Chapter 5
Journey to the Great Library
That night, Marcus could not think let alone sleep. Every time he would close his
eyes, he could see the symbols appearing again. And there was no point writing them
out anymore, he had already covered the entire room that he was sleeping, the walls,
the floor, even across his arms – this is getting ridiculous! Especially, as it made
absolutely no sense to anyone.
Across the building, Richard also sat awake, looking through the books and the
illustrations that Marcus had doodled everywhere. Even Arthur and Amy could not
sleep; they were working on defence strategies and were incredibly paranoid that the
Dark-Tec armies would attack in full force.
‘What do you think about the boy? I mean what is he going to do?’ Amy asked.
‘I am not sure, but I have full faith in Richard and he knows what he’s doing. We just
need to do our jobs and defend this town, with our lives if we have to!’
‘They will come to get him. Won’t they?’
Arthur did not reply, but his silence was enough to confirm it.
He had gathered the limited weapons they had. Although they had some of the more
advanced weaponry, which they recovered from the Dark-Tec robots that they
managed to defeat, it was nothing in comparison to what they would be faced with.
This is why Arthur dedicated so much of his time in designing weapons, like his
infamous arrow guns and remarkable swords and daggers.
Around the town, it seemed as though everyone was still awake including the First
Politician and his followers. They were all gathered together having a discussion
about Marcus.
‘The boy has these...these things all in his head. These things we don’t understand and
can’t do anything with; are we willing to die for this?’ The First Politician said
quietly, still in pain from the wound on his shoulder.
‘But what about the legends, all the stories about the boy?’ One of his followers, a tall
and well-built man, asked.
‘Fairytales! They are just stories told to children to give them hope. They are lies!’ He
hissed.
‘What’s the plan then?’ The man asked.
‘We kill Richard!’ The First Politician said in a deep and evil voice.
‘But... kill? Are you sure? It’s Richard; he has done so much for us and what about
Arthur?’
‘What Richard has done for us does not give him the right to get us all killed now...
does it?’
His followers stared at one another, not entirely convinced that this was a good idea.
‘I don’t know about killing the old man! I definitely don’t want to cross Arthur.’
Another man spoke out.
‘Fine! Let’s all just sit here and let the Dark-Tec forces come and tear us from limb to
limb, not to mention what they will do to our children!’
‘What about Arthur? He will never let any harm come to Richard.’ The tall, well built
man spoke again.
‘Don’t worry about Arthur; I will deal with him myself!’
Back in Marcus’ room, a feeling of unease was building further as Marcus began
assuming that what was happening to him would never end. That he would black-out,
continuously hallucinate, eventually become an insomniac and die an arcane and
horrible death.
Marcus could hear a gentle knocking, and instantly assumed that it was his mind
playing tricks on him. The knocking sounded again, only louder this time. It was
coming from the wooded door. Marcus crept out of bed and staggered to the door,
adrenaline feeding his muscles.
‘Who is it?’ Marcus called, not expecting anyone at this late hour.
‘It’s me Nicole... well, are you going to let me in?’ She whispered loudly. Marcus
opened the door and she rushed in with a long hooded cloak. She removed the cloak
and smiled brightly.
‘I thought you might not be able to sleep. I heard what happened at the library, are
you ok?
‘Yeah... I think so.’ Marcus replied and yawned widely.
‘What’s wrong with you... sorry... I didn’t mean it like that.’
‘It’s ok, I really don’t know.’
‘Well, I couldn’t sleep either. I want to go.’
‘Go where?’ Marcus asked.
‘I want to go to the great library, you know, the one on the outside.’ Her eyes were
now glowing.
There was another light knock on the door. ‘It’s ok,’ Nicole said and quietly opened
the door.
‘This is Thomas, Ryan, Mary and Louise.’ Nicole introduced the little group young
girls and boys creeping in.
‘It’s nice to meet you.’ Thomas smiled and put out his chubby hand. And they all
spent a few minutes getting acquainted.
‘So what’s the plan? Ryan said in a husky voice. Ryan was older than the rest of them
by a year and a little taller than his average height. He had scruffy brown hair and had
a long and pointy nose, which had a small arch in the middle as if he had broken it
when he was younger.
