We left our heroes with Sherri and Teri at the library, and Sherri about to be handed a book by Teri. Meanwhile, Fin has reluctantly taken "one more quick job" from Brynne, who refuses to pay their agreed amount until she does and seems oddly terrified by the Gesta that Fin left with him.
The detective, in the background, is hopping into the car that has just pulled up to take him home. It is getting to be mid-evening.
(Teri's response to Sherri) "Ye-ess..." <thoughts: what am I doing there is the weird lady and now she's ahhh the book was a bad idea to show how do I salvage this...?>
The phone rings a few times when you call, then a prerecorded message plays in Amber's voice: "Aye, it's your wee gal Amber! I'm not at the phone right now, but you can just go ahead and leave me a message, and I'll get back to you soon as a whippet. If you're calling about me modeling agency, leave your number." BEEEEP. Evidently she's busy.
<you can't just show people your slightly illegal books, girl. get it together! you don't know her, not really, and oh go- everything in that book is true, isn't it? not just... okay you were pretending it wasn't, weren't you?>
@bobble Matting Street turns out to be a quiet little neighborhood a few blocks away from the library. You note that Oakwinkle's car is already in the driveway; in the time it took you to walk there, it seems that he left the library and drove home. The home itself is a cozy little bungalow with a light on upstairs, and a large fruit and vegetable garden out back with some lovely flowers out front. The front door has one of those old-fashioned knockers, rather than a knob or doorbell cam.
You hear footsteps descend the stairs, and then the door opens and Oakwinkle stands there looking mildly surprised. "Oh! Why, hello, Teri. I wasn't certain if you would come." He holds the door open. "Come in, I'll fetch some pillows and tea for you."
An orange cat that is perched on the couch in the parlor blinks at you imperiously.
The whole house is decorated incredibly old-fashioned, like a grandparent's house - old parlor-style furniture, wooden decor and trim, ancient kitchen appliances. Everything is fastidiously clean and there isn't a single thing out of place.
Oakwinkle bustles into the parlor and begins picking up armfuls of velvet pillows. "I do hope it's all right that I neglected to mention Sylvanus. He does not bite or scratch, I assure you."
A few of the newspapers in the magazine box in the parlor, you note, are from the 1700s and 1800s, with headlines like "NORTH KOREA SURRENDERS" and "JFK SHOT IN DALLAS."
Sherri waves back, and steps up to the car. "Good evening, dear, lovely of you to come out here for me. I'm heading back home, over to <address>, if that's alright with you, darling."
[I have never taken an Uber so I don't actually know how it works]
It had some clothes and a hockey jersey on it, but she clears it off for you and pats the seat. "Sorry about that, my son likes to throw his things in here. Teenagers, right?"
Sherri climbs in, placing her purse on her lap, then shakes her head in commiseration with the lady. "I understand, of course, not a worry at all, dear."
"Can't believe those kids sometimes. He joins one team and suddenly I've got to be running around washing jerseys, making snack packs and organizing my schedule around meets and pick ups..." The woman sighs as she puts the car in reverse and pulls out of the lot. "But enough about me, sweet pea, sorry. What brings you out to a library so late?"
@Mithical The car is a bit messy at first glance, and has some old socks and athletic shoes scattered about in the back - typical teenager-related debris. You do notice one odd detail that's out of place, though; the seats don't look very sat in or worn, as you'd expect from a minivan owned by a busy mom. The car itself is also very pristine, a contrast to the messy objects.
"Oh, I'm sorry, dear, didn't mean to pry. I just don't normally pick people up from this library, that's all." The woman is driving through an intersection as she speaks. "Usually I'm picking up drunk teenagers and party kids, you know? Sometimes they're really hammered and they don't even know where they live."
She glances at you curiously. "Oh, don't worry dear, we're headed to your address. This road connects to Pinto and then we're on 72nd, and we're just about there."
The car rolls to a stop at the right address. The woman pulls in and opens her app to give you a rating. "Well, you were a lovely passenger. Five stars for sure. Anywhere else you need to stop by before I drop you off, sweet pea? You'll probably be my last rider tonight."
Sherri opens her door and hops down, turning back to face her. "Oh, darling, thank you, but I think I'm good. Thank you, and I'll make sure to put five stars down for you, dear. It was a lovely ride." She smiles.
As the car drives off and out of sight, you hear a strange sound in the distance - the engine noise changes. Before it sounded like a regular minivan, but now it revs up with a sound almost like a sports car. It zooms off with a distant neoooooowwwww.
Night turns into morning, with Teri spending the night at Oakwinkle's and Sherri at her apartment. It is now 8:45 A.M. on Friday, March 27th in Palo Fresco, and another drab, cloudy day; the news rolls with a story from a distant state where an oil pipeline is being built, and a local dollar store is undergoing a tax scandal. We cut to check on Fin, who is waking up after a presumably very exasperating day yesterday.
Fin takes another cautious look around the crowded den that Brynne provides to his 'helpers', and not noticing anybody up this early quietly gathers her things and makes to leave
You notice something is off as you start to leave - your bag feels heavier than usual, like there is a brick weighing it down. Definitely not how it felt yesterday.
Fin muses "Hmmm, I must have picked something up yesterday" Then she loudly yawns before she realises she's not made her way out yet, and rushes to leave before anybody else wakes up
Thinking to herself calmly, "It's probably nothing important"
Outside, the day is cloudy and overcast. The streets around you are full of people getting into their cars for work, teenagers playing basketball and phone games; the air is chilly, so it's no surprise that the nearest homeless person snoozing on a bench is wrapped in scarves and a heavy coat. A hot dog cart hawks its wares down the sidewalk.
The bag feels really heavy now. It's almost like it's getting heavier.
