Swindlers From Beyond The Grave
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“I’m sorry, but I don’t have any money on me,” said the man. “But if you’ll just tell us where to find your boss—”
The two men who had been standing in front of him were suddenly gone—vanished into thin air! He looked around and saw that they’d vanished right through a wall behind them…and there was no sign anywhere else inside this building or outback as far as he could see.
It wasn’t possible for anyone to vanish like that without leaving some kind of trace; it simply didn’t happen. But these guys weren’t human beings at all: They must’ve used magic somehow to make themselves disappear from sight so quickly. And now here came another pair of swindler types with their hands outstretched toward his wallet again…
He started backing away slowly until he bumped up against something solid, then turned around and ran off down an alleyway. A few seconds later, someone grabbed hold of one arm while somebody else took hold of the other.
Before long both arms were being twisted painfully behind his back by unseen forces. His feet left the ground completely before he even realized what was happening. Then everything went black.
When he woke up, he found himself lying face up on cold stone flooring surrounded by darkness. There seemed to be nothing above him except empty space. No ceiling overhead either. Just endless emptiness stretching upward forever.
This place felt more than familiar though. He knew exactly how big it was, too. About ten meters square, maybe? Not much bigger than a closet really. That’s why nobody would ever notice anything strange about its existence unless they happened to stumble across it accidentally.
Which meant that whoever put him here probably wanted to keep things quiet. So not only did they want to avoid drawing attention to whatever might lie within, but also prevent people from getting curious enough to investigate further. In short, they intended for him never to escape alive.
A single candle burned somewhere nearby. Its light illuminated a small room filled with bookshelves stacked high along every side. Books lined shelves upon shelves, filling almost half of the available space.
Some of those volumes appeared quite old indeed. Others bore titles written in languages he couldn’t read. All told, there must have been hundreds of thousands of them packed tightly together. If he hadn’t known better, he wouldn’t have believed such a huge number existed at all.
Even after spending several days wandering aimlessly throughout the city, searching desperately for clues, he still had yet to come across even one bookshop selling new ones. Everything sold here was secondhand or antiquarian.
There were three doors leading out of the tiny cell. Two stood open, revealing identical passageways beyond each one. One led straight ahead, the other curved slightly to the left. Neither offered any indication whatsoever on which way to go.
After staring blankly at the doorways for a moment, he finally made up his mind. He chose the passage curving to the left because it was closer. As soon as he stepped forward, however, the entire world began spinning wildly beneath his feet.
When he tried to steady himself, he discovered that his legs refused to obey his commands. Instead, he fell flat onto his stomach. After struggling fruitlessly for a minute or two, he gave up trying to stand upright and instead crawled on his belly over to the nearest shelf.
Once there, he propped his chin up against the edge and waited patiently for the dizziness to subside. Eventually, it passed, allowing him once again to look around freely.
This time when he peered past the end of the row closest to him, he spotted a narrow gap between the next set of shelved books. With great effort, he managed to drag himself sideways until he reached the opening.
At first glance, it looked like a dead-end tunnel running directly under the floorboards. However, he noticed immediately that the walls were actually covered with thick carpeting woven from strands of hair. What little sunlight filtered down from above lit up patches of the rug as well, giving the whole thing a soft glow.
It occurred to him that perhaps he should try crawling backward rather than forwards. Maybe the opposite direction would lead him outside. Unfortunately, he lacked the strength necessary to pull himself backward using his elbows alone. He needed help from somewhere else. Fortunately, he already knew precisely where to get it.
With considerable difficulty, he dragged himself halfway across the length of the hallway before reaching the spot near the entrance. Here he stopped abruptly, unable to move farther due to the weight pressing down on top of him.
He struggled frantically for nearly five minutes before managing to free himself. By then, sweat poured down his forehead despite the chill temperature of the surrounding area. The exertion caused him to gasp repeatedly for air, forcing him to pause frequently during his crawl.
It wasn’t easy going, especially since he didn’t know if he’d find another exit anywhere close by. But eventually, he came to rest just inches shy of the far wall.
The moment he lay eyes on the object resting atop the pile of books beside him, he understood who had placed him inside this particular trap.
“I’m so sorry,” said a voice coming from nowhere in particular. “But I can’t let you leave.”
He turned toward the source of the sound without hesitation. A young woman sat cross-legged on the ground right behind him. She wore an elegant gown adorned with elaborate embroidery. Her long black hair flowed smoothly back into her shoulders, framing a pair of large emerald green eyes.
Though she remained motionless, he could tell instantly that she possessed tremendous physical prowess. And judging from what he saw reflected in their depths, he guessed that she was no stranger to violence herself.
