Page 21 of Unruly
“No.”
“That’s bad, right? You know everything.”
“Not everything. It’s okay. Let’s continue our mission.”
“Yeah, okay.”
We walk together down the hall, pausing in front of an open door. I peer inside, finding a woman slumped over a desk, her head resting on her folded arms.
“Excuse us,” I say as softly as possible so as not to startle her.
The woman’s head snaps up. “Who are you?”
“We’re here to help.”
“Are you okay?” Borja asks.
“Am I okay?” The woman stands, gesturing around the room at the books and papers on the floor, the toppled chair and bookcase. “I’ve been better. Again, who are you?”
“Are you Professor Carole?” I ask delicately.
The woman’s expression tightens. “Yes. Now identify yourselves before I call the police.”
“I’m here to help, Professor. My name is Farnsworth Renard, and this is Borja Diaz, my colleague.”
“Uh-huh. What do you want?”
“Are we to understand you had an incident recently? Perhaps related to a book purchase?”
Her eyes widen as she steps back. “How did you know that?”
“It’s why we’re here. The book… do you have it?”
With a shaky finger, she points across the room where a book lies under the window, its spine broken and pages torn. “What’s wrong with it?”
“We’re not sure,” I reply while Borja is already heading for the book, “but we think it has something unpleasant attached to it. Can you tell us what happened?”
She nods, her unruly red curls bouncing. “I’ve been looking for that book for months, and I got a call this morning that one of the book dealers found it. I purchased it and came to campus to do my job. I was sitting here at my desk flipping through its pages, and at first, I thought I was imagining it, but the book seemed to be vibrating. The further into the book I got, the more intense it got. Then…” She pauses, glancing over her shoulder. “I feel insane saying this aloud.”
“We’ll believe you. I promise.”
“Okay, well, the book flew out of my hands and across the room, and as it did so, it was like a storm was unleashed, blowing everything around. I tried to run out, but the door slammed and wouldn’t open, so I ducked under my desk. It must have lasted several minutes, and then it was just done. Everything stoppedabruptly. My colleagues were able to open the door and they rushed in to help. Campus police came shortly after, but I had no reasonable explanation for what happened. They assumed someone did this, a person, and since I hid, I had no description to give them.”
Borja returns with the harmless looking book and hands it to me. I look it over, feeling nothing trapped inside it.
“But it wasn’t a person,” the professor says. “It was the book.”
“It wasn’t actually the book,” I explain. “But you’re right, it wasn’t a person either. Something was attached to the book, but it’s gone now.”
“How do you know that?”
“I just do. I sense it.”
“Are you… a medium or something?”
“Or something.” I flip the book over. “It’s not here though. Whatever it was is gone.”
“Will it come back?”
