"Here-- do you want the garden key?" You stepped away, frantically feeling around for it in your bag with your clammy hand. Your heart was caught in your throat. Dammit, where is it!?
The librarian growled and thrusted his nails towards you, narrowly missing your nose by a breadth. His teeth gnashing together as he threw his arm back and readied for another attack.
"That doesn't matter anymore, I had to get lectured by him regarding the furniture because of you!" He screamed and slashed the air in front of you. Underneath the anger, his voice carried a slight hint of fear that made your heart clench for a moment.
"I wasn't the one to throw the bookcases around!" You shot back and held out your fire poker.
This enraged him further and he thrusted his arm towards you-- the talons narrowly slicing your cheek. You yelled and swung your poker at his wrist. He was thrown off-balance, stumbling backwards with his arms outstretched to the sides. Before he could react, you butted him in the stomach with the poker. He fell backwards and you raised your poker to stab him in the heart.
As it was about to pierce him he swung his leg at your ankle. A flash of pain ran through you as you fell to the ground-- not having time to cry out. A sharp crack ran up your back and you gasped. The librarian growled and struck his claws at your face. You rolled to the side in time to avoid them-- feeling the talons racing by your cheek. They plunged into the ground and he struggled to yank them out.
You swung your foot at his knee, causing him to jump back. Readying another attack, you aimed the poker at his shin. The librarian smacked it out of your hand. Time seemed to slow down as it flew over the railing and clattered to the ground-- right in the middle of the library. You quickly ran downstairs before he could take another swing at you.
"Get back here and pay!" The librarian roared and began to give chase-- his footsteps sounded like the thunderous roars of a demon as he slashed wildly. The staircase felt like it stretched out for an eternity before you finally saw the last steps.
You nearly fell flat on your face when you reached the last step. Your aching feet felt like fire as you began to run. Each step was more painful than the last. Your pounding heart felt like needles were being stabbed into them. Each breath you took felt like you were swallowing pins. Despite the pain, you didn't dare to stop as he clawed at you.
Adrenaline raced through your veins. Your weapon was almost fifty-feet away from you. The librarian growled and ran faster; his claws nearly inches away from you. With a scream coming from him, the chairs and tables began to block your direction. With a grunt you jumped over a table. Your legs felt like they were on fire as you picked up your speed.
Just a little more! You panted as large beads of sweat clung to you.
Your poker was another twenty-feet away from you. You gritted your teeth and ran faster despite the shooting pains in your feet. In a quick motion, you picked it up and leapt over another table.
"You--!" The librarian screamed and raised his hand in the air.
The bookcases slid in front of you from the side and formed a wall. You skidded to a halt-- nearly hitting them before taking a sharp right turn.
"You can't run forever, you little rat!" The librarian's screams echoed off of the walls. "I'll drag your death out!"
You jumped over a table and threw a chair at him. It hit him in the chest-- nearly causing him to fall. He roared and ran even faster. The library warped into a narrow hallway that seemed to stretch out for an eternity. Even more bookcases and other furniture moved in front of you to slow you down. You leapt and slid through them. Your body felt like they were being stabbed with white-hot pins all over-- sweat clung to your back like fleas as you ran.
"Keep running while you can, it'll only delay the inevitable!" He yelled, his voice straining with a wild laughter.
Your head was ringing with a pulsing pain. Your body was wracked with exhaustion but you didn't dare to slow down. You were slowly losing sensation in your legs, the aching pain was now replaced with a dull pulsing sensation. When you jumped over a table, a bookcase appeared in front of you. You crashed into it and pain shot through your face. You fell onto your back and letting go of your poker. You let out a hiss of pain and rolled to the side, struggling to sit up. He approached you, his footsteps slow and ominous as he loomed over you like a vulture over a dying animal. A sadistic grin was on his lips, revealing a mouth full of sharp teeth.
The library reverted back into its normal form, however you were surrounded by a semi-circle of bookcases. He stopped in front of you and flashed his talons. He let out a low laugh from the back of his throat and leaned in to you, his eyes glittering with a predatory glee.
"Looks like it's finally over for you. You have two choices now: you can admit defeat and save yourself or you can face your certain death," he said. "What will it be?"
