Ruby's Point of View
The bookshelf crashed to the floor, missing my head by inches.
"What the heck?" I jumped back, my heart pounding against my ribs. The heavy wooden shelf had just toppled over for no reason at all. Books were spread everywhere, their pages fluttering like wounded birds.
I knelt down to start picking them up, but something made me stop. Where the bookshelf had been stood, there was now a hole in the wall. Not a crack or a damaged spot—a real hole, like an opening that had been hidden behind the books.
Cool air drifted out of the dark hole, carrying a smell I'd never smelled before. It was like old paper and lights and something else. Something that made my skin tingle.
"This is impossible," I whispered, but I was already moving toward the hole. My feet seemed to have a mind of their own.
The bright book from earlier was still tucked under my arm, and it was getting warm again. Really warm. Like it was excited about something.
I pulled out my phone and turned on the lights. The beam of light showed stone steps going down into darkness. Old stone steps that looked like they'd been there for hundreds of years.
"Okay, Ruby," I said to myself. "You can either go home and pretend this never happened, or you can go down those steps and find out what's really going on."
My sensible side said go home. My curious side said go down the steps.
My curious side won.
The steps were narrow and steep, and they went down a lot farther than I thought. My phone light bounced off the stone walls, showing me carved symbols that looked like the ones from the glowing book. Some of them were moving, shifting and changing as I watched.
Moving symbols. Right. Because apparently that was my life now.
At the bottom of the steps, I found myself in a small room filled with the most amazing things I'd ever seen. Shelves lined every wall, packed with books that were definitely not normal library books. These books were bound in leather that looked old, and some of them had chains wrapped around them like they were trying to escape.
In the middle of the room was a round table with more books spread across it. These books were open, and their pages were sparkling with the same silver light as the book in my arms.
"Holy cow," I breathed, stepping closer.
That's when I realized the books weren't just glowing. They were whispering.
I could hear them, soft voices speaking in languages I didn't recognize. But somehow, I got what they were saying. They were telling stories. Stories about magic and animals and people who could do impossible things.
The book under my arm was getting so warm it was almost burning. I pulled it out and set it on the table next to the others. The moment it touched the wooden surface, all the other books went quiet.
Then they started talking to each other.
"She's here," mumbled a thick book bound in red leather.
"Finally," sighed a small book with a blue cover.
"We've been waiting so long," said a book that looked like it was made of metal.
I stumbled backward, my mouth hanging open. "You're talking. The books are talking."
"Of course we're talking," said the red book. "We've been trying to talk to you for years. You just couldn't hear us before."
"Before what?" I asked, even though I was pretty sure I was losing my mind.
"Before you found the Awakening Book," said the blue book. "Before you became one of us."
"One of what?"
"A Guardian," said the metal book. "Someone who can see the truth about the world."
I sank down into a chair I hadn't noticed before. "What truth?"
The books all started shining brighter, and suddenly the room was filled with pictures. Not painted pictures or images, but real moving pictures floating in the air like holograms.
I saw animals that looked like they'd stepped out of fairy tales. Dragons flying through clouds. Wolves that walked on two legs. People with wings and pointed ears and eyes that glowed like stars.
"Magic is real," said the red book. "It always has been. Most people can't see it, but it's everywhere. In the shadows, in the forest, in the space between heartbeats."
"That's crazy," I whispered, but I was looking at the floating pictures with my mouth open.
"Is it?" asked the blue book. "Haven't you always felt like there was something more? Haven't you always thought why you love stories about magic so much?"
I had. Ever since I was little, I'd felt like the world was hiding something from me. Like there were doors I couldn't see and secrets I couldn't hear.
"Why me?" I asked. "Why am I the one who can see this stuff now?"
"Because you have a kind heart," said the metal book. "Magic chooses people who use their power to help others, not hurt them."
The moving pictures changed, showing me something that made my blood turn to ice. A village on fire. People running and screaming. And in the middle of it all, a young man with silver eyes and shadows pouring out of his hands like black water.
"That's him," I whispered. "That's the man from upstairs."
"Asher Nightfall," said the red book, and its voice was sad. "He was like you once. Kind and good and wanting to help. But he lost control of his power, and now he thinks he's a monster."
"Is he?" I asked, even though I already knew the answer. I'd seen the pain in his eyes. Monsters don't feel pain like that.
"He's the most powerful Guardian alive," said the blue book. "And the most dangerous. His shadows could swallow the world if he wanted them to."
"But he doesn't want them to," I said. "He's hiding because he's scared of hurting people."
"Yes," said the metal book. "He's been alone for a hundred years, thinking he's too dangerous to be around anyone. But he's wrong."
The moving pictures changed again, showing me something that made my heart skip. The same young man, but older and sadder, sitting alone in a dark castle. He was crying.
"He needs help," I said, my voice breaking. "He needs someone to show him he's not a monster."
"He needs you," said all three books at the same time.
"But I don't know anything about magic! I don't know how to help someone like him!"
"You already started," said the red book. "When you looked at him with love instead of fear. When you saw his pain instead of his power."
I thought about the man upstairs, about the sadness in his silver eyes. He'd looked like he hadn't been hugged in a hundred years. Like he'd forgotten what it felt like to have someone care about him.
"What do I do?" I asked.
The books started shining brighter, and new pictures appeared in the air. I saw myself standing next to the shadow man, both of us shining with light. I saw us fighting monsters together. I saw us saving people.
But then the pictures changed, and I saw something that made me scream.
The shadow man was on his knees, chained with silver chains. A woman with blood-red hair was standing over him, laughing. She had fangs and claws and eyes like burning fires.
"She's coming," whispered the blue book, and its voice was full of fear.
"Who's coming?" I asked, but I already knew I didn't want to hear the answer.
"Seraphina Dark," said the metal book. "The vampire queen. She's been hunting Asher for decades, and now she knows where he is."
The floating pictures showed me the vampire woman flying through the storm, her eyes fixed on the library. On me.
"She'll be here soon," said the red book. "And when she gets here, she'll try to use you to control Asher."
"Use me how?"
"She'll hurt you," said all three books together. "She'll hurt you to make him do what she wants."
I felt sick. "Can't he just hide? Can't he go back to his castle?"
"Not anymore," said the blue book. "The Awakening Book has connected you to him. Where you go, he'll follow. It's magic, and magic can't be broken."
Thunder crashed outside, and I heard something that made my blood freeze.
Laughter.
Cold, cruel laughter that was getting closer.
"She's here," whispered the books, and their glow started to fade.
"What do I do?" I asked desperately.
"Run," said the red book. "Run to Asher. He's the only one who can protect you now."
"But what if I make things worse? What if I get him hurt?"
"Ruby," said the metal book, and its voice was gentle. "Some things are worth the risk. Some people are worth saving, even if it's dangerous."
The laughing was right outside the library now, and I could hear the front door rattling.
"She's trying to get in," I whispered.
"The library's protection spells will hold her for a few minutes," said the blue book. "But not long. You have to go now."
I grabbed the Awakening Book and ran for the steps. Behind me, I could hear the books mumbling prayers and good luck wishes.
As I climbed the stone steps, one thought kept running through my mind.
I was about to trust my life to a man who could destroy the world with his shadows.
And somehow, that felt like the best thing I could do.