by Casey White
Steeling himself, he reached up, hooking his finger over the spine of the first volume - and again, he stopped.
Something wafted through the room. The smell of something sour, something hovering right at that horrifying boundary of sickly-sweet and rotten. Something dead. His pulse thundered faster yet. Slowly, carefully, Daniel took a step back, glancing around.
The shelves had carried on for so long, he'd assumed they were all the room held. But while they rose to the very ceiling on the walls around him, lining the center of the study in a maze of towering wood and paper, the spaces alongside the desk were...empty. Open, with archways in the place of doors. One of the arches glowed from within, lit by a pale blue-green glow. The other...
Daniel wrinkled his nose. The other smelled. It smelled like fear and death, and before he even knew what he was doing, he crept closer, sliding his hands about the frame of the door-less stone threshold and peering around the corner.
A shiver rippled across his skin. Despite himself, he flinched back, one arm rising defensively. Another room waited beyond, deceptively cozy and lit with candles that seemed all too normal. That was where the comfort of the room ended.
The room he'd passed through had been filled with books. There were books here, too - a narrow, shoulder-height shelf on the far side of the room.
The rest of the chamber was filled with cages.
Acid burned in the back of his throat. Daniel staggered back, his fingers clenching about the corners of the doorway. "W-What?" he gasped. "Alex, what the hell? What the fuck is this?"
Alexandria didn't respond.
He cast a glance back toward the main room, wild and wide-eyed. Only books and stone waited for him there. He was alone, no matter the backflip his nerves had just done. He swallowed once, and then again, mustering up his resolve.
One step at a time, he crept into the chamber.
Iron bars lined each wall. Pens. Here and there, cages had been stacked on top of each other, filling up the empty space. A table sat against one wall, long and low with its whole surface covered over by runes.
More than anything, though, Daniel saw the blood. It coated everything in the room with a red-brown film of dried filth, leaving his eyes burning and an acrid, metallic tang in his nostrils. "It's like a damn murder scene," Daniel whispered, taking another shuffling step in. "Jesus, Alex."
Then again...Daniel licked his lips, his unease building. He'd asked how mages worked. Alex hadn't been going to show him - right up until he'd asked. This might exist within the Library, but that didn't mean it was Alexandria's doing.
If this was horrifying, it was just an added bit of encouragement to stay far, far out of the way of the Earth's spellcasters.
Tiptoeing gingerly around a red-brown puddle that seeped from the floor of a broad-barred cage, Daniel inched forward. His eyes were fixed on that single bookshelf, the one solace he could find within that room. Where the books outside had been as thin as pamphlets, sometimes, these were massive. They were arranged in sets, too - and these had titles, he realized with a thrill. Or...rather than titles, they...
He stopped, one hand outstretched toward a text labeled Fulvia. His eyes lingered on the word, then darted across the shelf. "Names," he said, letting his fingers come to rest on the time-worn leather. "They're names. Are these..."
The book came away with his hand. He flipped it open, heading right to the first page. Somehow, he already knew what he'd find.
Just like the other books in the set, a name was plastered at the top - the same Fulvia as on the spine. He stared down at it, his brow furrowed. "What the hell is all of this?" he whispered. "Alex, I...I don't get it."
The books rattled on their shelves, out in the main room. Daniel jumped - and glanced back, still cradling the massive text.
It'd been only minutes since he entered, but he'd almost forgotten where it was he stood. "Shit," he mumbled, and lifted his feet. They pulled free of the slop coating the ground with a wet, sucking sound. His slippers...well, he'd need new ones, after this. Daniel sighed, rubbing at his forehead. Okay. He'd just take the book with him back to that reading desk, and-
When he turned away, though, something rattled - a narrow, delicate chain, binding the tome to the shelf. "No?" he said. "I can't take it with me?"