Coughing, you struggled to stand up and leaned against your poker. "What do you think the answer to that is? What are you even going to do? Maul me with those gaudy nails of yours?"
The librarian chuckled and adjusted his glasses as he twitched his fingers; his dark eyes were empty, reminding you of a spider's staring down a butterfly. "I thought you would know better by now."
Before you could ask what he meant, a book flew through the air. You jumped to the side and it narrowly grazed your shoulder before it hit a discarded pen. The book tumbled on the floor, the page revealed that the pen was now inside the pages of the book. Whipping your head around, you saw that the books behind you were hovering in the air like a swarm of flies.
The librarian thrusted his hand towards him and they flew in your direction. You screamed and rolled to the side-- feeling them shooting by you as you scrambled away.
"Go ahead and run!" He cackled. "You have no chance of escape!"
You ran in a zigzag, trying to throw off the direction of the books as they flitted by you like flechettes. Your feet had become numb from all of the running-- your legs were threatening to give out at any moment. Your only hope was to run for as long as you could until he ran out of books. However, there seemed to be no end to them.
Your hand fumbled for something to throw at the librarian to distract him for a moment. Your fingers felt the garden key and you yanked it out of your bag.
"Eat this!" You threw the key at the librarian, halting his attack for a moment as his eyes darted to the key. He yelled and summoned more books. You swerved as they flew over your shoulders, landing onto the ground like dead sparrows.
You impaled one with your poker and swung at another. The librarian laughed at your suffering and snapped his fingers. A scream came out of you as another book narrowly grazed your cheek-- barely missing you by a breadth.
"Fuck!" You yelled as another almost touched your nose. You swung your poker as a heavy tome came straight towards your face.
You turned into a darker part of the library, hoping that the darkness would give you some semblance of cover. You were too focused on putting as much distance as possible that you didn't notice the smell of old paper and mildew. On either side, narrow bookcases towered over you-- almost like you were trapped in a never-ending forest. Quickly, you turned down on a row on your left and pressed yourself as flat as you could against the wall-- stuck between two bookcases. You prayed that he can't see you and held your breath.
Your chest heaved as you saw him run by you, screaming to turn your skin into book boundings. You didn't move until his footsteps rescinded in the distance. Slowly, you got out of your hiding spot and looked over your left shoulder. Standing five or so feet away from you was a large, black cabinet staring back at you. Its glass was tinted an abyssal shade of black, obscuring anything that could be inside it. Beneath the glass was a brass plaque that read: DANGER! DO NOT OPEN GLASS.
Your stomach twisted as you glanced back at the glass display. You felt a pair of unseen eyes boring into you: waiting for you to open it and unleash whatever terror is behind it.
"There you are, you little rodent!" The librarian growled and slowly approached you, his talons shining like knives.
You aimed your poker at the glass case, glaring at him. "Don't take another step."
He took a step away from you. "You wouldn't dare. You don't know what kind of horror you'll unleash."
You moved your poker closer to the glass, making him flinch. "And you don't know what kind of shit I'll pull off-- so leave me alone or I'll break the glass. I swear I'll do it!"
"Don't you dare!" The librarian yelled with his talons pointed at you. "I'll fucking kill you before you can--"
You smashed the poker against the glass. A piercing cracking sound resonated as the glass cracked away. For a moment, nothing happened; it was as if the entire world became still until a thin whisp of black mist curled out of the small hole of initial impact. The cracks became larger and larger until they shattered into countless shards.
"You idiot, look what you have done!" He screamed.
You stepped aside as the dark mist slowly took the form of a large, horrific beast that was as tall as the bookcases. It white body was gelatinous and frog-like, its bulging stomach was nearly dragging across the floor. The body was supported on four spindly legs like a spider's, ending in disproportionately large human-like hands. Countless, bulbous black eyes were on the top of its head like some grotesque headdress. But the most horrific thing was that its body was formed out of multiple faces that looked as if they were suffocating by its skin; forever letting out a soundless scream of unbridled horror.
The frog-like monster opened its wide maw and a long, ropey black tongue spilled out-- hitting the floor with a wet, meaty splat! The foul, piercing smell of rotten carrion emanated. You began to gag violently and stepped further away from the beast. Its bulbous. black eyes glistened with hunger and let out a deep, rumbling laugh from its stomach.
