Encounter
Prologue
Everly had always been enamoured with all things paranormal. When one has an encounter so unbelievable that defeats logical reasoning, it sets off a feverous spark of intrigue. The idea of life- or some form of life, existing after death. That’s impossible…or is it?
It all started when she was in her early teens and a fateful night in the local town library. Everly, a reclusive child, was only there to escape the heat of the scorching summer sun. Basking in the free air conditioning and losing herself in the never ending supply of books was her own kind of heaven. This had become a tradition ever since she entered highschool two years ago. Classes were harder, girls were meaner and expectations were higher. For an average girl, with no notable features, it was easy to get lost in the mundanity of life. Sure, this way of coping was not good for a girl so young in her life but it did not help that her only friend moved cities at the end of primary school. So here she was, back in her place of comfort, ready to waste the day away with her beloved books.
Everly chose a book in the Young Adults section and made her way to her favourite spot, a secluded area situated to the corner of the second floor of the building. The area was away from tables, couches and popular reading materials. Away from people. Her spot was personalised, garbed with a burgundy bean bag chair, some fluffy cushions and a lamp that she ‘borrowed without asking’ from her father’s tool shed. The lack of human presence was prominent as she looked around. The coating of dust on the shelves spoke for itself. The atmosphere was perfect to get stuck into a book detailing a fantasy realm, dark drapes covered the windows, obscuring the light of the sun’s rays, leaving her in an eerie darkness. Typically, a young girl would turn away and find another place to relax, but for Everly, the place was perfect. She was used to being the socially awkward and introverted girl, therefore, finding this section in the library was essentially a reflection of her entire being. That is, being overlooked by those around her.
As soon as the pages of the book opened, her mind was transported into a different reality. She loved using her imagination to go on an epic adventure. Reading was so powerful to Everly that she would get so captivated by the stories in her head that a whole day could pass without her realising. It was easy, no viewable windows, no people and no lights apart from what was emitted from her lamp, there really was no way to subconsciously be made aware of the time. It was only until she checked her watch after her stomach rumbled, that she surprisingly found it was already nine o’clock at night. She had astonishingly spent seven hours with her head buried in a book.
Panic coursed through her body when she realised that the library shut at seven. Grabbing her bag and book, she quickly dashed across the floor, down the stairs and to the entrance of the library, hoping that she wasn’t locked in. Her hopes were spoiling as she did not see anyone in the building and most lights were off. Once she arrived at the front doors she tried to open them, but they did not budge. She tried again and it was the same result. Her breathing started to intensify as she was truly scared, being locked in a dark library was not at the top of her list of things to experience.
In this moment, emotions were high and immediately caught up with Everly as she started to cry. She didn’t want to be alone. She was stuck inside this library all by herself. What’s more is that her family probably wouldn’t notice that she is gone as they would believe she is in her room, like she always is.
With no clue what to do, she makes the decision to run back to her previous spot in the library where the light from the lamp was still shining brightly like a beacon of life. With sullen steps she makes her way to the wall of her safe space and slides down until she is seated. Everly shakingly brought her knees up and hid her face within them. There was no way she would be able to sleep through this night. On top of being scared and hungry, she was going to be awfully tired.
Two hours passed and Everly was in the same position. She felt like she was protecting herself and that’s all her mind needed to keep calm. A sense of protection. Everly’s sanity came crashing down when the sound of a deep thud resonated a few metres away from her. She didn’t want to look up as her body was shaking, she was petrified. Whatever made that sound, it hadn’t been the wind, there’s no wind in the corner of the second floor of a giant library in the middle of the night. Sure, Everly was enthused by the paranormal, but that never meant she wanted to interact with it.
Another thud occurred again and this time Everly was sure that whatever was happening wasn’t normal. A library shouldn’t be creating these sounds, especially a few metres away from her.
It was silent after that, and that gave Everly enough courage to lift her head and inspect what was in front of her.
She gasped and cursed at herself inside, she wanted to cry again. There, a few steps away from her feet, were two thick hard covered books laying across the ground. Everly knew they must have fallen off the bookshelf but those books were heavy, no draft of wind could possibly knock that weight off a bookshelf. Something strange was going on, Everly didn’t know how, but she knew something or… someone was in this library with her.
“H-hello?” she hesitantly spoke.
“Is there anyone there?” she continued. No one replied of course. She was stupid to think that there would be anyone who would reply. She was just about to bury herself within her knees again but was surprised when she heard someone reply.
“Hello?” A male voice echoed throughout the library.
Everly instantly got on her feet, the man’s voice was so crisp and clear that she knew it had to be a security guard of some kind. She was saved.
“Hello!? I’m over here, can you help me?” she called out, hoping the man could follow her voice and come and find her.
“I’m sorry, I cannot help you” came the males reply.
Everly was left confused, how come he couldn’t help her? A security guard should help her shouldn’t he?
She made a short groan in confusion.
“How come you can’t help? Could you at least come to me? I am stuck in this place and so very afraid, couldn’t you at least try and offer support or something? Anything?” Everly called out very desperately.
Her loud heartbeat five times before the man spoke again.
“Listen little girl, I am not what you think, it would probably be best if you don’t see me at all, I can only offer comfort with my voice” he responded with a tone of remorse.
“What do you mean? Aren’t you a security guard? Or another person who got locked in as well? Why won’t you show yourself?” she questioned, her face marring to match her thoughts.
“I’m sorry, I’m not either of those things” he apologised. His responses were elusive and it made her upset.
“Why are you so cryptic? You’re acting like you’re a ghost or something, and it’s not like you’re anything like that right?” she asked, her voice cracking in fear.
Everly was looking left to right, trying to make out anything in the darkness that surrounded her. She waited for a reply but nothing came. A wave of cold air rushed over her as she realised why he wasn’t responding.
“No way… Are you a ghost?” she managed to get out with a gasp of disbelief.
“Something like that” he responded.
////////
Somehow, Everly made it through that frightful night and was found by the librarian the next morning, who was deeply concerned about locking the young girl inside the library all night.
As Everly made her way home, she couldn’t stop thinking about the deep and velvety voice that comforted her last night. After hesitantly evading Everly’s questioning on the status of his “ghost-fullness”, he began to converse with her as normal ‘humans’ would. They talked about the book she was reading, her family, schooling, life and more. His voice was so soothing and calm that it had placed her mind into a trance. She felt safe. So secure that she easily closed her eyes and allowed herself to fall into the darkness that came with sleep.
