Mr. Linden's Library

Prologue

         I was on my way home when I noticed something that resembled an old school gymnasium which I had never seen before. "Strange" I murmured softly, I walked the same route from school everyday and yet somehow never noticed it. Out of curiosity I decided to have look inside. Once I had entered I saw row upon row of bookcases with books that seemed to be older than my great granny Higgins. Then I noticed an elderly man sitting on the desk directly in front of the entrance. "Hello" he said in an unwelcome tone. "Um, hi. Is this a bookstore by any chance?" I asked . The old man let out a frail laugh. "Do any of these books look new enough to sell boy?" he asked this as if I was a toddler. I've never much appreciated being treated like a child, so I said "Guess not, but at least these books are newer than you old man". Instead of becoming flustered he just smiled and said "You're probably right about that, and for your information this is a library". I had no idea what to say, so I just excused myself and had a look at the books. What a strange geezer he was, usually I could irritate them easily if I wanted to but this one was different. As I was wandering around a book caught my eye. It was a large book made out of brown leather with gold trimming on the edges and spine. I pulled it off the bookcase thinking it would be pretty heavy, but I was wrong. This book was as light as a feather but bigger than all the books that are smaller in size. The title of the book was "Mr. Linden's Library". I thought it was pretty cool so I took it to the old man and asked him if I could take it out. "You can take it out, but I must warn you. If you start reading this book you cant stop until it ends". I laughed hysterically. "Yeah, that sounds cool. I'll take it". He was treating me like an idiot again. "Ok then make sure you bring it back in two weeks" he said. "Alright, bye" I replied.

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        I got home around 7 pm because of my detour. Thankfully my parents were still at work. If they were here I'd be getting a lecture about how staying out late would get me jumped by hoodlums and what not, it's like they think I don't know any of that. I took off my shoes and went straight to my room. I then took the book out of my bag, laid down on my bed, and was about to start reading when my home phone rang. I walked out of my bedroom to the living room and than picked up the phone. "Packwit residence how may I help you?" I asked. "Hey Geff." it was my friend Henrick "I just wanted to call and remind you about the presentation tomorrow" he said. "Crud!" I yelled, I'd forgotten all about it. "OK, I'll figure something out. Thanks for reminding me". "No problem, see you tomorrow" he said before he hung up. I decided to hold off on reading the book so that I could get my presentation set up for tomorrow. I walked back up to my room and sat down on my mahogany desk directly across from my bed. I already had all the research material so I just needed to decide on how to present it. We were given 3 different ways we could present, we could present orally, with a movie, or as a skit. I didn't have enough time to make a movie or write a script so the obvious answer was to just present orally. I spent about an half an hour trying to write a speech but it was taking to long so I decided I would just read my research notes tomorrow and hope for the best. I put away my papers and laid down on my bed to have a nap when I realized how hungry I was. I walked downstairs to the kitchen and checked the fridge for any left overs. Sure enough there was some pasta that my mom had made the other day. I took a plateful and put in the microwave for a minute thirty. while I was waiting for it to finish heating up I saw my mom's car backing up into the driveway. The microwave finished heating up my food just before she turned her car off, so i took my food and walked up to my room quickly trying to get there before my mom could open the door. Thankfully I made it, i really didn't want her to know that I was having dinner at 8 pm. She'd ask me what I was doing and I'd have to tell her about the presentation that I forgot about. She'd be quite upset if she found out that I was doing it on the last day possible. I heard my mom's footsteps as she was climbing the stairs, several seconds later there was knocking on my door. "Geff? Are you there?" asked my mom. "Yea mom, I'm changing so don't open the door" I said while holding a fork full of pasta. "Ok, I'm going to go to bed early tonight. Don't stay up too late." she said as she walked away. After I was sure that she was gone I started shoving mouthfuls of pasta into my mouth as if I hadn't eaten in days. I finished up and took my plate downstairs in the kitchen sink. On my way back to my room I saw my dad sleeping on the couch. When did he get home? I didn't even hear the door open. I didn't really want to know why he was sleeping on the couch instead of his bed so I just walked back to my room quietly. Once I was inside my room I remembered about the book that I had gotten from the old man. I took the book of my desk and laid down on my bed with a yawn. This really was a strange book, never had I seen a book so big but feel so light. I opened the book and written on the center was "Welcome to Mr. Linden's Library". Suddenly my lights turned off and it was pitch black. Something that felt like a slimy bony hand grabbed me and covered my mouth. I felt drowzy all of sudden and fell asleep before I knew it.

He warned him about the book, and now it was too late.