With viper speed, its tongue shot out and nearly grazed your shoulder-- hitting the wall behind you with a sharp and wet thwack! You screamed and ran from the beast. You kept your head low as the tongue whizzed by you and hit the bookcases instead. It dragged its tongue, making them fall. Papers and books flew in the air like ravens. The beast let out an angered, ravenous screech that made your blood curdle. With terrifying speed, it ran towards you.
Screaming, you hid behind a bookcase as the tongue almost hit your arm. You barely reacted in time as the tongue changed directions towards you. In a quick motion you threw a book at it. The tongue quickly retracted and you heard a loud gulping sound. The beast screamed in frustration and slammed against the bookcases. Splinters flew up in the air as it resumed giving chase. Behind the monster, the librarian was following after it. His eyes wild with unfiltered terror as he readied his talons to stab the monster's back.
The monster's tongue shot out and flung a bookcase down. You tripped over it, pain shot through your stomach-- knocking the wind out of your lungs. The poker was a few inches away from your hand. Behind you, the beast let out a rumbling laugh and licked its maw. A foul-smelling curl of black breath came out of its mouth as thick drops of saliva fell to the floor. The smell made your eyes water and burnt your throat, worsening the pain in your lungs.
Its tongue unfurled onto the ground, the end of it rising in the air like the head of some wet, horrible snake. The long muscle slowly slithered closer to you. It was taking its time with you; slowly savoring your terror before it would swallow you whole.
Your hand slowly inched its way to the poker. Come and get me. You licked your lips; never taking your eyes off of the tongue, readying yourself for its strike. As your fingers brushed the poker, the tongue shot out. With a screech, you pierced it with the poker-- the tongue merely inches away from your neck.
It screamed and retracted its appendage; ichor dripped down from its wound while it howled. At that time, the librarian jumped onto the beast's back and stabbed one of its countless eyes. The beast turned its attention to the librarian and let out an angered grow that made your skin crawl. It rammed into the bookcases, trying to knock him off its back.
You saw this as an opportunity to run. They screamed as the beast tried to shake him off of it. You screamed as they narrowly crashed into you. Papers and pieces of wood flew in the air as the thing crushed more bookcases and tables. With a piercing screech, it wrapped its tongue around the librarian's ankle. Before it could swallow him, he stabbed its tongue-- nearly severing it.
The monster howled and snapped its tongue back into its mouth. It glared at the librarian and charged towards him. You turned your head away and continued running. From behind, he let out a yell as it ran into a wall.
"I'll deal with you soon!" The librarian vowed before returning his attention to the beast.
The dark part of the library felt far longer and much darker than last you remembered. You felt as if you were running in a never-ending hall that was slowly closing in on you. The rows of bookcases were closer, as if they were a pack of wolves narrowing in. Behind you, the sounds of fighting and furniture breaking continued like some hellish song. Your vision was starting to get hazy. You could only focus on what was in front of you. The only thing on your weary mind was escape.
You fell over your feet and let out a grunt. You could barely register the numb needles piercing your palms and arms as you feebly tried to stand up. You fell back down onto your knees and let out a choked cry of frustration. Get up! Just get up! You wheezed and shakily rose to your feet, clutching the bookcases for support.
A ringing was in your ears as you limped through the countless corridors. You weren't sure how far-- or near-- the librarian or the frog-monster were from you. You didn't even know if they were both alive. You hoped that they were both dead, but you didn't want to take the risk-- forcing yourself to keep moving despite how much your body was protesting.
Your feet dragged against the floor; with each step being slower and more sluggish than the previous one. The pounding in your head was getting worse: it felt as if someone had taken a drill to your skull and was digging their way down into your brain. Your arms trembled, making it increasingly more difficult to hold into the bookcases for support. Your breathing was getting more shallow and you could barely keep your head upright. Your body was begging for respite, protesting against your efforts to continue onwards.
Keep moving. The exit is surely close by now. You winced as you took another clumsy step, nearly tripping over yourself. Just a bit more...
Your throat was dry, feeling as if nails were scraping it. With each passing second, your senses were slowly dulling away. There seemed to be no end in this dark labyrinth. Exit has to be...somewhere... please...little...more.
