“He hasn’t left yet.”

The group had stopped a few streets away, sitting at an outdoor table of a café. Draven kept an eye on the bookstore through his connection with the shadow beasts, keeping the others updated while enjoying the food and drinks they ordered twenty minutes ago when they sat down.

Both Ed and Draven had ordered a sandwich and a coffee, while Ulric made the cooks work harder by ordering a veritable mountain of food. His dishes covered more than half the table, as an assorted arrangement of everything available on the menu.

“Do you think he escaped through another exit.” Ed asked between mouthfuls of his sandwich.

Draven shook his head. “No. I’ve surrounded the entire building. Only a few people have come in and out since we got here. If he had snuck out, I would’ve seen him.”

Ed nodded. Maybe I should go inside, I feel like he’s been in there too long to just tell someone to leave the city. Something doesn’t feel right. I’ll give it more time.

Over the next ten minutes, Ed finished his food and sat there, slowly sipping at his drink while Draven kept an eye on the bookstore. Pushing his plate aside, he got up while still sipping from his drink. “I’m gonna go buy a book.”

Draven locked eyes with him, then nodded. “Alright. Text us when you’re done, we’ll probably still be here.” He said, eyeing the mountain of food Ulric was ploughing through.

“mm.” Ed nodded, walking casually back to the store.

Ding dong.

A little bell rung as he stepped through the door. The store was small, with bookshelves crammed in along the walls and in the centre, creating a small loop around the space where you would naturally end up back at the registers by the front door.

Scanning the room, he found a few people shopping around the store, perusing the books, as well as an old man sitting quietly at the counter, but there was no sign of the man they were tracking.

Damnit, he must’ve escaped, but how? Trying not to make it too obvious, he kept walking into the shop, casually looking through the bookshelves, occasionally picking up a book and reading its synopsis, to blend in with everyone else. The entire time he was moving between shelves, he was scanning the room for other exits, but couldn’t find anything.

He has to have gone somewhere... This is going to suck isn’t it? Preparing himself, Ed made himself aware of the strings of fate. Refusing to turn around for fear of overloading his mind with the sight of what’s outside, he strained himself to search through the room.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

The room was filled with dense lines, connecting to the people in the room in a monumental mess that sent a buzz through Ed’s mind. Forcing himself to stay focused through the growing headache, he managed to find a small anomaly in the web he was seeing.

A few of the more prominent and saturated strings, one’s that Ed could identify as connecting to someone’s past instead of the potential future, were currently phasing through one of the bookshelves.

A hidden entrance. Damn, seems like he’s already escaped. I should go. Clearing his vision, he picked up a random fantasy book and paid for it at the counter before leaving.

“He already left.” Ed said as he passed through one of the shadows, knowing Draven was somehow listening. How long ago did he leave? Did he know he was being followed? A storm of questions assaulted Ed’s mind as he sat back down at the table.

Draven turned to him with a questioning look. “What did you see?”

“There’s a secret passage in the store. Behind one of the bookshelves.” Ed said.

“And our target wasn’t in the store?” Draven asked.

Ed nodded. “Mm. I checked everyone, but there was nobody matching that description in the store.

Draven drummed his fingers on the table. “He can’t have left, not unless that exit leads to somewhere really far away... He might still be hiding inside.”

“Let’s break in.” Ulric said, finally contributing to the conversation.

“That’ll be difficult.” Ed said. “The store’s very small, the owner would be able to see us if we try to trigger the secret entrance. We’d have to knock out everyone in the store if we don’t want to alert them, and they probably have cameras.”

“Leave that stuff to us. Do you think you can open the passage?” Draven asked.

“Yeah, I should be able to do it.” Ed nodded after thinking for a bit.

“Good, so here’s what we’re gonna do...”

~

Ding dong.

The door swung open as Ed once again stepped into the bookstore.

“Back again so soon?” The elderly bookstore owner asked warmly.

“Yeah, there’s something else I want to get.” Ed said, smiling kindly in return as he walked back to one of the bookshelves he was at earlier. “Where was it? I know I saw it here somewhere.” He mumbled to himself, just loud enough for the store owner to hear.

“Do you need help with finding the book you want?” He asked.

“No, I’m all good. Thanks for asking though.” Ed said.

Everybody else left, that should make this easier. Searching through the bookshelves, he quietly made his way over to the bookshelf with the hidden entrance behind it. I can’t stand around for too long, otherwise he might get suspicious.

Tuning his vision to see fate, he focused in on the string, allowing himself to sink into the void as a towering figure appeared silently behind the shopkeeper.

Come on, I need to make this quick.

The bookstore materialised in the void around Ed, as a man matching the description Draven gave him stood beside him. Where the bookshelf used to be was now an archway that directly dropped down into a flight of stone stairs.

Too far forward, I need to know how to open it first. Rewinding time, the bookshelf rose from the floor and slotted back into place. The man moved in reverse, putting back a series of books and returning it to how the bookshelf looked in Ed’s memory. Looks like it’s got a code.

Ed cracked his neck, readying himself to memorise it as quickly as possible.