i

Today was another bad day for Lan. College was hell, his classes were hell, the road he walked to get back to his appartment was too crowded —it was hell !

The only thing on his mind right now, was to get home, eat, and take a nap. It was the reason he was walking so energetically, contrasting to how he was actually feeling.

The sun was starting to set, resulting in a colder weather. Lan didn't mind though. After all, Autumn and winter were the seasons he liked the most. Summer was the only one he hated —heat was unbearable !

He was about to take the last turn to his district. His apartment had been chosen by his parents in Beijing. Lan was originally from Jilin, but his parents sent him to Beijing to continue his studies in music.

Lan was quiet and reserved, and never interacted more than necessary with anyone. They thought that sending him on his own would help him get out of his shell.

But Lan had been here for almost a year, and the only difference was that he was even more reserved. Now that he was alone, he didn't need to fake any kind of openness to please his parents, or avoid questionings. He was also much more at ease on his own, so despite hating the liveliness of Beijing, he was quite pleased to be away from his home.

But he suddenly remembered something : his house was empty of food, and he had planned to go grocery shopping this morning. He halted, sighing deeply. He wished he lacked of something else than food, so he could have postponed it. But now, he was forced to walk the other way. Thankfully, there was a convenience store not too far from here.

As he walked, he got lost in thoughts. It wasn't before fifteen minutes, that he realized he was more distracted than he thought, and took the wrong way. He was walking fast, so he ended up farther away than where a fifteen minutes walk would lead.

"Oh my God..." he mumbled, annoyed at himself.

He sighed again, and looked around him, in order to localize himself. He didn't recognize the place at all. Ever since he moved here, he never knew a place like this existed.

It was nothing like the usual tarred roads, pavements, and buildings or shops. It looked like a completely different town, with grey bricks roads and buildings. On some of them, vines and other types of flowery plants were growing.

Lan could swear he was walking down a street a minute ago, but looking back, there wasn't any trace of it. If it was an actual place in Beijing, then he would still see his way back.

Was he dreaming ? Had his daydreams taken over him so much, that he lost his mind, and confounded it with reality ? Impossible.

He bent down, and brushed the ground with two fingers. It was cold, and felt too real. He looked around him again, hoping to find a way or some indications about this place.

Something caught his attention, a few meters away. A building, but it looked older than the rest. There were more plants around, and a wooden door. Above it seemed to be a sign, but Lan wasn't wearing his glasses, and couldn't make out what was written —or even if something was actually written.

He stood back up, and walked up to it. He thought the only explanation would be that he was in a dream.

There were a few steps before the door. Lan stopped in front of them, and lifted his head. It was indeed a sign, and there was indeed something written.

'Pick a book, pick the world it contains.'

Was it a library ? If so, the sign was very fitting. After all, if you really get immersed in a book, it feels like you're part of it —as if you knew the places, or the characters themselves. A beautiful feeling.

Lan climbed up the stairs, although a bit hesitant. Was it safe ? He wasn't even sure this was really a library ! But was it any better to stay in place and wait, not knowing for what, nor if it's anything was even going to happen ?

Carefully, he lifted his hand, closing it in a fist, with the knuckle of his middle finger sticking out a bit, so he'd use it to knock. Three times, softly.

The door opened, creaking as it did. But there was no one behind it. Lan was even more hesitant to enter. He stood there, his hand still lifted, and his head tilted on the side. It was dark inside, so he couldn't even see what kind of place it was.

Slowly, he took a first step forward. Then another, and another one —he was now making his way inside. When he remembered that he had left the door open, he turned around in order to close it, but saw that it was already closed. His lips parted in confusion and surprise.

Opening and closing on its own. I'm only at the door and it's already like this, so what's waiting for me inside ?, he thought.

Despite the worrying thought, he still walked forward. It wasn't like the situation was any more normal outside anyway. With the next step he took, light suddenly gushed out. It was an orangish shade, that Lan identified as oil lamps hanging above every shelves —shelves that contained books.