‘We go tonight.’ Nicole said in a hushed voice.
‘I really don’t know about this...’ Mary stuttered. Mary was the youngest from them
all and often behaved like it as well. Absolutely everything frightened her, so it was
no surprise that what they were about to do made her tremble beyond her control.
‘Where are you going again?’ Marcus asked.
‘The great Library!’ Thomas mumbled while stuffing the remains of piece of bread
into his mouth.
‘Well, are we going or what?’ Louise said in confidence and already walking towards
the door. She tied up her long blonde hair tightly and zipped up her short black coat.
They all knew she meant business when she tied her hair up, seeing as she was always
so paranoid about her unusually large forehead.
‘Are you coming?’ Nicole said looking at Marcus. Marcus still in shock, now realised
that they had been scheming this for a while and had just added him spontaneously to
their well-rehearsed plan.
Marcus, not knowing what to do and distinctly remembering Richard’s strict orders
for not doing anything stupid, thought: ‘what the hell.’ In single file, they all crept
out, trying not to make a noise. They were so careful in not alerting anyone that had
already prepared silent commands and signals, which although Marcus was not
familiar with, got the gist quickly.
They silently ran through the narrow and dim corridors, almost comically, tip-toeing
past the closed doors where people lay fast asleep. As they got closer to the outside of
the small and populated area, they were faced with the tall-standing barricades. That
prevented anyone from getting through; there were no holes, gaps and absolutely no
possibility of climbing over.
‘What now?’ Thomas asked, huffing and puffing.
‘These are solid!’ Marcus said stroking the steel.
‘Well, we could let Thomas eat his way through!’ Louise remarked. Everyone paused
for a moment, and then burst out in laughter.
‘Ha ha... very funny... very funny!’ Thomas said, annoyed and rolling his eyes. Nicole
stopped laughing and had her game-face on, ‘come on, down here.’ She began
walking towards a square metal slab on the floor. It looked like t
he entrance to a
sewage system. Nicole wrapped her fingers tightly around the thin bars running across
the middle of the slab and pulled. ‘A little help here...’ they all began tugging at the
slab and after a lot of struggle they managed to open it. Instantly, nerves began to get
the best of all of them and the thought of turning back became incredibly appealing.
Mary made her feelings very clear, ‘guys, I have a real bad feeling about this. I think
we should turn back.’
‘We have talked about this; we did not come this far to turn back.’ Nicole grabbed
hold of Mary’s shoulders, ‘It’ll be fine. Trust me!’ If it was one thing that Mary did
do, it was have full faith in Nicole. Nicole was like an older sister to Mary, the closest
thing to family that she had. She smiled nervously then nodded.
Nicole poked her head inside and noticed the metal ladders running down but it was
too dark to see the bottom. She gently stepped into the small hole in the ground and
began climbing down, ‘hand me a lamp from the bag. Thomas, who was carrying the
small black rucksack, quickly removed a small lamp light; he lit it and handed it over
to her. As she shone the light below, she noticed the ground was very far below and
the ladder was not as secure as it first appeared. ‘Right, I don’t think this ladder will
hold much weight, so it’s going to have to be single file. When I get to the bottom I
will call you and the next person comes down. Ok?’ They all nodded in approval.
Climbing down the gloomy and lifeless hole, she noticed great metal pipes running
across the walls of it. The pipes looked old and rusty, there was no sound and signs of
any living creature inside – no rats, mice and not even spiders dwelled here. It was
creepy to say the least. Once they had all found their way to the dark and dingy
ground of the hole, they discovered a tunnel running directly underneath the
barricades on the surface and the tunnel was heading to the outside.
‘You knew about this?’ Marcus asked Nicole, surprised at how clear the path was to
the outside.
‘No, but I was relying on something like this being around.’ She smiled nervously.
‘It’s huge... and... dark.’
‘There are more lamps in the bag. Get them out.’ Louise said pointing at Thomas’s
bag.
‘There may be no need...’ Ryan said while looking carefully at the wall of the tunnel.
He ran his hand across the wall, feeling the small metal pipes and following some
wires to a black and silver leaver sticking out of the wall. ‘If I’m right then this
should...’ he pulled the leaver down. But nothing happened. ‘Oh...I thought that...’
suddenly there were bright lights throughout the tunnel; they blinked rapidly a few
times before turning on fully.
