Chapter 7 – Bruises
"What the devil do you think you're doing in here!" Duck stumbled on her words and pointed to the table and the pen and came down with a case of verbal diarrhoea. Drosselmeyer frowned and took a step towards Duck; the speed of her speech; incredibly, increased significantly.
"Oh hush now! You're giving me a headache!" Duck snapped her lips shut and sighed in embarrassment, "you remind me of a girl I once wrote a story about… bah! It was a story full of nonsense!" He strode over to the table and glanced down at the work; nodding his head he took a sip of his tea, "yes it is indeed progressing nicely! But I must say I am a little upset about my lovely library…"
"Drosselmeyer!" Duck barked. He shot her a look, "Sir…" he smiled, "why has Fakir gone all strange and creepy? He's starting to scare me and I don't like him like this!" Drosselmeyer itched his eyebrow and mumbled.
"Yes… well. My grandson is a strong form! He shan't buckle under any pressure."
"But Drosselmeyer! Fakir is very sick! He has these yellow eyes and-" He nearly dropped his tea cup; spilling a small amount on the floor. "You say my Grandson is ill…poppycock! Bah!" he grumbled about his spilled tea and looked around for some form of a tissue to clean up.
"It's true! Listen to me!" the candles flame cast dark shadows over his face which seemed to embed themselves into every nook and cranny of his aged complexion; he glanced up from the floor and frowned at the story writing itself before him.
"Perhaps the story really has been infiltrated…" he muttered underneath his breath.
"What?" Duck was eager to hear what he said.
"You must leave… now." He tried to usher her out.
"Wha-? Why?"
"You have uncovered the hiding place of the story's birth, if someone else finds out…" he pushed a book into her arms, " if anything more happens to my grandson, do not hesitate to seek me out!"
"Who! Who can't know!" Drosselmeyer pushed her out of the room. He stared grimly at Duck and Rue; who had now re-joined the group. He shifted his eyes around the library.
"A Demon." He slammed the door.
"What was that all about Duck?" Rue stared at her then back at the door which had disappeared and nothing was left but the wall, "Duck! Look what just happened!" Duck was staring at the floor *A Demon? What could he mean by that? Sure Fakir has been acting kinda weird lately… but is he suggesting that Fakir is possessed? He sure is acting odd...maybe it runs in the family* she looked down at the book she was holding; small black leather hardback, golden skull fixed onto the cover. A shiver ran down her spine *this is the book that Fakir… he found this book and…*
"Duck!" she opened the book exactly to the page. Fakir's face; still embedded in the paper under the name he had spoken, was now slightly faded. Duck looked closer at the image, *that's me. I am in the picture too. I was in Fakir's arm. I was there when he found it!* she closed the book. A small pulse echoed through her head.
"I'm really tired Rue… I uh… can I go to the room?" she held her stomach tightly.
"No! Tell me what on earth is going on!" Rue grasped her by the hand. Another pulse; though slightly harder.
"Rue please… I'm not feeling well" she pulled out of Rue's grip and exited the library.
Duck walked down the hall. The students passed her very quickly and no one paid any attention to her shaky stance; they became a blur. Another pulse. She tried to pull her feet from the ground and keep moving forward; they were like magnets to the earth and gravity began to increase in its force pulling her towards the ground, it felt as if her shins were about to split the force was so great. Another pulse. Her hands weighed her arms down like anchors. *What's… wrong with me…?* her vision blurred even more and all her surrounding became posturized. Another pulse. She sank to her knees; but even that wasn't enough to satisfy gravity. Someone walked towards her in the distance, then started jogging and eventually held Duck in their arms; they spoke but she could only hear her own breaths *what's happening to me!* she closed her eyes and with one last pulse, consciousness dragged her away with its cold claws.
