The Library of Souls

by Richard Denney

  “Sister?” I asked and then it hit me. I spun back around to Jonathon, took the album from him, and flipped back to the photo of the three dead girls. I studied it closely and tried to figure out who the other older sister was and then it dawned on me.

  I almost dropped the album in shock. Sitting next to Morgana… was Octavia Freestone.

  “I… can’t… I’ve got to go,” this time I dropped the album on the ground and was about to make a break for it when Jonathon snatched me by the arm and turned me back to him. Where he held me, it began to burn as if someone was holding dry ice against my skin.

  “She brought the spiritualists, including you, here to sacrifice you to the Déjà Quimorta for more power. I tried to stop my own daughter before I died, but she found out and look at me now…” he was crying and he was draining me. I felt like I was going to throw up, but I pushed myself to stay alert. I couldn’t faint now.

  “This is too insane!” I yelled back at him.

  “Your spiritual energy is what the demon Madolok craves and it will swallow you whole. You can’t stop them… you have to get out of here while you can.” Madolok? Why did that name sound familiar? I could feel the bile rising in my throat but I pushed it back down. Almost as if a spark had gone off in my head, a memory rushed to life:

  I was in the hospital after the demon attack at The Diamond house. Monty was sleeping in a chair across the room, but someone was sitting next to me. It was a giant man with a long white beard and the kindest eyes… Emerson Lewis.

  “Madolok… the demon’s name is Madolok and it will never leave you alone until you destroy it with your own hands, Simon Santiago.”

  As if on cue, Monty awoke in his chair and the old man vanished before my eyes…

  I looked up at Jonathon’s face. What in the freaking heck was going on? And why was I such an important piece in this stupid puzzle?

  “I don’t know if I can do this,” I said as I wavered and caught myself on the wall behind me. Jonathon pulled on me tighter, the pain from his ghostly grasp bringing me back to consciousness.

  “Listen to me! Take your uncle and those poor innocent souls and leave this place. Do you understand?” I watched as a rush of pain seized Jonathon and he cringed away from me and began chipping away like the girl in the mirror. What was happening to the ghosts?

  I turned to Morgana as she scribbled one last thing down. She held up the notebook and shook it in my face.

  Get out!

  I didn’t hesitate for a second as I turned back to the shelf and pushed the wall open with all my might. I slipped back through into the library, breathless and more horrified than I’d ever been. I had to get everyone out before the eclipse began. I took another step, trying to push myself toward the voices of Jade, Monty, and the twins but my legs were like jello.

  I hadn’t made it a few more feet when a black cloud of fog appeared in front of me. I stopped in my tracks, and held onto the back of a reading chair. I was too weak for another encounter. I watched as a woman dressed entirely in black stepped out from the dark cloud and headed directly toward me. It was Black Veil. I’d finally come face to face with the big bad of the Childermass Public Library.

  Poor boy, the spirit said in my head as it hovered closer. You’re going to die tonight and you’ll finally be with your good for nothing parents.

  It was then that I realized that Black Veil wasn’t a ghost after all. She was a demon… the same one that almost killed me in Texas. It told Octavia to bring me here. It wasn’t done with me.

  “I know something you don’t know…” I teased it, still holding onto the chair. I didn’t want to tell it the truth. I was too weak to fight.

  YOU KNOW NOTHING! Black Veil’s shrill voice tore through my head, feeling like it was shredding my brain into pieces. The demon moved closer until I could feel its tingly freezing chill penetrating my bones.

  “I won’t let you hurt anyone,” I told it.

  Two hours from now, you and everybody else will be dead and there is nothing you can do to stop me… I think it’s time for a nap, don’t you? The demon’s voice echoed in my head as I tried to run. Suddenly as if recharged with energy I bolted back to the bookshelf and yanked on the green book. This time it wasn’t budging.

  The demon began to laugh behind me.

  “Goodnight, Simon Santiago.” The voice wasn’t in my head anymore and I could hear Monty calling out for me, wondering where I was. As if knowing she was about to be interrupted, the demon flicked her wrist and I watched as the light of the afternoon faded to pitch black.

