Caespes

Chapter 8

Leo took off running towards the library. He didn't know why he was running; he hadn't done anything wrong yet. He had snuck out of his house only minutes before, equipped with only a flashlight and a small paperclip. He hoped against hope that the lock was simple enough. He connected his cell phone with the little mini phone he had brought with him. It was a nifty little device that clipped onto his ear and left both his hands free. His phone only had to ring once before he heard Heather's worried voice in his ear.
"Hello?"
"It's Leo," he answered. "I'm just opening the library door." He was surprised to find that the lock clicked open almost the instant he had inserted the paperclip.
"Just... don't get caught, okay?"
"Yeah, great advice," Leo whispered nervously. Then he opened the door and went inside. Every little noise made him feel as if it was giving him away. The creaking of the door as it closed behind him almost said, "Leo's over here! Come find him!" The large shelves were eerie in the dim light of his flashlight. They seemed to loom over him like ghosts. The sound of his shoes hitting the hard tile floor bounced off the walls, filling the empty space with his footsteps. Each stair creaked as he descended into the basement, shining his flashlight directly in front of his feet to see where he was going. When he got to the concealed door, he took out his paperclip. Pushing hard against the wall paper, he slit through the wall paper and pushed on the door. It swung forward slowly and silently, inviting him into the dark room beyond it.
"I'm there," Leo whispered into his phone.
"Then get started," Heather whispered back. "Before someone finds you." Leo shined his light into the room beyond. He found a room full of old, dusty books and files. He wasn't sure what he was expecting, but he was a little disappointed by the contents of the room. Perhaps it was because he was expecting the answer to just be waiting for him; he thought that his work would be over. His work was certainly not over, he thought, sighing. He would have a lot of work to do.
Several hours later, Leo had gone through almost every book in the small room. He could hear Heather's soft snores through his phone. He had started out reading everything to her, but she had eventually fallen asleep. Leo himself felt like he had just hit a brick wall. He had found no information, only a barrage of dates and unimportant events, just like in the library. It was about 3:00 in the morning when he heard Heather stir and wake up.
"Did you find anything?" She asked, yawning.
"No," he answered dejectedly. It was the same as the library.
"Have you checked everything?" She asked.
"No, I just have a few files to look through. I don't expect to find anything though."
"Just get on with it." There was more yawning. Leo pulled a folder out of the box of files. A small piece of paper fell out, and Leo bent down to pick it up. It was a small envelope, yellowing and thin. It had already been opened, but Leo was pleased to find that the letter was still inside it.
"I might have found something," he whispered excitedly to Heather.
"Great," she answered. "What does it say?" Leo opened the letter and began to read aloud.
"I am reluctant to report that the time travel device was a failure. In an attempt to transport my comrade back in time by two seconds, I seem to have mistakenly transported...." Leo stopped reading abruptly. He couldn't believe what he saw; it had to be a mistake.
"Transported what?" It was Heather. "Leo!" Leo took a deep breath.
"Transported the entire planet back about 1,000 years in time."
"What!" The exact same thing was going through Leo's head. He searched frantically through all of the files in the folder that the envelope had fallen out of.
"I don't believe it! All of these other files back it up, including ones with instructions not to tell the public!"
"So you were right then! There was something hidden from the public!" Leo was getting more and more excited.
"It all makes sense!" He said. "All interesting events were hidden too because all of the planets that we were associated with would have disappeared!"
"And you think the public didn't notice?" This statement didn't stop Leo. Everything was clicking in his mind.
"They must have covered it up somehow! This happened two hundred years ago. People must have forgotten."
"Keep reading," Heather urged. Leo turned to look at more files, but the sound of sirens shattered his excitement.
"What was that?" Heather sounded really worried now.
"I'm going to hang up now," he said. "I promise I'll call you back as soon as I can, okay?" Heather's objections were cut off as Leo hung up his phone. Moving quickly, he unclipped the phone from his ear, put away the folder he was looking through, and hid behind several boxes. He took the piece of metal from around his neck and stuffed it into his shoe. He still couldn't shake the feeling that it was important. He heard the door to the library open and several whispering voices coming closer and closer towards him. They went down the stairs to the basement and through the door to the room he was in, getting closer and closer until it sounded as though they were right in front of him. Then a loud voice penetrated the whispers.
"We know you're in there. You can show yourself, or we can come in after you. You have ten seconds."