Flight of Life (Essence Series #1) (11 page)

“
Do you think anyone will
be there?” Breccan asked from the front seat.

“
A human or a Hara-Kir?”
Calloway asked.

“
Either,” he
said.

“
The place is completely
deserted,” Calloway said. “The grass hasn’t been moved in years and
the bushes haven’t been trimmed—it’s abandoned. The only
inhabitants on that property are the statues.”

“
Well, I hope we don’t run
into a Hara-Kir,” Breccan said. “At least not on our first
day.”

“
It’s going to happen
eventually,” Easton said as she parked next to the building. “You
may as well accept it. If you’re scared, just remember you aren’t
alone.”

“
I’m not scared,” Breccan
said quickly.

“
Well, I am,” Calloway
admitted.

“
Me too,” Easton
said.

Breccan shifted his weight in his seat
as he stared at the abandoned building. He stared at the ivy
growing over the windows and the dirty glass that was never
cleaned. The library looked like a haunted mansion. “I’m totally
not scared,” he said as he swallowed the lump in his
throat.

Easton rolled her eyes as she got out.
“We’ll be fine,” she said. They grabbed their belongings from the
car, and Easton let Calloway carry her bag without an argument.
When they reached the front entryway, they all stopped and looked
around, waiting for a Hara-Kir to jump out at them.

Calloway took the first step forward
and inserted his picking knife into the lock. After a few twists,
the door opened and they walked inside. Calloway locked the door
behind them. They stood at the base of the grand staircase and
looked into the darkness, afraid of the unknown. Calloway squeezed
his glowing orb and the light lit the pathway to the top. It was so
silent they heard their own pulse in their ears. Slowly, they
walked up the stairway as they gazed at the vast library. It was
empty.

Easton switched on the light and the
room was illuminated by the chandelier in the center. Calloway
appraised the area and noticed the dusty bookshelves along the wall
and the curved tables in the center of the room. He wasn’t able to
study the architecture the first time he was in the building. He
was being chased by the Hara-Kir.

“
It’s beautiful,” Easton
said as she stared at the old chandelier hanging from the ceiling.
She ran her hands across the shelf and looked at the dust under her
finger.

“
You always think weird
things are beautiful,” Breccan said as he stared down the aisles of
bookcases. “It’s just a library—big deal.”

“
This library is extremely
old,” she said. “I doubt a single computer has set foot in this
building. You can tell it was built in the 1920’s just by looking
at the architecture. I can’t believe it hasn’t been preserved as a
museum.”

“
Or demolished as rubble,”
Breccan added.

Calloway set their backpacks on the
surface of the table in the center of the room. There were red
lamps at the end of every counter and he lit one nearby. “Well,
this is it,” he said as he sat down. “The place where I was almost
taken.”

Easton stared around the room for a
moment. “And where did you find the book?”

“
In a room hidden in the
back,” he said.

“
Did the letter tell you
it was there?” Easton asked as she looked at him.

“
No,” he said. “My father
just said it was here—I found the room on my own. After I walked
down the aisles I realized it couldn’t be on a bookshelf—it’s too
important.”

She nodded. “Can I see it?”

Calloway nodded to her. “Sure,” he
said. “But there’s nothing else in there. I already looked.” He
walked to the outer ring of the tables and walked down an aisle
that led toward the back. Easton followed right behind him, and
when Breccan realized they were gone, he ran to their
side.

Easton glanced at him over her
shoulder. “I thought you weren’t scared,” she teased.

“
I just didn’t want to
leave you two on your own,” he said quickly. He was so close to
Easton, she could hear him breathe.

“
Whatever.” She
smiled.

Calloway advanced to the doorway, and
when he grabbed the handle it wouldn’t turn. It was locked. He felt
his heart race. “I left it unlocked,” he said quietly. He pulled
out his picking knife and unfastened the door.

“
Maybe it locks on its
own,” Easton said.

