Floating Ink

by James Livingood

CHAPTER FIVE

  Caretaker

  Ruth awoke into bright lights. The creature who had knocked her out was an evil thing, as the bright lights made her head throb. No good being would kidnap a woman and then give her a headache. The first thing Ruth noticed as she got up was that she had been drooling on a green carpet. It must have been awhile, as the puddle of drool was somewhat sizable.

  She pushed her body up with one hand while rubbing her skull with another hand. The buzzing lights lit every corner of the large room. The room was full of bookshelves and tables. Books were littered every nook and cranny. They were stacked 4-5 high on each table, and all the tables were full. She looked around and tried to find any sign of where she was.

  Ruth twisted her head around slowly. She didn’t want to hurt her neck or cause any additional movement of her head, which could result in more pain. She spotted a poster on the wall of a kitten wearing glasses. As she squinted she could see the words “Reading” on the poster, but couldn’t make out the bottom text. A logo was nestled in the corner of the poster. Hoping to reveal a clue, she stood up and began making her way over.

  “Welcome to the Thomasville Library” came a voice over a speaker. Ruth shrugged and stopped approaching the poster for a location clue. “Please ask a librarian if you need any help finding anything or accessing the WebDewey system. In addition, our book sale will begin in the Emerald room in 5 minutes. Buy a bag for $10.”

  As the voice faded, Ruth looked around and saw that one of the doors had a stack of paper grocery bags near it. The bags had the words “Friends of Thomasville Library” printed on them. Why had the ink blot creature taken her here? She decided to venture out and ask someone.

  The metal bar in the middle of the door pushed in, and she heard a click. Ruth pushed the door open into another hallway. Inside that hallway was a small line of people looking at their phones and watches.

  “Excuse me,” Ruth announced, “Is there a librarian around that could help me? I am not really sure how I got here.” She shrugged her shoulders and continued massaging her temples. The headache was starting to go down.

  “You used the door!” Quipped a young man in the line. A woman hit him in his chest.

  The woman spoke up, “Yeah, just go down this hallway and take a right. That’s the main part of the library.”

  Ruth ignored the man and walked directly to the woman. “Thank you,” she said, smiling sheepishly.

  Ruth walked down the long hallway and noticed several rooms to the right. Each room was either not lit up or appeared to be smaller than the room she was just in. She eventually found another hallway connecting to this one. She went right down the hallway, which opened into a large library setting. Ruth looked around and spotted a sign that said “Information”. She walked over to that sign and the woman sitting there. In the woman’s lap was the green book Ruth had been reading earlier. It was open, and the woman was scratching her head.

  “Excuse me, this may sound odd, but I am not sure why I am here. Or, really where here is.” Ruth said, placing her hands on the counter and talking to the woman.

  The woman ignored her and continued to move her head back and forth, reading the book.

  “Excuse me?” Ruth said a little louder when she didn’t get a response.

  The woman didn’t take her eyes off the book Ruth had been reading. Instead, the woman began to speak in a soft tone, as if to the book instead. “You are a caretaker. They are just not sure what kind.”

  “I believe I am supposed to be an accountant,” Ruth said, crooking up an eyebrow, a smile touching the corner of her mouth.

  “No. You were not supposed to be an accountant. You became an accountant and something else. They think something must have gone wrong, and they want to find out what.” The woman replied as she looked up from her book.

  As she looked up, Ruth could see her entire eyes were black. Black cracks formed from her eyes and over her face. The woman smiled, closed the book, and sat back in the chair.

  “And… now I said too much.” the woman stated in a calm tone, her mouth scrunching to the side.

  The black cracks in her face grew swiftly and encompassed her entire body. She soon looked like a fire had consumed her, as she was entirely covered in black. The chair then creaked forward slightly, and the woman fell. As the woman hit the ground, ash spread around her.

  Ruth stared at the woman, mouth wide open, ready to scream. She nearly lost her balance as she felt a small tug against her clothing.

  “Excuse me, librarian, can you help me? I am having trouble with the WebDewey system…” came the tiny voice behind her. It belonged to a small child who had a pink bow in her hair. Ruth wondered how much the child had seen and then looked around the room. No one had even moved a muscle in alarm. The only one who was surprised by a woman dying was Ruth. What kind of library is this? Ruth wondered to herself.

  “Sorry… just give me a moment, please,” Ruth replied in a shaky voice. She leaned over and plucked the book the previous woman had been reading. The child waited patiently and with obedience. She balanced on her heels and watched Ruth.

  Ruth began to exit the building. She didn’t have many answers, and now even more questions. Why had the flying ink blot creature knocked her out, just to put her in the library? And why had that woman told Ruth she wasn't an accountant, followed by dying in an odd manner.

  Ruth walked outside of the building to find a rural town being beaten down by a hot sun. Trucks and people roamed the streets in a sluggish daze. It seemed like a dusty town, and Ruth would not have chosen to come here for any reason. Near one of the gas stations stood a sign that read “Welcome to Thomasville! Home of Devil’s Rock. Population: 3000”. Ruth looked around to see if she could spot any ink blots floating around. She didn’t spy any of the creatures. A thought then came to her; what if this town was like the cabin she had encountered earlier? What if this was all inside one of those bubble things?

  As she walked down the street, she didn’t notice many people outside, and even fewer vehicles. Wherever this was, they were used to staying within the town confines. As she continued forward and turned a corner, she met with a brick wall going across the street. She thought it was weird that the wall covered the street and that no signs warned of a dead end. She turned right and continued walking down the street.

  About a half hour later she was in a less populated neighborhood. Many residents of this neighborhood had taken up farming practices. What stuck Ruth as odd was that it appeared that the fields were full of people. Why would people be farming so aggressively? It began to dawn on her as she spotted the wall in the distance. This town had walls on all sides. That’s why there were so few cars.

  The feeling of being a caged rat prickled on her neck. She tried to think of excuses on why there would be walls surrounding the town. Perhaps whatever beast she had encountered earlier would be deterred by these walls. Perhaps they had sand storms here and needed to block out all the dirt coming in. Maybe they were worried about noise or dirt and this was a way to keep those things out.

  Ruth decided to stop someone in the field. She didn’t notice it at first, because of the farmer’s wide brimmed hat. The person’s eyes were a solid black, just like the librarian’s eyes had been. Ruth wanted to look in a mirror to see if her own eyes were now solid black. Why was this town separated from outside? Were these people infected and that’s why they were separated? Was she now infected with whatever killed that librarian? Questions swirled in Ruth’s head. However, one question began to pulse slowly in her head. It started quietly and thrummed louder and louder. Why hadn’t she seen any of those odd bubbles here?