Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 89023 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 445(@200wpm)___ 356(@250wpm)___ 297(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89023 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 445(@200wpm)___ 356(@250wpm)___ 297(@300wpm)
It’s not true. I feel this pregnancy deep inside.
But I don’t want to think about that night when the four of us were all tangled up in the cabin bedroom, drinking each other and passing the Darkness between us through blood. Not because it’s traumatizing. It’s not. Ryet took me away from the actual act and we spent it flirting in a library so I don’t even know what happened.
But I’m a good visualizer and even though in my head, at least, I understand that it was a horror show, emotionally it’s actually erotic. And when I think about it, an almost overwhelming desire for sex takes over.
Not just for Ryet, either. But for Paul and Josep too.
I want to do it again.
That’s why I don’t think about it.
When I enter the level one reading room in the Guild library, Myer is sitting on a golden velvet-tufted couch that faces the door. In front of him is a wooden table with a massive tome of a book in the middle.
My heart skips when I see this book because this is not Go, Dog. Go! It’s not a Dick and Jane reader, it’s not Dr. Seuss, or the Baby-Sitters Club—which is what I was ‘reading’ yesterday.
This is a magic book. I can tell just by glancing at the ornate leather cover.
And it’s old.
“Good morning, Syrsee.”
“Good morning, Myer.” But I don’t look at him. I can’t seem to take my eyes off this book.
“Have a seat. We’ve got a lot to discuss today.”
I slip around the couch in front of me and sit down. The book on the table is facing my direction, not toward Myer, who is on the other side of the table.
I drop my bag to the floor, then finally meet Myer’s gaze. “Today?” I ask. “I get to read this one today?”
He’s just about to answer when someone knocks at the door.
“What is it?” Myer’s tone is irritated, gruff, and unfamiliar. So far, he’s been very friendly with me. We did know each other back in school, after all. He kissed me once. But almost immediately, my guard at the school interrupted us.
But his response to the knock on the door is anything but friendly.
My thoughts pause here for a moment because everything about the Guild campus feels… oh, I don’t know. Precarious, I guess. And I’m always on the verge of thinking this happily-ever-after for now is about to vanish. So any small discrepancy makes me nervous.
I don’t want to go back out into the real world. I want to stay here in this place where I don’t really belong, but am tolerated nonetheless. Because I don’t really belong anywhere and the past several months have been a bit of a horror show for me.
The door opens a crack and a young girl pokes her head in. “I’m sorry to disturb you, Archivist. But I have a message.” Her eyes flit to me, then back to him, as if to say, ‘A private message.’
Myer sighs. And again, he’s not even trying to hide his irritation. “It needs to wait.”
The girl is shaking her head, opening the door as if to say, ‘Come out here and we’ll talk about it.’
Myer reads between all the lines, gets up, and looks down at me. “Excuse me for one moment.”
“Of course,” I say. Then I watch him as he goes to the door, pushes the girl out, and blocks her from my view as they whisper back and forth.
He sighs again. Then turns to me. “I’m sorry, Syrsee. I’ll be back in five minutes.”
I’m confused at the one-eighty turn in his normally congenial personality. “Take your time. I’m not going anywhere.” I smile at him. But he doesn’t smile back. Just leaves, closing the door behind him.
I sit back, sinking into the comfy cushions of the couch, forcing myself to reign in my imagination. “Well, that wasn’t weird.”
But it’s all fine, Syrsee.
It’s fine.
And just as I’m thinking these words, my eyes track to the book on the table in front of me and I sit up again. Paying attention to what is right in front of me instead of the foreboding feeling floating around in my head.
Should I open the book?
I mean… the correct answer here is absolutely not. While no one ever said I wasn’t allowed to read the books since I’ve gotten here, just the fact that Myer is my chaperone sends the vibe. He is my guide. There is no question about that.
But I can’t help myself. So I look over my shoulder, just to make sure the door is closed, and then I lean forward and with a single fingertip I flip open the cover.
For a moment I’m confused because I’m looking… at myself.
But then I realize that this isn’t a page in a book.
It’s a mirror.
In the same moment that this word forms in my head, I fall forward. And the next thing I know, I’m falling into it.