“
I hope so,” he said as he
opened the door. He stepped inside first then Easton and Breccan
followed behind. Breccan kept looking over his shoulder, paranoid
that something was going to attack him, and moved further into the
room. The desk against the wall was tipped over and the drawers
were ripped out of the desk. Papers were dispersed around the room
in random piles and the chair was shattered into pieces. Calloway
felt his skin prickle with fear. “Someone was in here,” he said.
“They were searching for something.”

“
Probably the book,”
Breccan said quietly. “And I don’t think they’re going to be happy
when they find out you took it.”

Calloway sighed. “It’s a good thing you
aren’t scared,” he said. “I have a feeling we’ll be meeting a
Hara-Kir—perhaps many of them.”

“
That’s wonderful news,”
Breccan said sarcastically.

Easton stepped further into the room
and looked at the toppled desk. “Or maybe they were searching for
something else,” she suggested.

“
Like what?” Calloway
asked.

“
Well, there are two Kirin
Books. Perhaps they thought the second was hidden here as well. Why
else would they wait to search for it until after you
left?”

“
I don’t know.” Breccan
shrugged. “You’re the Hara-Kir hunter.”

She rolled her eyes. “We
are
not
Hara-Kir
hunters.”

“
It seems like it,”
Breccan mumbled.

Calloway searched through the rubble
but couldn’t find anything of significance. The sheets of paper on
the ground were notes from the card catalog, and the open drawers
were full of paper clips and rubber bands. Calloway left the room
and the other two followed behind him. Breccan closed the door but
Calloway didn’t lock it. He would check it the following day and
see if someone locked it again.

“
I’m going to search
through the shelves and see if there is a decoder in here or
something related,” Easton said.

Calloway nodded then walked down the
aisle to the table in the center of the room. Breccan followed him
and they sat down at the desk. Calloway pulled the Kirin Book from
Easton’s bag and flipped the pages, not understanding a single
word. “Why can’t this be in English?” He sighed.

“
Then that would be too
easy,” Breccan said. He turned his head toward the bookcases. “Any
luck in there?” he shouted.

Easton’s loud voice carried to their
table. “No,” she said. “And I doubt I’m going to find anything.
This place is so unorganized—it makes our library look
amazing.”

“
Say that to the librarian
tomorrow.” Breccan laughed. “Maybe then she’ll stop hating us so
much.”

“
Stop talking about her
like that,” Calloway said.

Breccan looked at his
cousin. “Are you defending the
librarian
?” he asked incredulously.
“The woman who hates us?”

“
She doesn’t hate us,”
Calloway said. “There’s something happening below that mean
exterior—cut her some slack.”

“
You need to stop doing
that,” Breccan said.

“
What?” Calloway asked
without looking up from the book.

“
Trying to see the good in
people when there is none,” he said. Just accept it—not everyone is
a good person.”

“
I agree,” Calloway said.
“But I know everyone has the ability to be.”

Breccan rolled his eyes. “Well, I don’t
think that’s possible for the librarian or Hawk.”

Calloway shrugged his shoulders. “They
probably had a hard life and their pain makes them this
way.”

Breccan sighed in
frustration. “
You’ve
had a horrible life, Calloway. And you are nothing like
that,” he said. “That’s no excuse—pity only takes you so far.
Everyone teases you and makes your life miserable—they don’t
deserve your compassion. You’re going to learn this the hard
way.”

Calloway didn’t respond to his comment
and continued to flip through the pages. He refused to believe that
people were innately evil—they just did evil things. Breccan stared
at his cousin for a moment before he looked away, annoyed that
Calloway was being so foolish.

A harsh breathing noise sounded in the
air and made Calloway flinch. It was a quiet noise but Calloway was
familiar with the tone. Breccan didn’t react because he didn’t hear
the inaudible sound. Calloway felt his heart race in his chest when
he heard the harsh breathing from across the room. Slowly, he rose
from the table and looked toward the bookcases in the outer circle
of the library.

Breccan noticed the frightened
expression on his cousin’s face and rose from his seat as well. He
was about to speak when Calloway silenced him with his hand. The
breathing noise grew louder and Breccan’s eyes widened in fear.
Calloway nodded at him, confirming his suspicion.

