Legend of the Book Keeper Read Online Free Page A

at the wall erased any doubt that the ‘For Sale’ sign corresponded with his discovery. In the place where the revealed door had been, now, once again, was a neat pile of books. Wesley knows .
    Just then he heard a creaking noise. Cody froze. The sound was coming from above his head. He could make out slight bowing of the ceiling. Wesley’s awake! And he’s walking around. Cody could think of only a few reasons for Wesley to still be awake, and all of them meant that Cody would be dead by the end of the night. He swallowed hard.
    Every fiber in his body was screaming at him to return home, but thoughts of the horrifying nightmare were too great to overcome. He had come too far to turn back. His desire to open the door trumped all rational thinking. As quietly as he could, Cody began removing books one by one.
    The footsteps overhead continued in frantic bursts of movement. Wesley seemed to be riled up. Removing the top several rows of books, the red letters once again came into view: Restricted . Looking closer, Cody confirmed his earlier thoughts. The letters were indeed written in blood.
    Exhilaration shot through Cody’s body. With increasing pace, no longer worried about noise, he continued to remove book after book. The polished oak door came back into view. Cody felt every hair on his arms stand straight. Having removed most of the books, Cody knelt down and pushed the remaining books aside with reckless abandon, too possessed by a savage yearning to worry about noise. The last book fell limp to the ground.
    With the door fully revealed, Cody was surprised to discover that it was not full-sized. In fact, it resembled a child’s playhouse door. Odd thought Cody, pondering how an elderly man would be able to enter the door. Reaching a shaky arm out, he grasped hold of the handle. Adrenaline pumped uncontrollably through his veins like a drum. He braced himself for what he was about to witness; Cody turned the handle and opened the door. Ducking down, with a final pause, he entered the room . . . and gasped.
    The scene before his eyes was shocking.

The Man with the Knife
     
    T ime was running out. The man glanced around his messy room. Everything is going to change tonight . With haste he raced back to his closet and grabbed another bundle of clothes, stuffing them into an overflowing suitcase. The boom of thunder outside startled him. Yes, time is very short .
    It had happened as he had feared, yet the moment had still found him unprepared the same way one still flinches when anticipating a needle. His secret had been discovered. Shuffling over to his lone window he peered anxiously out onto the street. It was empty. How much longer do I have? They could be on their way this moment . This last thought sent a jolt of terror down his spine. I’m getting too old for this.
    He grabbed his wallet off his desk and flipped through to survey his cash. It was not much, but it would be enough to get to where he needed to go—that being as far away from Havenwood as absolutely possible. The man returned to the window that once again revealed he was still alone on the dreary night. He watched as a hawk flew gracefully into the fog. Am I too late?
    This was not the first time he had had his secret discovered, but it was the first time the intruder had been allowed to exit his store unquestioned. He glanced at his watch, it was a quarter to two in the morning; time was running out.
    How much had the boy seen? Had he been inside? Surely not. If so, he would have known. He would have been dead by now. But this weather ? Clearly, this was a bad omen. Something sliced through his thoughts, paralyzing him. The man dropped to the floor and pressed his ear against the dusty wood. His worst fears had been realized. Somebody’s entering the hidden room!
    The man jumped up with unnatural agility for a man his age and dashed to his nightstand. Opening the top drawer he began tossing out papers and trinkets until he found what he was