Don't hesitate to give me your opinion on this. Hopefully, you will enjoy this trip.
Into chapter 0.1 :
Spoiler: show
I don't really know why I decided to broke into this old and creepy building. I could have found another escape route, surely, but no I had to enter it...
It was once the library of my city, or so I heard. It had closed down before my birth and it seemed that no one had cared about it since then. People hardly mentioned it in conversation and when I asked for the first time about what it was to my parents, they had a real hard time remembering. It was the same no matter who I questioned. As a child, I was pretty interested in this phenomenon, like I was special as the only one noticing this strange and deserted mass of concrete. However, it was also scary. Whenever I turned my attention to it when coming back from school, there was a cold and nasty feeling suddenly gripping at my guts. Since then, time had flowed and as I grew up, I began to forget this weird part of my past. Until today...
I just came back to this town from university to care about my empty family's house. No one was home for the entire summer and I was tasked to be a good guard dog. Well, it was not like I had other plans anyways. Having the house for myself during a couple of month was not a bad deal. Still, boredom came crashing on me sooner than I had wished.
"That's not a good idea, Lan. Let's get out of here."
Her ? She was a girl I knew since... since as long as I could remember, I think. I was not comfortable with this idea but, yes, one could call her my childhood friend. In fact, I had not seen her for two years as I was studying abroad. How close our relationship was ? I would be lying if I did not say she was quite a beauty but that's all there was to it. Other than that, she was a pain in the ass. Back in the days, she would often lecture me on various things when she deemed I screwed something up, then changing her mind she would stick to me and try to ease things up before going mad and throwing a tantrum at me. She was like dynamite or nitro-glycerine to me. Handle with utmost care. I was not kidding as she had practiced various martial arts since she was old enough to walk. If her whims whispered so to her ears, she would attempt to murder me on the spot. How many time did she almost strangled me to death or did I thought she had broken one of my bones when submitting me to one of her freaking martial holds. One time, she even pursued me across our school with a knife because she thought I had pushed down a girl when she actually tripped and took me in her fall.
Well yes, I did say she was a beauty. That's why people were fooled by her. She had long jet black hair ,which had a slight wavy feel to it, emphasizing her nicely shaped face where two blue diamond shone with false kindness. In fact, many told her she could easily become an actress or model if she wanted to, as she was as tall as me, slim but not devoid of womanly assets. I don't remember the number of guys who broke their teeth on her, trying to be granted a date. Well I don't pity them as they were dumbs enough to get tricked by her gentle act.
"There is no one here, Alicya. In fact, I doubt anyone have taken a step inside for years, maybe decades. Don't be scared."
"I...I'm not scared at all ! What make you think that ?"
The fact that you were holding onto my arm while jumping in fright with every little noises we heard, maybe ? I restrained myself from answering her. I knew full well what she might do to me if I angered her. Actually, I was adamant because I could not predict what she would do exactly. She might have learned new things in those two years. Compared to her, this building was most welcoming. In fact, if someone had to be scare here it should be me !
Hanging with her was like gambling with one own life. Still, I was used to it although I had not seen her in a long while, it was impossible to forgot this feeling of dread and excitement. Also, I could not say there was nothing but demerit in having her tag along since she was pressing my arm against her chest in her fright. I was aware of how dangerous a game I played but it was also quite nice once in a while. The only cons to that being she was... well... her.
Am I crazy ? I think I could not have hanged with her if I was not a bit weird myself. You see, even if I don't want to admit it, I have some cute memories with her, even if scarce. Because of that, I can't come to hate her.
As of how we ended up here ? It's pretty simple, I got bored at home and decided to take a walk. I stumbled upon her before this good old nest of creepy feelings. As she was weirdly clingy to me with our sudden reunion, my survival instinct advised me to fire a countermeasure. All I thought of, at the time, was telling her I was going inside the library. For an instant, I thought I had gotten rid of her but she finally decided to come along... A pain in the ass, I tell you.
Well, seeing her this scared now that we were inside was pretty fun, so I did not really regret it. As her childhood friend, I knew full well how those kind of things affected her, but I did not expected her to be the same as when she was a little girl. I was almost getting tricked into thinking she was quite cute in her frightful state, cowering against me. However, if you begin to find her defenceless, you are already doomed, my friend. One wrong word or move and you will have a flying kick coming to great your face or... worse.
Walking through some corridor we found ourselves right in front of a huge double door. Unlike, all parts of the building we saw until now, it was devoid of dust and still shone with amber colour like the wood it was made of had just been polished.
"Lan... I've got a bad feeling about this. "
"Then why don't you go back and wait for me at the entrance ?"
"I don't want to. What if a ghost appear ?"
"There won't be any. Ghosts don't exist, Lily."
I was just mindlessly answering her as I was watching the door with a certain interest. However, the fact she did not fired back another absurdity to me compelled me to look at her.