He stared, but the chain didn't budge or loosen or fade away into dust. Alexandria was being firm, then. He made a face, slotting the book back onto the shelf. "Fine," he mumbled. "I'll come back later." As interested as he was, the room was a little too horrifying for him to justify staying there on a whim - and in the grand scheme of things he should be reading in that moment of time, the book titled basics still seemed more relevant. Every step he took came a little quicker than the one before, carrying him around the half-dried puddles of blood and out of the chamber.
Daniel slowed at last, clinging to the back of the desk's chair. He leaned on it hard, fighting to compose himself. "That's messed up, Alex," he whispered, unable to tear his eyes off the smooth, unmarked surface of the desk. "Are they...those are people. And they’re are killing each other, aren't they?"
He'd been told as much. It wasn't a surprise. He gripped the chair more tightly, trying to calm himself enough to sit down and start working. Trying, and failing.
Pushing off hard, Daniel stalked away, lifting his hands to tear at his hair. Maybe this was all a mistake. Maybe he was an idiot for opening the door and coming down here. If he didn't know it was here, then maybe it couldn't hurt him.
Casting a glance back to the blood-soaked room, he sighed. If he didn't know about them, he'd be blinded - and now, face to face with this, he knew how bad it could get. He needed to get to work, rather than just scaring himself.
But...His eyes drifted to the side, to where a second archway lay, formed out of the stone. The pale blue-green glow from within soothed his eyes, wiping away a bit of the ache and the terror. Just...Just for a while. Just another minute. Leaving the desk and chair behind, he strode toward the new passage.
No voice screamed at him to slow. No warning bells went off in his head. He couldn't shake the nervousness that swept through him, though, leaning out around the edge as though a monster was going to leap out at any moment.
His eyes widened. Daniel's fingers fell away from the stoneworked wall - and he walked in, hardly seeming to notice the threshold passing him by.
The room was no bigger than the chamber of horrors on the far side of the desk. It wasn't big and sprawling, didn't go on and on. He was quite sure of that - and yet, his eyes kept insisting the walls went on forever, the ceiling towered over him.
Somehow, everything else seemed to pale before the teardrop-shaped well that lay before him, lined with elegant marble blocks that stood a fist high over the ground. It had been filled with liquid - something like water, but shining with its own clean, pure light. Daniel froze, one foot raised over the ground.
"Okay," he whispered, his voice strained. His eyes traced out the narrow rivers that flowed away from the well through channels no wider than a nail, weaving out complicated shapes through the stone floor and then vanishing deeper into Alexandria. "Not...just the well, then. That's...weird." He chuckled, repositioning his feet. "It's kind of like..."
Veins. The thought screamed loud and clear in his mind, even as his mouth clamped shut. The tiny rivers of blue were like arteries carrying Alexandria's lifeblood away from here. His eyes lifted to the far side of the room, right to the narrowest point of the teardrop-shaped well.
Something stood there - a figure. A statue. A woman with hair down to her waist, one foot braced on either side of the teardrop's point and carved with enough detail he thought she might spring to life at any minute. She cradled one hand loosely before her, the fingers spread wide. That same glistening, glowing liquid pooled from what looked like a scar across her palm, pouring between those fingers to drip down into the well.
Daniel crept forward, leaning out over the edge. He squinted, peering down into the d
epths. It stretched down farther, farther...he wobbled, straining, and-
Shit. He yanked himself back with a gasp. The world swayed around him. "Well," he whispered, licking suddenly-dry lips. "Uh. Okay. So you have a bottomless well of...of magic water down here. That's...a thing."
The water splashing down into the well tinkled, like wind chimes, like laughter. Daniel lifted his head, grinning at the statue. She seemed stern enough, with a mane of hair that must've taken years to carve half-hiding her face, but he knew Alex's good moods when he spotted them. He chuckled. Somehow, it made sense. Referring to Alexandria in the feminine had always felt right.
"This is beautiful," he said, low and soft. The words echoed around the grotto. His eyes stayed glued to that statue. "You're beautiful. Thank you for...for showing this to me. I'm sorry I pushed you."
