Library of Doom

Fluffvilla High School, Sixth Period

It was a typical day for Porter and Lily. Mr. Matthew didn't study the subject he was supposed to teach and taught the class basic addition (again), Mr. Cobalt's subject was all about cobalt (again), and Jane got sent to detention for the fifth time today. At least music class with Mrs. Aria went smoothly.

Lily was the first to pack up her instrument. As she walked over to her space in the locker, she noticed a book laying in her space. Curious, she took it out and inspected it.

"What do you have there, Lily?" Porter asked, also storing his instrument in the locker.

"'Advanced Algebra, Eleventh Edition', apparently," Lily replied. "You'd think they'd get it right after three editions."

"Funny, I never thought you of all people would have a math book at all," he joked.

"For the record, I can be good at math if I want to," she stated, folding her arms.

"...Sure," he said, giving her an unimpressed look. "Answer me this, then. If I have twelve logs and I chop each log into four pieces each, how many pieces of wood do I have?"

"Zero," she replied, "because there's no way you'd have the strength to chop wood."

She looked back at the book and realized something else. "Oh, wait! I remember now! I got this from the library and meant to give this book to Percy a couple weeks ago!" she exclaimed.

"Yeah, that makes a lot more sense," he sighed. "Well, we'll see him at lunch. You can give him the book then."

The two arrived at the cafeteria, and just like any other day, they weren't allowed to sit at any other table.

"You know, given what happened at the end of our first day of school, you'd think they'd treat us with a little bit more respect," Porter grumbled.

"I think they still see us as outcasts," Lily replied. "Either that, or they assigned the seats in their heads."

They met Percy at the table far from everyone else, where he was reading something while eating his lunch.

"Hey, Percy!" she called, sliding the book across the table. "Here's that book I meant to give you a while back!"

The book bumped against his thermos, causing it to fall over and spill on the table and splash him. Neither of the books were damaged, thankfully.

"...Thanks, Lily," he sighed, looking down at his stained clothes. He then looked at the book she gave him, and an expression of gratitude replaced the disappointment on his face. "Thanks, Lily! You're a lifesaver!"

"I'd call her a mischief maker, given her antics outside the school," Porter joked, causing her to stick her tongue out at him in response.

"Whatever the case, this'll really help me out in my studies!" Percy said.

"Glad I could help!" Lily chimed. "Sorry I couldn't bring it to you sooner, though."

"As long as Mr. Matthew is teaching us like we're first-graders, now's as good as any other time," he replied, flipping through the pages.

"Why didn't you get the book yourself?" Porter asked.

Percy paused his page-flipping to look up at Porter. "You two know about the school library, right?" he responded.

"Well, how else would she have gotten the book?"

"You could've gone to the public library and gotten the book. I'm banned from there because they found out I wrote over the typos."

"Two words: sticky notes," Lily stated.

"I know that now," Percy muttered. "But back to the school library. They say the school library is one of the strangest rooms in the school."

The two looked at each other in confusion. "It didn't seem very strange when I went there to get the book," Lily said with a shrug.

"Of course it didn't," Percy replied. "You were in and out. The next time you're in there, it becomes a labyrinth. If you aren't careful, you might get stuck in there."

"How do you know this?" Porter asked.

"Because I got lost in there when I tried to return a book once!" Percy exclaimed. "I tried going to the library before the first period started, didn't get out until after the day ended."

"Are you sure it wasn't just your sense of direction?" Lily asked.

"Lily, didn't you say you meant to give the book to him a couple weeks ago?" Porter recalled.

Hearing this, Percy slammed the book shut, fear on his face. "Ooh, that's bad. Today might be your last day to turn in your books before they become overdue, and you do not want to turn in books late in that library," he warned, sliding the book across the table and back to Lily.

"Why? What happens if you do?" she asked.

"Nobody knows," Percy answered. "There was a kid who tried to turn books in late and was never seen again. Granted, they were an exchange student, but still…"

"If that's the case," Porter stated, "Lily, now would be a good time to head to the library, and I could accompany you."

"You know, there's never been a case of two students entering the library at different times," Percy pointed out. "Maybe Porter's first time entering the library will cancel out the effects of Lily's second time entering or something."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Lily stated, "but if it means turning in this book will be easy, then I'm all for it. Let's go!"

With that, the two spent the rest of the lunch break finding an entrance to the library. They eventually found one– on the far side of the school and out of the way, as if the library was trying to stay hidden.

"Sheesh, Lily! How did you find this place the first time?" Porter questioned, out of breath from searching so much.

"I swear, the library wasn't hard to find the first time! Then again, things are harder to find when you're actually looking for them," she reasoned.

