“Our choice,” called the crowd, reluctantly being goaded into action.
Yas and Sam reached the end of the square and cut across to the main steps in front of the library and town hall. While Yas thought the speakers had a fair point, she and Sam did their best not to attract any attention.
“They say we should wait for the police to find these few that are spoiling it for the many,” called the first speaker. It got Sam’s attention. He turned as they walked up the steps.
Yas tugged his hand gently. “Come on,” she urged quietly.
“Whose choice is that?” the second speaker asked. It seemed a well choreographed back and forth. Yas wondered if their speech was scripted.
“Our choice!” echoed the crowd. They moved forwards. The speakers seemed to have grabbed the crowd’s attention now.
Yas sensed a mild buzzing sensation again. Her stomach did flips.
“I don’t like this,” she said to Sam. “I feel that buzzing again.”
“Here?” asked Sam, stopping and looking about. “Who from?”
“I don’t know,” Yas replied, feeling more uneasy by the moment. “We need to get inside,” she said anxiously, indicating towards the library. “I don’t like the look of this.”
They reached the doors and Yas tugged open one of them. She stepped inside, but Sam held back.
“I want to hear what they say,” he said.
“If they can’t find these vigilantes, or won’t,” said the second speaker. “I say we should help them! What do you think?”
The gathered groups cheered.
That piqued Sam’s interest. Yas though was worried and pulled at his hand.
“Sam, come on,” she said.
“Whose choice is it to find them?” called the first speaker.
“Our choice,” called the crowd in unison.
“Sam, please,” pleaded Yas again. Unease was growing within her. “We need to tell your dad, or Janine. Or someone!”
Sam looked at her and nodded.
“What about the Word Guardians?” called out one man who had just joined the back of the crowd.
Sam and Yas both looked directly at him.
“There’s that man again. That’s him,” whispered Sam. “The man from the other day. The one I told you about in the library.”
“The one who was looking for the Word Guardians?” Yas asked.
“Yeah. That one,” he replied.
In the square, people were nodding and shouting out in agreement to the speakers.
“They’re the ones causing the trouble,” one of the two men continued. “We need to find them.”
Yas tugged at Sam. “I really don’t like this,” she said. “Come on.”
The man looked up the steps and made eye contact with Sam for a moment. Yas knew exactly where he was looking. Then the man smiled.
“They’re in the library,” called the man, pointing up at the front doors. “I went looking for them the other day,” he continued. “But he…”, he pointed at Sam. “He turned me away.”
Sam looked at Yas. Now he looked worried.
“He must be with them,” continued the man.
“Oh God, Sam,” said Yas, worried where this might go.
She pulled Sam inside and then locked the doors.
“We need to call the police,” Sam said, starting to run across the foyer to the main desk. Fortunately, Janine was already there.
“What’s the hurry?” she said, looking at her watch. “You’re not late… yet.”
“We’ve locked the doors,” said Yas, slightly out of breath.
“What’s going on?” asked Janine, standing to attention.
“Have you seen that crowd outside?” asked Sam, pointing towards the front. “There are two nutters goading people into action, to find the Word Guardians.”
Janine looked at them both in surprise.
“What are they doing, exactly?” she asked.
“There’s that guy from the other day, too,” added Sam. “He told them he went looking for us in the library.”
“He recognised Sam,” added Yas, concerned.
“I’ll call your dad,” Janine said, echoing Yas’s worries. She picked up the phone on the administration desk.
They looked across the foyer. They could see the crowd moving up the steps to the front doors.
“I have a really bad feeling about this,” said Yas, looking at Sam.
Raelinn and James made their way sideways through the trees. James was trying to get a better look at what was above them. He could just make out the tops of a wall, but nothing else. He was expecting a castle, but it wasn’t. He stopped for a moment, tired from the effort of walking across the mountainside. It was also cold, night starting to change to pre-dawn light. While hot from exertion, standing still immediately made him feel cold. He realised he was also hungry.
There was a sudden rustling around them. They looked up and watched as the forest around them transformed into fruit trees. Instead of tall pines and firs, now there were twisting branches, with leaves and blossoms appearing at a fast pace. James looked up, intrigued.
“What’s happening?” asked Raelinn.
“I don’t know,” he replied. “Another storyline, I guess. But I’m not sure what.”
The blossom bloomed and then faded, fruit growing out of the fading flowers. There was a mixture of colours and types. Apples, oranges and many more, started to form and grow.
“Food,” said James, wondering if this was in response to his hunger.
“I’m not so sure,” offered Raelinn, moving alongside James and looking up at the trees. She paused. “Although, thinking about it… I can’t remember when I last ate.”
She smiled at James with a knowing look.
“Nor me,” agreed James. “And I hope I’m not on the menu?”
“The fruit will have to do,” said Raelinn, playfully. She reached up for an apple, as James did likewise.
“I remember my mom telling me that apples were never good on an empty stomach,” he said, the memory coming back to him. “Too bitter!” He smiled.
Raelinn smiled back.
They each twisted the apple stalks and pulled gently. As they did so, the fruit started to rot, fungus like tentacles sprouting and grabbing their wrists.
