This is Episode 4-6 of a serial urban fantasy & paranormal story.

◀ Prev • [ All parts ] • Next ▶

 

Part 4-6: Hyperspace

The second it was flush with the rest of its friends, the book began to glow. Not a harsh flare, but an instantaneous dull illumination, like an old nightlight come to life. The lines between the books spread the effect. It bothered me, and after a moment I knew why: this seeping growth of blue light reminded me of the bleachers in the park. Blue first, then white, then black ‘n’ bye-bye.

“Anything?” said Fergus.

“All sorts of things,” I said. “Get away from the books.”

Persi and Fergus exchanged a glance, then hustled down the hall. I stayed, searching for the sensation of the couch on my back.

Then something new: a rose colour emerged on the spine of one of the books in the upper right hand side. It happened as soon as the blue light surrounded the outline of the tome. More colours: a green and yellow blinked on, almost right beside each other on the bottom left. Then another blue one up top, or was it white? I squinted, unsure.

In a minute, all the lines of the shelf were lit, along with five books.

I began counting their positions and reading off the information out loud. This felt right up Deluxe’s alley. But before I could detail the second book, the whole affair flickered and died, leaving just a single glowing spine: the sickly, strained yellow one. The colour of sconces, ones that guarded the occupied cells in The Minder’s deep chambers.

“I think it might be done,” I said. “Lost the colours, ‘cept for one book.”

“Give it a sixty count,” said Deluxe. “Signal has dropped and steadied back to approximately one point two five gigahertz.”

“So does that mean we can or we cannot time travel?” asked Fergus.

“Hertz measure frequency, I’m afraid,” said Deluxe. An audio channel popped and we all, presumably, heard the weighty thuds of the metronome. Slow, steady, every eight seconds by my measure.

She let us know when a minute had passed, and the others rejoined my ghost at the door. Fergus tried to pry The Secret to Living out, but it was stuck. I guided them to the yellowy one, and it slipped out fine and dandy. He held it out so we could read the title.

“The Secret to Overcoming Obstacles,” said Persi.

“By our favourite penscratcher, the ever reclusive John B. Mofuggin’ Zachary,” breathed Fergus. “I’d be creeped out, but like, kinda numb to that at this point.”

My right hand scritched and twinged. I reached for the new book, and the swirling blue of the Band gingerly reached towards the cover, like a cloud of dust responding to a weak static charge.

“This is what whatever wants,” I warned. “I’m meant to read it.”

“Bait?” said Fergus.

“Parlay,” said Deluxe. “The Minder character spoke to you before this way. We need to know what’s happened to Dack.”

“Mhm,” I agreed. “Fergus, might you let me take a peek inside? Persi, give Fergo a healthy jab if he gets frozen or stuck or something.”

She held up her knife and gave Fergus a sidelong grin.

“With this, please,” he said, handing her the crowbar. “You really think this book will, uh, do something to me?”

“It’s not going to do nothing,” I said, weirdly hopeful I was right. “Open sesame, please.”

He sighed, rooted his stance, and flipped the book around, so it would open away from him. With mock drama, he slowly reached for the cover and pried it open.

There was one word on the first page, right in the middle.

“It says: Alena,” I reported, knowing that Persi would only see gibberish.

“Awe, a dedication, how sweet,” said Fergus. “I’m not killed by it yet, by the way.”

“I can tell,” I said. “Flip.”

On this page, a small smudge of a word, too tiny to tell what it was. I got closer, and squinted. It was a minuscule paragraph, lines still too itsy-bitsy to make out. I leaned in even more, my feet reluctant to stand me so my face was right in the book because that would look really weird.

“You’re invisible, you dork,” I muttered to myself.

“What was that?” said Deluxe.

“Nothing.” I unstuck my feet and got my eye real close. The first line could have started with a ‘D.’ D for Dack? Closer, closer, until the cream colour of the page fell away, and the ink took over most of what I saw. It wasn’t just a few lines, but a whole page’s worth! Closer, like I was using one of those ancient microfilm things they have at libraries. Was this Eden’s library? My vision was all tiny, barely visible sentences, crawling across the world in straight, imperfect bars.

