“What are you writing?” she asked.
“Romance.”
“I love romance. It’s the greatest escape. What kind of romance? I always had a thing for men in kilts.”
I perked up. “I love historical romance. But mine is more contemporary. It’s a little dark.”
“Dark?” She laughed. “What’s that even mean?”
“She falls for the villain, not the hero.”
“Oh, interesting.” She nodded. “Is it spicy?” She crossed her arms and leaned against the bookshelf. “We need more of those on the shelves. Gloriana always takes them for herself when someone leaves them. Tell me about it. Actually, no, let me read it.”
“I mean, I’m not published yet.” I looked down at my feet. “I’m here to figure out how to write better.”
“I see. So, no sexy book.” She made a sour face.
“Not yet. Soon. Oh, you uh, your makeup is running.” A black tear slid down one cheek. She rubbed it away, only to smear it across her face. “Oh, hold on.” I turned around, looking for my bag. “I have a mirror.”
“No!”
I fished my compact out, popped it open, and turned. “See, quick fix?—”
The woman made eye contact with her reflection and screamed.I leapt back, confused as the beautiful woman burst into tears and her makeup began to seemingly melt off her face.
“Are you okay?” I shrank to the other side of the room. She was standing stiff as a board, sobbing and screaming as if she’d seen a ghost. She began blubbering through her screeching, but I had no idea what she was saying.
“Redrum! Nur! Won! Teg Tuo! Nur! Redrum! Redrum! Redrum!”
Unsure of what to do, I grabbed my things and bent downto flee the room, but she caught me by the shirt and pulled me back.
“Redrum! Teg Tuo!”
“I don’t know what you’re saying!” Could no one hear us? “Let go of me!” I shoved her away and she fell back onto the bookcase. Books fell off the shelves and scattered all over the floor. She stopped screaming and fainted. I could not have pushed her that hard.
Silent and still, I reached out to make sure she was okay. I couldn’t tell if she was breathing or not. I touched her hand and she bolted up.I leapt back with a yelp as she stood and fled the room so fast I didn’t have time to fully comprehend what had just happened.
I shakily went to the open doorframe to peek down the hall. The hall was empty! I stepped out fully to double-check, but there was no one here.
What the hell?
A chill ran through me, but I forced myself to toss the feeling away. Maybe her room was on this floor, and she was so embarrassed she went back to clean herself up. I convinced myself of this before turning back into the little room I had found to gather my things.
Deciding I wouldn’t be returning after I cleaned up, I picked up the books and set them back on the shelves. It wasn’t until I started shoving them back into the empty spaces that I noticed how dusty the shelves were. If she came in here often, why did it look like no one had touched this stuff in ages?
I picked up a particularly heavy book and paused. It was large, like a dictionary, and bound in red leather. I turned it over to look at the cover.
Arachnophobia.
There was no author listed. I held it in my hands, even more curious. Arachnophobia, wasn’t that the fear of spiders?I began to flip through the aged, yellow, crackled blank pages, only to find nothing but more empty pages.
A flash of red caught my eye. I went back to find the page and found splotches of deep maroon all over the page. It was the color of blood, and it looked… damp. This was fresh.
I put a finger on a splotch and confirmed that it was still wet. As my hand rested on the book page, something small and black came from the center crease in the book. I pulled my hand back as I realized it was a spider. But it wasn’t just one. A dozen of them burst from the center!
I screamed and dropped the book, only for it to cause a stir. A hundred tiny black beasts exploded out of the book and rushed over my feet! I backed up quickly, only to fall over the coffee table and land on my ass. The spiders seemed to multiply into a hoard, climbing over my legs and arms.
I screamed again and brushed them off me, but they kept coming. More and more spiders wiggled around and crawled over me. I grabbed my bag and turned to run out the door, only to freeze in horror.
