03. The Garden“Well, one weirdo down, 57 to go. Probably.” Emma sighed. “If we meet any more freaks, I’m giving up. I’m not going anywhere with you if we keep bumping into these nutters.”
“So odd…”
Emma grabbed Theresa’s arm. “Earth to Terry. Come one, let’s move on.”
“Huh, oh… Yeah, let’s. But how do we get out of here…?”
“Well, I’m going to suggest something totally outrageous and say we use that ladder.”
“What ladder…?” Theresa turned and chuckled. “Oh, that one. It wasn’t there before…”
“Get with the program, Terry. It’s just the way the Library works. Get down there, and you have to carry Biggles.
Don’t drop him.”
Theresa rolled her eyes, but lowered herself down the ladder and took the dog when Emma gave him to her. The little guy wagged his tail and moved so much about, she was afraid she was going to fall off, but she held on tight with the dog under her arm. Meanwhile, the blue haired girl was shouting at her from the top of the ladder to not harm Biggles or she would bash her head in.
All charms, that Emma.
After climbing the ladder and depositing the little dog, Theresa looked around. For some reason, the last thing she had expected to find was a door. The bookshelves ended and where wall took over was a door.
“Emma, look!” she looked back with a smile. “A door.”
“Wow, haven’t seen one of those in a while.”
“Maybe it’s an exit.”
Emma rolled her eyes. “That’s the most naïve thing you’ve ever said. Of course it isn’t. Know what I will tell you, though?”
“No?”
“Whoever decorated this place is a real numpty. Real life fire on the walls next to the bookshelves. A disaster waiting to happen.”
Theresa shrugged. Who was naïve now? If she was expecting this place to make sense…
“Well, I guess there’s nothing to do but go through the door.”
She took a step forward but suddenly felt a wave of nausea. Her blue haired companion was saying something but she couldn’t quite hear. She was somewhere else.
“So, how’s she holding up?”
“Oh, you know…”“Yeah, I think I know.”She wasn't quite real, not really inside her own mind...
Hello? She couldn’t speak.
“Don’t be like that. It’s rough for all of us.”
“Someone’s gotta say the things you won’t say, Kevin. I’m not doing this for my own sake, you know, it’s for them…”She took a step forward but she was no one. The two of them kept talking; the strangers who weren’t strangers at all.
“You know what she’s like and you can’t be trusted around her.”Their faces were so familiar but locked away in her mind. She didn’t want to remember. Not now.
“What are you implying?”
“That she’s got you wrapped around her little finger and because you can’t pull yourself together you refuse to listen when I say that that woman...”
“H-hey…”
“Terry, you’re back.”The woman was matter of fact and Theresa stared into her own face. Then the woman’s. Then the man’s, Kevin's. She was still no one, only looking.
“I… Yes. They um… closed the establishment.”
“Well, Kevin, I better dash. Terry, love, see you around.”
“I know I’m useless, Kevin.”Time didn’t pass properly. Things just moved in rapid jerks. Here they were, then there.
“No, don’t say that.”
“Well, Mitzi thinks…” “Who cares what she thinks? Just… You’re grieving.”
“I’m useless… Useless.”
“Oi, Earth to Terry!”
“What?”
Emma was tugging at her arm.
“Come on, let’s go through. See what kind of weirdo’s in there. You open the door – I don’t want to be ambushed by a green ghost or something.”
Theresa shook her head at her, really trying to shake the experience she just had. She still wasn’t sure that she was real… When Emma shot her another look, she quickly smiled and opened the door.
“Wow!”
A rare smile flashed across Emma’s face and Biggles dashed ahead of them. “This place is cool!”
“I agree.”
“Hope that doesn’t mean I’m becoming a weirdness magnet, too…”
But she still smiled.
“But what would a garden do in a library?”
“Terry, look!”
Emma was pointing at a bush near the back and some rustling leaves. The two of them stood transfixed and then someone climbed out.
“You are trespassing,” the stranger said.
Next to Theresa, Emma groaned. “Oh great, another weirdo coming right up.”
Author's note: Gasp! I finally felt inspired to continue this. As you might notice, the shots are a bit different. I started playing in windowed mode and thus a different resolution and rather than cut them to the usual size, I decided the pictures look nice like this. I'm going to start cutting them like this for the legacy too, at some point.
Anyway - yay I'm finally not super lazy! (And please tell if this chapter is super duper confusing - it's bit of an experiment).