So this is indeed a library. It looks nice —he nodded to himself, as he thought.

He caught sight of something from his peripheral vision, and turned his head to the left. There was a wooden counter, behind which a lady sat on a high stool. Her hair was tied in a ponytail, and she was wearing glasses. However her head was lowered, presumably looking at a book, so Lan couldn't catch any details of her face.

He headed toward her, cringing at how the floor creaked under his feet every few steps. The sound was light, but in the deathly silent of this library, it sounded as loud as thunderbolts.

"Uh... hello ?" he greeted, once he reached the counter.

The lady didn't pay him any attention at first. As he was about to repeat, she lifted her head, a smile stretching her lips. She turned out to be an old lady, but her hair hadn't turned gray yet. Or perhaps she dyed them.

"Oh my ! I didn't even notice you, I apologize !"

Her tone was friendly, and her smile seemed sincere. The worry and anxiousness in Lan's heart gradually shrunk. He let out a sigh of relief, which he unknowingly held.

"It- It is fine. I, uh..." he scratched his nape, not knowing how to proceed.

What should he ask first ? How should he formulate his questions ? He would indeed inquire on something quite strange, so how could he make it sound normal ?

The lady simply watched him with the same smile, patiently waiting for him to talk. Finally, after a few minutes, he did.

"I'm sorry, but... where is this ?"

"What do you mean ?"

"I mean this place, this library —where is it located ?"

The old lady blinked twice, as if processing the question. Then she tilted her head on the side. Still, she didn't lose her smile. The sincerity Lan previously felt from it started to turn into uneasiness.

"Young man, you don't know where you go, whenever you're out there ?"

"I'm sorry ?"

"You were out, and making your own way, weren't you ? Then how would I be the one knowing where you are ?"

"I know I was making my way in Beijing, but this place... was never here before. Not only this library, but the district too. The road I came from even disappeared !"

He was initially worried about sounding crazy, but seeing as the old lady didn't seem to understand what he meant, he explained clearly, uncaring.

"Listen," her eyes seemed to hold a hint of apology in them, "this old lady hasn't gone out for years now. You tell me we are in Beijing ? I didn't even know. What can this old brain of mine remember ?"

She doesn’t even know in what city we are ? Is she kidding me !

Lan sighed, "This is definitely not Beijing though ! That's what I'm trying to say —I was in Beijing, but the place outside is another place. If there was such a place near my house, I wouldn't take three years to notice it."

"You are a bit confusing. You were walking in Beijing, and suddenly you're not in Beijing ? I am simply run a library, what can I know ?"

"You're running this library in this place, so you must have an idea."

"I run the library here, and then I go upstairs." she pointed to a wooden staircase at the back of the room. "I live upstairs. I do not go out."

"Never ? Is there someone living with you ?"

"No one. But occasionally, someone comes in to bring this old lady food and medicine." she chuckled, "It's a young man like you, very reliable."

Lan was getting annoyed at the lack of informations. He had read many books in his twenty one years of life, so although he had been surprised at first, he wasn't shocked at what was happening. On the contrary, he fully believed that something out of the ordinary was happening. And he fully believed that this old lady wasn't telling him the truth.

He pursed his lips. She didn't seem to want to tell him anything more. Detaching his eyes from her smiling face, he looked around.

"Can I borrow a book ? Do I need a card or something ?" he ended up asking.

"A card ? No need ! You can pick whichever you want, but only one, and take it with you."

Lan rolled his eyes. If I’m picking it, of course I’ll take it back with me, old lady.

Well, he had thought for a while that he needed a new book to read. Since he ended up in a library, he might as well take a look.

He left the counter, and strolled between the shelves. Some books looked very ancient, their covers were shredded and the titles were no longer legible. Others were more recent, or brand new. Lan knew that he shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but he also felt more attracted by the newer books. After all, he didn't want to struggle to read words that were starting to get erased.

