Book Flyleaf Novels & Stories

She kept her tone light, but her gut was doing flips. Christina didn’t answer right away. Instead, she pulled a small object from the folds of her blanket and set it on the table with the kind of care usually reserved for live grenades. It was a book, small and battered, the kind of thing that might get lost in a flea market bargain bin—if you didn’t look too closely at the cover. Leila leaned in. The leather was cracked, the pages yellowed like they’d been left out in the sun for a century too long. Stamped into the cover was a symbol: an eye inside a triangle, surrounded by curling, intricate lines that almost seemed alive.

Cole brings it to me, sitting back down on the couch while the kids roll around with their toys on the rug in front of us. Maeve is slack in Aviva’s arms, both of them fast asleep on the opposite couch. I smile at the image and quietly rip the paper away. It’s a book. Smaller than average and bound by fresh leather. There’s no title engraved on the cover. I look up at Cole, thinking he’d be smiling and a little pink in the cheeks in anticipation for my reaction, but he looks grave. I open it. It’s a printed rendition of the Book of Whispers.

As it slowly came above the opening, the stand clicked into place and two wings opened up on each side before turning the entire stand to white marbled stone and with a flashing light, a thick gold book appeared . “No matter how many times I see that, it never fails to amaze me” Heather whispered reverently. Jon raised his head and walked to the dias, his steps quietly echoing. When he approaches the stand, the book opens itself and the pages start to flicker, opening to the page he needed. After reading the passage, he visabilly shakes, his throat working hard to swallow from the lump now growing. “What? What is it?” Heather whispered. She gasped when she saw Jon raise his head and look at

Libro Vitae whispered its voice harmonious. "Libro Vitae, please show me where Alastair is hiding," I asked. The book hummed in response. Libro Vitae became warm in my hands. The cover opened, pages flipped continuously until they suddenly stopped. The words on the page jumped off the paper, floating into the air, wrapping themselves around me. In a blink of an eye, I was pulled into the book. Light flooded my vision. Every sound echoed around me. Voices raced past me, speaking in riddles. Some shouting, screaming, others a dull whisper. Libro Vitae's voice became louder as I watched the trees form around me.

"You guys okay?" "We will be, go," Leaf smiled and winked at me. "Thanks, guys," "Love you!" Leaf shrieked. I chuckled. I stood up and ran deeper into the aisle. The heels of my boots clacked against the wooden floor. Books were floating in the air. I looked at the shelves, the books were neatly arranged in alphabetical order. I saw a book, a beautiful blue book with white Italian writing, 'NAMES'. I had the urge to touch it, so I reached forward for it.

His presence was a door left open, a choice. Luna moved to a small bookshelf. Her fingers, no longer rough from scrubbing but smooth and sure, trailed over the spines. She found the book—a slender, leather-bound volume on alpine flora. As she pulled it free, a folded piece of parchment, brittle with age, fluttered to the floor.

Jack retorts snidely. Beside Ian, Darby blushes, her normally rosy pink lips darkening in her embarrassment to an alluring wine color. Her wings unfurl, and though there’s a library ladder with rails around the entire room, she opts to fly to one of the upper shelves to retrieve a book. “I believe this one will serve you best, Sean,” she says, touching down lightly beside a simply but gracefully carved reading stand and chair. She makes a swishing gesture with one hand at the book that rests there already and it lifts lightly, the wind carrying it toward its home on the shelves. Before it can go far, I snatch it from the air. “You have a Scripta Conoscenza.”

It was bound with beautiful teal leather that caught my eye. I took it from his stretched hand. He took his seat once again and I looked at it. The book had a faint musty scent and surprisingly, it felt light as a feather in my hands. I fingered the gold letterings delicately, a part of me scared that I might disarrange them. It read Lost Memories. I couldn't take my eyes away from it. It felt like it called to me. I turned the cover over and it revealed an almost blank page. I almost did not notice the small writing at the very edge of the page.

I grabbed a few and tucked them under my arm, climbing with my free hand. When I reached the highest shelf, I pulled out a thick book with a green cloth cover. The title was embossed in gold: “Medicinal Flora and Fauna of the Northern Territories”. Perfect. “This one looks good,” I called down to Nora. She grinned up at me. “Can you get that blue one too? Next to it?” Nodding, I reached for the blue book she indicated, stretching up on my tiptoes. My fingers brushed the spine but it was a little far. I had to lean to the side to reach it, my tongue poking out in concentration.