The Cornerstone (5 page)

I’m really not sure how much more of this I can take…

The blinding silver light engulfed him again and Max was thrust forward at an incredible rate.

Lacking anything more constructive to do, he decided screaming might be a good idea.

As he gave his lungs a good workout, the sound and light show came to a sudden end, indicating the journey was over.

This was just as well, because Max was approaching the point of projectile vomiting and was about to end up very far from the nearest washing machine.

Vision and hearing returned. Max found himself sat with The Cornerstone open in front of him, just as he had been.

He wasn’t in Farefield public library anymore though, that was for certain.

- 6 -

It was
a
library, but other than the fact it contained books, it had nothing in common with the place he’d just left.

This library had never felt the sting of council cutbacks and was never used by the elderly to kill time before picking up the pension. It didn’t feature any hand drawn children’s pictures, and most certainly did not have a cyber café or Citizens Advice Bureau.

What it did have were monstrous, gothic shelves containing a countless number of impressive books - the type other books wanted to be when they grew up.

They looked extremely old. Bound in a selection of exotic looking materials, the spines were covered in languages Max didn’t have a chance of understanding.

Some books also bore symbols. Max could recognise a few of these, but rather wished he didn't as none of them looked pleasant - reminding him of some of the more lurid nightmares he’d had recently.

The nightmare he was in right now was a lot worse though, as it appeared to be happening while he was wide awake.

‘Hello!? Is there anybody here?!’ he shouted.

Much like in the purple void, there was no response.

Max looked at the colossal oak bookshelves rearing up on both sides and saw that some twenty feet above his head they became lost in a thick, swirling mist.

Behind and ahead, the shelves marched away in a straight line, creating a long corridor with no apparent end.

Feeling the onset of claustrophobia
and
agoraphobia, Max looked down, trying to settle himself.

He noticed a space in the bookshelf to his left. It was the same size as The Cornerstone.

Books can be doorways.

That’s what the message had said and he’d found one that evidently was. It’d sucked him out of his mundane, drizzly little world and brought him to this strange, gigantic library.

Panic blossomed in his chest.

Max ripped open The Cornerstone, hoping it would catapult him back the same way it had brought him here.

Nothing happened.

In fact, the book’s pages were now completely clean and unmarked. The writing had disappeared.

Great, what do I do now?

For want of a better idea, he stood up and started to walk down the long aisle. Having no idea what might be lurking in this strange place, this was conducted at a very slow, sensible pace.

The mist hanging above was a particular source of concern.

It looked designed to hide hideous monstrosities until the last second, when they would reach down an enormous suckered tentacle and pluck unwary souls to their doom. There would be big, sharp teeth involved and large, nebulous eyeballs. He wasn't entirely sure what nebulous meant, but it sounded terrifying.

This line of thought accomplished nothing - other than causing testicle shrinkage of epic proportions - so Max tried to put the mist and its potentially lethal denizens out of his head.

It wasn’t easy.

He looked down and noticed that the floor was made of smooth, grey granite and was, as far he could tell, totally devoid of any dust or grit.

Mum would love how clean this place is.

This brought on a pang of scared homesickness and he increased his pace, a new sense of urgency propelling him forward.

After twenty minutes - roughly the attention span of most seventeen year old boys, if left devoid of mental stimulation - his pace had slowed back to the legendary trudge and Max found himself inexplicably bored.

It shouldn’t be possible to be yanked through a doorway into another universe and become bored after less than half an hour, but Max had achieved it.

He stopped in front of a random shelf and looked at the closest books. They were still incomprehensible, but the symbols on their spines were less nightmare-like, leading Max to deduce he’d walked out of the section containing really evil books and into the part of the library that held just mildly evil ones.

With everything quiet and Max calmed down, this was the perfect time for something loud to go
bang!

It came from back down the aisle some distance away - an echoing, loud crash like something large had been dropped on the ground.

A heavy book covered in nasty symbols, for instance…

Max’s heart leapt into his mouth.

