TwoSpells

by Mark Morrison

  Liam paused for effect. “And then, of course, there is the most important subject of all: magic.”

  A sudden electronic buzzing stole away Liam’s attention. He moved a few feet away with his finger to his ear. He returned a moment later, frowning. “I apologize, everyone, but I’ve got some important business to attend to. Go explore! Have fun. I’ll try to rejoin you later on.”

  With half his entourage at his back, he disappeared into the crowd. The other half stayed with Sarah and her family.

  She looked around at the busy library, trying to take it all in. Curious strobing white lights flickered all over the library, blinking on and off and then fading slowly. A giant colorful Ferris wheel rotated just beyond the information desk where Sarah and Jon stood. Several young boys were being chased by security, laughing as they darted through the crowd. A purple hot air balloon bounced against the domed ceiling, as a half dozen children inside its wicker cargo basket tossed water balloons onto the children below. The tie ropes that dangled from below its basket had several monkeys dangling from it, trying to bring it down.

  Across from that, a couple of miniature single person aircraft flown by two-dimensional cartoon characters buzzed about the library. A loud train whistle roared as an enormous burst of steam poured into the air directly in front of them, blinding them momentarily. A monstrous black train appeared from a pulsing ring of light atop a table and barreled through the library. Security pulled Sarah and Jon back as it crashed through several tables and continued on through bookcase after bookcase. Several more teams of security burst out from seemingly nowhere, chasing after it on squat military motorcycles with over-sized sidecars attached. Guards were waving and barking orders at everyone to get out of the way. The motorcycle teams lassoed ropes to the train in an effort to slow its momentum.

  Above them, winged alien critters flew through the rafters of the building shrieking and squawking. Security archers slung glowing arrows into them, shrinking the creature’s wings to tiny stubs that flailed about uselessly. They crashed to the floor wounded and bellowing as they were netted.

  Other creatures ambled about the library trying to avoid direct contact with anyone, appearing to be embarrassed or petrified at suddenly entering their world.

  “Jon, can you believe this place?” Sarah asked.

  “It’s amazing!” Jon replied, ducking away from a dive bombing paper airplane.

  “No wonder Grandma and Grandpa love this place,” Sarah said. She stepped out of the way of an incoming water balloon that splashed colored water across her legs. “It’s like a carnival, a circus, a video game, and a fun house all in one!”

  “But better!” Jon cheered, high fiving a passing yellow gorilla and snatching a bright blue banana from the bunch it was carrying on its shoulder.

  “Don’t eat that!” Sarah scolded, slapping it from his hand.

  “Why not?” Jon asked, picking it up. “Five second rule!”

  “Cause it’s not real,” Sarah said, snatching it from him and tossing it away.

  “It certainly felt real,” Jon said. He watched, disappointed as it bounced across the stone floor before being sucked up by a passing animated vacuum cleaner. It burped loudly and spit the blue banana peel out.

  A rather stern looking woman dressed in a gray tweed business suit and black high heels approached them. Her mousy brown hair was pulled back so ridiculously tight that she struggled to blink properly. Several yellow pencils protruded from her bun and she wore thick, red horn rimmed glasses.

  Sarah turned and saw that her grandparents had quickly shuffled off in the opposite direction.

  “You two must be first timers,” the woman said, her voice shrill. “Would ya’ fancy some help?”

  “I guess so. Who are you?” Sarah asked.

  “I’m Miss Quakenbush, the Chief Librarian,” she said, watching Sarah’s grandparents disappear in the crowd.

  “Well it was nice meeting you,” Sarah said, taking Jon by the arm and trying to walk away.

  “Where do ya’ think you’re goin’?” she asked, stepping in front of them.

  “Out to find some books Miss Quakster,” Jon replied.

  “Not without ah’ proper library card, ya’ won’t!” she said, glaring at Jon. “And it’s Quaken—bush.”

  “How do we get one of those?” Sarah asked.