They pushed the doors aside and stepped into the grand library. The space was large, seemingly bigger than the school itself, with hundreds of shelves lining the room, all housing books of all sizes. Oddly, for an empty place, the space was very well-maintained.

"Alright, all we need to do is bring this book to the front desk, get out of here, and never come back," Lily said.

With a nod, the two descended down the stairs and into the maze of shelves. Along the way, they passed by several posters, most of which talked about how much fun reading was.

"Reading can take you to new worlds?" Lily scoffed, reading one of the posters. "Can it take me to a world where school doesn't exist?" she asked.

"Would you like that world to rain money from the sky and replace water with ice cream?" Porter asked sarcastically.

"Now that you mention it…"

They passed by another poster warning them to watch their volume in the library.

"Watch our volumes, huh? Well, watch this!" she exclaimed, taking a breath and preparing to sing. Porter immediately covered her mouth in response and whispered in a growl, "You do that, and I think we'll both face something worse than turning a book in late!"

After a few more minutes of trekking, they finally reached the front desk, but no one was there. A tall stack of books laid on the desk, and cobwebs stuck to the chair behind it.

"Just leave the book here," Porter suggested. "I don't think the librarian will be here for a while. A very long while."

"That's probably a good idea. We'll probably be in our forties by the time whoever runs this place gets back," Lily agreed, placing the book on the desk just as the bell rang.

"Looks like study hall's starting now," she said. "Let's get back to class and slack off until the bell rings!"

Porter looked around. To him, it seemed like the shelves had shifted. It was no longer a straight shot from the desk to the stairs.

"Uh, which way did we come from?" he asked.

"We came from that way," she replied, pointing toward a random shelf. "Or was it that way?"

She looked around, quickly realizing every shelf looked the same and that the shelves were so high, it was near impossible to see which way they came from, even if they jumped.

"...We should've brought some rope," she muttered.

As they looked around, they noticed a hooded figure turn the corner and stand still before making a beeline towards them.

"Who is that?" Porter squeaked.

"Doesn't matter, let's get out of here!" Lily shouted, grabbing his arm and running away.

"How? We don't even know where we are!" he argued as they turned a corner.

"I'll think of something, but for now, we can't let whoever they are get us!" she replied, taking several books from the shelf and shoving them on the floor. As the two turned another corner, the figure stopped in front of the pile of books.

They reached the beginning of a staircase, where they stopped to catch their breath.

"I thought Percy said your first time being in the library would cancel out my second time being here!" Lily exclaimed.

"He said 'maybe', so there was a small chance that the library would be normal and you'd be able to turn the book in," Porter pointed out. "Or there was the chance that the effects of you entering a second time could affect me as well. Somehow."

"What even causes these things to happen?" she wondered.

"Probably the dust here," he joked. "Or maybe this library runs on imagination. They say imagination powers a library."

"Wait, they do?"

"I don't know, I just made it up."

By now, the figure caught up to them and made another beeline towards the two, causing them to panic and run up the stairs. As they ascended, the walls they ran past were covered in books. Seconds passed until they realized there was something off about the stairs.

"Wait, I think we've passed by these books at least five times!" Porter said.

"Are we even getting anywhere?" Lily complained.

They looked back and saw the figure still chasing them.

"We're doomed! We can't go around them, and we aren't going anywhere with these stairs!" Porter cried.

"Not as long as we have books at our disposal!" Lily said, pulling a book about physics off the shelf and throwing it at the figure's face. They let out a groan, covering their face and doubling over in pain. The two then ran up the stairs until they were somehow behind the figure before descending down and reaching the beginning of the staircase.

"How exactly did that work?" Porter asked.

"You said it yourself; imagination powers a library," Lily reasoned. "Though I doubt any library would have a stairway that repeats itself… Must be our imagination doing that."

"I still think it's the dust here," he stated.

By now, the figure stumbled down the stairs, catching sight of the two.

"You!" they screamed. "Get over here right now!"

Lily looked behind her and saw a ladder at the end of one of the shelves. Without a word, she grabbed Porter's hand and made a break for the ladder. The moment they jumped onto it, the ladder began to slide across the shelf.

"Lily! What are you doing?!" Porter screamed.

"What does it look like? We're getting away from that thing!" Lily shouted back.

As the ladder turned a corner and began to pick up speed, Porter was growing more nervous.

"Lily, we should get off of this thing! It's not safe!" he suggested.

She looked over at him and smiled, asking, "Don't you trust me, Porter?"

"Not really, no," he admitted.

The ladder reached the end of the shelf and flung the two off, sending them through the air and causing them to crash into another shelf.

"And this is why I don't trust you," he groaned.

To their shock and fear, the figure managed to catch up with them.

"You are going to pay dearly for your actions," they growled.

