The Library of Powers

Chapter 10 - Part 3

Inside the public library, Jackson made his way up a wire-suspended staircase to one of the precarious perches that bordered the windows. Jackson wasn't even sure if you could call it a window when all the walls were glass. He passed by the first obvious spot because it was, well, obvious. Only once he spied a lone armchair at the end of a long line of reference textbooks did he settle. He threw the paper out of his pocket, ravenously opening it. 

In writing similar to a typewriter, the page had three printed lines.

There once was one but now there's two.

The writing's on the well. Watch as the father returns and the lover burns. 

The system gives them the first move. Counter it.

As if that wasn't strange enough, someone had penciled in a note in the bottom right corner. "There were five of us last time. Find others to trust Jackson, trustworthy people exist."

There was no doubt to the messages, they were for him. But what was it alluding to? With the cryptic prose, it almost sounded like a time-immemorial prophesy. Jackson fantasized for a moment about being a chosen fantasy hero. It would be so much easier, having a dragon to fight, a quest to fulfill. Back in reality, Jackson pondered who could have sent him the note. There seemed to be two authors, the type and the pencil, but neither had the distinct half-cursive scrawl of the Writing Well. What kind of person could hijack such a powerful magical artifact? Were they the same people that are renovating the well? He decided to scratch that theory, because the message for him was obviously pre-planned. The renovations just complicated things.

Who was "them"? Jackson glanced around the halls, looking at the few passer-bys in his secluded section. If he's being told to counter it, then there has to be some reason to stop these people. All his questions were met with more questions, until a cloud of confusion overtook his every movement. Eventually, as his heart rate normalized, the questions coalesced into one, the ultimate question that he had the sinking suspicion he knew the answer to.

Why him?

It has to be about The Library.

Which left the obvious conclusion. Someone else knows.

As Jackson freaked out, familiar footsteps pattered near him. "Jackson?" Melanie said, passing between the bookshelves with a clear view of him. "What was that stuff at the well about?"

Panicking, Jackson wasn't sure how to respond. He considered slipping into The Library of Powers to escape, but then everyone else around would know he has powers.

Except, did it really matter anymore? The school knew, and he had an - albeit shaky - explanation, so why not use his power? Was there any reason not to? Jackson was sick of so many questions with no answers. Why not make a decision for the one he could control. Slowing time, the books on the shelves surrounding him slowly morphed to have similar, but noticeably different contents. But Jackson dared not go further, or risk fully diving into his Library, which would leave his real body unconscious and defenseless. He grabbed his coat, shoved the note into his pocket, and dashed past the immobile Melanie, still in the midst of taking her first step towards him.

Was he avoiding Melanie? Was that rude? Enough questions. He didn't care anymore.

He went downstairs, and after a moment of consideration, went downstairs again, into the Index. In the strange rotunda, he decided to find out here and now what was where the "real exits" to the Library of Power's version was. It had to be connected to his note. All of his troubles started with the Writing Well, and since then he had been appearing in Bernard Harbour Public Library, like there was something there he had to do. This mysterious writer could not only send messages through the Writing Well but also control where he appeared in the Library. Their power must be immense.

Sitting in a plush armchair between two of the curved bookcases, Jackson went fully into the library. This would hopefully be quick, so had nothing to worry about someone seeing an asleep teen and getting confrontational. His vision shifted from the rotunda to Bernard Harbour Public Library's tattered shag carpet, predictably. Getting off the ground Jackson ran to the exit, took a right, and ended up right back in the rotunda, except this time it was completely devoid of other people. Finding the very spot he had entered the library, Jackson sat down in the chair again to see if anything would happen.

Nothing. Well, it was still surreal to essentially be in the same place twice. Getting up, Jackson now tried to retrace his steps to where the exit back up to the regular part of the central branch would be, following the curve of the walls. When he reached that spot, he found only a bookshelf. Was there some sort of secret doorway? Jackson exited the Library back to reality, deciding to test a theory. Finding the bookshelf next to the exit, Jackson memorized the titles of the first three books. Heading back once again to the chair he was in, he once again entered the Library.

Up from the floor. Out the exit. Take a right. Into the Index. To the spot where the exit should have been. Checking the titles of the first three books directly next to the supposed exit, his suspicions were confirmed when they were the exact same books. So if this version was an exact replica, down to the book, where did the books on the fake shelf come from? They had the same markings as other books, and the problem with the Index is that there was little to no organization to the book placement. It was honestly horrible practice for librarians, but apparently, they had an altered human who knew the placement of every book in the Index. And apparently, they took requests. Jackson didn't really want to go through that whole process. Why not brute force it instead? Reading the titles of the first three books on the subject shelf, Jackson started to head counterclockwise, reading the first three books of every subsequent shelf to see if they matched.

There was nothing on the first floor, nor the second. Three floors down he found a shelf with one similar book, which made him wonder if The Library had just taken random books from anywhere in the central branch. But the serial code was different, so it had to be a different book. The Library contained no original literature but the books that bind to each super. Every book is copied from somewhere, and every book has a copy in the Library. The fourth floor had nothing, and neither did the fifth.

But there was a match on the sixth. Exactly the same as his "exit", Jackson ran up and down the spiral stairs multiple times just to make sure. And yes, the bookshelves were exactly the same, except for one. A tattered copy of "Pioneers of Vera City", published 1975. Last checked out 1976. It was on the fake bookshelf but not the real one. It was surprisingly fitting, as The Vera City Public Library was created by Jin Takeshi, who the city just loved to tout around as a true people's man. Well, he probably was, but there were other pioneers too, which the book barely mentions. Oh, yeah, he had read it before. He loved the history of Vera City, but that book misconstrued as much as it possibly could. Yet it was the one on the NYT Bestsellers list.

Grabbing the book in disgust and throwing it from the shelf, he realized there was no back to that shelf, it was simply blank space. Oh. So it didn't have anything to do with the book placement. After removing the rest of the books into unnecessarily neat piles, then chucking the thin wood shelves over the railing and down the center of the rotunda because there was no reason not to, the bookshelf was now a small entrance to a large stairwell.

Hesitantly, Jackson headed in.