After what felt like trudging through the endless and dark maze, you finally made it back towards the main section of the library. You could almost laugh in relief knowing that it was nearly over. Your already pained breathing was becoming more labored and your heartbeat was rapid-- almost ready to explode in your chest. You grunted in pain as you sprinted to the main exit on your numb legs. A pair of heavy bookcases barricaded it. You swore in frustration, there wasn't time to move them as the librarian's and beast's were becoming louder-- closer to your position.
You sprinted upstairs, nearly tripping over yourself. Your already weakening legs felt worse; you could barely feel your feet or calves. As you ran, an idea came to you. A dangerous one-- but if executed perfectly-- would deal with both of them at the same time. If you could draw them out into the main area and push the heaviest bookcase you could find onto them, then it would hopefully kill them; or at least incapacitate them for a long enough time for you to reach an exit.
Biting your lip, you took a quick break behind a table to catch your breath. As you rested, you ran through the plan and listened out for any sounds. You put a hand over your mouth to smother your panting. Below, you heard the muffled screams of the beast followed by the librarian's own growling.
So it sounds like both of them are still alive. You chewed on your lower lip. If the beast can track its prey by smell, I'm going to have to lure it out into position. Maybe I can throw my jacket down or make it seem like I'm peeking from behind a table or case.
The screaming were louder and you heard the sounds of running along with a high-pitched squeal from what you presumed was the monster.
Damn it-- I was hoping for a bit more time! You scowled and quickly got out of your hiding place. You jumped when a loud crashing came and the beast let out a rumbling gurgling sound. The librarian let out a yell of disgust and horror as the sound of more furniture broke filled the air like dropping bombs.
You found a bookcase that was large enough for your purposes and nodded your head. With a grunt, you began to drag it out of its position with your oxygen-starved arms. Your arms strained as you slowly backed away, feeling as if countless ants were biting into your skin. Your palms were sweaty and made it nearly impossible to get a good hold of it. Each step felt like it took an hour to take. When it was far out enough, you pushed it to a short distance away from the railing. The front of it was facing you, covering as much surface area as you possibly could.
Next, you had to draw them out. You grabbed a chair and threw it over the railing before letting out a loud yell, hoping that it was convincing. From beneath you, you heard footsteps approaching the sound alongside a wet thwack and a guttural scream.
The sounds came even closer, making your heart clench. Your plan was working so far but there was still one thing left to do. The part that you hated the most. The one that would determine if it would work or not: waiting.
You stayed as still as you could, waiting for the librarian and the frog-monster to get into the perfect position. Your heart pounded in your chest like an injured rabbit cornered by wolves. Each second felt like forever; your impatience nearly outweighed the exhaustion. Your throat felt dry as you readied yourself into action. As soon as you saw the librarian's sleeve from beneath, you began to push the bookcase against the railing. Sweat broke out on your face as you grunted, pushing against it with all of your weight.
C'mon, c'mon! Work, damn it! You scrunched your mouth and eyes, a bright heat flashing on your face. The veins on your temples and hands were bulging. It felt like you were about to pass out from the strain. Please work!
As the frog-monster opened its mouth, the librarian sliced off its tongue. Black ichor jetted out of its stump and it let out a horrific, gurgling scream. The librarian grunted in disgust as some of the gore splattered onto his robes. He thrusted his talons into its soft underbelly as you pushed even harder against the bookcase. The ringing in your ears was becoming louder and your pounding head was becoming heavier-- making it feel impossible to keep it upright. Your vision was blurring with black dots spotting it. Your trembling arms had become numb as if all of the blood in it was drained.
Nearly there! Just a little more!
The frog-beast's screeching made your ears ring-- almost drowning out the sound of the librarian's own screams of exhaustion and frustration. From your limited vision, you saw the frog-beast had wrapped its tongue around the librarian's wrist-- yanking his arm out of its socket and making it dangle uselessly.
"Damn you!" He screamed and stabbed into the monster's side again with his good arm. The frog-beast let out muffled squeal and swerved its heavy body towards him. He stepped away in time and jumped onto the beast. He plunged one of his claws into its eye. With a quick thrust, he tore it out-- optic nerve and all. The monster cried out in pain and shook violently from side-to-side.
