Page 71 of The Library of Second Chances
Eric looked stricken. ‘Oh! Right. Erm . . .’ His face screwed up. ‘Oh, man. It was something about bananas . . .’
‘Think on it while you look for the book in the kids’ section downstairs,’ said Chloe. She wasn’t about to waste time chasing that mischievous creature around again. ‘Mrs Cook, can you find the book that naughty poltergeist came from? If he’s anything like in the story, we can’t let him out of here.’
‘I can find it.’ Mrs Cook nodded and strode towards the kids’ section. ‘Out of the way, love.’ She shooed away a confused-looking pirate.
‘Harry, Gwen,’ said Chloe. ‘Come with me.’
They rushed back downstairs, leaving the chaos behind them for Eric and Mrs Cook to sort out, and searched near the doors and windows. Thankfully, they could still hear the ghost whooping and singing as he swept through the library’s lower floors, knocking over bookshelves. It seemed like he couldn’t leave the library. Or he simply hadn’t decided to, yet. Chloe didn’t want to think about what might happen if he escaped. It wouldn’t be easy to explain that.
As they made it back to the lobby, something rumbled in the non-fiction section.
‘That doesn’t sound good,’ said Gwen.
In the next room, between some enormous shelves, two young men, perhaps Eric’s age, were fighting. One was pale and dark-haired, and when his mouth opened in a snarl, Chloe spotted long canines. His opponent was handsome with russet skin and raven hair. As they watched in shock, he growled as his knees hit the floor. Gwen clapped her hands over her mouth as the young man’s limbs lengthened; he grew, clothing tearing around his growing form. Fur sprang from his body and his face elongated into a beast’s. His mouth became a muzzle; his hands transformed into sharp claws. The vampire and the wolf clashedtogether in a series of growls and tearing. Gwen backed up until she was against the shelf, her eyes wide open in terror.
‘I think even you know who they are,’ Chloe said to Gwen, snorting with laughter to combat her fear. The pair fought, snarling and scratching and snapping at each other, knocking over books and overturning tables. The three backed up, getting out of their way.
‘Still think working at a library is boring?’ Chloe asked, half dragging her sister away from the mayhem.
They passed bored-looking scientists, strange-looking monsters from kids’ books, and skidded to a halt when they saw a woman in a glittering white dress, her hair the colour of moonlight and swept up in an elaborate hairstyle. Pure hatred burned in her eyes as she raised a long, glittering stick.
‘Get down!’ bellowed a powerful male voice.
The three of them turned and Gwen screamed, cowering and covering her head. An enormous, real-lifelionstepped onto a nearby upturned bookshelf. He was the size of a car, with a shaggy mane and enormous paws. Golden eyes looked over them all. ‘I said get down!’ yelled the lion.
The three of them ducked, Harry’s arm wrapping around Chloe’s shoulders as he shielded her with his body. They fell to the carpeted floor, landing clumsily on fallen books. Magic soared above them, narrowly missing them and making goosebumps spring up on Chloe’s arms. The wave of silver hit a window and it shattered. Icy air swept inside the library, glass thundering to the floor as the woman laughed and laughed.
‘Was that a lion? This is insane!’ Gwen scrambled to her feet and bolted for the main doors of the library. Chloe and Harry jumped up and ran after her. Chloe’s mind rushed as they left the lion and the witch to battle each other. They rushed past the children’s section, the soft flooring taken up by magical creatures and talking animals who seemed content to sitaround and watch the forming battle with interest. Clementine was nowhere to be seen, or perhaps the orange cat had simply blended into the crowd of animal characters.
Could they really get all the characters back into their books before they destroyed the library? Everywhere they looked, there were more. Was the library letting this happen, or had it lost control of the magic?
Bookshelves slid out of their way as they ran for the main doors. ‘Gwen, stop!’ Chloe shouted. ‘We can’t leave. We have to get all the characters back into their stories. We have to read out their last lines to them. It’s the only way.’
‘Are you dreaming? We need to call the police,’ Gwen panted, pulling out her phone.
‘We just need to get the characters back into their books,’ said Harry, raising his hands. ‘I’m sure most of them don’t want to be here. Right?’
Chloe hadn’t realised that several of the characters who weren’t fighting had found refuge in the lobby. It was a mishmash of people – a stern, greasy-haired professor dressed in black, a serious teenager dressed in winter furs, a pointy-eared boy in a green tunic talking to what looked like a fairy or pixie in his hand. He was the one who had flown over them earlier. Gwen lowered her phone and scowled at him.
‘Library, block that door, please,’ Chloe panted. At once, an enormous bookshelf slid over to cover the archway separating the lobby from the west wing. She felt bad for the characters who might get caught in the fighting crossfire, but the quickest way to help them was getting them home.
Gwen paled when the bookcase moved on its own, then she gave Chloe a look that said,Fine, I’ll trust you. Get on with it.
Chloe approached the group. At least here, no one was fighting. ‘Hi, everyone.’ Nerves danced in her chest as she stared around at them. So many of them were otherworldly, cartoonishor magical. Some of them had weapons, and she tried hard not to glance at them. ‘I’m so sorry you’re here. We didn’t do it on purpose.’
‘Where exactly are we?’ asked a young woman in leathers who looked like she had been malnourished then forced to gain muscle very quickly. Her olive-green eyes fixed with suspicion on Chloe.
‘You’re in . . . well, our world.’ Chloe spread her hands helplessly. She hoped Mrs Cook had been able to find the book to subdue the poltergeist, at least. They could still hear the shrieking of the monkey upstairs and she hoped Eric wasn’t having too rough a time. ‘In our library. A place of books.Yourbooks.’
‘What do you mean?’ asked the boy in the tunic, looking up with interest. The fairy flitted to his shoulder, leaving a golden trail like a shooting star.
‘Erm, Chloe,’ Gwen whispered. ‘Maybe skip the explanation for now? The last thing we need is for them to have an existential crisis.’
‘Right,’ said Chloe. ‘We want to get you back to your own worlds as quickly as we can, but we need your help.’ She turned to Harry and Gwen, both of them looking at her with optimistic expectation; they trusted her to fix all this. It was bolstering as well as terrifying. ‘We have to collect all the books we can find that are glowing and put them here.’ She tapped the lobby desk, then moved some papers out of the way. ‘Everyone, please find books in this library that are glowing orange and bring them back here. I don’t know what’s happening, but I think . . . the library has lost its grip on its magic. Some of it, at least.’ She dearly hoped reading the books would send the characters home. It was the only thing she could think of.
The others nodded. The characters were looking at her, some with cool mistrust, others with interest, and others still witheagerness. A little girl with a red cape and hood beamed at her, clutching a basket in her hands.
‘Listen, if you help us gather the glowing books, you’ll be able to get home a lot faster,’ said Chloe.