  A flash of green flowing silk suddenly bounded between them. Liam was back. “I’ll personally vouch for them, ma’am. They’re friends of mine.”

  “Oh! I’ll—I’ll get them set up then,” she stammered, marching away.

  Jon grinned at Liam, signaling for a high five. “Thanks, man!”

  Liam reluctantly high fived him. “Use security, please. They’ll act as guides too.”

  “Thank you,” Sarah said. “You’re sweet.”

  “Just doing my job,” Liam said, directing them to the front desk. “Let’s get those cards.”

  “Why aren’t you guiding us?” Jon asked.

  Liam leaned down close to the children. “I know you’ve been warned about some of the dangers here right?”

  Sarah and Jon both nodded.

  “And the missing text?”

  Again they nodded.

  “There’s a disease—a virus that’s found its way into this world and it has mutated into something far more sinister than we ever imagined,” Liam whispered, looking about so others wouldn’t hear. “I’ve been told that my team may know where the text is.”

  Both children momentarily looked to one another and then lowered their gaze. Liam reached over and tilted their faces upward. “Let’s get you two library cards.”

  When they arrived at the front desk, Miss Quakenbush was fumbling with a box of index cards. She spilled a box of them across the desk in her rush.

  “Sorry! Sorry!” she stammered, fumbling them back into the box. “Well, go ahead and stand in front of the camera, then.”

  “A camera?” Sarah asked. “What for?”

  Liam put an arm on her back and led her into the correct place to stand. “No need to worry. Standard procedure here. It’s for identification purposes. TwoSpells is much more than your average library.”

  The antiquated camera snapped. There was a blinding flash and a puff of smoke. Sarah stepped aside, temporarily blinded, and let Jon take his turn next.

  “Yes, yes. Very good,” Miss Quakenbush scribbled down some notes. She inserted two small cards into a gizmo that gyrated and whizzed, puffs of smoke spewing from one side and then the other. A jet of brilliant colorful sparks sprayed out the opposite side and she slammed her hand against the machine a few times.

  “Seems ta’ be havin’ ah’ bit of ah’ rough mornin’,” she snapped, flipping a trap door open on its side and peering into its inner workings.

  The librarian reached up and pulled a large mechanical contraption down. It appeared to be a periscope of some kind.

  “Place your chin here, please,” the librarian instructed.

  Sarah went first, peering into the device. A series of wild, colorful lights swam into view—flashing, whizzing and twirling about hypnotically. It nearly made her sick to her stomach. When her vision went dark, she took a step back to allow Jon his turn.

  A brass bell hanging above the children chimed loudly. There was a mechanical whirring sound and two fresh library cards spat out onto a small copper ramp, sliding delicately up to their waiting hands. They both grinned at each other.

  The cards were a thin, flexible gold that shimmered as the light caught them. Printed in the center of each was a small illustration of the peculiar mechanical gizmo at the entrance of the Door-of-Doors. Other than that, they were blank.

  “What kind of library cards are these?” Sarah asked, holding hers out toward Liam. “There’s nothing on them.”

  “Ah, far from nothing, I assure you. You’ve imprinted on them, you see. Like a baby bird to its mother,” Liam replied. “You’ve signed it with a sort of—mental signature.”

&nbs
p; “Cool,” Jon said, touching the card to his temple and shoving it into his pocket.

  Sarah was a bit skeptical but didn’t argue. Liam winked at the librarian then nudged the kids in the direction of the library books.

  They rejoined their grandparents in the main hall. A band of six strange, anemic children were hanging around the nearby bookshelves. They stared back at Sarah and Jon, huddled together and chattering, skin as pale as milk and dark circles around their eyes.

  “Who are they?” Jon asked.

  Liam leaned down, keeping his voice low. “Flunkies. Flicker junkies. The walking dead. They’re addicted to the rush of flickering through books. I run them out of here at least once a week but somehow they make it back through security each time.”

