The Writers’ Society.
I looked at the words again. Never in my life as a Reader had I read anything about this. I did not know how to feel. Was I to be scared? Excited? Fear seemed to win.
I shakily placed the palm of my hand on the doorknob and spun, pushing the door open. Confusion and amazement filled me as I saw inside.
A dozen or so faces look up at me as I enter. The room looked as though it was made to supply these people with the necessities they needed for life, although it also looked as though little of the supplies had been used judging on how clean everything was.
Seven bunk beds were in a corner of the large room. Most of them were made, but one or two were not. A large kitchen, as well as a long dining table with many chairs, was in a different corner. Bookshelves lined one wall and the place where the people were currently sitting was a corner full of lush blankets and grand pillows laid over comfortable armchairs and couches. I studied each person carefully, realizing I had never seen any of them in The Hall before.
Three of them were wearing tunics that I had seen only in books about ancient Greece. One of them was a girl with a long scar down the right side of her face, across one of her hazel eyes. She had long silver and black hair, which was styled down her back in an elegant french braid. A boy with messy silver hair and stormy gray eyes was wearing a tunic as well and was seated next to the girl. Another boy, this one with short black hair and hazel eyes like the girl, was sitting by the two of them. They seemed to have been in a conversation before I interrupted. All three of them look surprised and neither upset nor fearful. More...curious.
Two cold gazes studied me from a bunk at the back of the room. On the lower bed sat an older girl with a leather book grasped in one hand a quill pen in the other. The front sections of her dark brown hair were swept back from her face and bound in the back. A bright sapphire pendant gleamed at her neck. In the bunk above her was a boy who could have been her twin for his dark hair and pale eyes seemed a mirror of hers. He seemed to have been reclining with a book in hand but my arrival had startled him and he was now sitting up with a tousle of blankets crumpled about him. Both their clothing seemed out of royal medieval times.
At a small table next to the bunk sat two girls, apparently in casual conversation. I would have thought them alike, if they had not been so vastly different. The one to the right had light blonde hair styled royally in braids about her head. Her clothes were rich and doused in fine embroidery. She was pretty, but not much more. Her brown eyes lacked any real depth and her smile was light and meaningless. The girl across from her was golden-haired and dressed in simple country clothes. Her long hair was let loose and framed her smiling face. Her smile lacked no depth.
Two girls, both wearing jeans and a t-shirt, sat next to each other. The older had brown hair with gold highlights and the younger was more of a brunette. Both had warm blue eyes. The younger looked to be a teen and the older in her younger twenties. They sat in an armchair - pretty squished, I might add - whispering in the way that only sisters do. The older scrutinized me with a dagger-like glare. The younger girl looked at me curiously.
Sitting at the table huddled closely together (though they were staring at me now) were four teenagers wearing tunics with leggings and a belt. One of the girls had dark brown hair and green eyes, framed on her face by freckles. She seemed to be a fighter, the look was completed by the dagger on her belt and her hand over the top of it as if she was about to withdraw it from its sheath.
A boy seated by her had black hair and dark brown eyes. His eyes were filled with fear, which seemed to me odd, as I had nothing with me that I could use to attack anyone in this room.
There were two other girls settled at the table. One had blond hair and hazel eyes and was shorter than the others, who all seemed to be of average height. Her eyes were, like the boy’s, filled with fear.
The last girl had short black hair and furious blue eyes. I wondered what I did to upset her and the girl with the dagger.
“Hello?” I said. My voice, though quiet, filled the silent place.
Nobody responded for a moment. Everything was as still as a city before a massive storm hits.
And then the storm hit.
The girl with the dagger leaped up from her spot and ran towards me. I yelped and stepped back, slamming the door into a closed position.
“I mean no harm!” I said quickly, attempting to defend myself.
The girl stopped, glancing back at the others around her. They all stared back at her. Some of them seemed to approve of what she was doing, but others were shaking their heads as if upset with her.
“Who are you?” The girl with the Greek tunic questioned. She stood and walked to where the other girl was standing.
“My name is Bethany. I am a Reader, I was exploring and found this room.”
I realized how odd I must look with the ink soaking my clothes, hair, and skin. I took a deep breath and looked around the room again. “Who are all of you? And why have I never seen any of you before?”
The girl with the Greek tunic steps forward first. “My name is Luna. The reason you have probably never seen us before is because we are characters, from four different books. I, along with Draco and Ben,” she points first to the boy with silver hair, then to the one with black, both of whom she had been sitting with before. She continues, “I, along with these two, and many others, are from a series called Wings of a Dragon.”
The eldest girl near the bunks stood and walked gracefully to the others. “I am Nevanna Laroquillia. These are my royal brother and sister, Raydil and Caylay,” she stopped for a moment, motioning to the two others in royal clothing. Then she motioned to the girl in simple clothes. “Lili is a good friend from the village of Avadville. We hail from a book entitled Escaping the Throne.”
The eldest of the two sisters stood. “I am Leah. My sister is Phoebe. We are from a book called The Shadow Master’s Heir.”