They all smiled as the dark tunnel had become as bright as day. ‘See... not just a
pretty face!’ Ryan remarked, covering his eyes from the sudden emergence of bright
light.
‘This was the first time they had seen electricity so powerful. In the town everything
ran on generators, the main source of power was cut off by the Dark-Tec Empire.
From the world almost climaxing to the greatest technological innovations, to rapidly
declining to the medieval times – this was the world now, no proper sewers, no
powerful electricity, no super weaponry. Everything was running on windmills and
some areas used solar power.
The brightness of the light did not, however, alter its dark and haunting feel, and the
revolting smell was now unbearable. Murky water waved up to their ankles and its
cold temperature sent chills running up their legs, rippling through their spines and
eventually giving them Goosebumps on the back of their necks.
'My feet feel like they are turning into ice blocks!' Mary whined.
'Come on, keep moving!' Nicole stressed. Ryan was already far ahead of everyone but
was now stood frozen, staring at something poking out of the water. It was definitely
metal but was so old that rust had manifested itself all over it like a thick layer of
paint. The combination of dirt and rust made the shape or any distinct detail of the
object unrecognisable. Ryan rubbed the top vigorously and exposed a faint logo.
'What is it?' Mary asked. Ryan shrugged his shoulders. Marcus on the other hand,
knew exactly what it was – it was the same logo he had printed on his card and that he
saw engraved on the computer in the hidden room.
'I really don't think that is a good idea! And I can no longer feel my feet!' Mary
continued to moan.
'Let's keep moving!' Nicole crept around the strange object in the water. Further down
the tunnel, there were more similar type objects scattered around.
'How are we going to get to the surface?' Thomas asked.
'Everyone keep an eye out for an exit up above, like the one we used to get down
here.' Nicole's voice echoed and they continued walking briskly.
‘What’s that noise? Mary said looking behind her.
‘What noise? I can’t hear anything.’ Ryan said. ‘It’s probably Thomas’s tummy
rumbling!’ He chuckled to himself.
But there was a sound, it was faint but they all heard it. It was like water moving, as if
something was shuffling and splashing.
‘It’s probably just rats! Let’s get a move on.’ Nicole said, not sounding convincing at
all. None of them were really convinced with her take on what it was, but her
recommendation of getting a move on was definitely an appealing proposal and they
began moving fast. The sound that was lurking behind them was now following them
and gradually getting louder. Mary was now so frightened that she was unable to
speak and found it impossible to control the aggressive shudders had now possessed
her entire body. Although she already had an overly pale complexion, she had now
turned almost blue in fear. They all knew there was no turning back now.
‘They don’t sound like rats to me!’ Mary whispered.
‘Yeah me neither!’ Thomas said hurrying along. But after judging the intensity of the
sound building up, they knew they would not be able to outrun whatever it was. Mary
subtly hid behind Nicole, who was doing well in hiding the fact that she absolutely
petrified. Ryan looked around and found a lose metal pipe running across the wall. He
ripped it off the wall and held it out in front of him like a sword, ‘quickly, everybody
get behind me!’ He shouted. They all huddled together, gently stepping back; Mary
screamed as the lights began to flicker.
‘It’s ok, hold my hand.’ Nicole held Mary’s hand tightly; Nicole could feel her pulse
thumping rapidly. Fear suddenly burst into them and fizzed through their bodies like
carbonated water, as the lights suddenly died. And everything went pitch black. They
all screamed hysterically, even Ryan.
‘Shh...’ Marcus hissed, ‘what is that?’
‘How are we supposed to know? We can’t see a thing!’ Thomas shouted.
Although Marcus could not see anything, he could sense something – something that
made him feel very uneasy. Everything began to feel surreal as the intense sentiment
of fear was imprisoning them like a stray-jacket, suffocating them. Marcus could feel
something circling them, almost tau
nting them – playing on their anxiety. Terror
began clenching tighter as a squeaking sound appeared, it sounded like metal scraping
together and being crushed.
