Mia walked into the front door of the library. It was overgrown with vines and various plants on the exterior.
She closed the door behind her and made her way down the entrance hall. It was dark inside, barely anything was visible. A mossy smell and the faint hint of papyrus hung in the air.
"Two more hours, then we open shop!" she yelled into the dark abyss.
A low grumble shook the dark blue tiles as torches mounted to the shelves started to illuminate the library. Mia carried her basket to a long desk near the door. She opened a drawer and pulled out a notebook with names and dates. She flipped through until she reached a new page. A chain reaction of tiles sliding upward shifted a chair that was a few meters away closer. The chair came to a stop mere inches away from Mia. She placed her left hand on the armrest and smiled as she took a seat and started writing in the date. She whispered a soft thank you before paging through the book to see if there were any people due to return their books.
Moving ladders shifted from the sides of the walls to the center of the library.
"Be patient we still have time..."
The desk she was working on took a hard shift to the left before she sighed. She stood up and walked towards a trolley.
"We have to allow people to roam and use the books. If they don't tell others about you, you might just starve."
The east wings shelf shifted and a long green carpet flicked upward. I creature emerged. It was small and a faded yellow tone. It was covered in layers of brown twigs and vines. Mia walked to the creature and cupped its face gently. The creature looked at her with large eyes. It had been 13 years since Mia stumbled apon this place. The creature took over the library and would consume the people that entered turning them into books.
At the time Mia was grieving for the loss of her daughter. She wanted to get something to read. When she came face to face with the beast, was a mere hungry child. Her heritage as a witch somehow protected her. She noticed the monster that ate everyone in its path, and offered to help feed it. It took a long while to get people to return. Every few years they had to move to a different location. The people that were converted to books were no longer able to leave on their own accord. People would come searching for lost friends and family only to disappear shortly thereafter. After negotiating and a tantrum on the creatures behalf they finally worked on a system. A person must come to the library three times and on the third occasion could be taken.