“Alena?”—It came from very far away.

The lines came flying at me, hyperspace style. But why didn’t they get any bigger? I was sure the first line started with Dack. I looked to the left and it was all a blurry rush of lines. Below, where my feet should be, rushing lines.

Uh oh.

I wrenched myself around, and saw the other side of hyperspace, a black hole vortex that ate words, except the words were all checkerboard patterns, black squares and cream rectangles.

“A QR code?” I wondered, bewildered. I started to laugh at the idea of Eden being an online marketer, which offended the black hole to the point of drawing me towards it. It happened so fast that my giggles barely had time to morph into shouts before the whole of the blackness engulfed me.

Not totally black though, there was a single dot in the nothing. I remembered my first ever visit with Eden, when time slowed and the clockface hung like a poison moon over its shoulder. This was a similar place, a portal, a waiting room between our world and the place evil called home, sweet home.

The dot expanded. I was expecting the clock, but it was the bookshelf from the door. It came closer, and I saw that all the spines and shelves were rich in colour. It stopped a few paces away, seemed to shiver, and multiplied. Copies of itself sprouted out to the sides and atop. The black empty floor faded to brown, grew features, became hardwood.

My stunned brain took a moment to arrange all the input, but when it did, I came to understand that I now stood in a big ole library, facing a grand bookcase, populated with thousands of volumes.

I turned in a slow circle to find a beautifully appointed room, in a style that I’d definitely seen before. Similar to the last time I’d come to a place like this, there were two unexpected guests.

The Minder, sharp in his top hat and smoking jacket, stood up from a plush couch, and gave me a little bow.

And Fergus stood a few paces away, still holding the yellow book open to an empty page. There were glassy clouds in his eyes, at least until the book toppled from his grip and slapped to the floor.

He blinked, flinched at the sight of the tall bookcase before him, pointed at me and said, “Ab-yuhwha?”

“You see me, eh?” I said.

He nodded, blinking upwards and started to back up.

“Ah ah,” I said, and motioned for him to turn around.

He did, flinched harder and backpedaled. I caught and steadied him, as The Minder applauded and chuckled.

“Welcome to Fort Ticktock,” I whispered.

 

 

Continued in Part 4-7

◀ Prev • [ List of parts ] • Next ▶

 

🎁 Win prizes for reading!	🔖 Collect episodes or parts as NFTs
Learn more	Free NFT Bookmarks on Polygon OR Commemorative Hive NFTs

📚 Get on (or off) the readlist by asking in the comments	🔮 Read The Childseeker’s War: a full fantasy novel on Hive	👻 Check out Starlight Spectre: a horror novella on Hive
✒️ Learn about the Scholar & Scribe writing community	🍕 Join the Hive Pizza Guild: a community of creatives	🗺️ Worldbuilding project (Sneak peek!)

 

📚 Readlist 📚

These users get pinged on new parts & earn occasional token airdrops!

@relf87 • @jonimarqu • @wrestlingdesires • @cescajove • @gwajnberg • @yeckingo1 • @twicejoy • @pero82 • @candnpg • @emaxisonline • @olaf.gui • @emrysjobber • @thinkrdotexe • @thoth442 • @leemah1 • @henruc • @alex2alex • @arc7icwolf • @susurrodmisterio • @mavericklearner • @seki1 • @alessandrawhite • @grindan • @samsmith1971 • @shadowspub • @lisamgentile1961 • @stevermac1966 • @engilhramn • @joseal2020 • @oblivionlost • @treefrognada • @alicia2022 • @slothlydoesit • @iskawrites • @hhayweaver • @jhuleader • @wanderingmoon • @ivanslait • @acidtiger • @ganjafarmer

Thank you for reading. I own the license for all images in this post. Episode 4 cover art was made with a Canvo Pro license. Follow me or the #huntingmidnight tag so you don't miss new parts! I can also @ tag folks to alert you, just ask in the comments to join the readlist.