Thomas began rummaging frantically though his bag, praying that there were more
lamps. But in his panic he dropped the bag, ‘damn it!’ he shouted and fell to his
knees, searching blindly for the bag. While on the floor, he felt something brush past
him, it was hard and cold and didn’t feel human. After a few moments, frozen, he
stood up and his legs were shaking like a leaf and his hair stood up straight as if twohundred
and fifty watts rushed through his body. Sweat oozed out of his forehead like
a sudden gush of monsoon rain and his eye lids flapped similar to powerful
windscreen wipers. His stomach turned to jelly and he formed the sudden urge to
vomit.
‘Nicole... Ryan? Anyone?’ He called out, helplessly. ‘Ok seriously this is not funny!
Where are you guys?’
‘Any joy on those lamps?’ Nicole asked. ‘Thomas?’
‘Guys! Where’s Thomas?’
‘He was getting the lamps out of his bag. Ok, everyone just stop!’ Ryan said and they
all stopped shuffling through the tunnel.
‘Thomas! Thomas!’ They all called aloud.
‘Hey, where are you guys?’ Thomas’ faint voice echoed in the distance.
Thomas could hear their voices but couldn’t quite tell which direction they were
coming from. The strange thing that was now circling him, taunting him to tears,
began making an ear-piercing shriek. Thomas screamed almost equally as loud and
ran manically.
Nicole and the rest heard the loud sounds and could now see small flashes of lights.
Running in that direction, they could see Thomas scampering as fast as his chubby
legs could carry him. They all suddenly stopped, concreted in shock as they saw what
was in the shadows behind him – it was humongous. It had four legs that looked like
thin, long, metal towers. It crawled smoothly like a spider, its legs in perfect sync,
keeping perfect balance for its enormous round ball-like body. It had a circular hole in
the centre of its body which was bursting out huge flashes of light and like a camera
flash it blinked rapidly. Everything about this eerie object made them all shiver.
‘Run!’ Nicole shouted, almost having a fit from the flashes.
They all ran as fast as they could. A sudden gush of cold air hit Ryan in the face as
something whooshed past him landing in front and splashing the murky water like a
drizzle of rain everywhere. They stopped running when a similar type object surfaced
from the water. It was smaller; the light coming from it was considerably dimmer and
the hellish sound somewhat quieter, but had the same menacing aura.
Ryan began swinging the metal pipe recklessly, but the object was fast and even when
he managed to strike a blow, it took it painlessly. They all huddled together as the
two objects came edging closer from both sides. There was nowhere to run and
nowhere to hide. Thomas closed his eyes as the objects came so close that he could
taste the rust floating in the moist filled air. Nicole pulled Marcus behind her,
regretting leaving the town. Marcus was staring at the objects and noticed the same
symbol that he's been seeing everywhere, stamped on both of them. Although
frightened out of his skin, he valiantly stepped forward, moving Nicole out of the
way. What the hell is he doing? They were all baffled.
Miraculously, the objects hesitated and paused in their tracks. Then one suddenly
screamed as a large shinning arrow successfully pierced its metal body from behind
and the point tore out from the front. The object turned in fury and faced a tall shadow
of a man – a man who was swiftly walking towards them. Marcus and his new friends
all stared in shock but leapt out of their skin as the object from behind them shot over
them like a ball being shot out of a canon. It landed violently beside its comrade;
menacingly, facing the shadow that was now running towards them. Nicole knew that
she should be shouting at the others to run but was compelled to watch what was
about to happen – they all were.
The man ran out if the dark and sprung into the air and landed on top of the larger
object. By now, it had become crystal clear that it was Arthur.
Nicole sighed in relief but instantly began dreading consequences for leaving the
town.
Arthur swiftly removed a long and shimmering sword from a strap on his back and
stabbed it with force, penetrating the top and making the object unsteady on its metal
legs. A small metal flap slid open and a long barrel of a weapon peered out. When
Arthur notices this, he leapt off and landed on the other object; the first one began
shooting small beams of blue which began impacting the smaller object and Arthur
leapt off just before the smaller one collapsed to the ground. Arthur, using all his
might, swung his sword and launched it like a missile into the hole from where the
blinking light was coming from on the object and as it impacted, it stumbled back, its
legs gave way and it crashed to the ground causing a small tremor. Arthur removed
his sword out of it and made sure it was dead.
