The Nook

Chapter 22

"Dwellings."

These creatures have quite the debate about whether they exist, with limited information and sightings. It's hard to say if it's a true myth. People who claim to have encountered these beings describe them as faceless, vaguely human-shaped, and bony, yet lack a definite form. Their limbs are abnormally long, adding to their eerie appearance.

One source described them as being made up of 2D shapes, hollow on the inside, breaking apart and recombining with every breath. Sadly, that's all this informant could provide as they passed shortly after of unknown causes.

Bri brought an overwhelming amount of books, each with handwritten entries describing a multitude of creatures. But for Dwellings, it's been few and far between.

Many didn't even have Dwellings as an entity. A possibility.

Dorothy was right, too many thought they were just myths. I grab a sheet of loose paper and start jotting down points.

The longer I sit here, the further my brain goes into the events of that night at the Nook. It reaches for me, its large fragmented hand stretched,

It breaks apart into a thousand shadowy fragments... 2D shapes of bones and darkness... twisting and breaking even more. And then, suddenly combined back into one, becoming whole again.

This informant definitely saw what I had. The descriptions were dead on, so why isn't there more about them?

I close the book carefully, so as to not create a dust cloud. Place it upon the "already looked at" pile, and grab another.

The moment my hand touches the cover, I regret it. The material sticks to my hand, threatening to peel right off.

It breaks apart like an old plastic bag, crumbling and creaking. Sticking to my hand like glue.

"Ugh, what the hell," I exasperate rubbing my hands together, hoping to remove the pieces from my hand

"Yeah, unfortunately, the older the book gets, the worse the materials become." Bri sympathizers, showing off the palms of her hands, chunks of flaky pieces of covers, decorating her skin. Before turning back to the book, she's reading.

Sighing, I flip through some pages and before I even realize what's happening; I hear a tear and my heart sinks.

The brittle pages have broken free from the binding. It's falling apart in my hands at an alarming rate. Shit, I need to be a lot more careful with how I handle these. eyes

I look at Bri, panic and guilt setting in, meeting Coral's eyes instead. She looks at me, then at the book. Eyes as wide as mine and now we're both looking at Bri for what to do, but she just shrugs.

"Well, it's old. It's bound to happen with some of these," she says nonchalantly. "Let's just be more cautious. Don't need Grams coming back to revenge her books,"

I nod, but the guilt still gnaws at me. Carefully, I gather the torn pages, trying to place them back in order the best I can, when Coral gasps, jumping out of her seat. "This is it! It has to be," she exclaims.

"Dwellings, creatures of shadow, beings of chaos. These creatures are hard to detect because of their..." She pauses, her whole demeanour shifting to defeat "Passive presence.... Oh," she finishes sadly. "Sorry," she sits back down, her body deflating into the chair

"No continue." Dorothy urges as if she's forgotten Coral can't hear or see her. She's been so quiet I almost forgot she was here.

"Keep going Coral, you're on to something," I urge, sitting up straighter, leaning over the table to Coral.