Mina ✓

•|chapter one: the message in the bottle [present day]

The July sunlight had a magical quality to it.

From the seven windows situated on each side, the afternoon sunlight streamed in. It danced on the surfaces of the walnut shaded bookshelves and in-between the multiple multicoloured books, casting a warm glow over the entire library room.

It would make the dust twirl and pirouette in the air in an ecstatic motion, bewitching whoever would look at its never-ending dance. It would also make those oblong shadows upon the walls and the floors, obsidian in colour and comically larger than the object itself. And it would make the faces of the present few children and adults glow brightly.

Looking at this Yvaine Agan gave a placid smile, one of her hands down upon the desk and the other under her chin. Despite the veins throbbing in her forehead, she felt comforted. She had that terrible headache since early that morning, but the calm that prevailed in the library had done much to soothe her.

Her eyes would trail through the lines of books, some white and new and some yellowed with age. They would trace the iridescent beams of sunlight streaming through the windows, the dust whirling around and the faces of the engrossed readers, leaning over their respective books from the brown austere high back chairs of the library. For the first time that week, Yvaine felt that she indeed was a part of this place.

She had a pleasant face, serene like the lavender coloured dress she was wearing. Small and ovaloid, a perpetual smile would be present on her thin peach lips. Her wavy wheatish hair complemented the honey-like hue of her skin, while her large protruding blue eyes would be aglow with mirth. A youthful glow was present all over her face, a gift of being in the early twenties.

Just a week and a half ago, Yvaine had moved to Andrasville. Her grandfather who had passed away a month earlier had made her the heir to his only property, a large château in the small town of Andrasville.

Yvaine, who had just passed out from college with a postgraduate degree in library science, had been sceptical at first about moving to this town. However, the desire to seek out new places and opportunities had won over her scepticism and brought her here. And soon she had landed a job as a librarian in the town library.

It was a pleasant job. Yvaine enjoyed being in the midst of the books and the eager men, women and children who came to read here almost every day. She enjoyed afternoons like the one that day and the dazzling sunlight that would brighten up the place in an instant. Only a week into this job and she was already quite pleased.

A click of footsteps broke Yvaine's reverie. She looked up from her desk and found a brightly grinning Amberly Wood standing in front of her, dressed in a smart white shirt and a green midi skirt. She was one of the two library aides.

"Hey, Miss Agan!" greeted Amberly. "Has your headache gone away? Or should I get a paracetamol tablet for you?" she asked, beaming brightly at Yvaine.

"I am fine, Miss Wood," smiled back Yvaine, quite pleased to see her subordinate's concern over her. "The throbbing has gone down quite a bit. Thanks for asking." She replied truthfully.

"That's good news!" said Amberly. "I thought that you had got hold of a fever or something like Mr Forrester." She shook her head, her brown curls tumbling like confetti, widening the smile on Yvaine's lips.

Amberly Wood was only a little above eighteen years of age and was a jolly presence to be around. She was of short stature and had a rosy complexion, with high cheekbones and full pink lips. Her upturned hazel eyes would always drift here and there non-stop, a thing which enabled her to maintain a tight vigilance over the library.

"You know, it gets pretty boring here without no one here," Amberly proclaimed after a moment's silence. "Although that Mr Forrester is a grumpy old fellow, him being indisposed with fever sucks." She sighed, referring to the other aide, the elderly Mr Forrester who was absent from his work due to a bad case of influenza.

"Indeed. Without no one here, it would be rather sad," Yvaine nodded in acquiescence. "Speaking of which, have you heard anything about Mr Forrester's health? When would he be able to join us again?"

"No idea, Miss Agan," Amberly answered. "The last thing I heard about him was that he has terrible body aches and is unable to move around."

"That sounds bad. Should---" Yvaine stopped mid-sentence, as something cold passed by her left ear, raising goosebumps on the skin right underneath. Sharply she turned around her head, startled by this untimely phenomenon. And that was when the whispers began.

"Mina...Mina..."

An inexplicable chill traversed through Yvaine's body. It seeped into her bones, paralysing her limbs and hands. It was the bitter cold of the winters which froze the skin and numbed the sensations. And the voice? It made her skin crawl. It felt that icicles had formed in the pit of her stomach.

"Mina...Mina..."

"Who-Who's that?" Yvaine exclaimed, breathing hard, as the whispers sounded again. She looked to the shelf closest to her left, eyes dilated with fear. The throbbing in her head had increased.

"Miss Agan, what happened?" Amberly questioned, a frown on her forehead. Beyond her two preteen girls who had been reading, looked at Yvaine with curiosity filled eyes.

"The whispers..." Yvaine mumbled, eyes still on the shelf. "Didn't you hear it, Miss Wood?" she asked, turning back towards Amberly.

"Hear what? I heard nothing," Amberly replied.

"Really? Wasn't there someone who was---"

"Mina...Mina..."

The whispers sounded once again. Yvaine turned around once again, heart thudding with slight fear and startelement. However, no one was there amidst that particular bookshelf.

"What is happening? Why are you looking there, Miss Agan?" Amberly inched forward towards Yvaine's desk, her eyes too upon the bookshelf on the left.

"The whisper! Didn't you hear it? Someone, there is whispering something!" Yvaine said without facing Amberly. She looked so intently at the bookshelf that she might have bored holes in the books on the shelf.

"But there can be no one there," Amberly looked astounded. "There's no space to stand there properly. And I can't see no one there."

"But I am sure that the whisper came from there," Yvaine contended. "I think we should check it out, nonetheless." She said, rising from the chair.

Shaking her head, Amberly followed suit, their shoes clicking softly against the marble of the floor. The two preteen girls who had been staring at them a few moments back had returned to their books and were mumbling amongst themselves.

Yvaine and Amberly were only about to take the next step and cross over to the bookshelf when suddenly Yvaine stumbled upon something lying on the floor. To ascertain what it is, she crouched down on her knees, eyes narrowed in scrutiny. And no sooner did her eyes land on the object, a gasp escaped her lips.

It was a glass vial.