The librarian grunted as he flung the eye away from him and aimed for another one. His talons shining dangerously like elongated knives. You had very little time left and you pushed with the last of your strength.
Just a little more!
With one last grunt, the bookcase finally fell down. It felt like time slowed down as it descended-- aiming directly at their heads. The two of them barely had enough time to look up. It crashed onto their face and killed them instantly.
You stared in stunned silence at the mangled corpses below you, their limbs twitched for a moment before finally going stiff. A pool of thick, oily blood was pouring beneath them. Slowly, their bodies transformed into shattered black crystals. You crept downstairs to get a better look at them and to make sure that they were well and truly dead. Among the rubble, was a porcelain arm that looked as if it belonged to a doll with pink paint on the joints to imitate ruddiness. You picked it up and inspected the object.
"The hell is this?" You said. "Better yet: why is it doing here of all places?"
"Great, now I have to go looking for another librarian and it's such a mess." Corvin sighed from behind you. "I told him to lock it up in the cellar so that little monster couldn't break free and go around to wreck havoc. I would do it myself, but I am a very busy man: whatnot with being a count and planning a wedding."
"Clearly you're not busy enough if you're annoying me," you rolled your eyes and began to trudge away from him.
"Oh, (Y/N). I have a question for you." He said.
You continued on and stood in front of the exit. You reached a hand to the doorknob only for it to disappear. You opened your mouth in shock and turned to Corvin who had a hand under his jaw.
"I'll give it back if you answer my question," he said.
"What is it?" You groaned, the pulsing in your head became sharper and made you wince. Damn, he actually is giving me a headache.
"What should we do for our first anniversary?"
"I don't know nor do I care."
"Really? I would think that would be almost as important as the wedding itself. It's a celebration of our union and love. I was thinking of going over to--"
"I answered your question, so give the fucking doorknob back!"
"Fine," he huffed and snapped his fingers.
Without another word, you opened the door. Instead of it leading out into the hallway, you were greeted with a bar with dark green walls and mahogany furniture. Hanging on the left-side wall right behind the bar, was a painting of a group of fairies playing poker with Corvin in the middle.
"Wh-what the...?"
"Hallway is just past the door," Corvin said and took off his hat, seating himself behind the bar. "Why not stop and rest your aching feet for a bit and enjoy a drink to take the edge off your mind a little? Enjoy some absinthe or champagne, I'll even pour it out for you. There's quite a selection of them that I have collected throughout the years as well."
"I'll pass," you scoffed, prompting him to let out a hearty laugh.
"I suppose it's better for you then to keep your wits in this game-- after all, you don't know what else may lurk within my lovely home," He said, his teeth glittering like pearly bullets. "Although...resigning would be the far better choice for you. After all, what's the worst that could--"
"How about you focus on commissioning artists to redo your burnt portraits or whatever you want to do with your garden?" You snapped.
"I will deal with all of that after the game is over and some of the major details of the wedding are dealt with," he responded, his voice tinged with the slightest hint of annoyance. "Anyways, where was I?"
"Being a nuisance," you spat.
"I don't think that is quite the right word," he said and poured out a glass of absinthe before getting out the spoon, water, and sugar cube for it. "Better descriptors of me would be 'charmer', 'lover', 'wish-granter' and--"
You thrusted the poker at his face-- nearly touching the tip of his nose, making him lean back and laugh. He calmly pushed the poker away from him with his hand and took a small sip of his drink, raising it slightly in the air.
"Just take a sip of it, my dear." He said, twisting the direction of the glass so where his lips touched it was facing you. "Just one little sip to calm your frayed nerves a little. After all, it's not like you get a chance everyday to sample some absinthe made by actual fairies-- and you might actually like it. I personally find the taste of it better and richer than those produced by humans."
"I said that I'll pass," you growled through your teeth.
"It's just one tiny sip," he said and took another drink. "It's quite intoxicating. Pairs very well with--"
You slapped the absinthe out of his hand. The glass shattered into a hundred shards as it hit the wall. You glared at him, your fists tightening as you shook with rage.
"That was a waste of a perfectly good glass of absinthe," he shook his head. "Why would you take your anger out on it, what did it ever do to you?"
Gritting your teeth, you stormed away from him and threw the door open. You felt the smug grin on his face as you slammed the door behind you.