The Library of Powers

Chapter 3 - Part 2

Jackson appeared in the Library directly outside the Bernard Harbour Public Library entrance, which was strange but not unheard of. Jackson entered that section, went over to the strange door, and made sure it was still locked. It was. Jackson left the seventies fever dream and started down the hallway into another section. He figured that he better find out where this section was in comparison to the others. It seemed to be above the wooden beams area, so finding his way there would be his goal. Arriving at an intersection and taking a left, Jackson found his way into an ominous gothic cathedral, with books piled in cardboard boxes on lazily placed plastic tables. There were no obvious exits other than the one Jackson had just come through, so he turned around and instead headed to the right.

To his right was one of the most common styles of the Library, a large corridor with horizontal shelves, filled to the brim with books. The walls were painted a pale burgundy, regal crowning filling the spaces in between. After following the hallway for a few minutes, it opened up into a rotunda in a similar style, a balcony overlooking another floor below, a painted cupola capping off the roof above. Jackson peered over the edge, only to find there were at least seven more floors below him, maybe eight. Jackson had never been here before, but a large vertical area was no new find for him. Traveling down a conveniently placed spiral staircase one floor, Jackson looked for an exit and headed back in the direction of the wooden beams area. Then he went down another floor, finding none there. Jackson traveled down every floor of the tower --- there were actually nine in total --- only to find there wasn't another entrance or exit in the entire building. It seemed that the area Jackson was in did not connect to the main Library of Powers in any way, at least not in an obvious way. There were probably dozens of secret passages behind bookshelves, but flipping through every book in the area to find one would not be worth the effort.

Frustrated, Jackson retreaded his way to Bernard Harbor Public Library. He stared icicles of hatred at the locked door. After getting no response back he opened the window with the dreamcatcher and climbed down. It was easy enough, the logs paneling the side of this wing of the Library had plenty of easy handholds. When he reached the ground Jackson dusted off his hands onto his pants and checked his watch. 7:40. What had taken Jackson probably an hour or two had only been ten minutes in the real world. He was in for a long night.

Now with a purpose, Jackson searched the floor around him for a bearskin carpet, and after spotting it (which wasn't hard, I mean, it is a skinned bear) he pulled the carpet away, revealing a trapdoor. He had come across this the first time on accident, tripping over the rug on his way to a comfortable chair. Opening the trapdoor and descending a decrepit ladder into the darkness below, Jackson fumbled around on the moist floor until he found what he was looking for, a neon yellow flashlight. Flicking the power switch, the flashlight illuminated a narrow crawlspace below the cabin above, so low Jackson had to duck to move around. Thick beams jutted from the floor at irregular angles, somehow supporting the building above. Jackson had no intention of being here, instead crawling towards another door, which could only be called such in the loosest sense of the word. It was a round, rusty grate, hanging limply from one hinge. pulling it open and getting down even lower to fit through, Jackson entered a dull concrete hallway, exposed lightbulbs trailing down both ways ad infinitum. Deliberately choosing the direction to his left, Jackson walked down the passage, passing irregularly placed doors of vastly differing styles. There were no books, only entrances to other places, those undoubtedly with tomes of knowledge. After an annoyingly long hike, Jackson found the door he was looking for and entered a workshop.

There Jackson stayed for quite some time, reading up on various clockwork related objects. It was only a hunch that the workshop had the kinds of books he needed, but he was not disappointed. He checked his watch again. 11:30. Sometimes Jackson would stay up like this the entire night, reading and exploring various locations in the Library. He didn't tire inside it, while sometimes he wished he did.

Today, however, he simply wasn't in the mood for endless reading. Jackson exited the workshop and headed down the military-gray passage until he reached another door. Then past a few more areas, and through one or two secret passages. Jackson didn't dare utter the directions to his secret room, lest some unsuspecting visitor to the Library would hear. When he reached the room, Jackson shut the only door behind him and pushed a large desk in front of it, blocking the entrance. The room was small and simple, just a metal rack requisitioned into a bookshelf, a poorly drawn map of the Library pinned to one wall, and a hammock hanging from one edge of the room to another. The Library of Powers had beds and mattresses in a few locations, but Jackson didn't really relish the idea of dragging one all the way to his secret room. It was a small miracle Jackson found a hammock at all. It was originally hanging in a section of the Library suspiciously shaped like a pirate ship. A pirate ship with a lot of books, for some reason. The light was on when Jackson had entered the room, so he turned it off and hopped into the hammock. Shutting his eyes, Jackson slept. He did not dream, but he rested.