Home had never looked so inviting. I dropped off my bag at the door, shrugging out of my coat as I slumped into the wingback chair in the living room. What a day. I became a professor at the Academy to do research, maybe teach a few budding students here and there. Not to deal with paranormal activity and disappearances. The strain of the day weighed heavily on my shoulders, and I slumped forward, putting my face in my hands. Who knew when the Academy would be deemed safe to return. Guess I'd just have to make do here.

Not that I minded.

I'd always been what you might call 'introverted'. I preferred alone time, really, and being around people too much drained me quicker than a popped balloon. That's why I had to fight with the department to get a lock on my office door. I'd never get anything done if I let people barge in all the time. But now, here in the comfort of my own home? I was finally at peace.

I took a moment to regroup, breathing deeply and staring at the star charts plastered across the ceiling. Okay, so it was a little geeky, but they'd been there for years and reminded me of my childhood. I'd always dreamt about what it must be like, up there among the cosmos. 'Course, I never had the chance to actually go. But staring up at the stars on my ceiling almost made me feel like I was in another world, one without the cares and stresses of this one.

All right. Time to get to work.

Some said an orderly workspace reflected an orderly mind. I found that to be bullshit. Stacks of books and papers piled across the surface and onto the floor. Several abandoned coffee mugs sat gathering dust and one of them had been converted to a pen holder. Clearing a space on the desk, I sat down.

I fished through my bag for the translations Laurie'd asked for, piling them on my already overflowing desk. The brown paper package caught my eye as I did so, rustling softly as I shuffled the contents around. Not now, I reminded myself. I had a job to do. The hour was late already, but I wanted to get a head start while I was still thinking about it. I turned on the desk lamp and started working.

It wasn't long before all the letters ran together in my vision and I had a hard time keeping my eyes open. Perhaps the stress of Mabel's disappearance took more out of me than I thought. I pushed away from the desk, shaking my head. I'd get back to this tomorrow.

The bed awaited me like a lover. I stripped down to my underwear and climbed into her warm, blankety embrace, trying not to think about what the next day would bring. Sure, the disappearances were weird, but they didn't affect me directly. I knew better than to stick my nose where it didn't belong. I'd just have to stay out of it, and things would blow over in time.

That's what I thought, anyway.

>>>----------> o <----------<<<

No matter what I tried, I couldn't get to sleep. My mind raced with ideas, and even the soothing drone of the fan near my bed couldn't block it out. When I finally fell into a troubled slumber, my dreams were hauntingly realistic.

Ravens flew overhead, cawing at me in alarm. Was I supposed to understand them? I stood in a meadow, nothing around me but grass and clouds. Then it all went to hell. Flames licked at the edges of the field, surrounding me in a blaze of heat. They came closer, destroying the meadow and leaving me no escape. I looked around, panicked, but flames closed in from all sides. I was trapped. I squeezed my eyes shut, waiting for the end. When I opened them again, the fire was gone, replaced with shining orange runes. How odd... I stepped forward to touch one, my feet all but gliding across the plane.

When I touched it, I yanked my hand away in pain. That hurt! Were the runes made of fire too? Then even they started encroaching. Not good. I took a few steps back, and felt the searing heat on my backside. I yelped, jerking in the opposite direction. Too late. They were too close. They were all around me, consuming me...

Then it stopped.

I blinked my eyes open, expecting the worst. But I never could have expected what I saw instead. I stood in a library, stacks looming in all directions. It looked like the library from the Academy, a little bit. But things were different, too. Huge leather-bound tomes lay open on desks and tables, flickering by candlelight. My heart raced as my mind tried to keep up. How did I get here? What was going on? I looked down at my hands and feet, surely burnt to a crisp by the fire. They were fine, unmarred as ever. This was not normal!

I stepped through the stacks, feeling a draw toward the back of the room like a magnet. I didn't know why, but I had to see what was back there. My heart thudded in time with my footsteps as I walked past the silent shelves. On the back table, laying on a plush velvet cloth, lay an ornate leather volume that looked strangely familiar. A black opal peeked out from the cover like an eye, seeming to watch me as I moved. It gave me the creeps, to be honest, but I couldn't stop looking at it.

"Touch it," A wispy voice came from nowhere. I whirled around, looking for the source. I couldn't find any. Okay, this was seriously freaking me out. My eyes widened as my hand reached out, almost of its own volition. I drew nearer and held my breath. Whatever this was, it couldn't be good. But I had to know. I flipped open the cover, and all hell broke loose.

Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

>>>----------> o <----------<<<

I woke, gasping, in a puddle of my own sweat. Holy shit... I put a hand over my chest, willing it to stop beating so frantically. I'd never been the type for nightmares, but that was crazy! I looked down at my hands again, almost expecting to see burn scars. My fingers still tingled from the flames. How was it that the dream had felt so real?

I got out of bed, shaking my head. So what, it was a nightmare. Nothing to get worked up over. And my fingers were tingling cause I often slept on my arm the wrong way. Happened all the time. I shook my head, trying to talk some sense into myself.

