  any living creature inside – no rats, mice and not even spiders dwelled here. It was

  creepy to say the least. Once they had all found their way to the dark and dingy

  ground of the hole, they discovered a tunnel running directly underneath the

  barricades on the surface and the tunnel was heading to the outside.

  ‘You knew about this?’ Marcus asked Nicole, surprised at how clear the path was to

  the outside.

  ‘No, but I was relying on something like this being around.’ She smiled nervously.

  ‘It’s huge... and... dark.’

  ‘There are more lamps in the bag. Get them out.’ Louise said pointing at Thomas’s

  bag.

  ‘There may be no need...’ Ryan said while looking carefully at the wall of the tunnel.

  He ran his hand across the wall, feeling the small metal pipes and following some

  wires to a black and silver leaver sticking out of the wall. ‘If I’m right then this

  should...’ he pulled the leaver down. But nothing happened. ‘Oh...I thought that...’

  suddenly there were bright lights throughout the tunnel; they blinked rapidly a few

  times before turning on fully.

  They all smiled as the dark tunnel had become as bright as day. ‘See... not just a

  pretty face!’ Ryan remarked, covering his eyes from the sudden emergence of bright

  light.

  ‘This was the first time they had seen electricity so powerful. In the town everything

  ran on generators, the main source of power was cut off by the Dark-Tec Empire.

  From the world almost climaxing to the greatest technological innovations, to rapidly

  declining to the medieval times – this was the world now, no proper sewers, no

  powerful electricity, no super weaponry. Everything was running on windmills and

  some areas used solar power.

  The brightness of the light did not, however, alter its dark and haunting feel, and the

  revolting smell was now unbearable. Murky water waved up to their ankles and its

  cold temperature sent chills running up their legs, rippling through their spines and

  eventually giving them Goosebumps on the back of their necks.

  'My feet feel like they are turning into ice blocks!' Mary whined.

  'Come on, keep moving!' Nicole stressed. Ryan was already far ahead of everyone but

  was now stood frozen, staring at something poking out of the water. It was definitely

  metal but was so old that rust had manifested itself all over it like a thick layer of

  paint. The combination of dirt and rust made the shape or any distinct detail of the

  object unrecognisable. Ryan rubbed the top vigorously and exposed a faint logo.

  'What is it?' Mary asked. Ryan shrugged his shoulders. Marcus on the other hand,

  knew exactly what it was – it was the same logo he had printed on his card and that he

  saw engraved on the computer in the hidden room.

  'I really don't think that is a good idea! And I can no longer feel my feet!' Mary

  continued to moan.

  'Let's keep moving!' Nicole crept around the strange object in the water. Further down

  the tunnel, there were more similar type objects scattered around.

  'How are we going to get to the surface?' Thomas asked.

  'Everyone keep an eye out for an exit up above, like the one we used to get down

  here.' Nicole's voice echoed and they continued walking briskly.

  ‘What’s that noise? Mary said looking behind her.

  ‘What noise? I can’t hear anything.’ Ryan said. ‘It’s probably Thomas’s tummy

  rumbling!’ He chuckled to himself.

  But there was a sound, it was faint but they all heard it. It was like water moving, as if

  something was shuffling and splashing.

  ‘It’s probably just rats! Let’s get a move on.’ Nicole said, not sounding convincing at

  all. None of them were really convinced with her take on what it was, but her

  recommendation of getting a move on was definitely an appealing proposal and they

  began moving fast. The sound that was lurking behind them was now following them

  and gradually getting louder. Mary was now so frightened that she was unable to

  speak and found it impossible to control the aggressive shudders had now possessed

  her entire body. Although she already had an overly pale complexion, she had now

  turned almost blue in fear. They all knew there was no turning back now.

  ‘They don’t sound like rats to me!’ Mary whispered.

  ‘Yeah me neither!’ Thomas said hurrying along. But after judging the intensity of the

  sound building up, they knew they would not be able to outrun whatever it was. Mary

  subtly hid behind Nicole, who was doing well in hiding the fact that she absolutely

  petrified. Ryan looked around and found a lose metal pipe running across the wall. He

  ripped it off the wall and held it out in front of him like a sword, ‘quickly, everybody

  get behind me!’ He shouted. They all huddled together, gently stepping back; Mary

  screamed as the lights began to flicker.

  ‘It’s ok, hold my hand.’ Nicole held Mary’s hand tightly; Nicole could feel her pulse

  thumping rapidly. Fear suddenly burst into them and fizzed through their bodies like

  carbonated water, as the lights suddenly died. And everything went pitch black. They

  all screamed hysterically, even Ryan.

  ‘Shh...’ Marcus hissed, ‘what is that?’