"Something's wrong ?"
"No... Lily... It's just that you called me that."
"Did I ?"
Well, I may have accidentally called her by that nickname because we already had the same exchange about ghost when we were kids. It brought back some old recollections of that time when I was using this to refer to her. I stopped when she began to punch me for it when we grew up.
"You did."
"Sorry, I said it without thinking. You really don't like that nickname, do you ?"
A sharp pain made me see white stars as she crushed my foot under the heel of her boot. Here she came out, her psychopath true self. Well, for her it was quite a light punishment almost like a little tap on the cheek.
"What did I say...arg... my foot."
"Well, I don't mind if you do call me Lily."
Make up your mind once and for all... Damnit.
"What do you think lie behind those doors ?"
What a weird question. We were in a library what else would we find beside...
"...Books, shelves and maybe some more books and lot of dust. What do you expect other than that ?"
"Perhaps, there is a monster waiting for us. "
What nonsense that girl was spouting ? Ghosts, monsters and what next ? Demons?
"Monsters don't exist, Lily."
Without letting her imagination run wild again, I pushed the door open. Alicya grip on my arm tightened as a creaking sound welcomed us. However, as I predicted what lied beyond was no more than a hall filled with shelves, books and dust and maybe some spider webs. Nothing thrilling.
"See ? No ghost, no monster... nothing."
"Mm"
Her shy answer almost made me smile. Resisting. I had to control myself as to not trigger a death flag. Slowly we walked past the entrance, then something weird happened. As if a veil had been lift, as soon as we entered, all the dust vanished. The hall had no longer a grey mantle recovering every inch of it. That was not it. In fact, it was not the same place anymore. There was a definite similarity but things suddenly enlarged and sparkled. This library was now divided on many floors circling around the main ground level where we stood. Above, a great chandelier was hanging from a crystal roof of this tower like facility, in an open middle space, and was enlightening every corners of it. Underneath our feet, we were walking on what seemed to be black marble streaked with milky white. And, of course, as far as the eye could see, red wood shelves were filling every surfaces of it, leaving just enough space to move around them.
"What is this place, Lan ?"
"Don't know. A library ?"
"I knew something was wrong here...uhhhh."
Alicya was pulling me backward intending to get us out of here.
"L...Lan. The doors !"
"What ? Uh ?"
None. From where we came, no door could be seen. There was only a damned wall clothed with one of those red shelves. In her retreat, Alicya had hit her back against it. Now she was looking at me with a confused and fearful feel in her eyes.
"How do we get out of here, now ?"
Good question. I would also like to know the answer...
It was once the library of my city, or so I heard. It had closed down before my birth and it seemed that no one had cared about it since then. People hardly mentioned it in conversation and when I asked for the first time about what it was to my parents, they had a real hard time remembering. It was the same no matter who I questioned. As a child, I was pretty interested in this phenomenon, like I was special as the only one noticing this strange and deserted mass of concrete. However, it was also scary. Whenever I turned my attention to it when coming back from school, there was a cold and nasty feeling suddenly gripping at my guts. Since then, time had flowed and as I grew up, I began to forget this weird part of my past. Until today...
I just came back to this town from university to care about my empty family's house. No one was home for the entire summer and I was tasked to be a good guard dog. Well, it was not like I had other plans anyways. Having the house for myself during a couple of month was not a bad deal. Still, boredom came crashing on me sooner than I had wished.
"That's not a good idea, Lan. Let's get out of here."
Her ? She was a girl I knew since... since as long as I could remember, I think. I was not comfortable with this idea but, yes, one could call her my childhood friend. In fact, I had not seen her for two years as I was studying abroad. How close our relationship was ? I would be lying if I did not say she was quite a beauty but that's all there was to it. Other than that, she was a pain in the ass. Back in the days, she would often lecture me on various things when she deemed I screwed something up, then changing her mind she would stick to me and try to ease things up before going mad and throwing a tantrum at me. She was like dynamite or nitro-glycerine to me. Handle with utmost care. I was not kidding as she had practiced various martial arts since she was old enough to walk. If her whims whispered so to her ears, she would attempt to murder me on the spot. How many time did she almost strangled me to death or did I thought she had broken one of my bones when submitting me to one of her freaking martial holds. One time, she even pursued me across our school with a knife because she thought I had pushed down a girl when she actually tripped and took me in her fall.
Well yes, I did say she was a beauty. That's why people were fooled by her. She had long jet black hair ,which had a slight wavy feel to it, emphasizing her nicely shaped face where two blue diamond shone with false kindness. In fact, many told her she could easily become an actress or model if she wanted to, as she was as tall as me, slim but not devoid of womanly assets. I don't remember the number of guys who broke their teeth on her, trying to be granted a date. Well I don't pity them as they were dumbs enough to get tricked by her gentle act.
"There is no one here, Alicya. In fact, I doubt anyone have taken a step inside for years, maybe decades. Don't be scared."
