Inside The Library Novels & Stories

The roar of the city vanished, replaced by the low, rhythmic hum of a billion gigabytes of data moving through the walls. ​The interior was a cathedral of glass and light. There were no guards, no turrets, and no "Hollows." There was only the data. ​"Wait," Maya said, stopping at a central pedestal. "This... this isn't just a data-hub. It’s a 'Library of Souls.'"

By the time I had gotten to the center of the library, to my surprise, it was almost literally empty. Unlike the remaining parts of the library filled with shelves of books and tall ladders, this one had only a large globe and some other things like pictures and artifacts that almost made me think I had transitioned from a library to a museum. I recounted the remaining letters and just as Marco said—CL-R1-S3R. I was at the center of the library, but what was the L? I wondered, looking around. Finding nothing, I decided to skip L for R, since it meant Row.

I had a lot of stares from the pack and a lot of heads being nodded in my direction. “They bow to the queen of the south!” echoed forcibly in my head. “OKKKKKKK. Let’s rein that ego in.” My wolf huffed in reply but did no such thing, if anything she puffed out her chest more just to annoy me. I inwardly groaned. Today was going to be a challenge in more ways than one. The library doors were a light oak wood with glass panels that had intricate floral designs of green and gold inlaid onto them. They were beautiful and as Becca went in I stayed and ran my finger over all the intricate details.

But the rest kept coming — disciplined, methodical. Harlow was a blur in the chaos, twin short swords carving arcs of steel. She caught Killian’s eye briefly, her expression unreadable, before she slipped away toward the rear vault. The rear vault? Why there, in the middle of a siege? Killian cut down another Warden and followed, moving through a side passage slick with blood. The noise of the fight faded behind him, replaced by the faint sound of voices. He reached the vault in time to see Harlow kneeling over an open crate — not of weapons, but of glass vials filled with the same deep red liquid he carried in his pocket.

She doesn't hesitate as she slips inside, pushing past the warped wooden doors like she's done it a dozen times. My pulse quickens. Why here? An abandoned library? I circle around the side of the building, careful not to follow directly through the front. There's a broken panel at the back - loose enough for me to slip in without sound. The air inside is thick with mildew and time. Dust clings to the shelves, broken glass litters the floor. But there's light - faint, golden, flickering. A candle. I watch her pull out a red book from one of the shelves. Before she can even open the book, a voice cuts through the silence like a knife.

I said and with slumped shoulders, I walked inside the library. I didn't see Lucas, but I saw a lot of students inside, holding a book and studying. I looked for a vacant table and luckily found one at the farthest corner where Lucas won't see me if he comes back to his place behind the long counter. I walked to the table, put down my bag and walked straight to the shelf, grabbed some books that I'm not familiar with and went back to my table. I opened one book and hid my face in between, lay my head onto the table and shut my eyes.

I doubt it would even compete at least. The library here even uses an escalator. And what makes it wonderful is the fact that it's underwater and thick glass walls are surrounding the whole library on the ground floor. I can already envisage myself like the little mermaid counting her thingamabobs inside a wide spacious luxurious cavern--though in my case, it's an auxiliary of the whole dome.

At least some people accept her and love her as their Luna. Soon, they reach in front of another door. It was like the one in her room but larger. Two guards fixed at each side of the door and they greeted the Luna. “Welcome, My Luna.” They uttered simultaneously. Agnella smiled before going in with the guard she came with. The inside of the library was huge, there was even a ladder at every corner of the library to pick books at the top. Agnella smiled but then frowned. “How will I get the books I want? They are so many I might even get exhausted from finding the ones I want.”

“We have midterms coming up soon. Some of the students may be scared to stay in their dorms or even to go back home, but there will definitely be a decent group that will be sticking to their study schedules well into the morning hours. I have some friends that won’t leave the library until their next class starts. One girl even brings a small pillow to take power naps with.” I half-listened to Lyla as we walked up to a large building with an old ornate façade. The name of the library was carved into a stone pillar at the front. We were all looking around, making sure we weren’t drawing attention to ourselves as we headed up the concrete steps into the building. As soon as we were inside, it

"Go, Darren. Whatever this is, you have already carried it long enough without understanding it. It is time you finally did." Darren took a breath that did nothing to steady him, and stepped forward. The doors opened before he touched them. --- Inside, the library was nothing like he expected. The air felt older than the rest of the pack grounds, thick with a silence that pressed against his ears, and the shelves stretched upward into darkness he couldn't see the end of, lined with books that seemed to shift and rearrange themselves at the edge of his vision whenever he wasn't looking directly at them. A single beam of pale, moon-colored light fell from somewhere far above, illuminating a st