The Library of Powers

Chapter 16 - part 2

Miraculously, the next morning was a clear day. But Deceptive Pacific North West weather meant that it was 12 degrees colder than the day before. Jackson stood outside his house, waiting for Melanie to pick him up.

It didn't take long. She pulled up in her bright blue jeep and honked, despite the fact that he was already walking over. He looked through the windows to find Ivory in the passenger seat, so he took the back. However, upon opening it he found a cardboard box obstructing both the seats.

"Oh, I hope you don't mind, you'll have to sit on the floor," Melanie told him.

"What is this?" he asked, dripping with incredulity. The box was massive. It had fragile stickers strewn all over, and said "this way up" for two different directions.

"Oh, just a box containing all the times you've touched a woman," Ivory said, "It's empty."

They burst with laughter. Jackson rolled his eyes. "I'll have you know my mother is a hugger."

It was not laughter anymore. It was a pair of barely holding it together, wheezing teenagers. "Knock on the box twice," Ivory conceded.

Jackson did as told. On the second knock, the box shuddered and shrunk. In the span of a few seconds, it was the size of a tin of mints. "Cool," He sat down on the driver's side backseat.

"And by the way," he added, "Who are you to talk. Ivy, you and I both know you're more of a recluse then I am. When was the last time you got more than a sideways glance from a man?" He held his hand out, sarcasm now flooding. "I bet you were just shaking when you got to hold my hand as we entered The Library."

Now it was his turn to laugh. He had never laughed at one of his own jokes before, it would have felt wrong if Melanie wasn't laughing with him.

"Well now you've made it weird!" Ivory protested.

"And Melanie... Well, I don't know, you probably have had luck with the guys. Am I wrong?" He felt a winning streak going, now it was time for the kill. After he got a yes he was going to follow it up with "well you may've been lucky but they weren't!"

"Oh no, no luck with the guys. The girls on the other hand..." Her grin sealed the deal. Check and mate.

"Sorry, assumptions," he apologized.

"No worries, I still get more than the both of you combined!" She stepped on the gas and they gunned it down Jackson's home street. He buckled up.

"Your place is super cool, by the way," Melanie told Ivory as they headed towards the freeway.

"Thanks. You know, this is the furthest I'll have been from Dino & Sons since, well, when I started living alone."

Jackson softened. Bernard Harbour was barely an hour away. At least his parents visited on holidays. Ivory didn't get the chance. Their situations were similar, but he had a safety net to fall back on if he needed to. He wondered if there was some way he could help. He had a suspicion she wouldn't be too receptive to it.

"We'll have to go somewhere nice for spring break then," Melanie told them.

Ivory and Jackson shared a look. Travel for spring break? That was Collins's family money talking. Still, he was glad to see the two of them getting along. They were at each other's throats not too long ago. "What made you two get so chummy all of a sudden?" he asked.

They glared at him. "You don't just ask someone that, Jackson," Ivory said.

He dropped it, and they turned onto highway 53. It ran from the tip of Vera City all the way inland, where it eventually intersected I-5. They would turn off before then, near the coast, onto the Old Pacific Highway which they would take north until they hit Bernard Harbor. There was a ferry that went to the seaside town directly from Vera City, but it was closed for the winter.

It was Ivory's birthday. She let that slip two days ago. Jackson had a birthday gift for her, in his backpack. He wasn't sure what the right time to do so would be. He didn't want to make too big a deal out of it, as she didn't seem to want him to know. Why else would she have not told him?

Instead, he filled Melanie in on their plan. "We're going to the Bernard Harbor Public Library."

"The one that you appear in when you enter the Library of Powers?"

"No, the other one," he joked.

The car went silent. "There are two?" Melanie asked.

"No, no, it was- Never mind. The important thing is that their website says there have been renovations recently. So things are bound to have been moved around. I went into The Library and drew a map of how it looked there, so all we have to do is compare."

"Sounds good to me. And what exactly are we looking for?"

"There's a locked door in The Library of Power's version. Whatever's behind it might let me understand why everything has gone crazy."

Ivory looked back at him. "And if it doesn't?"

"Well, it's my only lead so far. So I don't know, I'll try and wrangle Phoebe Winter."

The car swerved as Melanie jumped in her seat. "Phoebe Winter? The supervillain? Why would you want her? My family knows Alice Winter if you want to talk, but what? Also, you do have another lead. The Writing Well, it's 'under renovations'," She said, making air quotes with her hands for 'under renovations'. It took her hands off the wheel, causing the car to swerve again.

He remembered every morning. His routine had been completely thrown out of whack. It... It wasn't easy.

He reached for the small cardboard box that had once obstructed his path. "You're right, we should look into that. Ivy, can this artifact shrink whatever's inside it?"

"Yeah," She answered, "But it stays just as heavy as it originally was. You know, I used to have like seven of those, all nestled into each other, but I sold them to Marc's Mart. Which probably wasn't the best idea now that I'm thinking about it. They're much more suited to stealing then protecting," she paused, "Some supervillain has them, don't they?"

She knew the answer, so they didn't respond. He picked it up. It was heavier then he would have expected for something that could fit so easily in his hand. "Interesting." He dropped it into his raincoat's pocket. It was blue and flimsy but did its job. No one used an umbrella in Vera City. Except, of course, Urbanity.

"Mind if I crank some tunes?" Melanie asked, before cranking some tunes without waiting for an affirmative. The car radio was set to some local station playing some local band. It felt right.

"Ivory, could you grab the CD case?" Melanie said.

Ivory took out a black binder from the passenger door. "What are you looking for?"

"I don't know, something fun. Catchy. With a kick."

Ivory flipped through the glossy pages. "I've literally never heard of any of these bands."

"Oh, now I'm the hipster, Ms. 'I wear the same bomber jacket every day'?"

"I don't!" Ivory protested.

Melanie winked. "I've never seen you without it."

Ivory looked to Jackson for support. He shrugged. "God, okay, I'll just pick one."

She shoved a red CD into the radio. Soft voices over twangy guitar, something about track and field. It was easy to listen to, which was the extent of what Jackson needed from music.

"Nice choice. A good primer for what's to come. I've got a whole hour to show you the light!" Melanie snickered, "Just you wait for when we get to The Tiger Trap!"