Mr. Linden's Library

Part 3

When she finished her dinner, she excused herself to her room. She had a plan; she would pretend she was reading the red book with the ghost instead of the pink book which she was actually reading.

She went downstairs and handed her Mother the book. She tried her best to look as upset as possible because in truth, she wasn't upset at all.

"Here, Mother. I am so sorry," Helen said and sagged her shoulders for effect. "I hope this proves it."

"Yes, Helen," Mother said while eyeing the nasty ghost on the red book. "Thank you for cooperating."

"Alright. I'll be off now," Helen said and made her way up the stairs. She flopped onto her bed. She was exhausted from all the running up and down the stairs.

That night, Helen was restless. She tossed and turned, but still couldn't go to sleep. The only productive thing she could think of was to read the book. So she started reading. She was not keeping track of time, so when she saw the sun rise through the window, she was quite shocked.

"That's so beautiful," Helen whispered as she looked at the pretty sky. At what seemed like the bottom, it was yellow, but then that yellow faded into red at the top. How she wished right then and there that she had a camera with her, but she knew how expensive it was to buy one.

Helen watched the whole sunrise and after that she continued reading until she heard another knock on the door.

Not again! Helen thought.

Someone gently nudged the door. It creaked right open. Mother looked at Helen sitting there and reading the book. "Helen, dear. Why don't you go brush your teeth?" Mother asked with clear disappointment in her tone. "How long have you been up?"

"Oh, I am not sure, Mother," Helen replied. She hoped that her guilty expression would not betray her. "I am sorry. Perhaps I'll go brush my teeth now."

Helen sighed and made her way to the bathroom. After she brushed her teeth, she went to look out the window. It was raining. Hard.

At breakfast, Aunt Mary announced that they had to cancel their plans because it was raining. While the adults listened to the radio and the children played, Helen went to her room to read her book.

As she opened the book, she saw a small vine. Helen assured herself that it's just a little bookmark that she didn't remember leaving there. So she started reading. This time, however, she tried to be attentive in case someone called her.

A few hours passed, and Helen still hadn't finished reading. It seemed to her that the book had never ending pages. But that didn't bother her. Actually, it was good since that meant she wouldn't have to play with her cousins.

After a few more hours, Mother called Helen to help her make dinner. Helen was to cut the vegetables for the salad.

Helen chose the part of the kitchen counter that was in front of the window. As she was chopping onions, she was sure she saw a dark figure standing in front of the window in the fog.

Helen almost screamed. The figure looked so familiar, but she just couldn't put the pieces together. She knew it was male, but that really was it. He was tall, skinny, and wore glasses. She couldn't make out anything else.

Since she wasn't paying attention to the onions, her eyes started to tear up and as she was looking at the cutting board it was too late. She had cut herself.

Fortunately, the cut wasn't very deep and it barely even bled. Mother was scared that Helen would cut herself again so she sent Helen up to her room.

As Helen made her way up the stairs, she was so excited to be able to read the book again. When she opened the book, Helen noticed that the vine was a little bigger than it was before. Once again, she assured herself that she had just imagined it.

She tried yanking the vine out of the book, but then noticed that it wouldn't budge. She realized that she would just damage the book if she continued to yank on it so she just continued reading as if nothing had happened.

At dinner, she tried to seem as normal as possible. After dinner, Helen didn't even wait for dessert-- she just went to her room to read.

Again, she found the vine a little bigger. And again, she brushed it off.

At night, she fell asleep. Near her bed, there was a window. Even though she didn't know it, the same figure she had seen from the kitchen window was in front of the window in her room that very moment!

Of course, she had no idea who it was, but she had narrowed it down to three people: her father, because he might have been going for a walk and he wore glasses; a hiker; or... Mr. Linden.

It was in fact Mr. Linden. The moment he noticed the missing book, he purchased a train ticket to Maine and got there as fast as possible. He had warned her about the book. Now it was too late.

He watched in horror as the vines came out of the open book. He tried to break the window, but he wasn't able to. He tried screaming, but nothing woke Helen. She was fast asleep and was about to be sucked into the book.

Mr. Linden shut his eyes as it happened. He braced himself for the pain of losing yet another person to the dangerous book.

Helen was lifted off the bed. The vines had wrapped around her, trapping her in a cocoon. They covered her completely and then crashed her into the ceiling.

Then, even through closed eyes, Mr. Linden could sense that there was a bright light. He opened his eyes and saw that Helen was gone. He couldn't see her anywhere.

His world came crashing down. He hadn't fulfilled his duty-- he hadn't saved her. He was reminded of his sister. Beautiful, young, but yet so naïve. Just like Helen.

He started shaking. He couldn't do anything. No sound came out of his mouth when he spoke, and he couldn't move at all. He let out a whimper as his hand started to slip. He quickly caught himself.

He stared at the bed and did a double take. There was Helen, lying there as if nothing had happened. She quickly sat up and gasped. Where was her book?!

Mr. Linden watched as she went around the room and looked for the book. When she couldn't find it, she crumpled to the floor in defeat. Mr. Linden sighed a sigh of relief. He climbed down from the window and went to the train station. His work was done. The book had disappeared and he hoped that the others had too.