146. The Library
Amy decides to head for the room that appears to be a library. “Maybe I'll find a book there on the history of this mansion or the owner of the place. That could be helpful,” Amy thinks to herself, “Besides, if there’s anywhere I’m likely to feel at home in this spooky place, it’s the library.” Amy works in the main stacks of her campus library as a book shelver, and between her job and her studies has probably spent more time in the university library than she has at her apartment.
Her time at the school library has not prepared her for what she is about to see. When she walks through the door she faces row upon row of shelves stacked with dusty tomes, some right-side-up, some up-side-down, some lying face down, some sitting open. Piles of books lie on the floor. Loose pages blow about, carelessly torn from their original volumes. Amy subconsciously lets out a gasp as she raises her right hand to cover her mouth in shock.
“SHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!”
Amy looks up to find the source of the noise. There, glowering at her over a pair of pince-nez glasses, is a wiry old man sitting behind what seems to be a circulation desk. The man is bald on top with a rim of straggly white hair around the side and back of his head. Liver spots dot his forehead. He has a beak-like nose, long and curved, and beady black eyes that have a manic intensity. His right hand sits in front of his face, his long, bony index finger extended in front of his mouth in the classic “shushing” gesture. His skinny arm seems far too long for his body, which is shriveled and old. The man wears a dusty brown tweed jacket over a yellowed shirt and once-black tie that has now faded to gray.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Amy replies in a stage whisper, “I wonder if you could help me. I’m looking for-”
“SHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!”
The ghostly librarian seems to go berserk. With an energy Amy would never have expected based on his appearance he flies over his desk, lunging toward her. Amy notices that his legs, likes his arms, are long and spindly. He looks to his left and reaches for something. This moment while he’s distracted would be the perfect time for Amy to try something…