  CHAPTER 16:

  DEAD AFTER DARK

  Someone was calling my name. It was soft and far away at first and then suddenly it was urgent and full of panic. It was a woman’s voice and it seemed familiar. With my eyes still closed, I attempted to place it.

  “Little Oso,” The voice was closer now. My eyes filled with tears. It had been so long since I heard that name. Oso meant Bear in Spanish and it was the one nickname I let my parents call me.

  “Mom…” I called out as I tore my eyes open. I was lying on a red couch in the children’s section. I looked around me but didn’t see anyone, I was alone. I blinked the tears out of my eyes so I could see better but I was still alone. The sun was still shining through the windows, tiny dusty particles fluttering in the warm beams.

  I must’ve been dreaming.

  “Simon… can you hear me?” it was my mom’s voice but it was distorted in a way. I jumped up from the couch and spun around, trying to find her, but no one was around.

  “I can hear you!” I called out. “Why can’t I see you?”

  “Me and your papa aren’t strong enough, mijo. But you need to be strong. It’s not your time to be with us. There’s so many more people you need to help…” her voice was wavering but I could hear every word and it made my chest hurt. I wanted to see my parents so bad. I wanted to be with them more than anything.

  “I can’t do this on my own,” I said to the air, my eyes searching just for a speck of their existence. The warmth I was now feeling was familiar. The heart in the dusty coffee table made perfect sense now. They’d been with me the whole time.

  “You’re a Santiago, mijo. You’re so much stronger than you think. Your papa’s ancestry is so strong and powerful, you haven’t even tapped into it all yet. You’re unstoppable and people will come for you… like Madolok has… mijo, she’s the reason we’re not with you anymore. She took us from you.”

  My heart dropped into my stomach and I grabbed onto the couch to steady myself. I’d always thought it was an accident that took my parents away from me. But all along, it was a wicked demon with an appetite for Santiagos. I wanted to scream and break things. This was not right and it was not fair.

  “I miss you guys so much,” I cried into my hands.

  “We miss you too…” this time it was my dad’s voice. “But we don’t want you to lose the same way we did, Simon.” Whispering took over, a thousand different voices flooding the air around me. “It’s time for us to go, Simon. If you don’t make it out those doors before sundown, use all the strength you have in you and knock that demon’s lights out, Little Oso.”

  “Wait!” I called out and jumped up from the couch. But they were gone… and this time, I wasn’t alone. I was surrounded Jade, Monty, the twins, Rick, and Macy. The only person I didn’t see was Octavia.

  “You fainted,” Jade looked worried for me. “We walked into the room where we heard someone talking and then you just dropped to the floor.”

  “You feeling okay?” Monty asked and even in the stress and confusion that surrounded me, I was surprised at his worry.

  I needed to think. Why did my parents think I could take out a demon? I mean, I knew how to do it the basic way, though I wasn’t a pro. But they finally came to me and if they believed in me enough to contact me from the other side, I had to believe in myself too. Without answering Jade or Monty, I walked over to the railing overlooking the first flo
or and gripped the metal tight.

  “We need to get out of here before it gets dark,” I said.

  “Simon, you’ve been knocked out for the past couple of hours, the eclipse is already happening,” Macy walked over to me. She placed a hand on my shoulder. But it didn’t calm me down.

  “Octavia brought me, you and the rest of them here,” I gestured to the other Ghost Talkers. “She brought us here to sacrifice us to a freaking demon, Macy. Didn’t you wonder why you were brought here right on time for the blood moon?”I turned to her and saw her expression morph from calmness to outright horror. She looked up at the windows and pointed at the tiny amount of daylight that was still pouring through.

  “There’s still a bit of daylight, which means we can still get out of here,” she turned to everyone else and clapped her hands. “Let’s go!”

  Everyone followed us as we hurried down the steps from the second floor. My heart was beating like crazy in my chest and I was sweating up a storm from how scared I was, but I needed to be strong. Just like my parents said I was.