'You made that look easy!' Nicole smiled nervously.
'What the hell were you thinking?' Arthur said angrily. His penetrating gaze
frightening them almost as much as the monstrous objects they just faced. And
although baffled at why the objects hesitated with Marcus, they just were more
worried about Arthur's wrath. Marcus stood puzzled and instantly knew that the
shadow of his mysterious past was catching up to him. And although his mind was
still relatively blank, something kept drawing him back to that familiar symbol.
Thomas ran forward, veiling his fear with a subtle smile, 'sir, it wasn't my idea, I
swear!'
'Shut up!' Arthur's strong and deep voice echoed. Thomas' cheeks were glowing as he
lowered his head and tried to hide in the darkness.
Ryan flashed a brave smile as Arthur approached closer, 'I expected more from you!'
Arthur spoke with his teeth tightly clenched together.
'I know... I shouldn't have let them come out. I'm sorry.'
'No, I meant you should have at least taken the smaller one out!' Arthur removed a
smaller but equally as sharp sword and handed it to Ryan. Ryan could not contain his
excitement and smiled to the point that his cheek bones began to ache. 'Wow!' He
began swinging the sword like a child. Arthur continued drifting down the tunnel, we
can't go back, they're all waking up! We need to move quickly and find another way
out!'
Within seconds, rivers of hideous shadows began flooding in the distance and Arthur's
voice began sinking to a husky whisper, 'let's move, now!'
They stealthy drifted like silent clouds being pushed by a punishing wind, wondering
deep into the abyss of this danger-filled tunnel. Anxiety multiplied when they realised
that they had been walking for hours with no exit in sight.
'I'm tired. Can't we stop for a bit?' Thomas moaned.
'That's a good idea fat boy; why don't you wait, they'll be busy with your tub of lard
and give us a chance to get away!' Ryan remarked with a boyish grin.
'That's not funny!'
Thomas complained, looking towards Arthur as if he expected
Arthur to condemn that hurtful comment. But Arthur was struggling to contain his
laughter and just assertively remarked, 'we... need to keep moving!' He turned in the
other direction, desperately trying to not show his amused face.
‘Where were you going?’ Arthur asked Nicole.
‘To... to the great library...’ She stuttered.
‘You know your quest to find out about your parents is going to get you killed!’
‘I need to, it’s something I just need to do – O forget it! You’ll never understand!’
‘Hey, I do understand kid! But it’s too dangerous to come out here, and you took
Marcus with you!’
‘I’m sorry...’
‘Hey, I chose to come myself – she didn’t make me do it! Marcus said, indicating that
he was present.
‘Well, that’s sweet...’ Arthur mumbled – rolling his eyes. Nicole looked at Marcus
and smiled brightly; her eyes silently whispering: thank you.
A loud whistle from the cold breeze echoed violently.
‘There must be a way out around here! That wind must be coming from somewhere.’
Louise said, marching ahead of everyone else. Mary’s eyes began welling up and her
legs became stiff, ‘I can’t walk anymore.
‘Look, over there!’ Marcus pointed to a small gap in the roof of the tunnel. It had a
narrow and frail looking ladder leading up to it. And as they approached closer a
roaring gust of wind hit them in the face and it became obvious that the gap led to the
surface.
Arthur climbed the ladder and brutally shoved the small door a few times to get it
open. Peeping his head out discreetly, he looked around to ensure the coast was clear
and then gestured for them to come up.
It felt as though days had gone by since they last witnessed the sky. The darkness was
rapidly dissolving and the small, sparkling spotlights were turning off one-by-one.
Fiery rays of golden sunlight tore through the dark inky-blue sky as they trekked
through areas that they had only heard, the most terrifying, stories about. Even Arthur,
the raging lion, was looking a little pale – nerves had broken into his tough exterior
and manifested themselves in the shape of subtle goose bumps.
‘It’s so quiet...’ Nicole remarked.
‘Yeah, this is weird,’ said Ryan.
‘It’s creepy!’ Mary muttered.
‘So, where to know?’ Nicole asked Arthur, fluttering her eyelids.
‘I guess we’re going to have to find this library in-case you pull another dim-witted
stunt! Nicole bit her lip in excitement and had a goofy smile that she couldn’t hide.