It leapt even further when there was a second bang, this one much closer.

Running.

That’s always a good idea in a situation like this, isn’t it?

Max took to his heels.

To start with, he didn’t waste time looking round. If some hideous creature of the night was hunting him down, he had no intention of getting a good look at the bugger before it swallowed him whole.

When the banging sounded right behind him however, he had to glance over his shoulder.

Books were flying off the shelves, as if some huge, invisible creature were running along the aisle with both arms out, scooping them onto the ground.

Max tried to run faster - visions of sharp teeth and tentacles flashing through his head - but it was no good, the thing was gaining on him. He could feel its cold breath on the back of his neck.

Then, in apparent defiance of all the laws of physics, he went sideways.

Something had pulled him out of the path of the invisible horror, just in the nick of time.

He was yanked into an alcove along the right hand side of the stacks and swung around, the back of his head smacking into a bookcase.

Max couldn’t quite see his assailant / saviour, but got the impression of a moving wall with arms, such was its size.

The world went blurry and he dropped to the ground in a daze.

‘Whaa?’ he said.

‘Oh no, you’ve hurt him!’

It was a girl’s voice, full of brittle concern.

Max heard a grunt coming from the moving wall. He could also hear the sound of the invisible monster’s progress as it carried on down the aisle - which was at least of some comfort.

‘Get out of the way. Let me see if he’s ok.’

The wall moved to one side.

Max’s vision was still blurred and his head spun in a sickening whirl, but he could just about see the girl as she leant forward.

She was blonde and beautiful, with the deepest blue eyes he’d ever seen.

‘You don’t look too bad,’ she said. ‘Just a bit discombobulated, I expect.’

‘Whaa?’ Max tried again.

‘You’ve hit your head quite hard. That’s better than being caught by the guardian, though.’

‘Mnhnm,’ he agreed.

‘I’m sorry. This must be all very confusing for you.’

He felt her hand grasp his.

‘I hope you’ll be able to help us,’ she continued. ‘It was a bit of a shot in the dark, sending the message like that, but I had to take the chance. It was the only way of getting through to your world without anyone here noticing.’

‘Mnhnm.’

‘You really shouldn’t be in this part of the Library though, it’s far too dangerous. You came through before we could get The Cornerstone out.’ Her brow furrowed. ‘Quite why the custodians had it down here baffles me. You could have been killed!’

Max could wholeheartedly agree with that last statement and tried to tell her so.

‘Hmnmn.’

‘I could fight the guardian with Wordcraft, but you're no way near ready yet,’ she said, which was perplexing to say the least.

 ‘Mnhnmn.’

‘We’ll have to get you back before it returns. Here, hold The Cornerstone up.’

He did as he was told.

Nothing happened, what with the pages being blank and everything.

‘Book blank,’ he mumbled.

 The girl frowned. ‘Oh, blast. It’s lost power,’ she said, biting a fingernail. ‘One crossing shouldn’t have drained it that much though… never mind, we can fix it.’ 

She took The Cornerstone and shoved into the nearest shelf between two thin hardbacks.

The girl waited a few moments, an impatient look on her face.

…she really was
extraordinarily
pretty.

Max wished he’d met her under better circumstances - when he wasn’t scared out of his wits and dribbling.

‘That should be enough,’ she said, plucking the book out and thrusting it back into his hands.

‘Read!’ she commanded.

Max opened it and peered at the page:

 ‘That should be enough,’ she said, plucking the book out and thrusting it back into his hands.

‘Read!’ she commanded.

Max opened it and peered at the page:

The universe exploded again.

On a day full of shocks, surprises and horrors, Max was delighted to open his eyes and see the now familiar shape of Imelda Warrington standing over him, a look of deep concern on her face.

He was back in Farefield, sat up against the ratty old bookshelf. The gigantic mist-filled library had gone.

‘I have just two questions for you, young man,’ Imelda said. ‘How exactly did you find The Cornerstone and where did it take you?’

Part Two

- 1 -

 ‘You know about this thing?’ Max said, waving The Cornerstone at her.