Placing each foot carefully, he backed out of the chamber, keeping his gaze on the fountain for as long as he could. He grasped the corner of the archway as it appeared around him, lingering a moment longer.
And then he broke away with a tired, happy sigh, tearing his eyes off the scene. Another few steps saw him to the desk. This time he pulled the chair loose, dropping into the seat and reaching up for the first book on the rack.
He wasn't surprised when the rattle of a chain echoed out. The hidden passage, the locked gate, the chains...Alex didn't want any of this information leaving. It had to stay with him.
After seeing what was down here, all of it....he understood. More than ever, he understood why she'd been so hesitant to open this wing to him.
But now he could start moving forward again.
Taking a deep breath, Daniel lowered the book to the desk, turned to the first page, and started to read.
- Chapter Twenty-Eight -
Daniel leaned back in his chair. One hand on the mouse, he clicked through dialog boxes, hardly reading the words on them. He'd memorized it all years ago.
With one final click and a gentle whirr of the computer singing to life, the program started compiling. He leaned back in his chair, rubbing his eyes.
"Come the hell on," he mumbled, his fingers still pressed into his eyelids. Spots of colors danced in the black void of his vision. He'd already been through this a hundred times. More. Every time he fixed one area of the code, something else broke. Damn it, he was supposed to be better than this.
It'll take time, his thoughts crooned. You have an eternity to make this function. And when it does...
He sighed, dropping his arms to his sides and letting his head roll back. When he got it working, he'd have taken a massive leap forward for AI tech. Whenever it was that happened.
With a final creak, he sat up, going from flopped backwards over the chair to flopped forwards onto his desk in a single smooth motion. His chin came to rest on his folded arms. His eyes were glued to his mask, hanging in its place on the wall of his office.
"It'd be easier if I could stay focused," he mumbled. "Dammit, Alex, why do you have to go and keep distracting me?"
Alexandria didn't reply, and he chuckled. "Oh, I get it. You didn't want to show me any of that stuff. And now, here I am getting all distracted." It wasn't his fault, damn it. It was only natural. He'd...he'd been so curious.
And now, with his work churning away before him and his mind free of the labors...he couldn't stop his thoughts from turning back to the subterranean library he'd roamed.
One hand slid closer to his chest, his fingers tensing. The necklace shimmered to life, coming to rest in his grasp. He squeezed it, pursing his lips.
He'd read the texts down there - starting with the fabled Basics, naturally, but he hadn't limited it to that. No matter how many of the books he'd torn through, though, he couldn't quite make sense of it. "So how about it, Alex?" he said, still draped across his desk. "All that stuff? I read the books you gave me."
Daniel could remember them all too clearly, in fact - the drawings of various artifacts, neatly penned alongside listings of their owners through the years. Alexandria had been...less than explicit with how it worked, even with a primer. It'd taken him some time to realize the magic his predecessor had warned him about came from these artifacts. It'd taken him longer to realize why each of them had so many owners.
And why each of their stories was so short.
"It sounds familiar, doesn't it?" he said, refusing to dwell on the things he'd found written within those pages. The nightmares. "Items that give their owner magic." His fingers stroked the necklace, slow and steady. "I don't get it all, but...I can see the resemblance."
The window panes rattled somewhere high over the study, blowing in a wind Daniel couldn't feel. He groaned, burying his face in his arms again. "I get it. It's a resemblance, nothing more. I can see that you're different." The books had been explicit. Those objects were eternal, indestructible. Alex? He gripped the pendant more firmly - and felt it crumble to dust in his hand. Alexandria's artifact was different from them, totally and completely. "I just...I don't know how. Or why."
Brilliant in the half-shadow of his room, the lights of his monitors flickered. Daniel grimaced. "Pay attention to my work and stop worrying about it, eh? Is that it?"
The rattling of the windows stopped.
Daniel pushed back from his desk with a groan. "It'd be nice if I could understand, is all. I'm learning." He rapped his knuckles against the wall. "But I still don't know anything about you." Already knowing he wouldn't get a reply, he reached for the handle of the door, snagging his mask on the way out. "I'm just saying. Think about it, Alex. I could use the information."
