You stand there in the entryway, just breathing in the strange shop.
Whatever odd, evil presence had been making you so nervous outside doesn’t exist here.
The hodgepodge assortment of books looks even more helter-skelter up close, and you have to turn sideways just to reach the front counter through the stacks.
There’s no way all this was moved in one afternoon. Surely this store had been there all along and you just never noticed it. It’s possible the blinds were drawn or the windows were boarded, or even just the lights were off.
Maybe someone’s been renovating it.
Except, when you think back on it, you’re pretty sure you remember seeing a “for rent” sign in the same spot out front on your way to work that afternoon.
Nah, can’t be. You must be misremembering. Maybe that was the place next door.
You reach out to touch one of the books, but just before your finger grazes the spine, someone behind you clears their throat.
You jump.
But there’s no one there.
“Ahem,” coughs a small voice, and you shift your gaze lower to find a frowning, wizened old man peering up at you through gold wire-rimmed spectacles.
“Hmm,” he mumbles, clicking his tongue and shaking his head. “Well, well. It isn’t much, but it will have to do.”
“Excuse me?” You ask, taken aback. “Are you talking about me?”
Maybe he’s senile. He looks as ancient as his books, like he might crumble into a pile of dust if you breathe too hard. But his eyes are sharp and gleaming.
With a smile, he croaks out, “I’ve been waiting for you.“
Um. What?
You take a step back, glancing at the door.
Maybe the good feeling you had when you walked in was a little premature.
But the little old man only laughs, pushing his spectacles higher on the bridge of his nose.
“There, there. Do not be alarmed.Please,” he says as he starts down one of the narrow aisles between the zig-zagged stacks. “I have just the book you’ve been looking for.”
Mysterious Hot Guy
Something’s keeping me awake.
The void’s all static, like the air before a thunderstorm. It’s the feeling that something is changing.
A burning, long-forgotten anger sizzles through my veins.
I know this feeling.
It’sher.
2
Time to Wake Up the Hot Guy
You
Just the book you’ve been looking for? But you’ve never met this little old man in your life. There’s no way he knows what you like.
