Open Books Logo Novels & Stories

Zachary was still asleep beside me; his profile was so finely sculpted that it was difficult to look away. Nevertheless, I forced myself to rise, wash, and dress. Just as I was about to leave the room, my eyes happened to catch the small box left unopened the day before. A faint, uneasy curiosity rose within me. I wondered what sort of riding crop Zachary had specially commissioned. To my astonishment, when I carefully opened the little box, I found an exquisitely crafted jeweled hairpin lying within, its gemstones sparkling brilliantly. My heart lurched. I had misunderstood Zachary all along. The box never contained the ill-intentioned riding crop I had imagined.

But a brown envelope flew out from the shelf right in time of getting the special book. “I got it,” Essi said so that it will not be hard for Oneil to return it. But Oneil stopped upon recognizing his hanko symbol upon the brown envelope. The only time that he ever used it was for a very special envelope that he could barely remember what was the content. “Just hold it please,” Oneil said while getting down. Essi happily received the book and Oneil took the envelope to see what must be inside. Essi got curious too. While Oneil was opening the envelope, the logo of the Mercator Group suddenly surfaced on the header of the paper.

Elodie bowed her head quickly and stepped back, leaving me alone by the marble counter. I flipped the heavy leather cover open. The first page was a thick, textured parchment paper, designed to look incredibly expensive and prestigious. But the moment my eyes fell on the top of the sheet, my calm look instantly turned into pure, solid ice. Printed in bold, embossed silver ink at the very top of the page was a corporate logo I recognized in my nightmares. HALEFIELD LUXURY. The blood rushed out of my face, a cold, familiar numbness spreading from the tips of my fingers all the way up my arms.

Also I opened up an I*******m account for my books. -sibisulikhona or my personal one is sibisulikhona2020

My fingers hovered over spines until I found what I wanted: a thick book bound in dark leather, the title stamped in faded gold. WOLF TRADITIONS & BONDS: A GUIDE FOR COUNCIL AND HOUSEHOLDS I lifted it off the shelf and stared at it for a full five seconds, because no part of me enjoyed the fact that this existed like it was a homeowner’s association handbook. I set it on the table and opened it. The first page had a handwritten warning in neat block script: THIS TEXT IS FOR PACK USE. DO NOT REMOVE FROM LIBRARY. Beneath it, someone had scribbled, smaller:

At the center of the cover lies a raised symbol: a drop of blood, intricately detailed, as if about to trickle down the cover, appearing almost alive. The clasp of the book is a masterpiece of brutality and symbolism. Made of heavy metal, it is adorned with tiny skulls and bones, reminders of the lethal power contained within the tome. The clasp seems to demand a blood pact to be opened, with a small blade embedded, ready to make the necessary cut. When I finally open the Bloodbound Codex, I feel the temperature around me drop abruptly, as though the very air had been sucked into the book. The atmosphere becomes denser, heavier, as if the essence of the book were absorbing the vitality aroun

My eyes widened with anticipation, but inside, I found only a thick, leather-bound book. The cover was faded and worn, with the strange symbol embossed on it; a triangle with three circles inside. I ran my fingers over the symbol, a chill creeping up my spine. I had no idea what it meant, but it seemed significant, almost sacred. With hands that trembled, I lifted the book from the chest. The pages were thick and yellowed, and an old, musky smell filled the air as I carefully opened it.

I returned a favoring smile to her by doing it genuinely before I took the book on her soft palm, an almost thick book with a blue cover. The book is heavy. On the front cover, there is a closed eye with long black thick lashes in a form of feathers placed inside a pentagon. Outside the badge has a wonderful abstract ocean and sunrise. Below it, golden embossed letters are shining to make its cover spectacular: BOOK OF A ZONER "Begin reading from page two to page five," Psyche said to me, stopping me in amazement. So I did what she wanted me to do. I flipped the pages until I reached the second page of the book. I started reading what's on it.