‘Of course I do, you silly boy. I’m the librarian.’

She grabbed his hand and hoisted him to his feet.

Max wobbled on the spot. ‘I think I need to sit down somewhere comfortable,’ he said, offering Imelda a sickly look.

The librarian studied him for a second. ‘Yes, that’d probably be a good idea.’ She held out a hand. ‘But first, I’ll take The Cornerstone, thank you’.

Max was too drained to argue and handed the book over.

‘Come on,’ she ordered, and marched off in the direction of the staff room.

Max usually hated getting bossed about, but given the confusing events of the day so far, being offered some direction in life probably wasn’t a bad thing right about now.

The staff room was brown.

Very
brown:

Brown chairs, brown sofa, brown walls, brown carpet, brown coffee table, brown sideboard, brown cabinets.

Max sat with a grateful sigh in one of the brown chairs, while Imelda fixed him a strong cup of tea from the brown kettle. She said nothing while the tea brewed, just stared at the book lying on the table, a thoughtful expression on her face.

Max looked around the room, wondering if the person who'd decorated it had been inspired by the local sewage works.

‘Here,’ Imelda said, handing him a steaming mug.

He thanked her and took a sip. It was warm, sweet and just what he needed.

Imelda sat in a chair opposite and studied him. ‘What’s your name, young man?’

She’d obviously forgotten about the hastily completed library card.

Max thought of giving her a false identity, then decided it wouldn’t be a good idea. This woman looked the type to weed out lies easily.

‘Max. My name’s Max. Max Bloom,’ he said in his best James Bond. ‘You took my name down earlier, remember?’

‘Oh yes… I recall,’ Imelda replied. ‘Got yourself into a spot of bother, haven’t you?’ She pointed at The Cornerstone.

‘Yeah, you could say that.’

‘Well?’ Imelda demanded.

‘Well what?’

‘How do you know about The Cornerstone… and where did it take you?’

‘I could ask you the same questions!’ he said, pointing a finger. ‘The first one anyway.’

‘You could, but you’re not getting anything out of me until I know why you’re involved in this.’

Max sipped his tea, eyes narrowing as he looked at her over the mug.

‘How long have you known about The Cornerstone?’ Imelda said.

He glanced up at the clock on the wall. ‘About an hour… more or less,’ he guessed.

‘An
hour
?’

‘Yep.’

‘You mean you had no idea about it before you walked into this library?’

‘Nope.’

Imelda sat back in her chair with disbelief. ‘Well, you’re either very special Mr Bloom, or just very unlucky.’

 ‘Oh, it’s the second one, definitely.’

He told her about coming into the library in an attempt to stave off boredom. Imelda nodded in a resigned fashion – she knew damn well most teenagers would only see the library as the absolute last resort for entertainment these days.

He then went on to describe finding the note.

‘May I see it?’ she asked.

Max fished around in his jeans, pulled out the crumpled piece of paper and handed it to her. She read the message several times before looking up.

‘You shouldn’t have seen this, Max. Whoever wrote it should never have sent it across. This world is off-limits to anyone not authorised to be here.’ Imelda looked at the note. ‘They must be clever though… powerful too. Knowing how to Wordcraft a bridge without The Cornerstone is extremely difficult. It must have been someone in the Chapter House.’

Max didn’t have a clue what she was on about, but he wasn’t a complete idiot.

‘It was a girl. She had blue eyes.’

‘Who was?’

‘The girl who wrote the note.’

He continued his story, to the point where the strange girl and her protector had saved him from the library guardian - sending him back before he got flattened.

Max took another sip of lukewarm tea, wondering what the librarian’s reaction would be.

It wasn’t good.

‘You were in extreme danger, Max. This girl has got you caught up in something you had no business being involved with. It was stupid and careless.’ Imelda tucked the note away in a pocket of her suit jacket. ‘There are wiser people than her who make sure the doorway between worlds is off limits to anyone not powerful, skilled or old enough to use it.’