Fin's stomach rumbles at the site of the hotdog cart, but she resists the urge to splash on buying food. "Mental note, forage for some food in the bins behind that nice bakery you saw a while back"
Noticing the bag is really weighing her down now, she wonders if she left herself anything to eat in there .... no that can't be it.
When she is not in plain sight, she gently lifts the flap of her bag to see what's inside....
Nestled inside the bag like it belongs there, with no signs of damage or scuffing from Brynne dropping it, is none other than the Gesta Draumrsteig, bound in its familiar brown-and-purple leather with the eye embedded in the front. The eye is half-open, staring at you with a smoldering purple gaze.
Practically a stage whisper, she can't quite control the volume of her voice enough, and through clenched teeth snarls at the book, "I thought. We were. Done."
Fin starts to looks for somewhere even more out of the way, only occasionally glancing down at her bag, when she thinks she sees it wink at her. "What are you? I mean, you scared Brynne and he's ... a business man... why'd he be scared of book?"
Fin then suddenly remembers her escape from the library, "Oh right, you're haunted or something...right?"
Fin mutters to herself "I wish I paid more attention when I ... well I never learnt about haunted book"
Fin, now in the alleyways says "Huh, I guess you've gotten cozy"
She decides to take matters into her own hands, literally, and reaches in to the bag to grab the book and inspect it now she's somewhere quieter and out of the way
Touching the book makes your fingers tingle slightly, like they've fallen asleep. The eye on the book opens a bit wider and blinks. It doesn't seem hostile to you examining it.
The book won't budge. The eye continues to stare impassively.
You note there is some graffiti on the wall in this alley, along with a large green Dumpster and some trash and litter blowing around - empty Griffon's Pizza cups, beer cans.
Fin pauses, and look at her hands like she thinks it just needs more elbow grease to open... then in a rare moment of common sense realises if she can't open the book it's probably because it doesn't want to be opened....
When Fin notices the graffiti, she keeps looking at it and then absentmindedly puts the book back in her bag
This particular splash of graffiti is in the spray-painted shape of orange, red and yellow burning flames, with a phoenix rising from the ashes. It's very artfully done, so whoever made it was clearly a skilled artist.
Moving on from her temporary distraction, despite appreciating the artistry, Fin looks back at her bag... and tries to weigh up her options
She muses to herself, "I need to find somebody who knows about books... this book maybe... yeah and... somebody who might be helpful"
Fin can't think of anybody who knows about books, until it hits her... she should go back to the library and find something there to help her out of this situation
It's not like they'll know she has the book, right?
You also remember that the job Brynne gave you is supposed to be done by Tuesday; you're meant to "borrow" a particular item from an evidence locker at the local police station, as apparently Brynne has realized you're quite good at "borrowing." The station is located a block down from the library, which would give you an excuse to stop by under pretense of scoping it out.
Smiling at her surefire plan, Fin starts walking towards the library, trying to remember which way to go, eyes hovering over the hot dog cart for a moment longer than she'd like to admit.
"Oh crumbs, my job..."
She says to herself, "I'll just pop by the library briefly, how long can that take?"
In the meantime, we return to Teri, who stayed the night in a very old but cozy spare bedroom full of antique clocks, vases and knick-knacks; the quilt and pillows have been very well-washed but are clearly very old, too. There is the smell of something cooking downstairs and the thunk-thunk of somebody chopping vegetables with expert precision.
Oakwinkle's voice echoes from the kitchen downstairs, apparently talking on the phone with someone: "...clearly it mustn't be me, it shan't... I couldn't possibly be the one to do it." Pause. "Yes, I am well aware there isn't anybody else, but still, I hardly think..."
Oakwinkle, who is bustling about in the kitchen with something cooking on the stove, looks up from talking on a very old-looking flip phone with one hand, chopping strawberries with the other. "Ah, I'm afraid I must let you go. Yes, goodbye." He closes the phone. "Good morning, Teri. I wasn't sure what you would prefer to eat, so I assumed you would like some vegan pancakes."
Oakwinkle gestures to the dining room table and a pair of wicker chairs, one of them looking hastily pulled out; clearly he usually eats alone. "Please, sit. There is, ah... well, there's something we should talk about."
Oakwinkle settles down at the table with his own plate and looks indecisive for a moment. "Teri, I was debating when would be the proper time to bring this up with you, but it seems that the clock has decided for us. You are... aware that an incident occurred at the library last night."
"I wanted to apologize for being curt with you. It is not normal for me to lose my temper, and has not happened in many years. But..." Oakwinkle begins delicately cutting his pancake into squares. "You of course have been doing some reading in the back room. And have, perhaps, learned some things you should not have learned. I imagine you may have questions, about this world you now know exists."
"I am not angry, of course. We book lovers are naturally curious. But this is a dangerous door you are opening, and I wish for you to be ready. There is no turning back once you become one of us." Oakwinkle arranges the pancake squares on his plate just so. "And Sherri is not yet as awake as you are."
"You could call it a state of being aware. Seeing things as they are, and not as they appear. That is the 'us' of which I speak." Oakwinkle gestures to himself. "You are beginning to see me, for example. As I am, and not as I seem. Have you not understood yet what I am?"
You look at Oakwinkle, and his old-but-not-old face and slightly pointed ears. There's some kind of timeless quality about him. All these old things in his house, the old ways of talking he uses sometimes. There was something in your books about a race of beings who don't age, with pointed ears...
There was a note in one of the books about how elves can live for up to five centuries, and their timeless perspective can often make them cold and aloof, for their non-elven friends and loved ones always die around them eventually. They also tend to be vegan, due to an inborn respect for nature and a dislike of animal suffering. And they apparently love the color green, for inexplicable reasons.