The girl with the dagger rolled her eyes and spoke. “I’m Amira. Those three are Raven, Jaq, and Aria.”
She motioned to the boy with black hair, the girl with short black hair, and then the girl with blond hair. Amira continued. “We are from a book called The Clan War.”
I looked around me at all the characters. This...this was...breathtaking. Meeting fictional characters in real life? That would be on my list of things I longed to do but was never able to.
I looked around me again and noticed something I hadn’t seen before. Near where the characters all were sitting were four doors, each saying the name of the stories Luna, Neva, Leah, and Amira had all said.
Wow.
“But...how did you all arrive here? If you are fictional characters, how did you leave your books?
Luna looks at the others. She seems to be the one among them who seems most willing to speak to me.
“Our authors are all a part of a group entitled The Writers’ Society, as you saw on the door. We all lived in our books, following what our authors wrote, until one day we just...appeared here. We still leave in order to get back to our books at times, but when our writers are not writing, we appear here. Some of us are here more often than most, as our authors do not write very often, but we do not blame them. We understand that they are busy, and do not blame them for not writing us. Plus, it brings us joy to gather here together and talk. When we are in our books, we remember nothing of our life here.”
Leah nods. “Luna’s right.”
I took a deep breath, attempting to process everything. I was with characters. From real books.
Amira laughed. I looked up at her. She stopped quickly. “Sorry. Your facial expression though...hilarious.”
I glanced around the room again, wondering if I had missed anything. My gaze was caught on the doors for each of the Books. Each of them had a slot for my Jewel, almost like the books that we Readers read. Part of me longed to run up to the doors and thrust my Jewel into the slots, just so that I could see what the characters’ books were like. But I realized that if I did this, I may lose trust of these people forever. So I decided to wait.
“Tell us something more about yourself,” Nevanna commanded with an air of importance around her.
“Well...I’m a Reader. I live in a place called The Hall of Stories. I am named after a character from a book called Story Thieves named Bethany. All the Readers are named after fictional characters, it’s why we’re...Readers.”
“What is a Reader?” Ben asks.
“Our sole purpose in life is to Read books. We don’t need to eat or sleep, we just...Read. We are born with the knowledge of characters, and soon after birth we choose one to take on the likeness of. We also take on that character’s traits. We each have a Jewel that can be inserted into a special slot in books so that we can…'Read them'.”
Here I put air quotes. I took out my Jewel and showed it to them all. “By Reading books...we basically see the events that are happening, almost as if watching a movie. It’s... very interesting to do and very entertaining. Right now I could insert my Jewel into the slot on one of your doors, and that would allow me to watch your stories as they happen.”
All of the characters glanced at each other as if they were unsure of whether they wanted me to see what happened in their books. The characters from Wings of a Dragon especially seemed almost...afraid of showing me what was in their book. I wonder…
“Who are your authors?” I question. I looked to Luna, almost positive she would be the one to respond as she had to all my other questions, but to my confusion it was Lili.
“We cannot speak their names, in order to protect them. It would be far too dangerous if the world found out about them before they released their books to the world. But they...they are good people. Even if they are unkind to us at times.”
“At times?” Ben cried out, “Do you have any idea what she did to me?”
“Stop it, Ben,” Amira snapped, “You’re not the only one who’s suffered.”
“Oh please,” Leah started, but she was interrupted by Nevanna.
“I’ve suffered more than all of you,” Nevanna said stiffly, as if she held herself above them all.
“Are you guys seriously trying to figure out who has suffered the most? Really?” I asked.
Jaq stood up and glared at me. “Can you please leave if you’re just going to tease us?”
I hold up my hands in surrender. “I’m sorry, I just meant to say...wow.”
All of the characters seemed confused. I sighed and started again. “I mean, this is crazy. You guys are fictional characters. It’s...crazy. But it's so cool. And wonderful. I love it.”
Luna’s face softened. “I get this is hard to believe the first time. You’re actually the first person to come down here.”
Without warning, Luna, Ben, and Draco suddenly disappeared. My mouth fell open is disbelief, but the others don’t seem to care. I tapped Amira’s shoulder. “What happened?”
Amira rolled her eyes. “They just went back into their book. Their author must be writing them right now.”
I walk up to the door labeled Wings of a Dragon. My Jewel glows as if sensing a book nearby. I clutch it in my hand tightly, wishing I could go in.
I looked behind me. It seemed nobody was looking at me, all the characters had gone back to the conversations that had been going before I had entered. I looked at the slot for my Jewel, and then, listening to an impulse, I thrust my Jewel into the slot.
This was different from every other book I’ve Read. Instead of seeing a steady progression of how the book plays out, all I saw was a jumble of scenes, seemingly having no correlation to each other.
First, I saw Luna kneeling on the ground as a silver crown embellished with moons and small jewels was placed upon her head. Her elegant silver dress was adorned with many tiny jewels and embroidering here and there.
The scene changed. A younger Luna climbed onto a golden dragon’s back. They took off into the sky and I could hear Luna screaming in delight as she gripped tightly to the dragon’s back.