“Ergh!” shouted Raelinn, shaking her hand free.
“What the…!” shouted James, grabbing at the tendrils with his free hand. He ripped it off and flung it back at the tree. “What the hell was that?”
“I don’t know,” said Raelinn, eyeing the apples on the tree, suspiciously. “This doesn’t look good.”
“It’s like some kind of twisted garden of Eden,” said James, backing away from the tree. As he did so, he noticed other trees also forming fruit.
“Or it’s just your thoughts,” suggested Raelinn. “You said they were too bitter!”
The fruit started to fall from the trees, dive-bombing the two of them.
“Yeah, but I didn’t want this!” retorted James, astonished. “You think I did it?”
They both shielded their faces. The apples rained down on them, trying to attach themselves. James and Raelinn ran back under the cover of the other trees.
The apples swarmed, twisting up and above the treeline, then dive-bombed back down again. James and Raelinn both stopped and ducked, trying to cover themselves and shield their faces.
“This is crazy!” shouted James, waiting for the apples to finish their attack. They moved past them and James and Raelinn ran further into the forest.
“Earlier, you told me they were my fears,” shouted Raelinn as they ran. “What are these apples to you?”
“What do you mean?” called James over his shoulder. He slipped and wasn’t able to catch himself. He slid down.
“What memory is driving the story?” shouted Raelinn from above.
James dug his feet in and stopped his slide. He looked up and watched the apples flying around. He thought about their quick lif
espan, from blossom to rotting fruit. It sparked a memory. He saw himself as a boy, sitting in a tree in his parent’s backyard, eating apples. Around the tree were apples that had already ripened and fallen.
“You’ve done it,” said Raelinn.
He looked up. The apples were falling out of the sky and landing nearby, no longer rotting. He reached out and picked up one such apple and realised that it was no longer a threat. He put it down gently and stood up.
“It was just a happy memory,” he said, brushing himself down. He’d slid a good twenty feet from Raelinn. He moved sideways and into a clearing that was forming from where the fruit trees had been. As if in response, the trees around him started to wither and collapse down into dust. It created a line up the mountain.
He slipped again on the dirt and sat down hard. Exhaustion hit him. He was cold, hungry and he had no idea when he’d last slept.
“We need somewhere to rest,” he said, miserably. “I feel like death warmed up.”
He realised the significance of what he’d said and looked up at Raelinn.
“Err, Sorry,” he added quickly. “I didn’t mean that the way it came out.”
“It’s okay,” she replied. She made her way down and sat next to him.
They looked down the valley. Near the horizon, the darkness of night was giving way to a gradually brightening orange. Dawn was approaching.
James realised the significance of that for Raelinn.
“What happens to you at sunrise?” he asked. “Do you… melt… or something?”
“As long as I’m not in direct light, I’ll be okay,” she reassured, touching his arm. She paused and smiled at him. “Thank you for thinking of me.”
James nodded. They both looked ahead glumly.
“What I’d give for some place safe, some warm food, and some shut-eye, right about now.” He looked at Raelinn. “You know?”
“Yes,” she replied. “Although, I’ve not known much of that in my life.”
There was a rumbling in the ground, coming from further up the mountain.
They both stood up instinctively and turned around to look in the direction of the sound. Something was unravelling above them and coming towards them, rapidly. Raelinn pulled James to the side and they just made it back under the cover of the trees as stone steps rolled down, squashing away the remains of the trees and fruit. The steps created a path to the top of the mountain, and to a wall and gate that now was visible above them.
“Come on,” said Raelinn. “I think we just found what we were looking for.”
“What if it’s just another twist?” protested James. Exhaustion was giving way to a bad mood.
“I have a different feeling about this,” urged Raelinn, stepping carefully across onto the stone stairway. “Come on!”
Raelinn moved ahead and climbed with renewed enthusiasm. James followed reluctantly and then gathered pace, as energy surged within him. He had no idea how or why, only that as he moved closer to the top of the steps, he felt happier.
Then, a few steps away from the top, large double wooden gates folded inwards. Raelinn stopped and looked at James. He moved next to her and also stopped. They peered through the opening gap. Inside was a large courtyard, with a winding path leading past a sculptured Zen sand garden to a structure that had a roof but no sides. Someone stood underneath it and, with the dim light around them, it was impossible to make out who it was.
“Ahh, Detective,” said the lady’s voice. “Good.”
James moved up the steps and peered further to try to see who had spoken. Out from the shadow of the building structure, stepped a familiar Asian lady, shuffling along in a long white coat. It was Y’an, the lady he had met in Ancient Alexandria, on very different terms.
She smiled at him. “At last, we meet again.” Then she gestured with her hand. “Come,” she said, pointing to two chairs that were forming themselves in front of her. “Sit.”
Outside the library, a crowd was amassing. People were pressed up against the doors, trying to force them open and make their way inside. More were behind, egging them on. There were shouts and chants, accompanying the rattling of the doors.
