Chapter 4: Exacore

Midnight moon-light flooded the library. Silence rang in the ears of Eli and Alice telling them that the coast was clear. A soft purring sound broke the quiet, and in that instant they broke out of a low shelf with a fall of books that had covered their cramped hiding space. Eli got to his feet and put as much distance between himself and Alice as possible. "Why d'you do that!" he asked helplessly as he fixed his hair.

"Aww, you know you liked it," Alice answered teasingly. Eli shook his head in an attempt to recompose himself.

"Anyway," he said with a puff of air, "let's get to the door," He turned away feeling the heat in his face. The pair approached the door. Alice put the key in the lock and turned it slowly while making a spectacle out of the task. She backed away from the door when a snap, click, and clap told her the mechanism was unlocked. Slowly, and without prompt, the door opened, shedding a cascade of dust. On the other side was a flight of steps leading down into an inky blackness.

"I don't suppose you can see in the dark like a cat too?" Alice asked.

"No, I in fact, can't see in the dark like a cat," he said. Alice chuckled.

"Oh, you don't need to," She said as she flipped a switch which lit the very bottom of the flight with a faint orange glow. She stepped forward and started down the steps. Without being asked, Eli followed.

The air was heavy with dust; there had been no air flow in the room since the door was last opened, Eli guessed. At the bottom of the flight, in the room with the light source, was a fair amount of bookshelves, each at a reasonable size, not like the ones in the other parts of the library. Alice was prepared to grab all the books, somehow, but Eli wanted only one.

He was drawn to one of the bookshelves. There, hidden between massive, important looking tomes, rested a small leather journal. Eli took it, lifted the cover, and on the first page was the word 'EXACORE'. With little thought, he flipped to the second page and saw a pencilled illustration of the very crystal that was seared into his mind. "This is it!" he almost jumped out of his shoes. Alice ran over and peered into the journal expectantly.

"That? it's not as cool as I thought it'd be." Alice said

"Well, it's just a drawing, I'm sure the real thing is...better." He answered and Alice shrugged.

"Besides," she continued, "What's an Exacore?" She asked as she flipped to the next page that had a drawing of map across both pages. Before Eli could flip through to find an answer to her question, a sudden shiver ran from the tip of his tail and up his spine. He faced the steps and noticed the creak of steps. "Hide!" Alice whisper shouted. The pair ran to opposite ends of the room. Alice ran behind a desk and Eli put himself behind an old book shelf. From his spot Eli couldn't see the source of the footsteps, but he could see Alice. He could see her face as all colour drained from it. As it twisted in horror. Alice swung her wide-eyed gaze at him and waved frantically.

What—, The wood of the bookcase exploded in splinters as a hand with long, bony fingers gripped his neck and jerked him through the old book shelf. Splinters scraped his skin. From his new position had a view of the creature he could have done without.

It was pitch black, almost as though its body was charred by flames that now lived in its burning eyes. Its figure was human like, but inhumanly proportioned and a black, bat-like creature was perched on its shoulder. Its bony legs were twice the length of its torso and bent at the knees. Its arms, as seen from the one that didn't have Eli in a death-grip, reached all the way to its feet. Its mouth was filled with jagged knives and its breath was that of soot and burning flesh. The creature paused for a moment and glanced at Eli's tail. Its eyes seemed to widen slightly with sudden realization.

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Eli struggled as the creature tightened its grip around his throat. He fought but this only hastened the darkening of his vision. Soon his squirming legs and tail went limp. The journal he had clutched so tightly fell from his grasp. The bat-like creature jumped from the shoulder of the other and ate the journal, swallowing it whole in an almost surreal fashion. Just then, as Eli was on the verge of falling unconscious, a book hit the human-like creature pulling its attention. The creature dropped Eli and with an enraged, bloodcurdling screech barrelled for Alice. Eli rose to his feet, only to fall flat on his face. He only had the strength to look on in horror as the creature grabbed Alice and slammed her into a wall. Its jaw unhinged as its mouth split open to a gross degree. Its knives drew closer to Alice who had blood leaking down her neck from the back of her head.