  ‘How are we supposed to know? We can’t see a thing!’ Thomas shouted.

  Although Marcus could not see anything, he could sense something – something that

  made him feel very uneasy. Everything began to feel surreal as the intense sentiment

  of fear was imprisoning them like a stray-jacket, suffocating them. Marcus could feel

  something circling them, almost tau
nting them – playing on their anxiety. Terror

  began clenching tighter as a squeaking sound appeared, it sounded like metal scraping

  together and being crushed.

  Thomas began rummaging frantically though his bag, praying that there were more

  lamps. But in his panic he dropped the bag, ‘damn it!’ he shouted and fell to his

  knees, searching blindly for the bag. While on the floor, he felt something brush past

  him, it was hard and cold and didn’t feel human. After a few moments, frozen, he

  stood up and his legs were shaking like a leaf and his hair stood up straight as if twohundred

  and fifty watts rushed through his body. Sweat oozed out of his forehead like

  a sudden gush of monsoon rain and his eye lids flapped similar to powerful

  windscreen wipers. His stomach turned to jelly and he formed the sudden urge to

  vomit.

  ‘Nicole... Ryan? Anyone?’ He called out, helplessly. ‘Ok seriously this is not funny!

  Where are you guys?’

  ‘Any joy on those lamps?’ Nicole asked. ‘Thomas?’

  ‘Guys! Where’s Thomas?’

  ‘He was getting the lamps out of his bag. Ok, everyone just stop!’ Ryan said and they

  all stopped shuffling through the tunnel.

  ‘Thomas! Thomas!’ They all called aloud.

  ‘Hey, where are you guys?’ Thomas’ faint voice echoed in the distance.

  Thomas could hear their voices but couldn’t quite tell which direction they were

  coming from. The strange thing that was now circling him, taunting him to tears,

  began making an ear-piercing shriek. Thomas screamed almost equally as loud and

  ran manically.

  Nicole and the rest heard the loud sounds and could now see small flashes of lights.

  Running in that direction, they could see Thomas scampering as fast as his chubby

  legs could carry him. They all suddenly stopped, concreted in shock as they saw what

  was in the shadows behind him – it was humongous. It had four legs that looked like

  thin, long, metal towers. It crawled smoothly like a spider, its legs in perfect sync,

  keeping perfect balance for its enormous round ball-like body. It had a circular hole in

  the centre of its body which was bursting out huge flashes of light and like a camera

  flash it blinked rapidly. Everything about this eerie object made them all shiver.

  ‘Run!’ Nicole shouted, almost having a fit from the flashes.

  They all ran as fast as they could. A sudden gush of cold air hit Ryan in the face as

  something whooshed past him landing in front and splashing the murky water like a

  drizzle of rain everywhere. They stopped running when a similar type object surfaced

  from the water. It was smaller; the light coming from it was considerably dimmer and

  the hellish sound somewhat quieter, but had the same menacing aura.

  Ryan began swinging the metal pipe recklessly, but the object was fast and even when

  he managed to strike a blow, it took it painlessly. They all huddled together as the

  two objects came edging closer from both sides. There was nowhere to run and

  nowhere to hide. Thomas closed his eyes as the objects came so close that he could

  taste the rust floating in the moist filled air. Nicole pulled Marcus behind her,

  regretting leaving the town. Marcus was staring at the objects and noticed the same

  symbol that he's been seeing everywhere, stamped on both of them. Although

  frightened out of his skin, he valiantly stepped forward, moving Nicole out of the

  way. What the hell is he doing? They were all baffled.

  Miraculously, the objects hesitated and paused in their tracks. Then one suddenly

  screamed as a large shinning arrow successfully pierced its metal body from behind

  and the point tore out from the front. The object turned in fury and faced a tall shadow

  of a man – a man who was swiftly walking towards them. Marcus and his new friends

  all stared in shock but leapt out of their skin as the object from behind them shot over

  them like a ball being shot out of a canon. It landed violently beside its comrade;

  menacingly, facing the shadow that was now running towards them. Nicole knew that

  she should be shouting at the others to run but was compelled to watch what was

  about to happen – they all were.

  The man ran out if the dark and sprung into the air and landed on top of the larger

  object. By now, it had become crystal clear that it was Arthur.

  Nicole sighed in relief but instantly began dreading consequences for leaving the

  town.

  Arthur swiftly removed a long and shimmering sword from a strap on his back and

  stabbed it with force, penetrating the top and making the object unsteady on its metal

  legs. A small metal flap slid open and a long barrel of a weapon peered out. When

  Arthur notices this, he leapt off and landed on the other object; the first one began

  shooting small beams of blue which began impacting the smaller object and Arthur

  leapt off just before the smaller one collapsed to the ground. Arthur, using all his

  might, swung his sword and launched it like a missile into the hole from where the

  blinking light was coming from on the object and as it impacted, it stumbled back, its

  legs gave way and it crashed to the ground causing a small tremor. Arthur removed

  his sword out of it and made sure it was dead.

