MAGIC: The Rise of Tom Salisbury

Obsession

Tom sped off to school the next morning after waving a hearty goodbye to his parents, and of course, they waved back almost giddily. It is a known fact that although Tom is not a sadist, you won't be wrong if you classify him as one. His parents were overjoyed seeing him in such a happy mood, it is rare to see so much mirth coming from him. However, one thing that they don't know is that Tom is a chameleon. Tom can switch moods as if it's chewing gum, he can make the atmosphere bubble while dying inside, he's just a flip. 

Midway to school, Tom changed direction, veered off to an unbeaten path, and entered a slum, there he switched clothes. In a twinkle of an eye, he was already out wearing a totally new set of clothes. A rueful smile could be seen on his lips as he wondered… 

"Who'd have known that a little boy like me will have these kinds of ideas and be bold enough to implement them? " his smile grew wider, "they know nothing at all. "

With this, he hailed a cab and off to the city library for good. 

As he arrived at the city library, he immediately ran up the front stairs to enter the reception hall. He's done with the meager school library and its children's books, now, things are about to get serious. The smile by now was already a permanent plaster on his face. 

As he reached the front desk where the desk officer was stunned as an eleven years old boy walked up to him. 

"Sir, I hope there's plenty of magic books in there?" the boy quizzed. 

"What? " 

a vein popped in the desk officer's brain. To walk up bravely and the first thing you AK without even greeting is 'magic books', while this is not extraordinary, it sounds a little bizarre.  Almost as if there's a particular kind of book you expect us to be keeping as the city library; magic books. 'magic books your head.' the desk Officer cursed inward. 

However, the desk officer still put up a cheerful front and greeted, "Good morning young man. "

This reminded Tom of his rude approach and the fact that he didn't even bother to greet this grown guy in front of him. Not that it matters much to him, but it felt a little bit awkward when magic books were what he said first. 

He immediately recollected himself and waved, "am very sorry sir for my rude attitude, good morning sir. "

"Yeah, that's it. You're welcome…" 

However, before the desk officer could finish the compliments he was about to dish out, he was cut out yet with another abrupt question… 

"So, sir, are there really plenty of magic books in there, and where can I get them? Also, do I need any token to tap into the internet connection of your library? "

The desk officer was once again befuddled, 'to think that I thought you have given up on this your ridiculous attitude and have learned your manners. What the heck with the attitude. I should have been forewarned in the dream that a magic fanatic will be coming to see me, or is it that I was warned but forgot?'

It is no coincidence that the desk officer thinks like this, as the thing he hates most in his life is magic. He had been traumatized at a magic trick gathering when he was young. Since then, he had developed an intense aversion towards magic. 

Seeing that the boy is really intent on knowing where magic books are kept, he sighed and decided to forego all pleasantries and the lectures he was about to clothe the young man with. However, the boy is a newcomer and has yet to get his city library card, so he has to make sure of that. 

"ehm...young man, you don't seem to be a regular visitor here, I'm afraid you don't have a city library card… "

"....I do. " Tom interjected right before the desk officer could finish. "it seems you are the one new here" he continued wisply under his breath but the deal officer across heard it.

"What did you say… don't worry, it's nothing, can I see it?"

Tom gave his city library card to the desk officer who meticulously checked it before ushering him inside. 

Inside the library, Tom weaved himself from one end of a shelf to another noiselessly, looking at the titles of each of the books. No one caught his attention yet,  and he was beginning to grow frustrated. Finally, he decided to choose anyone which manages to hold the slightest appeal to him and peruse, so he made to walk around that particular shelf when something caught his eye… 

"What was that?" Tom questioned himself. 

"Something just caught my eye but I can't just tell what it is, maybe I should try repeating this motion I just made"

He once again tried to walk around the shelf but nothing spectacular happened. He tried repeating his motions for the umpteenth time but he didn't catch anything else, therefore, he decided to give up on the quest and resume his clumsy book search. Just when he was about to wind around the shelf again, something moved. He immediately became alert and tried to memorize what he had just seen, slowly he walked over to a book in the corner of the opposite shelf stacked in between a host of others. He gently almost fearfully hoisted the books up and pulled out the prime suspect, even half expecting that the book would bite him… 

While doing so, something moved within his eye frame. "What's that? Tom asked alerted. He immediately bent his neck to have a closer look at the books in front of him, his eyes were particularly sharp waiting to catch any unusual movements. "But I just saw something " just as he was questioning himself inside, another zappy move was made and Tom immediately lamented ever lowering his attention. "f**k!" He cursed, "I just have to take out all the books here and have a look." With that, he immediately started unloading the books and carried them to a secluded part of the reading hall to ensure his privacy. As he dumped the books on a desk, he immediately glanced around to make sure that he is safe from the library attendant's scrutiny, because he knew that taking that many books as he took is not allowed in the city library. 

'what if it's a rat?' Tom's mind told him. 

'What? Rat?' Tom almost regretted everything before he came back to his senses and immediately thought 'No, it can't be a rat, can it? No, the stuff was watching me and knew when I lowered my guard? '

'So? Can a rat do that? ' His mind questioned once again. 

'Yea, but no, this isn't a rat.' Tom became confused and fell silent. 'So, all these precautions I have taken and all these movements and calculations are actually for nothing.'

'What the f**k!' Tom shouted. 'What? Did the library attendant hear that? ' He waited for some seconds but could not hear a sound and heaved a sigh of relief. 'What the… ' he muttered under his breath. 

'but excuse me, if there's a rat in here, it should have scurried away as I was reaching the shelf but, instead… I didn't see any rat getaway or something…? His face became scrunched. 

'What if it had escaped while you were just about to make your way over? '

'come on, don't give me those ridiculous ideas, there's no way that can happen, it stayed there when I crossed the first time, still there when I crossed the second time and waited, come on even if Thanos and Hulk are backing it. There's really something sinister about this book, when did my head start talking to me as if it's got its own body? Shit! This book is playing with my head I've got to explore you, you must be magic.'

With this Tom dropped the books he had already stood up with to replace them back on the shelf.

'Time to dig'