The Secret Seekers Society and the Beast of Bladenboro

by J. Hickey

  ***

  What Hunter didn't realize was that the noise he had just heard wasn't Margot, Ms. Ellingbee, nor anyone else who lived in the mansion. It was his little sister. Elly was never asleep. She had purposely pretended to be while waiting for her older brother to make his escape. Once he snuck out into the hall, she waited a few minutes before taking her leave, tiptoeing out of their room silently so as not to stir the snoring behemoth of a dog, Trayer. She slowly and gently closed their door.

  Elly wasn't sure where to go at first. She stood in the darkened hallway fighting away the fear of being outside the protection of her bedroom while a monster was on the prowl. She heard a small chime that sounded like an elevator down the right-hand corridor and decided it must have been Hunter. She swiftly followed, walking as fast as she could on her tiptoes.

  By the time Elly made her way to the elevator doors, Hunter had already disappeared. She hit the glowing button with the orange hue and waited silently for the lift to return to her floor. Now, Elly second-guessed herself, wondering why she thought it was a good idea to follow her nosey older brother in the first place. She was never one to care for the thrill of sneaking out or stirring up trouble. She would honestly much rather be in bed sleeping, cuddling up with Trayer.

  Then again, the thought of Hunter bragging about his adventure tomorrow morning would definitely make Elly steam up with jealousy. She knew she couldn't allow Hunter to have all the fun, and she wanted to prove to him that she could be just as sneaky and rebellious as him. So there she stood, waiting nervously for the elevator door to chime open.

  She bravely stepped into the small lift, looking carefully at the multitude of buttons glowing before her. There were a dozen or so, but the only one that really caught her attention said "SB-1 Library." Of course, Elly loved reading. It was a no-brainer for her to pick the mansion's grand library for her destination.

  Elly was very thankful that Margot and Ms. Ellingbee had gone to all the trouble of installing and stocking up their own personal library for the children. At first, Elly found the collection fairly interesting, but an eleven-year-old girl could only read so many informative texts about Big Foot's so-called cousin, the ‘Yelping Yeti,' or the ancient and equally mystifying legend of the Fountain of Youth. She really wanted to grab a few books that identified a little more with her age group.

  The lift descended into the bowels of the mansion, causing Elly to feel rather nauseated from motion sickness. Elly always felt a little ill when she rode in elevators, just like her mother, and thus spent most of her life avoiding them as much as possible. Even the relatively small elevator she had occasionally used at her former elementary school would cause her trouble. Her mother always told her stairs were healthier.

  The door chimed again, signaling that she had finally made her way to the library.

  Elly stepped out and found herself standing alone staring at by far the most elegant and extraordinary library she had ever seen. She was completely awestruck by its grandeur. This was nothing like the library back at home, which up until this point, Elly had thought housed every book in the world. Boy, was she wrong about that.

  This library was easily triple the size of her one back home. These books stretched out in every direction and never let up. From the lowest shelves only a few inches off the library's floor to the towering displays that literally touched the domed ceiling dozens of feet up. The room was just massive in size, sprawling with aisle upon aisle of bookshelves and study desks. Tall sturdy ladders were attached to the main walls and bookshelves running through a complex wheel and track system that enabled ease of reaching the higher books. Elly thought it was the prettiest and most amazing room she had have ever seen.

  Unfortunately for Elly, the impressive display was a bit unsettling, as the library at this time of night was very dark with dreadfully little light to allow her to truly take in its splendor. The little light there was came from a few strategically placed wall mantles that seemed to be set automatically to dim. Luckily, it did allow just enough clarity to maneuver through the labyrinth of bookshelves and tables.

  Elly skimmed through the bookshelves as she eagerly explored the aisles. Unfortunately, she found literally every book to be long-winded with wordy and confusing titles. There was nothing in the impressive collection for someone of her age. She assumed all the books were ancient, half of them she couldn't even read because they had been written in different languages. Elly was a bit flustered now, wishing more than ever that she hadn't left the comfortable confines of her cozy bed.

  She journeyed about the library for easily an hour to no avail. She finally decided that she had had enough action for the night and decided to retreat back to the elevator when she caught sight of Hunter from the corner of her eye.

  "Hunter!" she whispered.