He pressed the porcelain over his face as he turned for the stairs, grumbling quietly to himself. He'd spent the whole morning doing that busywork, and now, no doubt, his other duties would be piling up. He'd hoped to have a little time left before the program finished compiling to skip down to the House of Horrors for another read, but...with his luck, he'd probably be kept busy the whole time.
That didn't keep him from glancing from side to side as he walked, peering down aisle after aisle of books. "Anywhere?" Owl murmured.
But no brassy-haired figure leaped out to startle him. Owl sighed. Leon wasn't here - and Leon hadn't been here since he'd started digging around through Alexandria's mage archives. He'd been into the Library a half-dozen times since he'd begun, and yet...each time, he was left to his lonesome.
"What's with that?" he said, trudging through the halls and turning down another wing at random. It didn't really matter where he walked, Alex would make sure his chores followed him. She was damned good at that. "Are you not bringing Leon around anymore? Did you decide he wasn't welcome?"
Or is this you punishing me for looking into stuff you didn't want me to? The thought crept in at the back of his mind, tiny and guilty and frustrated. He didn't want to think that of Alexandria. She'd pushed Leon at him so hard - and now, he was just...gone. He hated to admit it, but it left him feeling off-balance. He'd already gotten used to having a regular visitor, one he could talk to.
A stack of books waited at the end of a shelf, pointedly tall and right on the verge of tipping over. Owl groaned. "Dammit, Alex, if this shit falls on me, I'm going to be upset." Wincing at the thought of the heavy texts tumbling down on his feet, he reached out, tentatively grabbing one off the top and then skittering back.
When the stack didn't fall, he sighed, relaxing. An open slot waited on the bookshelf. He thrust the book into place, rolling his eyes. "Fine. Don't talk to me. It's fine. I'm fine." He grabbed another book, passing it across his front and shoving it onto the shelf alongside its fellow. A tiny, wry smile waited on his lips, though, safely hidden behind the mask. It was just another of her moods, he told himself. This too would pass. Soon enough, life would return to normal, and-
He froze, his hand still outstretched toward the heap of books. His eyes widened, then narrowed. He didn't move, didn't even breathe.
It was quiet, but...he was sure he'd heard it...
A low noise rippled thr
ough the Library, like a rubber sole against wooden floors. He jumped, eyes going round again - and then smiled.
So Alex had just been waiting for him to complain, eh? He bit back a laugh, stepping away from the books. It'd taken visit after visit, months after months, but she'd let Leon back in. About time.
After so long spent out of the Library, there was no way Owl would let his friend get the jump on him. Not this time. He crept closer to a wooden rack, each step slow and careful. Each time he came to an intersection, he paused, letting silence fall over the wing again - and each time, he heard the quiet steps ring out again.
His grin grew as he slid closer and closer. Soon. Any minute now, he'd come around a corner, and be face to face with-
Owl flinched, lurching dangerously. He grabbed for a shelf for support, his eyes wide.
A woman walked through the Library, halfway across the wing from him. A young woman, he amended quickly, one who looked a bit younger than him, even. Her brown hair had been clipped to her chin in a straight, no-nonsense line.
Owl gaped at her a moment longer, his mind blank. Who? Who was it? He'd never seen this woman before in his-
Leon. A tiny groan slipped between his lips. Leon had mentioned a friend of his - a female friend. Someone he wanted to invite to Alexandria alongside him and James. He'd said no. Apparently, that hadn't changed Alexandria's mind on the matter.
"You could have at least kept them together," Owl muttered. "You don't have to keep dropping guests all over the Library like Easter eggs for me to hunt down." This...wasn't the first time. He only hoped this friend of Leon's had a better sense of humor on the matter than James did.
She was still walking, still drifting through the aisles, and so Owl stepped out into the candlelight. "Hey!" he called, striding forward. "New girl! Look, don't worry, but-"