Lily grabbed another book and threw it at them only for them to catch it without any issue.

"Enough!" they exclaimed. "This little game of tag ends here."

"Or does it?" Lily retorted. "Porter, let's split up!"

"What?!"

"You heard me! Don't let them catch you! I'll see you outside!" she shouted, running off.

The figure focused its gaze on Porter, causing him to squeak and run off, though the figure focused on the direction Lily went. When he thought he got some distance away from them, he took a book from the shelf and began reading.

As for Lily, she managed to get some distance away from the two. Pausing to catch her breath, she saw more posters plastered on the wall. One poster in particular stuck out to her, and it depicted a group of kids hanging out at a library with the message: "Get lost in a good book! Visit your local library!"

"Well, you could at least add in an information board or something so your students don't get lost in here!" Lily shouted.

While trudging through the hall, passing shelf after shelf, she stumbled across a table with computers on top of them. One of them was still running, so she powered on the monitor to see what was on it. The screen displayed a popular website with various games to play. Before she could click on any of them, she heard the bell ring.

"Oh, that's just great! Study hall's over now!" she groaned, finally settling on a game to play. "Well, if I'm gonna miss class, I might as well have fun doing it."

As Lily watched the game slowly load up, the figure she had avoided up to now stood behind her and roared. Lily turned around, smiled nervously, and changed the window to a text document about butterflies. When they tried to grab her, she moved out of the way, accidentally tipping over the chair she was sitting in and causing it to land on the figure's foot. While they cried out in pain, Lily scurried into another row of shelves. In seconds, she had run into a dead end with the figure blocking her way out.

"Little lady," they growled, panting. "You are in serious trouble now, and punishment is due to the unruly ones."

Lily wasn't paying attention. She was frantically pulling off the books from the shelf in hopes of something happening.

"Ah, that old trick," they said. "Do you know how many people pull books off the shelf and expect a hidden door? As one who has roamed the worlds between the pages for years, there are no secret passages, and thus, no hope for you."

Almost all of the books Lily pulled down from the shelf were on the floor, except for one called "Retriever Rufus and the Missing Book". It was at that moment when she recalled the message on the poster.

As the figure lunged toward her, she swiped the book off the shelf, turned to the middle of the book and began reading.

Almost immediately, her vision went white, and when she looked around, she found herself in a meadow.

She felt a bump against her hip and turned to see a golden retriever looking back at her with a book in its mouth.

"Guess you found the book already, huh?" she chuckled, patting the dog's head.

She looked up to where the sky would be and saw the figure staring down at her.

"Hey, get out of there! You are not escaping the consequences of your actions that easily!" they warned.

With a squeak, Lily began running away from the figure, through the meadow and onto the next page, one showing the front of a library. As she and the dog ran inside, the figure lost track of her. Turning the page, they realized they were at the end of the book. In response, they closed the book, and Lily was ejected out of it, barely landing on her feet.

"What… just happened?" she asked.

Before anyone could answer, another figure pulled her away. It didn't take her long to realize who it was.

"Porter?! I thought you would've been outside by now!"

"That's the thing," he replied. "I think I might've found the exit!"

"That's great and all, but where have you been this whole time?" she asked.

"I got lost in a good book," he admitted. "It was a mystery novel set in a big city, and I found myself in the detective's office, and I had to follow along…"

"Can you please get to the point?"

"Sorry. When I reached the end and got out of the book, I found a corridor with a door leading outside of the library."

"That's great! But why didn't you leave when you could?"

"If I didn't find you, would you have known that I found the exit?"

"That's true."

The figure, meanwhile, managed to catch up with them while the two barely kept out of their reach. A left turn here, a right turn there, two turns over here, and they found themselves back at the front desk, exhausted.

"Where's the corridor, Porter?" Lily asked.

"I-it was around here somewhere," he panted in response. "The shelves must've moved again!"

Without warning, the figure appeared behind them and grabbed the duo's wrists.

"Finally," they huffed, also out of breath. "I have had enough of your antics, and now you have nowhere to run."

They looked over at the stack of books and sighed. "You were here to return 'Advanced Algebra, Eleventh Edition' before it was overdue, were you not?"

"Wait… You're the librarian?" Lily asked. "And… I thought that was obvious."

"Yes, I am the librarian," they admitted, dusting off the chair and taking a seat. "My apologies, I just do not see a lot of students in the library. After all, why go to a library when you have all the information you need at a moment's notice on those glass bricks you call phones, right?"

"If it makes you feel better, we don't have phones," Lily responded, half-joking. "But I hear some students still like the feeling of a physical book."

"The library is always open. Why does nobody come in, then?"

