Five videos were recorded, edited, uploaded, and scheduled. She figured that was good enough for a Saturday and tossed her phone into the empty seat beside her. Sadie was gathering a small following on YouTube, but she didn’t really care. It was more or less just something to do to pass the time. The old Mercedes turned right onto Main Street then Dr. Tomlin cut the wheel sharply to pull them into a spot directly in front of Savage Hardware.
Sadie reclaimed her phone and was out of the car before it had even fully turned off.
“Where are you going…?” her dad tried.
“Just meet us back at the car in half an hour,” her mother cut him off.
“I thought this was supposed to be a family outing. You let Scout stay home, now she’s…”
“Can it, I want something for lunch.”
Sadie listened as her parents bickering faded away behind her. This was her first chance to check out her new town…or village. Whatever it was, it was a lot smaller than Home. It was weird though. The buildings and beachside shacks were ornate. The paint was chipped and the boards were warped, but forty or fifty years ago, it seemed, one could imagine, that this was a small, but thriving little tourist town.
Still, underneath its decay, and despite her pre-teen proclivities for angst, she had to admit to herself that in a way, the place was cute. Creepy, sure, but there was a charm? No, that wasn’t the right word, she thought, but still, there was something about the place.
She made her way down the narrow street that insulated the local shops from the wharf and beach beyond. The buildings lining the ancient street still sported the same frame of half-round timbers and shale cement. There was the hardware store of course, then she passed the dusty window of a jerky store which shared a wall with an electronics store that, after looking inside, Sadie couldn’t recognize any of the relics she saw. She didn’t know what and walkman was and she didn’t care to find out.
She clutched her iPhone closer as she almost tripped on a piece of cracked sidewalk. 11:21, she noted the time hoping no one saw her stumble. That’s when she found herself standing before the Savage Book Selling Company. Sadie felt the shop itself had a different aura that the rest of the places on the street, even if she couldn’t articulate it at the time.
Unlike other businesses, the book shop didn’t have a window display, which Sadie thought odd. Instead thick and heavy-looking green curtains obscured the view of anything inside. So, half legitimately curious and half subconsciously drawn to it, she pushed open the front door. Tiny bells tinkled together to herald her arrival…
Inside, it was dim and cool. Sadie let the old door close by itself behind her as she crossed the threshold. It was an interesting shop. Typical stacks filled with books lined the space, but odd, if not off-putting art decorated the walls and hung from the ceiling, A wind chime of fishbones, a massive oil pointing of a local funeral in a torrential storm, the taxidermies remains of an albatross…
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
Still, as Sadie perused the rows of books she saw nothing out of the order. Nicolas Sparks books, Harry Potter, Twilight, Martha Stewart…to be a place that gave off such a mysterious vibe, Sadie thought, the contents within sure were, mundane. That though, just as she was about to give up and head out, is when she saw it. In the very back of the store, almost totally obscured by shadow, was a doorframe adorned with a curtain of mahogany beads and emerald jewels.
Sadie blinked and found herself in front of the doorway. She didn’t remember walking to it, but there she was. At first, she didn’t realize what she was looking at. In fact, if pop culture from the ’90s had taught her anything, there was probably only porn back there. She smiled deviously and looked around. It was oddly empty. No one greeted her when she entered, no other customers, no one seemed to know she was there. Yet, she couldn’t pass up a moment of rebellion even if it went unseen. She wasn’t interested in the subject matter in the least, but she carefully pushed herself through the beaded curtain expecting to see a world of naked people.
Instead, she found a small room bathed in violet light. She glanced over her shoulder, still no one around. There was a small round table in the center of the room. It was covered by silk fringed cloth detailed with a wild peacock motif. Around the walls were small painting, but less disturbing than the ones in the main room. These were all of women, portraits. Books were lying around, but Sadie could tell there were in no particular order She stepped in further, her fingers running along the spine of one cobweb-covered tome.
Suddenly, there was a creaking sound from above. Sadie panicked. The creaking turned to footsteps and they began to descend stairs towards the main shop floor. Sadie didn’t know what to do. She couldn’t think and she didn’t know why she didn’t what she did next. Her hand reached out in a flash and grabbed a book. She didn’t know what it was or why, but she tucked it under her arm and ran out of the back room.
At the front counter of the book shop, a white-haired woman in a blue and ivory striped pantsuit was rather scared to see someone else in the store, much less bolting away as if someone was chasing them. The shop lady called out,
“Miss….can I help you?”
“Uh…No! I’m good, sorry! Gotta go! Thanks!
“But aren’t you going to pay for…”
The old door slammed shut before the lady could finish. Instead of chasing her though, a concerned look fell upon her face. Slowly, the lady walked to the door and threw the deadbolt. From there, she deliberately made her way back to the little room hidden by shadows. If anything was missing, that girl was going to have hell to pay.
Outside, Sadie felt an immediate sense of relief as soon as she was back on the sidewalk. The sun dissolved a weight that had found its way to her shoulders. She even forgot about the stolen book tucked beneath her arm. Then her stomach dropped.
Sadie saw her parents waiting for her at the car. They looked pissed. What did I do now? I was gone for like fifteen minutes, she told herself as she looked at her phone. She stopped cold in her tracks.
Her screen read 12:45.
“No fucking way,” she said to herself (a little closer to her parents than she would normally say fuck.)
“We’ve been waiting here for almost half an hour…”
“How are we supposed to trust you if you…”
Her mom and dad’s scolding blended together. She couldn’t even focus on them right now. Something messed up was going on.
Sadie had gone into the bookstore just after 11:21. She spent maybe five minutes inside before making her escape. So then how did more than an hour go by?
“Are you even listening to us?” her father’s voice cut through the fog in her brain.
“No, I…I mean, yes…” Sadie stuttered, “I just…” she sighed heavily, “Can we just go home?” Sadie stomped her way to the car and climbed in the back seat. She wasn’t really annoyed, she was scared and totally weird out. Carefully, she slid the book behind her not wanting her parents to question it.