The Scribe

Chapter Three

Sadie looked around the hidden room in awe. When she was there the night before with Professor Hobbs she didn't get much of a chance to look around. Aside from the large lounge-like room, there were two other doors that didn't seem to lead back to the library.

The door to her right was opened a small crack so she decided to start there. She walked slowly taking it all in. She hoped Professor Hobbs was there so he could explain some things to her. Then again, she didn't want to run into him at all.

Sadie pushed the heavy door open and gasped at the sight on the other side.

Rows of students' desks lined the entire room. Sadie tried to count the number of rows, but it seemed to go on for miles. She looked over her shoulder in confusion. These rooms were bigger than the library. How could this be possible?

Sadie stepped inside the room intrigued at the sight. Each desk had a notebook open with a black feathered quill. She snorted. Nobody wrote with quills anymore. Yet these quills had no ink bottles and were hovering in the air writing in the notebooks themselves. Sadie swallowed looking at each desk carefully. She didn't know whether to run, pinch herself, or keep exploring.

She turned around to go back into the lounge, but when she turned to her left she noticed Professor Hobbs standing at the front of the room. He was looking down at a desk, the first one in the first row and first column. It didn't seem as though Professor Hobbs knew she was there.

Sadie took his lead and looked down at a notebook beside her. The quill used fancy penmanship making it hard for her to read. She narrowed her eyes. Was it writing words or symbols?

"Sadie."

Sadie looked up and noticed Professor Hobbs staring at her. He remained in the front of the room with his hands clasped behind his back. He stood beside the desk he was studying and stared at Sadie with a flat expression.

"You came back," he observed.

Sadie breathed in through her nose and let it escape through her mouth. She nodded throwing her hands up in a shrug. "Okay, I give in. Tell me what's going on."

Professor Hobbs smiled. He beckoned her forward with a wave of his hand. Sadie obeyed, walking in between the first two rows of desks. She glanced down at the notebooks trying to read them as she went, but she wasn't comprehending anything.

"This is the Room of Destiny," Professor Hobbs stated. He outstretched his arms and twirled around as though a spotlight was fixated on him.

Sadie cocked an eyebrow. She was curious about what this room was, yes, but she actually wanted to know more about the notebook and why it kept following her around.

"You being able to find this room on your own was the first test. You coming back was the second."

Sadie widened her eyes. "Professor, I came to give you the notebook back."

Professor Hobbs furrowed his brows. He tilted his head like a puzzled puppy.

When Sadie realized he wasn't going to answer her, she sighed. She bent down taking the notebook out of her backpack. She handed it out to him. "It keeps teleporting to me somehow. I don't know what kind of power this is, but it's freaking me out and I don't want it.

Professor Hobbs glanced down at the notebook before shifting his gaze back to Sadie. He grinned.

"All these notebooks you see here belong to someone. Every someone that lives on the entire planet," he stated.

Sadie narrowed her eyes. What did this have to do with her not wanting her notebook anymore? Why wasn't hers on a desk like everyone else?

"These quills are assigned to a notebook and they write down every little detail about that person's life. What they're doing, where they're going, what they're thinking. It tracks their habits, their decisions, their dietary habits, everything."

"Great," she deadpanned. "What does that have to do with me?"

Professor Hobbs stepped to the side. Behind him was a bigger desk resembling a teacher's desk. It was bare, unlike all the other desks. There was no notebook and no quill floating around.

"Put your notebook down," he invited.

Sadie, not knowing what else to do, did what she was told. She placed the notebook down gently on the surface of the desk and watched and waited. Her heartbeat picked up in anticipation of what may happen. She could only hope it didn't jump off the desk and fly back into her arms.

The notebook's cover snapped open slamming against the desk. Pages flipped back and forth as the notebook began to glow. Sadie took a step backward wanting to turn and run, but also wanting to know what the notebook was doing. She couldn't take her eyes off the notebook.

A shimmering red-feathered quill emerged from the pages. It floated above the notebook daintily.

Without thinking, Sadie stepped closer. She reached her hand out and the quill floated towards her. She grasped it as the notebook stopped glowing.

"This is the Scribe's desk," Professor Hobbs stated. "Your desk."