Yelling. Screaming. Shouts. Orders. They all overwhelmed Annik’s ears, making her shiver in terror. Her master, her beloved librarian, ushered her into the cellar and motioned for her to be quiet and stay there.
“You’ll be fine,” he whispered, stroking her head. Annik was sobbing, terrified about what might happen to him. “Don’t worry about me. But remember, whatever happens to me, don’t ever mention me to anyone else. Remember everything I taught you.”
And with that he left.
Annik wanted so hard to reach out, yell for him to come back. She knew what would happen if he went upstairs. But it was too late.
Above her head, she could hear the light footsteps of her master’s feet cross the room then stop. She could barely make out what the people were saying above her.
“You know you shouldn’t have gone against the Headmistress,” said a deep voice. “We knew you were stupid, but not that stupid.”
“I stand with my ideas,” said her master, almost robotically.
“Well I guess your ideas were a little bit too much for the Headmistress,” said another voice, a high-pitched and whiny one. “Now where’s the Puppet?”
“She’s not here. She left a month ago,” said her master, and Annik could hear the strain in his voice. She knew how much he hated not telling the truth, yet here he was, lying to keep her safe.
“Whatever. We’ll find her. It’s done now. The Headmistress figured you out, and all of your secrets ain’t secret anymore,” said the whiny one.
“Oh, I have many more secrets that you’ll never figure out.”
Annik could hear heavier footsteps approach where her master was.
“The Organization will find out,” said the deeper voiced man, and then there was silence.
Everything happened at once. As Annik tried getting closer to the low ceiling to hear better, and a loud thump met her ears. She could hear the other two men laughing and congratulating themselves as they walked away from her master’s body.
Annik stuffed her fist into her mouth, stifling a scream. Her heart felt torn in half: the man who had saved her and taught her everything he knew- was gone. Dead.
“No, no, no, no… please, it can’t be happening…”
“Are you ok, Annik?” asked Katani, worry etched into her face.
“Yes. I just need to think. Go back to sleep,” she murmured. The others complied, and soon it was only Annik who was up, breathing slowly to calm herself down.
‘So that’s where I heard about the Organization from… I just wish I didn’t have to live that moment again,’ she thought to herself. She crawled over to her bag and pulled out the book. She opened it up, and a piece of paper fell out that she had never noticed there before.
Picking it up, she barely made out the handwriting. Her heart started pounding. It was her master’s handwriting, right down to the very last detail! She unfolded it carefully and devoured the words on the page:
Dearest Annik,
I write this in the middle of the night, a day before I give this book away. I know that you’ll find it eventually, as I planned everything before hand. If you’re reading this, it means I’m dead and I was not able to tell you the darkest of my secrets. So let me start from the beginning.
I was part of the Organization, an evil group where power and destroying the Puppetmaster is all they care about. They will do everything to get this very book that is now in your grasp, including kill me. The thing is, before then, I was a friend of the Puppetmaster in his prime. He gave me this book, then left without a trace.
The Organization found out, and they are going to kill me. They find me too dangerous, and if they find you too, they will kill you as well. So run. Find the Puppetmaster. For I believe you are one of the Puppets of the prophecy.
Sincerely,
The Librarian
Annik re-read the note over and over again, her eyes clouded with tears. ‘He was prepared for so long, and he was giving me the burden to carry on, yet it feels as light as a feather,’ she thought to herself. Then she remembered what the Organization had done, that he was dead because of them. Her sadness was replaced with fear, then anger. “I will avenge your death,” she whispered. “I will not let you down.”
Kiki
No comments:
Post a Comment