  Grandpa shook his head. “Kids these days…”

  As Liam stormed toward the flunkies, they scattered and ran, stumbling into a giant fish tank, sending it crashing to the ground. He turned back to Sarah and Jon. “Steer clear of them. Do you understand?”

  Both Sarah and Jon nodded. Behind them, a lanky kid with a mop of brown hair galloped past on a purple giraffe. Liam mumbled into his headset and two security guards sped off after him.

  Chaos erupted around them. Liam barked into his headset and took off for a nearby table. Two members of the security team dragged one of the scrawny boys over to Liam and threw him down in a chair.

  He was sweating profusely, his eyes bloodshot and dilated and clutching a huge book tightly under his armpit. Liam extended his hand in greeting. “How are you, young man?”

  He trembled, refusing to release the massive book to shake hands. “F-f-fine, Sir.”

  “How old are you?”

  He lowered his gaze. “Thirteen, Sir.”

  “You look hungry. Can I get you something?”

  The boy shook his head. “No thank you, Sir. Just need ta’ do some readin’.”

  The flunky’s hands shook and twitched after he mentioned reading. The book slipped slightly and he almost dropped it, exposing the title. Liam cast the boy a weak smile and snatched the book from his hands. The boy turned red with embarrassment and grinned, showing that he was missing about half of his teeth.

  Liam glanced down at the binding. “Varney the Vampire, huh? That’s a lot of story for a young reader like you. That’s gotta be a half million words, can a boy like you handle a full flicker of that caliber?”

  The boy grinned, his teeth cracked and brown. “Heck, I’ve done it ah’ couple ah’ times already today.”

  Liam gave a weak smile. “We’ll get you the help you need.”

  With a simple nod to security, two guards scooped the boy up by the arms and lifted him away. He kicked and fought them weakly, his hands shaking as he reached back toward the table. “Just one more time. That’s all. I’ll stop after that. I promise.”

  He slumped in the grip of the guards as they toted him away. Sarah looked to Liam. “Is he going to be all right?”

  Liam didn’t answer. He just stared after the boy.

  “What’s flickering?” Jon asked, breaking the silence.

  “Well, technically, flickering is the act of moving someone or something through inter-dimensional vortexes, one dimension to another. It’s what the enchantment of TwoSpells embodies. Escapism from the Earthly restraints of our singular world. It’s the reason this is a Sanctuary for our kind only,” Liam explained. “But it might be easier to think of it as a way to travel into a story book and experience the beautiful world inside or sometimes—an ugly one.”

  Sarah gasped. “You mean, actually go inside of a book? Like actually go there?”

  “That’s precisely what I mean,” Liam replied. “Here at TwoSpells, when someone opens a book and begins reading it, he or she becomes emotionally and psychologically invested. There’s a bit of science and chemistry mumbo-jumbo I could bore you with, but the enchantment whisks you away—transporting you into the story.”

  Sarah was confused. “It sounds more like science than magic.”

  Liam seemed to think that over a bit before responding. “Is there science behind the magic or magic behind the science?”

  Sarah wasn’t sure she quite understood. Jon didn’t either, but he didn’t seem to care.

  “Obviously, it’s a bit more complicated than just cracking open a book, but once you get the hang of it you’ll find the experience to be invigorating—life changing, even. As long as you do so responsibly. Know your limits. Know how to keep yourself safe. You don’t want to end up like—” Liam nodded in the direction the flunky was dragged away. “Simply choose a story, open it to the place and time you’re interested in visiting, touch your library card against the book, begin reading and there you go! You’ve opened a path directly inside. Once the book is closed, that path vanishes.”

  “Any part of the story?” Jon asked. “How about where it gets really good, like a giant battle with a dragon? Or a thousand soldiers?”

  Liam smiled. “Absolutely. Beginning, middle, end—it makes no difference. Just don’t leap through a portal into an active volcano or the middle of the ocean, okay? But you must read from that point to trigger the enchantment and continue reading until the portal has opened.”

  “What if you don’t understand the language of the book?” Sarah asked.