He walked slowly, looking left and right, when he suddenly stopped in his track. A book had caught his attention. What followed his abrupt stop, was a faint, breathy laugh. Lan turned around. From here he could see the old lady. But her head was lowered again, and she didn't seem to have paid any attention to him. Still suspicious, he turned back, facing the book.

It was a bit thick, and the cover was made of black leather. On the spine was a curled up snake in front of a willow, carved in golden. Lan took it, and looked at the cover. The Black Snake and the Willow —that was the title, carved in golden just like the illustration. He looked for the author's name, or a summary, but couldn't find anything else.

He opened it to the first page. It was blank, at the exception of a red stamp at the lower center. He flipped through the pages, catching a few words at times. He was very intrigued by this book.

Once he closed it, he clutched it in his hands, and pondered for a while. Should he pick this one ? What if he didn’t like it ? This was a library, so obviously he would need to come give it back, and if he didn’t like it, he could come and exchanged it.

But he couldn’t help but think that if he didn’t take it now, it would take him a long time to find this place again —if he ever found it again.

After all, it was an odd place, and he didn't even know how he ended up here.

There were chances he would like it, so he couldn’t just walk out without it —not to mention his intrigue and curiosity ! He wouldn’t stop thinking about it, if he didn’t take it.

He finally made up his mind that he would borrow it, and made his way back to the counter.

The old lady looked up, with the same smile. It was as if this expression was frozen on her face. Beside the hint of apology that flashed through her eyes earlier, she hadn't had any other expression than this smile.

"Oh, so you are borrowing a book ?" she said.

"Yes."

She extended her hands, and Lan naturally gave her the book, so she could register it. Weirdly —but this word was fitting for this whole situation, so it was normal in that case— she simply stared at it.

"What's wrong ?" Lan asked.

"Nothing." she answered. "I'm just curious about which one you took."

Lan didn’t bother commenting on it. He never came across such a blatantly curious librarian before, but compared to the rest that happened, it wasn’t too strange, so he simply nodded.

She handed the book back to Lan, without looking at him. He took it, and waited to see if she would register it. But after a small while, that seemed to have lasted hours, the old lady was still silent. It was so quiet that his ears started to ring.

"Uh... aren’t you going to register ?" he finally asked, unable to stand it anymore.

"Register ?" she chuckled. "We’ll just archive it later."

Lan was very confused, and was about to ask what she meant. But she lifted her head, and her expression had changed from a smile to a faint smirk. This expression was inexplicably chilling, and he couldn’t bring himself to ask anymore.

What was up with that expression ? Lan couldn’t believe he thought her smile was making him uneasy. This was way worse ! She looked like a totally different person !

"You already made the pact, you can't give it back." she spoke again.

"Pact ? What pact ?" Lan frowned.

Before he could expect an answer, a sudden headache made him wince, and he held his forehead with his free hand. He was dizzy, and clenched his eyes shut, as he tried to grab the counter to keep his balance. It was just in front of him, but no matter how much he tried to touch it, he couldn't find it. He tried to open his eyes, but was blinded by a white light. It hurt his head more, so he shut them back.

When he opened his eyes again, he didn't know how much time had passed. His head didn't hurt anymore, and he wasn't in a dim lighted bookstore. He was in front of the convenience store he had originally planned to go to.

He looked down at his hands, that were holding a black book against his chest. If it wasn't for this book, Lan would have been certain that he had gone crazy for a moment, and had imagined all of what just happened. But you can't bring an object with you from your imagination, can you ? So it was real.

He lifted the book in front of him, wanting to take a look at it again. He hadn't expected to have another surprise, after coming back from wherever he was. But the book had changed —or more accurately, something was added on the cover. Right under the title, in golden letter, two chinese characters had appeared.

Huang Lan.

His name.