by Nelly Asher
***
...Sound of the library door opening snapped the girl out of her stupor. All that time she was sitting behind the desk, vacantly gazing at the books' backs. When ambulance arrived, Selena didn't want to go downstairs with Kevin – she couldn't bear to see professor in such a condition... In whatever condition he could end up in. But Evanford wasn't alone – two cops walked in after him. A young blond one, looking no older than twenty-five; the second one was bulkier than his partner, and seemed to be about ten years his senior. When Silver saw them, her eyes widened:
“What happened to professor? Why are these people here?” she asked nervously.
“Broken hand, fractured hip and, most probably, brain concussion,” young Evanford summed up. “He's alive, but in a coma. Ambulance took him to the hospital. And police has arrived to investigate the circumstances of his fall.”
“What circumstances? He started raving like a madman and jumped out!” she leaped up, almost toppling the chair. “We didn't do anything!”
“If you really aren't involved, you have nothing to worry about,” young policeman was intently looking at the girl, who was terribly regretting that she didn't get out of here right away. It was obvious that after Evanford has suddenly got crazy everything can only turn for the worse! Now Silver started worrying less about professor and more about getting into trouble with the police. She gave the members of law enforcement a sullen look.
“I'm sergeant Clarkson,” the older one introduced himself. “That's Jack,” he pointed at his young partner. “Tell me your name, and how you are related to that man.”
“Kevin Evanford, his nepthew,” he replied coolly. “After my parents' death, Henry was my guardian.”
“Selena... Selena Silver, his student!” the girl was stumbling through her sentences. “We didn't have any relations... It was just interesting to listen to professor's lectures and talk to him! That's why I was really surprised when Evanford has suddenly invited me to his house. He didn't quite explaing why, just said that it's important... I should've known from the start that something weird is happening to him, and not to come! Professor started spitting out some incoherent mess, then ran to the window and jumped out! That's it, I don't know anything else!” Silver shouted. She sat back down and turned away defiantly.
“An incoherent mess?” sarge repeated. “What exactly did he say?”
“That the past has driven him into a dead end. He mentioned some book...” Kevin started, but a clear ringing sound has interrupted him. “It's the gate. I probably should answer.”
“I'll come with you,” Clarkson said. They left, leaving Selena alone with a young officer.
The girl was beside herself with anger. She and that arrogant guy aren't prisoners after all, there's no need to watch them at all times! The uniformed man kept silence, but Selena felt his fixed gaze. Does he watch her so that she wouldn't run away or jump out of the window? Or is he just staring? Silver didn't want to look at him out of spite – she didn't want to deal with the police even that much. Selena hanged her head, grimly staring at the table, and then suddenly realized what was there right before her eyes.
A book in a cover with wood pattern. Quite realistically done – at some distance it could really seem that it's a piece of polished wood. Maybe that's the reason she didn't notice the book before – it was almost blending in with the desk. A metal plate was drawn at the upper part of a cover; similar to those that hang on office doors. Haurot Sputkee, “The Door”. Professor's words flashed in the girl's mind: “It all starts with the fear of doors...” Can this be the book he was talking about?! Selena's eyes turned wide from the sudden guess. She desperately wanted to glimpse inside, but was stopped by recalling Evanford's words: everyone who reads it gets insane. Judging by his behavior, her lecturer wasn't lying... Besides, Selena didn't want to open the book with that cop breathing down her neck. She was nervously twiddling the corner of a cover, not daring to turn it over.
