Vampire World (VAMPIRE WORLD #1)

Part 11 Skull Library

Chapter 10: Skull library

While making my way to Skull Library, I couldn't shake Brett off my mind.

Following the directions given to me in the note, I soon arrived at my destination. Skull Library turned out to be a magnificent black castle surrounded by a moat of green goo. I crossed a bridge over the goo and approached a gate encased in a framework of vicious looking teeth. After carefully squeezing past these without getting cut, I entered a dungeon-like interior filled with row upon row of books. It was extremely dark and had low ceilings. I felt lost. Fortunately, there was a librarian sitting at a desk. He was very old, with lime flaky skin and gray hair.

“What do you want?” he said when I approached.

I showed him the call letters I was looking for. His eyes were frighteningly black, the blackest I had ever seen. This could have been because of his age.

“Follow me,” he said. “And don’t make a sound.”

I followed him past thousands of musty books, through thick cobwebs, down long cavernous hallways and up steep staircases. Eventually we came to a vast maze of bookshelves on the third floor. After winding and turning multiple more times, the librarian stopped and searched through the dusty books on the shelf now facing us. He pulled out a thin volume.

“Here's your book.  Learn how to use the call system in future. You’re wasting my time.”

He walked away in disgust. Gosh, what an ass, I told myself.

The book was titled Planets of the Vampirian Solar System. I flipped through the first few pages, passing pictures of Garlic Moon and the three suns, as well as other curious planets. After that, the rest of the book was filled mostly with words. I couldn't see how there could be any important secret hidden within this mess. Had I fallen for one awful joke?

Then I heard something move on the other side of the bookshelf. I also felt like I was being watched, even though it was impossible to see through the mass of books.

I'd had enough of this foolish game; it was time to put it to bed. But as I reached up to place the book back on the shelf, a folded sheet of paper dropped out. A solid blue circle in the middle occupied most of the page. I had no idea what this was meant to be, but the hand written message below certainly caught my eye.

'Very good, Janice. This is your first clue to one of three major secrets that will reveal the most important truth of your life. Keep this paper on you at all times. The first clue has three secrets of its own. You’ve already found one. The second clue to the first secret is located in Bitemore Cemetery, behind Dracula’s gravesite. Good luck. And remember, don't say a word to anyone about this.'

Excited, I stuffed the paper in my pocket. As I did, I heard footsteps coming my way. It was time to get outta here.

I hurried through the maze of giant bookshelves, retracing the route I'd taken with the librarian. A book clattered to the floor behind me and I twirled around. There was nobody there, yet some keen vampire sixth sense told me to stay on my guard.

I turned back the way I'd been going and immediately came face-to-face with my dreaded stalker. He was dressed all in black and blended in perfectly with the gloomy surroundings.

This time he didn’t say anything and went straight on the attack, seizing my arms in an attempt to pull me toward him. But I broke free of his grasp and managed to back up. At the same time, I reached up to my neck and pulled free the flask of grains and seeds Mr. FreeCut had given to me. When the stalker came at me again I threw the seeds right in his face. They did the job brilliantly. He screamed in agony and fell to the floor.