Chapter 10 LIBRARY SECRETS
CHAPTER 010: LIBRARY SECRETS
" You saw yourself?” Sofia asked, amazed.
" Is there a Library here?” I asked.
" Yes… there's one down the hall there." Sofia pointed.
“Let's go there."
The library doors squeaked as I pushed them open. Sofia walked beside me, clutching her notebook like she was heading into battle.
“You look nervous.” She said. giving me a sideways look. “Don’t worry. Nobody dies in the library. Well… not recently.”
“That isn’t helping.” I muttered.
She grinned, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “Come on. We need to understand what this whole Classification mess means before Ravencroft ships you to some underground chamber.”
Her voice sounded light, but I saw the hesitation, she was worried maybe more than I was.
The library stretched out like a maze of shelves and floating lanterns. The air smelled of ink and old paper.
Students sat in corners whispering or pretending to study while watching us pass.
A group of boys at a nearby table stared a little too long and whispered among themselves.
Sofia rolled her eyes. “Ignore them. They’ve decided you’re the main character in their gossip circles.”
“I didn’t ask for that.” I said.
“Exactly. Those are the ones who get hunted the most.”
I shot her a look, but she was already walking toward the Restricted Archives door. She pressed her palm to a glowing rune and whispered. “We’re here to learn, not cause trouble.”
The door slid open.
We stepped into a quiet space. Books lined the walls up to a ceiling so high I couldn’t see where it ended. Everything felt older here, heavier.
Sofia went straight to a shelf labeled ‘Foundations of Soul Reading’ and pulled out a thick book.
“Here.” She said. “This explains the Orb.”
I leaned beside her, reading over her shoulder.
‘The Orb of Truth reveals the core of your existence, Identity, power level and nature. Students are required to undergo Classification before official enrollment.’
Then another line below it:
‘Most survive. Some do not.’
My stomach tightened. “Why would an orb kill someone?”
“It doesn’t kill you.” She said. “It exposes you and some people can’t handle what they see.”
That didn’t make it better.
Sofia flipped pages fast, scanning paragraphs with her finger. Her voice softened a little. “The Orb decides if you’re too dangerous for the school. That’s what Ravencroft meant by threat level.”
“Too dangerous.” I repeated.
She nodded. “And if she’s already suspicious of you, she’ll watch every breath you take.”
I remembered Ravencroft’s eyes in her office earlier it was sharp and cold and studying me like I was a problem she needed to solve.
Before I could sink deeper into that dread, Sofia shut the book and tugged my sleeve.
“Come on. We need more than textbook nightmares. There should be records of past Classifications.”
We moved deeper into the archives. Something about this section felt familiar, like walking into an old memory.
Sofia reached a table stacked with old newspaper boxes. “Help me look.”
We opened the boxes and pulled out yellow sheets, old exams, cutouts, forgotten names.
“None of these help.” Sofia muttered, throwing a paper aside. “All of it is boring student drama.”
I kept digging. Then my fingers brushed a thin envelope buried at the bottom. My name wasn’t on it, but something tugged in my chest. I opened it.
Inside was a newspaper clipping.
A girl stared back at me in the faded photograph.
My face
My hair
My eyes
The headline read:
‘Student T. Moonwhisper Dies in Courtyard Fire, cause is unknown.’
I froze.
Sofia looked over my shoulder. The moment she saw it, she went silent. Her mouth opened a little, but no sound came out.
“That’s you.” She whispered. “No. It’s… it looks like you.”
I swallowed, but my throat felt dry. “It says fifty years ago.”
She took the paper from my hand, her fingers trembling. “Thalira… this isn’t normal. This is not a coincidence.”
The room felt colder. I stepped back, almost bumping into the shelf. “I don’t remember this. I don’t remember anything like this.”
“Maybe that’s what Ravencroft meant by memory bleeds,” Sofia said. “Maybe you’re not having them because the memories aren’t bleeding. They’re buried.”
Her words scraped something raw inside me.
I grabbed the table edge, grounding myself. “If this is real, then… what am I?”
Sofia put a hand on my arm. “We don’t know yet but we’re going to find out.”
Before I could answer, a shadow moved across the far end of the room.
A tall figure stood between the shelves.
I blinked, thinking my mind was playing tricks, but the figure didn’t vanish.
Sofia followed my gaze and whispered. “Thalira, don’t panic.”
The figure stepped into the dim light.
It was Zev.
His expression wasn’t soft or playful like in the dreams. It was sharp and focused. His eyes glowed faintly, like he hadn’t slept in weeks.
“What are you doing here?” I said.
“You shouldn’t be reading that.” He said, nodding at the clipping.
“That’s not your decision.”
He stepped closer. “This place has history you’re not ready to carry.”
“I found it.” I snapped. “So it’s already mine.”
His expression changed, he looked like he wanted to argue but stopped himself. “Thalira, listen. There are things you don’t remember because remembering them could break you.”
“Let me decide what breaks me.”
Sofia moved behind me like she was ready to fight him with her tiny notebook.
“Why are you always around her?” She said. “Are you stalking her or what?”
Zev didn’t even look at her. His eyes glued on me. “She called me without knowing. She does that.”
“I don’t call you.” I said.
“You do. When you dream. When you’re scared. When you’re curious about me.” His voice dipped low. “I hear all of it.”
My cheeks warmed with anger mixed with embarrassment. “Well stop listening.”
“I can’t.” He said. “You pull me in. I don't know if I can control it.”
Sofia clicked her tongue. “That’s creepy.”
I tightened my grip on the clipping. “If you know something, tell me.”
He looked at the photograph. His expression shifted, almost pained. “I knew her.”
The ground under me felt unsteady. “You knew… her the girl who looks like me.”
He nodded slowly. “I tried to save her but i failed.”
“What happened to her?” I asked.
He opened his mouth, but his voice didn’t come. Instead, the lanterns around us flickered.
Sofia gasped. “What is happening?”
Zev’s eyes widened. “Someone locked the archive.”
Before we could react, the heavy door behind us slammed shut.
Sofia grabbed my arm. “Thalira, we need to get out now.”
Zev stepped between us and the darkness growing at the center of the room. “Stay behind me.”
Zev whispered. “They know what you found.”
My skin crawled. “Who is they?”
He didn’t answer. He grabbed my wrist and pulled me back.
The shadow grew bigger, Sofia screamed.
Zev pushed us behind a pillar. His voice dropped to a warning growl.
“Thalira”
“What?”
“When the shadow touches anything, it shows the truth. All of it.”
My breath caught. “What truth?”
He looked at me with an expression that made my stomach drop.
“Yours.”