Janine put the phone down. “Backup is on its way.” She looked across the foyer towards the doors. “I think we should be safe, as long as they…”
There was a smash of glass as some of the protestors broke through with hammers.
They all jumped.
“What the hell!” exclaimed Sam, looking in that direction.
“We need to get everyone out,” commanded Janine. “Or into the staff room. We’re in lockdown.”
Janine moved to the library’s public address system. “We have a security incident. Will all patrons and staff move to the rear emergency exit immediately please. This is not a drill!”
Then she sounded the fire alarm briefly for three short bursts.
Yas and Sam ran off towards the stone staircase that led to the upper floors. Janine was right behind them.
“You two check the second floor,” she called out as she ran up the steps. “I’ll check the third.”
Patrons and two other staff members were making their way down the stairs, puzzled expressions on their faces.
“What’s going on?” one of the staff asked, as they ushered a patron in front of them.
“Protestors,” explained Janine as quickly as she could. She continued up the stairs and called behind her. “Keep away from the front. Leave only via the back doors if its safe. If not, get everyone into the staff room.”
They nodded, a little shell shocked.
“Backup is on its way,” she added as she continued round the steps to the third floor.
Yas and Sam reached the second floor and sprinted along the hall. They ran past sofas and easy chairs next to the large glass windows. On their other side ran the tall aisles of bookshelves.
“You check this side. I’ll check the other,” called Sam as he ran through one of the aisles to the back.
Yas nodded and she continued along by the windows to the end of the floor. A man was waiting there. He looked in bad shape. Her initial assessment was that he was homeless and looking for somewhere warm. But there was something else about him. He looked really ragged.
“The library is closed, Sir,” she said, although she felt as though ‘Sir’ was a stretch for the way that this man looked. “You need to leave now,” she said urgently.
“No, little Guardian,” he said coldly, in a raspy voice. “I don’t!”
Yas was stunned for a moment.
“We’re asking everyone to evacuate the building,” Yas continued with her rhetoric, trying to ignore the man’s comment. “You need to get to safety.”
“No. I don’t think so,” said another raspy voice. A second man came into view, pointing a knife at Sam, moving from the end of the aisles. Like the first man, he was dirty, ragged. But there was more. As he moved, he wasn’t quite fully formed. His skin kept lifting and showing slight gaps. It didn’t seem natural. Sam was backing away from him, raising his hands in a placating gesture.
“We need you to come with us,” said the second man.
“Where did you come from?” asked Yas, edging towards Sam. “You’re with the protest?”
“You’re what we came for,” answered the second man. He leered at her.
“What?” asked Yas, shocked.
“Orfeo wants you,” the first man rasped coolly.
“Orfeo?” Yas repeated. “What does he want with me?”
The second jabbed his knife at Sam to indicate which way he wanted him to move. He ushered Sam over to Yas.
“You okay?” she asked.
Sam nodded. He didn’t take his eyes off the man.
“You’re coming with us,” the first man stated calmly, opening a portal. The doorway stood in front of them, a white outline, fizzing, while the middle rippled. The reflection in the middle was full of light and gold. It was impossible to see where they might be going.
&
nbsp; “Where are you taking us?” asked Yas, grabbing Sam’s sleeve and pulling him towards the corner of the room. It was a mistake, she knew, but the only way in which she could keep the two men and the doorway in view.
Sam glanced at her briefly. He seemed calm, but also unsure what to do.
The two men moved forwards and grabbed them. Yas pulled at her captor, while Sam tried to grab at the knife. He tried to twist his way out of the hold, which he managed, only to find that the man fluidly retwisted his wrist and then disarmed Sam again. Sam looked at him in surprise. The man just smiled, his face cracking and displaying the ligaments, muscles and bone moving underneath.
“Who are you?” Sam asked. “Or more like, what are you?”
“Controllers, no doubt,” shouted Janine, emerging out of the other end of the aisles. Yas mused that Janine had a knack for moving around the library quietly.
She pushed her hands outwards at both men, then ducked into an aisle. The blast of energy hit Yas, Sam and their captors and threw them backwards.
The two men got to their feet again quickly and headed towards the aisle. The first man signalled silently to the second to go around one end, while he went the other way.
Sam looked at Yas.
“We’ve got to help,” he said, urgently.
Yas nodded.
They ran after the first man. He’d reached the aisle Janine had entered and he turned to follow her, then came flying back out of it as Janine had conjured more magic. He narrowly missed Yas and Sam.
“Go!” shouted Janine to Yas and Sam.
“Not without you,” replied Yas.
“I need you to go,” she said again sternly, looking at Yas.
“No,” said Sam.
The first man recovered himself and then made a grab for Yas. He sneered, his face and the structures holding it again out of step. His jaw smiled but Sam could see through to his back teeth.
Yas turned sharply, slamming her captor into the shelves. Sam threw punches and pulled Yas out of the way.
Janine grabbed the man and turned sharply in the confined space, sending him flying towards the second man. They collided and crumpled to the floor.
“Go,” shouted Janine, urging them forwards. They turned out of the aisle and started running along the hallway towards the stairs.
The Word Guardians: and the Twisting Tales Page 14