Calloway nodded to the bookcase. “We
have to get Easton,” he whispered. They both took a silent step
from the table when they heard Easton scream.

“
AHHHHH!”

Calloway and Breccan sprinted into the
aisles of bookshelves and searched for their friend before it was
too late. They followed the sound of her cries until they found her
pushed against the bookshelf by the Hara-Kir. His entire body was
cloaked and hooded and his hands were covered in black gloves. Not
a single inch of his flesh could be seen. He squeezed her windpipe
and stifled her shouts.

Breccan sprinted to her before Calloway
could react and pulled the knife from his pocket, determined to
save Easton. He stabbed the blade directly into the back of the
Hara-Kir, and the creature screamed loudly and loosened its hold on
Easton, giving her an opportunity to crawl away. She grabbed her
throat and coughed into the ground. Calloway ran to her and kneeled
before her, making sure she wasn’t mortally injured, and then
looked back at Breccan and the Hara-Kir. The creature blocked the
stab Breccan aimed at his chest then stole the knife from his
hands. He turned the blade toward Breccan, ready to sink the weapon
into his body, and Breccan tried to move away but the creature had
him corned. Calloway abandoned Easton and ran to the Hara-Kir as he
pulled the knife from his pocket. He aimed the knife for the
creature’s heart but the Hara-Kir moved out of the way before he
could land his blade. The creature dodged him and pursued Breccan
once more. Calloway moved behind the creature and stabbed him in
the back but he missed his target by an inch. The Hara-Kir pulled
the blade out and threw it across the room. It was covered in
blood.

The Hara-Kir chased Breccan across the
room and slashed his blade across his forearm, drawing blood, and
Calloway felt his heart accelerate. The Hara-Kir wasn’t going to
stop until Breccan was killed. Calloway saw them disappear down an
aisle so he ran to the opposite side and pushed the bookcase over,
hoping to smash the Hara-Kir while Breccan escaped. The falling
bookcase distracted the Hara-Kir for a moment and allowed Breccan
to flee, but then the creature was on his trail again. Breccan
sprinted across the library, running for his life, and Calloway
dashed to his fallen knife on the ground. When he reached the
knife, he slid it across the floor to where Breccan was headed, and
his cousin grabbed it from the floor as he ran. He turned around
and stabbed the Hara-Kir directly in the heart and stepped back,
avoiding the slice to his throat made by the Hara-Kir. The creature
stopped for a moment but then he continued to pursue Breccan.
Calloway was astonished. The stab didn’t kill the
Hara-Kir.

Calloway ran to his cousin and stood
beside him as the Hara-Kir pursued him. He waited until the
Hara-Kir lunged at them with the knife before Calloway pushed him
as hard as he could. The Hara-Kir fell to the earth and dropped the
knife it was holding, giving Breccan just enough time to grab the
blade and pierce it directly through the heart, right alongside the
other knife. They both stepped back as the Hara-Kir lied on the
floor. Suddenly, it got up again and stared at them, hissing loudly
as it clenched its fists in anger.

“
Why won’t this thing
die?” Breccan yelled. “I don’t get it.”

Calloway grabbed his cousin by the arm.
“Run,” he said. “Come on.”

They heard the Hara-Kir chase them
across the library and past the tables in the center of the room.
They reached the opposite wall then turned right, but the Hara-Kir
was faster and blocked their way, forcing them again the wall. He
stepped toward them and pulled a knife from his chest, which was
dripping with his blood, and he aimed the blade at Breccan. Just as
the Hara-Kir was about to strike him, Calloway jumped in the way,
taking the stab directly into the chest. He closed his eyes and
waited for the pain to ignite his body in a deadly fire but it
never came. Calloway opened his eyes and saw the blade sticking out
of the chest of Hara-Kir, the point impaled directly through the
body. When the Hara-Kir fell to the floor, they could see Easton
standing behind him with a fierce look in her eyes. She wiped the
sweat from her forehead.