She stared silently at him through narrowed eyelids. Then, ever so slowly, she rose to her feet. In doing so, she revealed more about her true nature than anything else. For although she seemed frail enough to be easily crushed, her body was completely devoid of fat.
There weren’t even any signs of muscle tissue visible underneath the skin. Yet somehow, she moved effortlessly, as though floating on invisible wings.
Her gaze never wavered while she studied him carefully. Finally, she spoke.
“You’re not human, are you?”
His reply took some time to formulate. His throat felt dryer than sandpaper, making speaking difficult. Nevertheless, he forced himself to speak anyway.
“No… I am something different entirely.”
As expected, she frowned deeply at his response. Apparently, she found it hard to believe. That only served to make things worse for him. How did one explain oneself to someone who clearly held very strong opinions regarding humanity?
Finally, he decided to take matters into his own hands. To do otherwise might have resulted in further complications later on. So after taking several deep breaths, he rolled off the stack of books and got to his knees. From there, he pushed himself up onto all fours. This allowed him to face her squarely.
Then he asked:
“What is your name?”
***
A single word formed itself upon her lips.
“Karen…”
At last, they both realized why he called himself ‘the man.’ They also learned how he ended up trapped within this strange place. As such, neither of them made mention of the fact that he appeared to possess supernatural abilities.
Instead, Karen simply listened intently as he explained everything that happened leading up to now. When finished, she nodded once.
“So you’ve been here for quite a while, haven’t you?”
To which he replied:
“…Yes.”
After hearing those words, she sighed softly. Then, still seated on the ground, she began to pace around the room. After moving away from him twice, she finally returned to stand directly in front of him again. Without warning, she grabbed hold of his chin roughly.
For a brief instant, he thought she intended to strike him or bite him. But instead, she merely squeezed harder. Hard enough to cause pain but not enough to break the skin. Still, he couldn’t deny that it hurt.
When she released him, he glanced over at her. Now he understood exactly what she wanted.
“Tell me,” demanded Karen, “why does my father want you dead?”
There was nothing particularly unusual about the question itself; however, its timing left little doubt as to whom she meant when she referred to ‘my father’—and whose death she desired.
Still, he hesitated briefly before answering. Why? Because he feared revealing too much information. If he told her the truth, she might decide to kill him regardless. On the other hand, if he lied, she wouldn’t hesitate to punish him severely.
Either way, he risked losing his life. However, given the circumstances under which he currently existed, it hardly mattered whether he lived or died anymore. He’d already lost everything important to him. The least he could do was spare others from suffering similar fates.
In short, he chose to trust her. At first glance, she didn’t appear capable of harming anyone. Besides, he doubted she would harm him unless absolutely necessary.
Thus, he answered honestly.
“My mother’s husband killed her. My father wants revenge against whoever ordered the hit.”
This caused Karen to frown slightly. It wasn’t clear just yet where she stood on the issue. Perhaps she had mixed feelings about killing people. Or perhaps she believed that vengeance should always remain solely within the realm of the living.
Whatever the case may have been, she kept silent until she regained control of herself. Only then did she continue asking questions.
“Why don’t we go see your father together?”
The offer surprised him somewhat. Wasn’t she afraid of meeting him alone? What kind of person was she really?
However, he soon discovered that these were mere rhetorical inquiries. She truly wished to meet with him. And since he knew no better course of action, he agreed without hesitation.
Together, they walked out of the library and down the hall toward the exit. Once outside, he noticed that the sun hadn’t risen above the horizon yet. Nor did it seem likely to rise anytime soon. Even so, the sky remained dark blue rather than black.
No clouds marred the heavens either. All in all, conditions looked favorable for traveling by day.
He wondered aloud:
“Is it a night right now?”
She shook her head.
“It isn’t nighttime. We can leave whenever we like.”
That seemed odd to him. Yet even more surprising was the fact that he saw no signs of any sort of light source anywhere nearby. In fact, the entire area surrounding the building appeared completely devoid of illumination whatsoever.
Not a candle nor lantern burned in sight. Furthermore, none of the windows glowed brightly. There was nothing resembling an electric lamp or flashlight in evidence, either.
Yet despite being surrounded by darkness everywhere else, he somehow sensed that they weren’t actually walking through pitch-blackness. Rather, something akin to moonlight illuminated their path.
Moreover, he felt certain that someone must be watching them from somewhere close by. Someone who watched every move they made.
As far as he could tell, though, nobody paid attention to anything except themselves. That included him. Therefore, he assumed that whatever entity observed him never bothered looking beyond his immediate surroundings.
For some reason, he found this notion reassuring… although he couldn’t explain precisely why.
The End