Embers

Chapter Four

The anguish Franklin found himself in while talking with his mother, he felt like pushing her away. She could not see the things that were happening to him and he didn’t want to hurt her seeing how weak and vulnerable he was. Instead, he would paint her a picture of a bad guy and she would be so hurt with him, she would maintain her distance, just like everyone else. The night was cold and the hallways nipped at him even in his thick boots. He hovered closer into his thick bearlike cloak and gloves as he made his way to the library doors.

Thew library door creaked slowly as it opened after the heavy push Franklin gave it. They were old doors but with the care they were given, they lasted longer than the new doors recently installed in some parts of the castle. Franklin liked the old look, and the library too. It had the old smell, and he relished that vintage look no matter what mood he was in. he studied hard too, in case one day they might be under attack. He was fully prepared for a thousand human army and more if need be.

Franklin decided after ruining the relationship he had with his mother with his pity talk and anger speaking for him, he chose to reside in the library, where he wouldn’t have anyone to talk to or blame for his life and existence. He often wondered why he suffered so much. He wondered if he was someone evil in his past life, hence his punishment in this life. Shaking his head to clear the sad and dark thoughts, he took a breath and went back to the book.

“I wonder what is there to do, and to study,” he said to himself. He clapped his hands together in his gloves and got warm with plenty of candles to keep him warm. At his table was also a kerosene lamp he only used when writing notes, or other important documents.

His book was solely trying to maintain and cover his anger with his fighting skills. It was sometimes working until his pressure couldn’t handle the cover. It was something he struggled with but no one wanted to see a broken prince. They want to see someone shining, in his armor and He thinks that’s why his father would push him more than anyone else. Reading the book on some relaxing methods and tips he can use for fighting skills, he felt a little sting in his eyes.

Suddenly his eyes became blurry, and he shook his head to clear his eyes. When that didn’t work, he rubbed them with his hands. It made it even worse, and finally he sat up a little panicked he lost his eyesight for a while. He blinked a few times and gradually, he thought it might be the dust messing with his eyes since the air is cold and the dust would be disturbed with all his flipping.

The cracking of the shelves and book falling made him stand up in alert and just in time to yell out in surprise as the huge bookshelf came down on him and the table he was sitting at. Unable to move fast enough, the impact of the books rerated him to be piled on with hundreds of hardcover and old mothy books. What luck, he thought to himself. Even the looks were giving him a hard time. With that he chuckled to himself, grabbing on the books to clear away his body to stand up.

“Goodness Heaven! What the hell was that?” He asked as though someone could hear him. He looked around and saw the mess and cringed. Look at how many books he would need to stack back and god knows how long it would take him.

The book he had been reading was lost in the pile of books that were now shackling his feet from moving, and trying to lift his feet proved harder than ever, eventually toppling him over on top of the books. He groaned, not only from embarrassment but also from the pain of the edgy books sticking up all around him. They were too painful on his ribs.

“For god sakes!” He cried out as his hands banged against the hard covers of the books splayed all around him.

“How am I going to fix this now? Such a freaking mess,” Franklin exclaimed knowing no one would hear him swear out loud. If so, then God knows what else he might face.

Franklin did not think for one moment that someone might have pushed the shelf on him until he heard male giggling from somewhere off and whispers too. It was starting to dawn on him that his brothers were behind the little trouble the caused with the shelf.

“You have got to be kidding me. Even when I am alone you bother me!” Franklin shouted angrily. He was annoyed that someone had time to shove a shelf on him rather than to do something constructive like he did. He looked up at the ceiling and sagged his shoulders.

Suddenly there were feet rustling, and feet running away, but Franklin broke off in a run too, aiming to keep up with them to actually get a glimpse of who it was and who inside the castle would be bold to overthrow a shelf of books on him.

“Hey, come out whoever you are!” Franklin shouted, but not angrily.

He scouted the top and bottom of the other shelves yet he didn’t see anyone. The shelf would not come down on his own. He knew that for sure.

“Where are you, little critters of the night!” He asked once more.

He would not fight, he promised himself. He wanted to see who it was and maybe ask why they were hellbent on making his life miserable. He groaned still feeling an ache at his ribs. It must be bruised.

The other hallways through the shelves were dark and normally had to see through them with candle lights, but right now Franklin cannot risk his magic to let someone see him and what he can do. It might only make things worse for him if that was even possible. Franklin noticed for a brief moment he lost sight of them. They knew how to hide well, as well as to sneakily move around the shelves too.

They were smart little critters, he thought to himself. They made sure to run opposite directions when Franklin hoisted himself above the thunderous bookshelves on the library. They were in dark cloaks like himself but different, and with the poor eyesight he sported, he couldn’t see what else they were wearing. All he knew was there were two troublemakers and he could bet he knew them all too well.

“Come out, troublemakers. Face me instead of shoving down shelves on me!” Franklin said as he towered over the bookshelves. He saw movement and his eyes went to slits. Knowing that they made a successful escape and they won’t face him, Franklin calmed his breathing and turned around.

He came back to the place that the shelf was still lying on the ground and hardly had books on its shelves anymore. Franklin knew this would take a while and maybe he won’t finish it tonight, but tomorrow he sure had something to do. While working his hands he noticed his eyes got a little clearer and he saw the dust in the air all around him. It was a wonder why he wasn’t coughing by now or in a sniffing fit. Opening up the windows to allow the night air to pass through carrying the dust with it, he realized also he would allow the night blizzard air to come into the castle as well. He was well aware one thing about night air, once it entered into the castle walls, it made home, not wanting to leave.

He decided to start with the shelf first. Since Franklin had practiced flying a little with Prentice, lifting the shelf and flying wasn’t so bad. Soon he was looking at an upright shelf, and silently praying they would stumble when they ran away from him. Sighing he got back to what he was doing, and then locked the windows since most of the dust were already cleared away and dispersing into the other aisles of the library.

Seeing the damage caused to some of the books made him angry, but it was alright seeing he now had something interesting to look for if he found nothing to do. Packing is always a good brain teaser, wasn’t it? He tried to recall. While stacking some at the highest shelf possible he looked around to see if he could find the little critters who caused him to be in the position in the first place.

Looking around he noticed something under the beam in the walls. It looked like plaster, or a cast in the wall. With furrowed eyebrows he went to check it out, still hovering above the ground and trying not to hit his feet on the shelves below him.

“What is this?” He asked out loud, looking around to see if anyone else was there for another time.

“This looks a lot earlier than the building. What happened here?” He muttered to himself, trying to figure out if it was only the wearing away of the building was a patch job or something else.

While trying to figure out what was going on, he noticed the casting began to peel away, and he reached out for it. The casting began peeling away like burnt paper. This intrigued Franklin more to the point he rested both hands on the wall. He was unsure if it was to keep the cement from coming off or trying to know why it was peeling itself away.

With startled fingers, his hands got sucked into the cement as though enveloping it along with his entire body.

Gradually, Franklin started to fight back, and wrenched his hand out the sucking cement in the wall. Popping his hands from the walls, layered in heavy black covers was a book, but an ordinary book, but one which held all the curiosity in Franklin on peak.

“My word, what is this?” He exclaimed as he found himself lowered on the ground.

Suddenly the book started to hover away from his hands, and it sent a chill down Franklin’s spine. Feeling a breath at his neck, he turned quickly but no one was there. The place had gone dead quiet and the atmosphere suddenly dropped its temperature.

Beads of sweat trickled down Franklin’s neck and forehead, wondering to himself why was this book so capturing. When he thought the book only hovered, the pages began to flutter to life.