  Hunter hadn't heard her, but that's when she heard something else entirely…

  A loud noise came from behind her that sounded like a rhythmic bump in the darkness. She thought it sounded at first like footsteps, but heavier… She swiftly peeked around one of the large bookshelves towards the origin of the eerie noise. And that's when she saw it. Through the shadows, she could barely make out a large darkened silhouette; it had a bulky and colossal frame. It seemed to her that it appeared to move very mechanically, and it towered in size.

  Elly gasped as she remembered the monster Hunter had seen in the ventilation shaft. She knew this figure was far too large and bulky to fit into any ventilation system, but she knew if there was one potential monster lurking about, then why not two? She suddenly felt panicked. She seemed to have lost all control of her body, and she wanted to run away and scream for help, but she couldn't even muster enough strength to turn away from the shadowy figure and flee.

  She felt a quick tug on her shoulder and found herself being pulled underneath one of the study desks by her older brother.

  "Quiet," he silently mouthed, signaling to her by pressing his index finger to his lips.

  The menacing figure was a few aisles over from them and hadn't reacted to their presence. The children had been lucky enough to be out of its line of sight, an easy task in the maze-like structure of the library's bookshelves. Elly covered her eyes with her hands, while Hunter watched eagerly as the figure stepped through the dim lighting. This allowed him to briefly see the daunting figure in all its magnificence. Elly nervously peered through her fingertips and once again gasped at the sight.

  Neither of the children really understood what they were witnessing. The figure was quite tall, its head standing a foot or two above the already high bookshelves, with a very bulky frame. As it walked upright on its stocky legs, it made loud noises that echoed down through the library's numerous aisles. The dim lighting reflected off its metallic frame.

  "Is it some sort of armor?" Hunter whispered.

  As the behemoth neared their hiding place, Hunter could hear mechanical, gear-like sounds accompanying its every move. He knew now that it wasn't human. It had to be some sort of state-of-the-art robot or android. The android's eyes illuminated in a hot blue hue, not strong enough to pierce through the entirety of the room's darkness, but enough to see it eerily glow upon closer inspection. Hunter only caught a quick glance of its head from an awkward angle, but the thing didn't have a face. It was just the piercing blue hue of eyes, and what Hunter could only describe as a V-shaped vent where its mouth should be.

  The children waited a few minutes after the robot made its way past them before speaking aloud to one another.

  "Was that a robot?" Hunter whispered.

  "It was scary… I thought it was going to eat us," Elly answered.

  "Don't be stupid," Hunter mocked. "Robots don't eat humans, they eat… you know… err… oil and gasoline, and stuff," he guessed, trying to put his annoying sister at ease. "What are you doing down here anyway?" Hunter added with a look of irritation written across his face. "I told you to stay put."

  "I wasn't going stay in the room all alone," Ell
y shot back.

  Their argument was short-lived as another loud noise caught their attention. Hunter quickly darted towards the aisle just in time to barely make out the outline of the robotic figure in the near distance. It appeared to have somehow made one of the bookshelves sink into the floor of the library, revealing what Hunter could only guess was some sort of secret passage. He watched keenly as the figure slowly disappeared into the darkness of the hidden room. Soon after it vanished into the darkness, the hidden passage slowly closed once again, returning the bookshelf to its previous place in the wall.

  "A secret room…" Hunter whispered enthusiastically to Elly.

  "What?" Elly whispered back, unimpressed with the thought of a secret anything.

  "Follow me!" he added.

  Hunter wasted no time running towards the back of the giant library, his sister following quickly behind him, begging for him to slow down.

  "This bookshelf." Hunter pointed at the spot in the wall he had just witnessed sinking into the floor.

  "What about it?" Elly answered. "It looks like every other bookshelf."

  "The robot thing opened some secret passage here, and we're going to follow it!"

  "No, Hunter… c'mon… it's too late. Let's just go back to bed," Elly protested.

  "Go right ahead, but I'm going to find the passage, and I'm going in," Hunter added as he feverishly felt around the myriad of books for any sort of lever or hidden button.

  Hunter was more than elated with the idea of a secret room hidden in the mansion's lowest level. He thought of all sorts of hidden treasure, gold medallions, long-lost scrolls, rubies… his imagination was running rampant. There was no way Hunter was turning back now, he was too close. Now, if he could just find the blasted lever to open up the passage.