"Probably because nobody knows where they're going in this place," Porter said. "Why not try placing some markers or a map somewhere so people can actually tell where they're going? This place is like a maze! Also, I got lost in a book!"

"I suppose not everyone is adept with navigating these halls as I am," they reasoned. "Very well. I will consider it."

"There's that, and you're very intimidating with your hood on," he added. "Especially when you talk about punishing us."

"I am?" they asked, lifting off their hood. What the two students saw staring back at them was an average old lady, who was admittedly durable and quick on her feet.

"I was not aware that I was intimidating with my hood on, so I do apologize. I wear it because I can't stand the sunlight," she said. "As for punishment, after throwing a book at me, do you expect me not to at this point? And as for getting lost in the books, this library runs on imagination."

"Called it," Porter whispered, nudging Lily's elbow.

"This library is not like any other library you would walk into," the woman explained. "When you read a book anywhere, sometimes you may feel immersed in it, as if you were taken to another world."

"So what makes this library different?" Porter asked.

"What makes this library different is that when you read a book here, that can actually happen. You can hear the sounds, see the sights, and watch the characters. You can visit a place different from ours. After all, reading can take you to new worlds."

She paused and looked at the algebra book. "Unless it is one of these books, in which case, nothing happens."

The three heard the bell for the last period ring, drawing concern from Lily.

"We're late for class! I hope someone stalls Ms. Gray so she doesn't realize we aren't there!" she exclaimed.

The librarian chuckled. "Very well. I will not keep you here longer. Little lady, I will discuss your punishment another time, but for now, you should be on your way. The exit is straight ahead."

The two looked behind each other and saw a door at the end of a hallway.

"Was the door always there?" Porter asked.

"I guess we both also have a very bad sense of direction," Lily sighed.

"Or," the librarian interjected, "your imagination kept you here."

Before the two reached the door, the librarian stopped them for a moment. "Guys? Do me a favor and tell Eleanor that her old friend Gertrude misses her," she requested.

With a nod, the two walked through the doors and back into the school hallway.

"Wait! We never asked what happened to the exchange student!" Porter pointed out.

"Something tells me he made it out just fine," Lily answered, walking to class.

"Or what was up with that staircase earlier…" he added.

"You can ask her the next time you come into the library," she said.

"Let me guess– you're never going back there, are you?"

"And face my punishment? Not a chance!"

"Typical of you, Lily."

They entered Ms. Gray's classroom, where everyone was waiting for them. Feeling all the eyes on him, Porter cowered behind his little sister.

"I will never get used to that," he muttered.

While the two shuffled to their seats, Ms. Gray asked where they've been. When they answered that they were at the library, the entire class erupted in laughter.

"The library? Seriously?" a student cackled. "Why go there when you can use the internet to look up answers for your questions?"

"Also, someone named Gertrude says hi, Ms. Gray," Porter mentioned.

The class cut their laughter short, asking who Gertrude was. Ms. Gray, on the other hand, caught on to the name immediately.

"Oh, Gertrude! That's a name I haven't heard in months!" she exclaimed. "You know, when we were kids, her face was always planted in a book. I convinced her one day to start up a book club in our neighborhood. I love reading with her, I do. I wonder how she's doing these days."

"Well, I'm sure you'll be happy to know that she's in the library right now," Lily added.

"She is?" Ms. Gray asked, eyes widening. Before anyone else could remind her of the lesson, she hurried out of the door, leaving the class in silence.

"Who's gonna teach us now?" an irritated student asked.

"Isn't that what you have your phones for?" Lily snickered, fist-bumping Porter.

Meanwhile, between the shelves of the library, Eleanor searched for her friend until she found a hooded figure at the front desk.

"Oh, Gertrude, you always had a thing against the sun," she chuckled, approaching the desk.

"And you always had a thing for bringing up your childhood memories anytime someone reminds you of anything," Gertrude retorted. "Been a while, has it not?"

"Indeed. I was just telling my students how much you loved to read. Though of all libraries, I didn't expect you to be at this one," she admitted.

The two ladies heard the bell ring, signifying the end of the school day.

"Well, I work here now, and if you have a chance, why not take a book and a seat and read with me, just like old times?" she offered.

With a laugh, Eleanor took a book from the desk and sat next to her friend.

"I decided I was going to punish this little girl by having her rearrange all of the books by the publication date," Gertrude said. "Did you know that she threw a book at my face?"

"Compared to the stuff we did as kids? That's nothing," Eleanor responded. "Remember the time we were skipping stones at the old lake and you broke the windows on Mr. Rochester's truck? You were really good at skipping stones too…"

"Here we go…" Gertrude thought to herself, laughing.

As the students began to leave the school, the two ladies remained in the library, reading, laughing and bringing back old memories.