The Library of Forgotten People - Chapter Two — The Names on the Shelves

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The shaking lasted only a few seconds.

Then everything stopped.

Elena stood frozen in the darkness, her hand still resting on the open book.

For a moment, she could hear nothing.

Then—

Tick.

The clock.

Tick.

Somewhere in the distance, another clock answered.

Tick.

Then another.

And another.

Soon, the entire library seemed to be filled with ticking clocks.

Elena looked at the old man.

"What's happening?"

He did not answer.

He was staring into the darkness between the bookshelves.

"Mr...?"

"My name is Elias."

"Elias."

He nodded.

"What's happening?"

"Something has found us."

Elena's heart began to beat faster.

"What has found us?"

Elias raised one finger to his lips.

"Quiet."

A sound came from the end of the library.

Footsteps.

Slow.

Heavy.

They were coming closer.

Elena instinctively stepped behind Elias.

The footsteps stopped.

Nothing happened.

Then a whisper moved through the shelves.

"Elena..."

She froze.

It was her name.

The voice sounded like a little girl.

"Elena..."

She looked at Elias.

"Did you hear that?"

He nodded.

His face had lost all its colour.

"Don't answer."

"But someone is calling me."

"I know."

"Who is it?"

Elias grabbed the black book from the desk and shut it.

"We have to go."

"Go where?"

"Somewhere it cannot find you."

He started walking.

Elena followed quickly.

They moved between the shelves.

The library seemed completely different now.

Before, the shelves had looked endless but peaceful.

Now they felt like walls in a maze.

Elena looked at the names on the books as they passed.

Thomas Reed.

Amelia Hart.

Samuel Bell.

Lucy Winter.

Thousands of names.

Thousands of forgotten lives.

"How many people are here?" Elena whispered.

"Too many."

"How long has this library existed?"

Elias didn't answer.

"Was it here fifty years ago?"

"Yes."

"A hundred?"

"Yes."

"A thousand?"

He stopped.

Elena nearly walked into him.

Elias looked at her.

"Perhaps."

"Perhaps?"

"There are some questions this library does not like."

Elena frowned.

"That's not an answer."

"It is the only one you're getting."

They continued.

Suddenly, Elena noticed something strange.

The books on the shelves were moving.

Not falling.

Moving.

Very slowly, they were sliding in and out of the shelves by themselves.

Elena reached toward one.

"Don't touch them," Elias said.

She pulled her hand back.

"Why?"

"Because every book remembers its owner."

"And?"

"Sometimes, the owner remembers the book too."

Elena didn't understand.

"What does that mean?"

Elias stopped again.

He looked at her carefully.

"Have you ever remembered something that everyone else said never happened?"

Elena opened her mouth.

Then closed it.

For some reason, the question made her uncomfortable.

"I don't know."

"Think carefully."

She did.

Nothing came to mind.

Or rather...

Something did.

A bedroom.

A yellow curtain.

A wooden horse.

A girl's voice laughing.

Elena blinked.

The memory disappeared.

"Wait."

"What?"

"I just..."

She looked down the corridor.

"I remembered something."

Elias's expression changed.

"What?"

"A room."

"What room?"

"I don't know."

"Who was there?"

Elena closed her eyes.

The memory was already fading.

"A girl."

Elias went completely still.

"What girl?"

"I don't know."

"Elena."

His voice had changed.

"Tell me."

"I can't."

"Try."

She pressed her fingers against her forehead.

"There was a girl."

"What did she look like?"

"I don't remember."

"What was she wearing?"

"I don't know."

"Her name?"

Elena shook her head.

"No."

Elias looked away.

For several seconds, he said nothing.

Then he whispered:

"She's beginning to come back."

Elena stared at him.

"Who?"

Before Elias could answer, a loud crash came from somewhere behind them.

They turned.

A book had fallen onto the floor.

Its cover was facing upward.

Elena could see the name.

ELENA MARSH

Her blood ran cold.

"That's my book."

Elias walked toward it.

"Stay here."

He picked it up.

Elena noticed that the book looked different now.

The first page was no longer blank.

There was writing.

A single sentence.

Elias read it silently.

"What does it say?"

He closed the book.

"Nothing important."

"You're lying."

"Elias."

He looked at her.

"The book changed, didn't it?"

He didn't answer.

"What does it say?"

Finally, he turned the book around.

Elena read the page.

Elena Marsh remembered the girl.

She stared at the sentence.

"The girl..."

Elias nodded.

"Who is she?"

He looked toward the ceiling.

"I think you already know."

"I don't."

"You just told me you remembered her."

"That doesn't mean I know who she is."

Elias sighed.

Then he said something Elena wasn't prepared to hear.

"You had a sister."

The world seemed to become silent.

Elena stared at him.

"No."

"Yes."

"I don't have a sister."

"You did."

"No."

"You were six years old."

"I was an only child."

"You believe that because everyone told you so."

Elena stepped backward.

"You're lying."

"I'm not."

"My parents would have told me."

"They don't remember her either."

Elena shook her head.

"This is insane."

"I know."

She turned around.

"I want to leave."

Elias didn't stop her.

"Then find the door."

Elena walked away.

She didn't know where she was going.

She didn't care.

She just wanted to get away from Elias, the books, and the impossible story he had just told her.

But after a few steps, she stopped.

There was a photograph lying on the floor.

She picked it up.

It showed a family standing in front of a small house.

A man.

A woman.

And two little girls.

Elena stared at the photograph.

The man was her father.

The woman was her mother.

One of the girls was Elena.

The other girl...

Elena's fingers began to shake.

She knew that face.

She didn't know how.

But she knew it.

The girl was smiling.

She had the same dark eyes as Elena.

The same small scar above her eyebrow.

The same crooked smile.

On the back of the photograph was a handwritten message.

For Elena and Mara.

Elena whispered the name.

"Mara."

The lights suddenly came back on.

Every single book in the library was now open.

Thousands of pages turned at the same time.

The sound was enormous.

Like a storm made of paper.

Elias ran toward her.

"Put the photograph down!"

Elena couldn't move.

"Who is Mara?"

Elias reached her.

"Elena, listen to me."

"Who is she?"

"Mara was your sister."

"Where is she?"

Elias looked at the photograph.

Then at Elena.

"She's here."

Elena's heart stopped.

"Here?"

Elias pointed toward the shelves.

"Somewhere in this library."

A cold wind swept through the room.

The photograph slipped from Elena's fingers.

And from somewhere far away, a girl's voice whispered:

"Elena."

This time, the voice was closer.

"I've been waiting for you."

Elena turned toward the sound.

Between two shelves, a small figure stood in the darkness.

A girl.

She looked exactly like the girl in the photograph.

Exactly like Elena remembered.

The girl smiled.

Then she disappeared.

Elena ran toward her.

"Elias!"

But when Elena reached the place where the girl had been standing, there was nothing there.

Only a book.

It lay open on the floor.

The cover read:

MARA MARSH

Elena slowly picked it up.

There was only one sentence on the first page.

Mara Marsh was forgotten by everyone except her sister.

Elena's hands trembled.

At the bottom of the page, new words slowly appeared.

But she was never supposed to be remembered.14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuNTGmz5amf

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