Nothing a strong drink wouldn't fix.

I padded over to the kitchen and peered into the liquor cabinet. A long forgotten bottle of whiskey sat in the back. I'd cleaned out the rest of my stores and hadn't had a chance to replenish. Grabbing the bottle and a tumbler, I poured a few fingers and added ice.

It was still dark outside, silent with the stillness of midnight. I walked around and turned on all the lights I could to banish the shadows. Taking a shaky sip of my drink, I sunk into my chair in the living room. You've got to get a hold of yourself.

The warmth of the whiskey flowed through my body, making me feel a little more relaxed. The bizarre book and the flaming runes still lingered in my thoughts, no matter how much I tried to shake them away. I thought I saw a glow out of the corner of my eye and whipped around, but it was gone. No matter. I was just seeing things. Totally normal.

I turned on the space heater and pulled a blanket over me. The chill in the air had only been growing, and the heating system here took a while to catch up. As I sat there and nursed my drink, my thoughts kept returning to the mysterious book I'd left wrapped in my bag. Surely it didn't have something to do with all this...

With a sigh, I threw off my blanket. I wasn't going to be able to get any more sleep until I figured out what was in there. With any luck, it was just one of the books I'd requested from the library. Totally boring and non magical. Might as well check it out.

I wrinkled my brow as I looked through my bag. The package wasn't there. I thought for sure I left it in my bag, but perhaps I'd moved it? You're getting old, Winston. Already misplacing stuff. I started looked around near where I'd set my bag down. It wasn't there either.

I frowned and shivered as a chill went through me. Even with the heater on, it was much too cold. Why was it so cold? First the damn nightmare, and now my book was missing. I knocked back the rest of my drink and set it aside. This was going to be a long night.

The bookshelves didn't offer any respite, for once. The book wasn't there. It wasn't under the couch, by the door, or forgotten on a table. Where had it gone? I scratched my head and sighed again. All I wanted was a nice, quiet life of research and academia. Was that too much to ask?

Apparently, yes, it was. I hung my head, defeated. It would turn up eventually. Laurie's translations peeked out at me from the desk. Well, at least I still had work to do.

I poured myself another drink and sat down to work. Not like I was getting back to sleep anytime soon.

I was so immersed in my work I almost didn't hear the thump that came from behind me. It sounded like something heavy falling on to the floor. I removed my glasses and swiveled around. My eyes widened. There was the missing package, laying on the floor next to the bookshelf. How in the world? I got up, walking closer to it. I must have just overlooked it the first time around. Definitely.

You're going crazy.

Shaking those delirious thoughts away, I picked up the package and looked at it in earnest for the first time. It was surprisingly heavy for its size, and felt warm to the touch despite the chill in the air. How strange. I sat down in my wingback chair and considered it. Might as well do this now.

Here goes nothing, I thought, and I untied the twine keeping it sealed. The brown kraft paper crinkled as it folded open, and my heart leapt into my throat as I saw the contents.

A worn leather volume sat inside the wrapping. What it lacked in size it made up for in thickness. I turned it, trying to read the spine. No title, as far as I could tell. The deckle-edged pages stuck out at odd angles, giving it a handmade appearance. When I flipped the book over to see the front cover, I really wished I hadn't.

A single, glittering onyx stared up at me from the center of the cover, surrounded with gold filigree. I shuddered. Just like in my dream...in my nightmare. I covered it with the wrapping paper, taking a deep breath. It was just a dream, after all. But how did I dream about the very tome I held in my hands, before ever seeing it?

My eyes traced the star charts on the ceiling, looking for a bit of peace. It was a calming enough strategy, but didn't change the fact that the mysterious book now lay before me, in the real world. I fingered the smooth stone and the filigrees around the edges. Whoever made this book was a master of their craft. It looked like it had been modified over time, perhaps by several owners. I'd heard of books being passed down generation to generation, family histories and the like. The hollow feeling in my gut told me this was nothing so innocent.

One thing was certain: this was not the book I'd requested from the library. And whoever had left it for me knew my name. I was hardly well-known; there were only a few people it could be. But why?

The clock ticked forward in the background, the only sound other than the thump of my heart against my chest. I gathered my courage, uncovering the book again. I was a scientist, dammit. I didn't get scared off by "magic". There was an explanation for everything, and this book was no exception. All I had to do to set my fears to rest was simply open the book, ascertain that it contained no runes or other paranormal elements, and that would be that. It was just a book, after all. I'd worked with books all my life. They were my friends. It didn't make sense that I'd get so wrapped up in superstition all the sudden.

Of course, the disappearance earlier hadn't helped. I gulped, setting my jaw. Time to do this. Clasping the fine leather cover, I opened the book.

No monsters spilled forth. I didn't go blind. No magical runes ate away at my flesh. It was just a book. A normal book. I let out a sigh of relief, but it was short lived once I saw the inscription on the first page:

Property of Dr. Tobias T. Crane.