  “Great question,” Liam said. “It doesn’t matter that you speak the language, it only matters that you can read the words. A reader doesn’t need to understand what they’re reading. Just speak the words aloud or in your head and the enchantment takes care of the rest.”

  “What if you can’t read?” Jon asked.

  “I’m afraid no amount of magic can fix that problem,” Liam said. “TwoSpells is a library after all.”

  Both of them laughed and nodded in agreement.

  “Now, the first thing that’s going to happen is you’re going to feel a strange tingling in your hands. Then, they’ll turn a ghostly white and a steady vibration will start at the tip of your fingers. It’ll move through your entire body, converting it into pure energy. Keep reading, otherwise you’ll break the spell. Am I clear?” Liam asked.

  “Yeah,” Sarah replied. “Reading is like turning the key, right?”

  “More like stepping on the accelerator,” Liam said.

  “Awesome!” Jon cheered.

  Sarah shushed him. “Pay attention!”

  Liam didn’t seem to mind though. He seemed to enjoy Jon’s excitement. “At that point your body is going to flash and flicker like a light bulb burning, opening a gateway into the story. You’ll still be able to see, hear, smell, taste, and move.

  “You’ll first pass through the portal, along with, of course, anybody you care to bring with you. But prepare yourselves mentally because you’ll suddenly be launched at hyper speed into the new dimension. No matter where you read from in the book, the enchantment will transport you to the beginning of the first chapter, calibrating time and space relative to your three-dimensional world. Once there, you’ll fast forward through the story to your chosen place. It’s quite disorienting at first, but you’ll catch on eventually.”

  “Cool! Like a roller coaster!” Jon exclaimed. “Let’s find a book!”

  Sarah frowned. “Okay. So we open the book, begin reading, a door opens and then we go in? Have I got all that right?”

  “Yes,” Liam said, nodding. “And whatever reality or point of view that’s written in the book, will become yours. The laws of physics are a constant in whichever reality you or they are in. The author has shaped their world to their own liking and you are simply along for the ride. Once the portal is open, anything or anyone can pass in either direction. To leave the story, simply open the book to any point in the story and begin reading backward. Finally, the most important rule of all: you are a witness only. Do not participate. Do not attempt to change the story. You may end up trapped there—or worse. Simple enough, right?”

  Sarah swallowed hard. “Let’s do it.”

  CHAPTER 20


  JON AND SARAH STARED BLANKLY at the wide variety of options that lay before them.

  “Where to Sis?” Jon asked.

  Sarah shrugged. “I don’t know.”

  “How about we pick a warlock story?” Jon asked, looking to the bodyguards for approval.

  All four shook their head.

  “Doesn’t look like that’s going to happen then,” Sarah muttered.

  “Do you have a better idea?”

  “How about we start with a children’s book?” Sarah suggested, tentatively watching for the bodyguards’ approval.

  This time they nodded.

  “Which one?” Jon asked.

  Sarah thought for a moment. “Hey! Remember that story about a young pig who goes to an obedience school for dogs?”

  “I think so,” Jon replied.

  Number One cracked a smile and signaled for the kids to wait as he loped toward the children’s book section.

  “Is he going to get it?” Sarah asked the other guards.

  “Aye,” Number Two said. “Get pig book.”

  Several minutes later, One returned and handed the book to Sarah. “Good book.”

  “This is it!” she cried, flipping through the pages. “Thank you Mr. One, Sir.”

  “Follow,” One ordered. He guided them to a more private area.

  Sarah glanced back at the front counter before following Jon and the team. Someone was talking to the librarian, but her view was partially obscured. It looked like Clyde. Sarah grabbed Jon by the arm and pointed. “Look!”

  “What?” Jon asked, peering around.

  “I think I just saw Clyde,” Sarah told him, searching through the throng of patrons. “I swear it was him.”

  Jon frowned. “Come on. It was probably just someone who looked like him. What would he be doing here?”

  Sarah didn’t respond, but kept glancing back as she followed after Jon.