"I...I'm not scared at all ! What make you think that ?"
The fact that you were holding onto my arm while jumping in fright with every little noises we heard, maybe ? I restrained myself from answering her. I knew full well what she might do to me if I angered her. Actually, I was adamant because I could not predict what she would do exactly. She might have learned new things in those two years. Compared to her, this building was most welcoming. In fact, if someone had to be scare here it should be me !
Hanging with her was like gambling with one own life. Still, I was used to it although I had not seen her in a long while, it was impossible to forgot this feeling of dread and excitement. Also, I could not say there was nothing but demerit in having her tag along since she was pressing my arm against her chest in her fright. I was aware of how dangerous a game I played but it was also quite nice once in a while. The only cons to that being she was... well... her.
Am I crazy ? I think I could not have hanged with her if I was not a bit weird myself. You see, even if I don't want to admit it, I have some cute memories with her, even if scarce. Because of that, I can't come to hate her.
As of how we ended up here ? It's pretty simple, I got bored at home and decided to take a walk. I stumbled upon her before this good old nest of creepy feelings. As she was weirdly clingy to me with our sudden reunion, my survival instinct advised me to fire a countermeasure. All I thought of, at the time, was telling her I was going inside the library. For an instant, I thought I had gotten rid of her but she finally decided to come along... A pain in the ass, I tell you.
Well, seeing her this scared now that we were inside was pretty fun, so I did not really regret it. As her childhood friend, I knew full well how those kind of things affected her, but I did not expected her to be the same as when she was a little girl. I was almost getting tricked into thinking she was quite cute in her frightful state, cowering against me. However, if you begin to find her defenceless, you are already doomed, my friend. One wrong word or move and you will have a flying kick coming to great your face or... worse.
Walking through some corridor we found ourselves right in front of a huge double door. Unlike, all parts of the building we saw until now, it was devoid of dust and still shone with amber colour like the wood it was made of had just been polished.
"Lan... I've got a bad feeling about this. "
"Then why don't you go back and wait for me at the entrance ?"
"I don't want to. What if a ghost appear ?"
"There won't be any. Ghosts don't exist, Lily."
I was just mindlessly answering her as I was watching the door with a certain interest. However, the fact she did not fired back another absurdity to me compelled me to look at her.
"Something's wrong ?"
"No... Lily... It's just that you called me that."
"Did I ?"
Well, I may have accidentally called her by that nickname because we already had the same exchange about ghost when we were kids. It brought back some old recollections of that time when I was using this to refer to her. I stopped when she began to punch me for it when we grew up.
"You did."
"Sorry, I said it without thinking. You really don't like that nickname, do you ?"
A sharp pain made me see white stars as she crushed my foot under the heel of her boot. Here she came out, her psychopath true self. Well, for her it was quite a light punishment almost like a little tap on the cheek.
"What did I say...arg... my foot."
"Well, I don't mind if you do call me Lily."
Make up your mind once and for all... Damnit.
"What do you think lie behind those doors ?"
What a weird question. We were in a library what else would we find beside...
"...Books, shelves and maybe some more books and lot of dust. What do you expect other than that ?"
"Perhaps, there is a monster waiting for us. "
What nonsense that girl was spouting ? Ghosts, monsters and what next ? Demons?
"Monsters don't exist, Lily."
Without letting her imagination run wild again, I pushed the door open. Alicya grip on my arm tightened as a creaking sound welcomed us. However, as I predicted what lied beyond was no more than a hall filled with shelves, books and dust and maybe some spider webs. Nothing thrilling.
"See ? No ghost, no monster... nothing."
"Mm"
Her shy answer almost made me smile. Resisting. I had to control myself as to not trigger a death flag. Slowly we walked past the entrance, then something weird happened. As if a veil had been lift, as soon as we entered, all the dust vanished. The hall had no longer a grey mantle recovering every inch of it. That was not it. In fact, it was not the same place anymore. There was a definite similarity but things suddenly enlarged and sparkled. This library was now divided on many floors circling around the main ground level where we stood. Above, a great chandelier was hanging from a crystal roof of this tower like facility, in an open middle space, and was enlightening every corners of it. Underneath our feet, we were walking on what seemed to be black marble streaked with milky white. And, of course, as far as the eye could see, red wood shelves were filling every surfaces of it, leaving just enough space to move around them.
"What is this place, Lan ?"
"Don't know. A library ?"
"I knew something was wrong here...uhhhh."
Alicya was pulling me backward intending to get us out of here.
"L...Lan. The doors !"
"What ? Uh ?"
None. From where we came, no door could be seen. There was only a damned wall clothed with one of those red shelves. In her retreat, Alicya had hit her back against it. Now she was looking at me with a confused and fearful feel in her eyes.
"How do we get out of here, now ?"
Good question. I would also like to know the answer...