A third scene started. Luna clutched a small, clear stone in her hand. She stood before a giant rock of the same type, alone. She took a deep breath and inserted the stone into a tiny nook that fit the tiny stone exactly. At once, the giant rock lit up and pulsed, as if sending a message. Luna grinned and walked back through what seemed to be a maze of rock and stone.
The scenes ended as I stepped back from the door. When I turned around, all the characters were staring at me.
Nevanna, Raydil, Amira, Raven, Leah, and Phoebe stepped forward.
“You looked into their book,” Raven voiced. I blinked and nodded.
“That was wrong to invade on their privacy,” Nevanna said. Her tone indicated that she wanted to make me feel as though I was below her, and supposed to submit to her.
“Neva, give her a break,” Raydil said, “She didn’t know.”
Neva looked as though she wanted to say more but she quieted down and did not.
Leah glared at me. “I agree with Neva, Bethany shouldn’t have gone looked into their story.”
“I’m sorry,” I whispered, “I...I’ve never been told that I couldn’t Read a book before. Forgive me…”
Phoebe stepped up to me and hugged me. “It’s okay. You didn’t know.”
I blinked back a few tears. “Thank you Phoebe.”
She smiled at me kindly. “You’re welcome.”
I broke free of her hug and turned to all of the characters. “Why is it wrong to look into their book?”
Leah shrugged. “Mostly because their author is still in the process of writing the book. Our first drafts are not...flawless, and they are not meant to be. It is kind to not share your work until it’s...better written, with less flaws.”
I nodded “I’ve never read or seen the first draft of a story. That is interesting. It looked...fascinating. I wish I could have seen more of it.”
Amira fingered the dagger at her belt while shaking her head. “You cannot. It would not be fair to Luna, Draco, and Ben if you looked into any more of their story.”
Just as she finished, Ben, Luna, and Draco all appeared back in the room. Luna had major bags under her eyes and Draco did not look well. Ben looked somewhat happy until he looked at his friends.
“Are you okay?” he asked. Luna shook her head. “Not really, but...now is not the time,” she finished with a small but obvious glance at me. That was my cue to leave.
I slipped my Jewel back into my bag and tightened the strap. “It was nice to meet all of you, but I really should be going. Would it be possible for me to come back at a later time?”
All of the characters exchanged glances, but Luna was the one who actually responded. “Yes, though…warn us next time? And...it may be better for you if you arrive in...cleaner clothing.”
A sinking feeling burrowed itself into my stomach. I had forgotten about the ink. Now I really needed to get home.
“Goodbye, fictional characters. Hope to see you again soon!”
I opened up the door and slipped out, shutting it tightly behind me. After one last glance at the sign, I walked back the way I had come. Back into the room with the various puddles of ink. This time I was prepared though. I grabbed out my Globe and lit it, illuminating the ink on the ground. I raised the Globe ever higher, trying to find a way out. Maybe this was a different room, it seemed a lot taller than the last one, with no way to climb out without some kind of help, like a ladder. Of course, it could have been the same room and I could be thinking wrongly.
Fortunately, I noticed a rough rope ladder with which I could use to leave the dark pit. Unfortunately, it was above the biggest and deepest pool of ink. I took a deep breath, trying not to get annoyed. I did not want to get more ink on me.
But I had no choice.
I took one last look at my boots, knowing they would be barely usable after this. Then I stepped into the pool of ink.
It went up to nearly above my boot, but just barely under. I wanted to step out it felt so horrible and icky. I tried to get through it as quickly as I could, but it felt like my feet were in tar.
I finally reached the ladder and climbed up it, ink dripping off of me as I climbed. When I reached the top, the only thing I desired was a warm shower.
I stood up, glancing at everything around me. I was standing on the edge of the ledge that hung over the pit. I moved the Globe around slowly, trying to find an exit near me. To my utmost delight, it wasn’t hard. I found the small doorway that I had come through almost hidden behind me.
It opened with a small click. I glanced out into the aisle before walking completely through. I breathed a sigh of relief as I realized there was nobody else there. I was alone.
My knowledge of The Hall began to pay off. I sprinted through the hallways I knew would be empty and the corridors that nobody ever bothered to even clean, they were so unused.
Within half an hour, I arrived at the door of my apartment. I knew my parents would be gone at their jobs and my siblings as well, being taught how to be Readers, so I would be alone. I slipped inside the door and walked straight to the bathroom.
Thirty minutes and many rinses later, I was dressed in new, clean clothes, and my body was dried except for my hair, which I had thrown into a bun on top of my head. It felt good to get all the dried ink off of my skin, even though it had been hard.
I grabbed my bag off of the ground. Most of the ink had come off, only a few spots remained. But it was not of utter importance to clean it right away. I reached into my bag and pulled out my Jewel. Inside of it, I could faintly see the scenes from Wings of a Dragon.
I didn’t really know what to think of today. Meeting The Writers’ Society was wonderful, but it felt as though a great deal of them did not like me. I slipped the Jewel back into my bag. What to do, what to do?