  “Simon, what the heck is wrong with you?” Monty grabbed me by the shoulder as I stepped down onto the first floor. I turned to him and prepared myself for him to get the angriest he’d ever be at me.

  “If we don’t get out of here now, we’re all going to die. That demon, the one from The Diamond House, it’s been after me since I was born. It killed my parents and now it wants me. It’s here right now, Monty.” I stared into his face, waiting for the rage to spark, but he looked just as scared as me. He understood, for the first time since I’d been with him, he understood. I wanted to hug him, but I figured it would be better if we were both still alive for that.

  “Then let’s get out of here.” Monty ran up to the doors and yanked on the handles. They wouldn’t budge. “They won’t open!”

  Destroy it with your own hands, Emerson had told me that day in the hospital. Why had he told me to do destroy the demon with my hands? Why was he so specific? And then it dawned on me.

  I hurried up to the doors and moved Monty aside. Wishing more than anything that I was right, I gripped one of the doors’ handles and almost instantly it began to softly glow neon green. Smiling from ear to ear, I yanked on the handle and the door swung open and blue daylight spilt inside. It was my energy and it was more powerful than I ever thought it would be. That’s why the demon wanted me. She wanted my energy and even if it killed me, she was never going to get it.

  “Let’s go!” I yelled out as the library began to rumble like an earthquake had just broken out. The demon knew we were trying to leave and it was getting angry. We needed to hurry.

  I helped Monty wheel Rick out through the doorway as a strong gust of wind tried to blow him back into the library. Macy pushed the back of Rick’s chair with all her might and made it out over the threshold and down the library’s crackling steps. The demonic wind was too strong, but we had to get everyone out. Next were the twins and before we could call them, they ran into the doorway and tumbled out onto the steps of the library.

  I turned and saw Jade still standing behind us, twisting her fingers.

  “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you everything,” I told her and she looked up at me and nodded. I could tell I had hurt her and it hurt me to know it. She wiped tears from her eyes as she walked toward the doorway, the wind ripping at her clothes.

  “Wait,” Jade stopped. “Where’s Ms. Freestone?”

  I looked at Jade and shook my head.

  “She’s the reason why all of this is happening, Jade.” But she wasn’t budging. Ms. Freestone had meant everything to her after her mom died and now she had to believe that the woman was evil incarnate from someone she barely knew.

  “But… but she’s my friend,” Jade cried and stepped away from the door. “I’m sorry, Simon. But I have to get her.” She was about to turn away when I grabbed her and pushed her toward the door again.

  “PLEASE!” I yelled. She turned to me and saw the pain on my face and looked down at the ground.

  She caved in and nodded. I reached out to grab her and push her through the door, but the wind beat me to it and threw her backward into the library. She skid across the floor and slammed into a shelf, knocking hundreds of books to the ground.

  “JADE!”I cried. I tried to run to her but Monty stopped me.

  “Simon, we have to go!”

  “I have to save Jade. Monty, you have to go!” I yelled at him. For the first time ever I was watching him cry. Tears ran down his cheeks and his jaw was rattling.

  “NO! I can’t lose anyone else,” he screamed and grabbed me by my shoulders. He was trying to push me through the doorway, but even if the wind had somehow let me through, I was holding my ground. With all my strength, I spun away from his grasp and pushed him through the doorway.

  He landed on the steps next to the twins. I watched as Monty scrambled back up from the ground and ran at the doorway. The wind knocked him back onto the steps.

  “I’m sorry,” I told Monty. He stood up from the ground and stared me right in the eyes, something he’d never done before. It was then that I could see the true sadness that rested inside of him. He’d lost his family when he was just a kid and lost his brother when he needed him the most. I’d never been able to get into Monty’s head like that and now it was like it was overflowing with everything I’d always wanted to know.

  “No… I’m sorry, Simon. I’ve been a rotten person and a horrible uncle and I’m so, so sorry.” When I looked into his eyes, I could see a bit of my dad in him and a warmness washed over me. Be strong.

