Pressing my face against the overly-sized sweater I was
wearing, I rubbed my hands together to warm myself up – for a bit at least –
from the chill of the night wind. Frost was visible on the branches of the
trees that twisted, almost like distorted limbs reaching out towards me. I
continued my walk on the snow-covered pavement, leaving faint footprints
behind. The flickering light of a streetlamp brought some life into the shadow
pool at my feet as I trudged along the street. I put on my earpiece, shutting
myself out from the world.
I guessed it was my sixth sense – almost immediately, I
turned my head slightly and through the corner of my eye, I scanned the
surroundings behind me; but stopped midway. Clutching my earpiece, I slowly
removed it from my ears, as the gravelly voices from afar echoed across. It
didn’t take long to realise that they were following me.
Picking up pace, I thought of all the worst possible ways
they could do to hurt me. I surveyed the vista in front of me and spotted an
alleyway a few metres away. Fleetly, I covered the distance and made a sharp
turn into the narrow path – to find out that it was a dead end. Drat. If they
were to walk in here, I’d be cornered. Call it unintentional suicide.
Clenching my fists in trepidation, I let the concrete walls
touch my back. The shuffling noises of their shoes had become louder. I turned
my body halfway, cowering while I uttered a prayer amidst all of that. Then,
something caught my attention – protruding, its shape roundish…like a doorknob.
I took a large step and grabbed hold of it as I confirmed my suspicions.
Turning it, I pushed the door open and entered – wherever it was leading me to
– in agile speed and shut the door a split second after. I leaned against the
door, gently sliding down and thumped on the floor as I heaved in relief. I was
safe.
The place was pitch-black. I roamed my hands to whatever
that was in my reach and slowly stood up. Dragging my feet in the darkness, I
stumbled upon something hard. I brushed my hands against the material and
reckoned that it was a wooden shelf. Walking further along the shelves, (I discovered
that there were more) I wondered where I was exactly. I ambulated around the
area, relying entirely on my sensitivity, hoping I wouldn’t get thwacked by another
wooden plank. I was tired and late for dinner-
My train of thoughts halted to a stop as soon as I saw light
from a distance. It filtered through the shelves, forming the profile of at
least fifty other replicas. I advanced towards the light, finally realising
that I was in a library – one that I never knew existed in the street. The
light was coming from a room with its door slightly opened. Just as I was about
to creep in, I heard voices. I quickly found a blind spot and pressed my ears
to the door, listening to the voices intently.
“Hmm, this place looks a little peculiar.” It was a man; his
voice was low and raspy, and it seemed to have a mix of Russian and Old English
accent.
“Myrnin, may I know where we are?” A young female voice was
heard next though her tone hinted a slight exasperation.
“I’m not exactly sure young Claire. In normal circumstances, we would have managed to teleport back to Founder’s Square but-”
“I’m not exactly sure young Claire. In normal circumstances, we would have managed to teleport back to Founder’s Square but-”
“Myrnin, don’t you smell human blood in here? Sheesh, it’s
not you Claire, it’s someone else’s. It’s been bothering me since we came here.”
Someone else interrupted the man. He could smell blood? The thought alone sent
shivers tingling all over my body.
As I tried to listen to them more clearly, my arms
accidentally pushed and swung the door open, revealing the three people. The
man was wearing bunny slippers, which I found ridiculously funny (but didn’t
dare laugh given the situation I was in) while the other two simply gawped at
me. Feeling uncomfortable at the stares I was receiving, I averted my gaze
towards a bare wall.
“Who are you?” The boy decided to speak out as I decided
that he was the brave one.
“Cerys. What brought you all here?”
“We don’t know ourselves. We were at Myrnin’s lab at first.
I guess you can call him my boss…” And then, it hit me. All of it – Founder’s
Square, Myrnin, Claire and the boy (or Michael), came from a book I had
recently read; “Ghost Town”. I was dreaming then? It felt too surreal.
“I’ve never seen you in Morganville, are you new?” Michael
questioned me with uncertainty. I could not believe I was talking to a fictional
vampire. Digging my nails into my palm, I blame my lack of neurons to think of
an answer fast.
“No-not really, I-I came last year.” I had to bite my tongue
to keep myself from slipping out the truth. They wouldn’t believe me anyway.
Shifting my vision, I caught a glimpse of Myrnin and noticed something about
him suddenly looked frightening. His face seemed clouded of anger, as if he was
holding himself back. He looked like he was craving for something…
Blood. It took me a few seconds to register that he was on
top of me. Pinning my arms flat on the ground, he bent his head slightly as he
revealed his fangs and pierced them through my neck. Claire screamed as my
whole world faded to black.
Something was shaking my body. Opening my eyes, I squinted
at the sudden light intensity. There was a girl around my age standing in front
of me, giving me a concerned look. “Are you alright? What are you doing here?”
Brushing off the dirt from my sweater, I inspected my surroundings. I was in an
alleyway. I stood up and stared at the bricked walls. There wasn’t any door.
“Where am I?”
“Morganville… are you alright? Uh sorry, I have to go now.”
The girl arched one of her brows as if I was talking in a foreign language. She
scampered from the place quickly and was out of sight instantaneously. I looked up at the sky from the narrow alley,
still confused by the sudden change of surroundings.
Morganville?
Author's Note: This was an essay I wrote which I intended to submit in a competition. Though, in the end I found that it wasn't really that great. I would be posting a story similar to this (which I submitted) though it's a little bit different.
The question: "What if you spent a night alone in a library? What if the characters from within the books were able to come alive? What might you see?" Enjoy reading!