Eli tried to rise again only to fail. There was nothing he could do. Just then, a wave of pressure filled the room and paralyzed him. The bat-like creature fell into the shadows. Eli forced his gaze to the bottom of the steps, and there, Penitulus Ren entered. At the sight of him, Eli felt hope. The creature dropped Alice and lunged after Penitulus, who coolly dispatched it in an instant. The broken pieces fell apart into ashes. Penitulus moved his attention to Eli but said nothing as police stormed the room.

***

Outside, paramedics surrounded Alice and Eli. They paid more attention to Alice, who was clearly in more need. Penitulus called for Eli. "You seem to attract a lot of trouble kid," He said with a concerned expression.

"Ren, I mean Penitulus, I mean sir—,"

"—Don't worry kid, it's just an observation. Go to your friend, we have this under control."

"Yes, I will, but—"

"I said don't worry about it kid," Eli got frustrated.

"What's an exacore!?" he shouted, which seemed to finally get Penitulus's attention.

"Where'd you hear that from?" Penitulus asked as with a dark voice.

"It was in a book," Eli bit his lip, "A book that's gone now," He said and Penitulus's eyes widened.

"Exacore. Draven. That's not good," Penitulus said under his breath.

"What?" Eli asked.

"Nothing kid, tend to your friend, I think she needs company." With that Ren launched himself up into the night sky, vanishing into the stars.

***

No matter how hard he tried, Eli couldn't make himself comfortable under the pale light of the hospital's fluorescent bulbs. He stood in front of a door with his hand on the knob. On the other side was Alice, awake or asleep, Eli didn't know. He didn't know how to face her. And what if her parents are in there? Eli doubted it would thrill them to see the face of the boy who did this. He closed his eyes and with forced courage entered the hospital room.

Alice was sitting up on the bed doodling in a sketchpad, seeming well. She looked up and smiled at him, Eli's heart sunk. "Look, I drew you," she held up the sketch pad that had a drawing of a kitten with curly hair and a tail that looked like his. Eli took a seat beside Alice's bed, avoiding eye contact. "Eli?"

"I'm sorry," Eli's voice was shaking, "I'm so sorry," He turned his face down. Alice got out of bed and hugged him.

"Sorry for what? If I remember, I'm the one who came up with the plan. I should be the one apologizing." Eli looked up. A ball of pain set just behind his eyes. He got up and moved away.

"But it's my fault we got nothing from all that."

"What do you mean?"

"I dropped the book. And now it's gone." Alice didn't say a thing. "I told Penitulus about that Exacore thing, he seemed to recognize it, so we're done now." Alice seemed irritated at that statement.

"What do you mean 'we're done now'? What? did Penitulus also have some mystical visions about a living crystal?"

"No, but—"

"—Exactly, no, you did. We have an adventure on our hands, and it came to you, I'm only along for the ride." Eli seemed doubtful.

"Even if you say that, I lost the book, you know, the only one with all the information on the Exacore. What exactly are we going to do without it?" Alice met him with a grin. She grabbed her sketchpad and flipped a few pages. With prideful eyes, she showed Eli a drawing of what seemed like a map, a map he recognized, "what? How?" he asked in disbelief.

"This was in the book, I only glimpsed it, but that's all I needed. My memory's slightly eidetic," She smiled "It's the Blackwoods, It says here that there are glades out there, and that's where we're headed."

"We're?"

"Yes, we're, unless we're done..." she lingered on the last word. Eli took the map from her hands and looked back at her eyes that were twinkling with expectation. He knew that 'no' was the safe answer, and then they could both go home, but he said;

"Looks like we're going we're going camping."

"Yes!" Alice jumped out of the hospital bed and danced triumphantly. Eli looked away. Alice stopped dancing, confused by his reaction. It was then that she realized she was in nothing more than a hospital gown, a piece of clothing not known for excellent coverage. "Let's pretend that I'm not a total moron," she said as she got back into bed.

"No problem," Eli replied with a voice straining to hold back laughter.