  “I forgive you, Uncle Montoya…” And before I could say another word, the door slammed shut right in his face.

  I tried to open it again, but this time it wasn’t working for me. I had to get Jade and find a way out of here. I turned around and hurried to where Jade had crashed into a shelf, but she was gone.

  CHAPTER 17:

  ALL IS REVEALED

  “Jade!” I called out in a panic. I quickly looked around but she was nowhere to be seen. The daylight that had been coming through the windows had disappeared and was replaced by utter darkness. The only light that helped me see was the electric florescent beams that hung from the ceiling that somehow stayed on after the library’s tremor. The blood moon had commenced.

  “Stupid boy,” a familiar voice rang out echoing in the air. I spun around to see Black Veil hovering above the ground. “You’re mine now!”

  “Where’s Jade?” I yelled at the demon.

  “She’s no longer your concern!” she growled and the floor shook. “You’ve failed, Simon Santiago and I won.”

  “Correction,” I said. “You think you’ve won.” I was not about to let this stupid demon think it was better than me. I knew my strength now and I wasn’t afraid to use it.

  “You’ve got a lot of nerve speaking to me with such malice. I’m going to enjoy sucking all of the energy out of your puny body.”

  The demon walked over to where the chairs had been formed into a circle and snapped her fingers. Tall red and black candles huffed to life, each with a bright orange flame that danced in the chilling breeze Black Veil had brought along with her.

  When all the candles had been lit, the reflection of the mural projected itself into the middle of the circle and began to glow. All of the chairs were now occupied by spirits, four I recognized as Morgana Childermass, Jonathon Childermass, the girl in the window, and the boy with the train.

  The candlelight grew brighter and it was then that I noticed two dark masses on the ground inside the circle. I took several steps closer and dread washed over me.

  On the ground lay the gagged and tied up bodies of Emerson Lewis and Madame Helena. The last several candles lit and I noticed another familiar face appear in the chair next to Morgana… Octavia.

  Confusion clouded my thoughts as Black Veil started to laugh behind me. This didn’t make sense. All this time it was Octavia. All the clues pointed directly to her. But i
f Octavia was sitting in the chairs with the other ghosts, then who…

  Reluctantly, I turned back around.

  Black Veil’s head was thrown back in cackling laughter and chills ran down my spine. I’d been played with the whole time.

  Tears stung my eyes as the demon stopped laughing and then stared right at me. I didn’t want any of this to be real. I didn’t want what I was thinking to be true. It just couldn’t be. But as if the final piece of a puzzle had been set, everything suddenly became clear.

  Anger, frustration, and betrayal, rose in me like a boiling pot. I grit my teeth, clenched my fists, and set my glare on the demon.

  “Demon, show your true form!” I shouted. The familiar wind from earlier came back to life and began tossing books off of the shelves and popping light bulbs. I’d made Black Veil angry, just as I wanted.

  “YOU WILL NOT TELL ME WHAT TO DO!” the demon’s voice got deeper and ragged. A bell began to toll inside the library, echoing and rattling the windows. Why was there a bell inside of a library?

  “What the heck is that?” I said aloud.

  “Its ring signifies that it’s time for you to die!” The demon began laughing once again. “Poor Simon Santiago! You couldn’t save your parents… and now you can’t save yourself.”

  The bell stopped and a reddish glow shined down from above me. I looked up and saw the runes lighting up one by one. I needed to stop Black Veil now or I was as good as dead.

  But this demon was strong, too strong. Even if I knew its name, would I be able to banish it? It had taken almost everything away from me and I couldn’t let it win, not now, not ever.

  As if answering my questions, my dad’s voice reappeared in my head: Knock that demon’s lights out! And funny enough, that’s exactly what I was going to do.

  “MADOLOK!” I screamed at the top of my lungs. The wind got stronger and this time furniture was flying and shelves were smashing to the ground. The library was getting destroyed.

  The demon stopped laughing.