The Scream of A Thousand Libraries Chapter 6: Chapter 8: The Scream...

Read chapter 6 of The Scream of A Thousand Libraries by Susangja on NovelPedia.

POV: HELENA IVYRA As soon as I stood up with the two books I intended to return to the shelves, I opened my bag, quickly searched, and found the paper with the note I had made earlier, with the title: Fundamentals of the Principle of Belief. "Alright, it's at the end of corridor C, being a compilation, it's probably on the top shelves," I said aloud, walking towards the back of the library on the left. The weather outside remained a cloudy afternoon, but now showed a warm temperature, nothing unbearable, quite typical for February. When I reached the corridor, I started looking at the books more calmly and noticed the large quantity of mixed books: fiction together with literature, science together with self-help, it seemed like a big mess. People usually never return books to their original places. "I guess Rose has to organize this frequently, which must be quite annoying, I think..." I commented in a low voice. I noticed a paper taped to one of the shelves, labeled: "Collections, Compilations, or Ancient Documents Section." I decided to stop and read the titles more carefully and attentively. "Who knows, maybe I'll find some interesting complementary reading, right..." I realized that the collection in this part was quite complete for a small library. Nowadays, people preferred to use e-readers or read digitally, which made the physical collection something very specific, and, in a way, restricted to an older audience. It usually made access to certain types of books difficult in less populated regions. So, seeing a small library with so many books was quite cool, I must say! These older books always had a musty smell and a yellowish color. Perhaps that would help me find this book... Rose had said that the collection had just come from restoration, so the condition should be a good way to distinguish it. Like magic... as soon as I thought of it, I found a very thick book, like a tome, with a strange symbol on its spine and no apparent title... Strange thing. As I reached for it, I noticed that its great thickness was deceiving. After all, the weight was light, in fact, too light... I pulled it harder, and felt a horizontal lock... Clack! A type of trigger or lever had been activated. I saw the books next to it slightly dim and, a brief moment later, disappear as if they had never been there. "Some kind of illusory enchantment? Here?" I exclaimed, startled. I tried to remember the last time I saw something like this, but I couldn't. It had never happened, in fact. I stretched to see what was in the now open compartment, where the books disappeared, and saw a kind of ancient papyrus. A paper or parchment apparently stored for a long time. I pondered whether I should show this to Rose or just leave it there. But my curiosity got the better of me. And I picked it up. When I touched it, I felt a strange texture, it wasn't just any type of paper, its grammage was thicker, and it even resembled some kind of skin or thick fabric. The coloration was strange, a kind of brown, with yellowish spots here and there. And some marks of... ink? Blood? Hard to tell, and certainly not the best thing to think about. As soon as I held it with both hands to better examine what was written, I felt a wave of energy leave the paper and spread through my hands and wrists, causing a strange tingling sensation. My head briefly spun, and my vision blurred, as if I had strong myopia for a few seconds. After a few moments, my vision returned to normal. And I began to notice some details better on the papyrus. Some symbols. In fact, they were kind of strange letters... Wait a minute... I couldn't forget these guys. Greek Alphabet. "Who would have thought that these past few months studying geometry would help me translate something," I said, giving a short laugh. I lightly ran my hand over the papyrus to remove the dust. "Wow... that was the most nerdy sentence I've ever said." I returned my attention to the papyrus in my hands and realized that removing