  'You made that look easy!' Nicole smiled nervously.

  'What the hell were you thinking?' Arthur said angrily. His penetrating gaze

  frightening them almost as much as the monstrous objects they just faced. And

  although baffled at why the objects hesitated with Marcus, they just were more

  worried about Arthur's wrath. Marcus stood puzzled and instantly knew that the

  shadow of his mysterious past was catching up to him. And although his mind was

  still relatively blank, something kept drawing him back to that familiar symbol.

  Thomas ran forward, veiling his fear with a subtle smile, 'sir, it wasn't my idea, I

  swear!'

  'Shut up!' Arthur's strong and deep voice echoed. Thomas' cheeks were glowing as he

  lowered his head and tried to hide in the darkness.

  Ryan flashed a brave smile as Arthur approached closer, 'I expected more from you!'

  Arthur spoke with his teeth tightly clenched together.

  'I know... I shouldn't have let them come out. I'm sorry.'

  'No, I meant you should have at least taken the smaller one out!' Arthur removed a

  smaller but equally as sharp sword and handed it to Ryan. Ryan could not contain his

  excitement and smiled to the point that his cheek bones began to ache. 'Wow!' He

  began swinging the sword like a child. Arthur continued drifting down the tunnel, we

  can't go back, they're all waking up! We need to move quickly and find another way

  out!'

  Within seconds, rivers of hideous shadows began flooding in the distance and Arthur's

  voice began sinking to a husky whisper, 'let's move, now!'

  They stealthy drifted like silent clouds being pushed by a punishing wind, wondering

  deep into the abyss of this danger-filled tunnel. Anxiety multiplied when they realised

  that they had been walking for hours with no exit in sight.

  'I'm tired. Can't we stop for a bit?' Thomas moaned.

  'That's a good idea fat boy; why don't you wait, they'll be busy with your tub of lard

  and give us a chance to get away!' Ryan remarked with a boyish grin.

  'That's not funny!'
Thomas complained, looking towards Arthur as if he expected

  Arthur to condemn that hurtful comment. But Arthur was struggling to contain his

  laughter and just assertively remarked, 'we... need to keep moving!' He turned in the

  other direction, desperately trying to not show his amused face.

  ‘Where were you going?’ Arthur asked Nicole.

  ‘To... to the great library...’ She stuttered.

  ‘You know your quest to find out about your parents is going to get you killed!’

  ‘I need to, it’s something I just need to do – O forget it! You’ll never understand!’

  ‘Hey, I do understand kid! But it’s too dangerous to come out here, and you took

  Marcus with you!’

  ‘I’m sorry...’

  ‘Hey, I chose to come myself – she didn’t make me do it! Marcus said, indicating that

  he was present.

  ‘Well, that’s sweet...’ Arthur mumbled – rolling his eyes. Nicole looked at Marcus

  and smiled brightly; her eyes silently whispering: thank you.

  A loud whistle from the cold breeze echoed violently.

  ‘There must be a way out around here! That wind must be coming from somewhere.’

  Louise said, marching ahead of everyone else. Mary’s eyes began welling up and her

  legs became stiff, ‘I can’t walk anymore.

  ‘Look, over there!’ Marcus pointed to a small gap in the roof of the tunnel. It had a

  narrow and frail looking ladder leading up to it. And as they approached closer a

  roaring gust of wind hit them in the face and it became obvious that the gap led to the

  surface.

  Arthur climbed the ladder and brutally shoved the small door a few times to get it

  open. Peeping his head out discreetly, he looked around to ensure the coast was clear

  and then gestured for them to come up.

  It felt as though days had gone by since they last witnessed the sky. The darkness was

  rapidly dissolving and the small, sparkling spotlights were turning off one-by-one.

  Fiery rays of golden sunlight tore through the dark inky-blue sky as they trekked

  through areas that they had only heard, the most terrifying, stories about. Even Arthur,

  the raging lion, was looking a little pale – nerves had broken into his tough exterior

  and manifested themselves in the shape of subtle goose bumps.

  ‘It’s so quiet...’ Nicole remarked.

  ‘Yeah, this is weird,’ said Ryan.

  ‘It’s creepy!’ Mary muttered.

  ‘So, where to know?’ Nicole asked Arthur, fluttering her eyelids.

  ‘I guess we’re going to have to find this library in-case you pull another dim-witted

  stunt! Nicole bit her lip in excitement and had a goofy smile that she couldn’t hide.