Professor Gargoyle

FOUR





When Robert came home from school, his mother wanted to hear all about his first day at Lovecraft Middle School. Mrs. Arthur felt terrible about missing the ribbon-cutting ceremony, and she asked Robert to describe all the details. He told her about the mayor and the governor and the marching band. He didn’t mention Glenn or the gummy worms.

“Oh, it sounds wonderful!” Mrs. Arthur exclaimed. “Absolutely wonderful!” She sat across from Robert at the kitchen table and placed a bowl of carrot sticks between them. “We deserve this, Robert. Do you know what I mean?”

“Sure,” he said.

“I know these last few years have been tough for you. I’m out the door at six thirty every morning. I can’t make you a hot breakfast. I can’t go on school trips. It’s been hard.” She reached across the table and held his hand. “But this is a real turning point. You’re a smart kid in a great school. If you study and work hard, everything’s going to turn out fine.”

Robert couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen his mother so happy. He decided not to mention the rats, at least not right now. There was no point in spoiling the moment.

For the next few days, everything at Lovecraft was perfectly normal. There were no more rodents in the lockers and Robert’s class schedule kept him away from Glenn for most of the day. At lunchtime, he ate by himself, but that was okay; he always brought a book to read so it would appear as if he’d purposefully chosen to sit alone.

Robert loved all kinds of books, especially horror, science fiction, and fantasy. His favorite stories were about kids with strange and magical powers—kids who were wizards or werewolves or cyborgs. Robert often daydreamed that he would one day discover his own supernatural powers and then he wouldn’t be quite so normal. In the meantime, he went to the public library every week and came home with stacks of books.

He’d heard that Lovecraft had an enormous library, but he didn’t see it firsthand until the second week of school. His English teacher, Mr. Loomis, told the students to grab their backpacks. “You’re in for a real treat today,” he promised them. “We’re going to see one of the finest school libraries in the entire state.”

“Finally,” Robert mumbled to himself.

Mr. Loomis must have overheard him, because he winked. “I’m excited, too,” he said. “Wait until you see this place.”

The Lovecraft Middle School library was nearly as big as the gymnasium. A steel-and-glass ceiling arched grandly overhead, filling the room with a warm natural light. Huge bookshelves twisted along the perimeter like the walls of a labyrinth; it would be easy to get lost in them for hours at a time, Robert thought. Standing among the books were life-size statues of famous authors: Mark Twain, Edgar Allan Poe, Mary Shelley, Louisa May Alcott …

“Over here, Robert!” Mr. Loomis called. “Stay with the class, all right?”

The other students had already settled in the media center. It was a room within a room, set apart by giant Plexiglass walls that looked out over the rest of the library. Inside were computers, listening stations, and a rack full of handheld e-readers.

An elderly woman with cat-eye glasses was demonstrating for the students how to use the e-readers. “These can be filled with downloaded books and checked out from the library—as long as you’re very careful with them, of course. Personally, I’m a little old-fashioned. I still prefer the feel of a real book with real pages. The best feeling in the world, if you ask me. But we have to embrace the future, don’t we, children?”

Mr. Loomis cleared his throat. “Class, allow me to introduce Ms. Lavinia. She’s the head librarian.”

Ms. Lavinia put down the e-reader and walked around the media center, handing each student a full-color map on glossy paper, with all the different sections of the library labeled: biography, history, science fiction, mystery, and so on. “We’ll spend today learning how to find library books and borrow them. You’ll see I’ve written the name of a different book on every map. To complete the assignment, you need to find your book and borrow it from the library. You’re allowed to help your classmates, so let’s work together, all right?”

Robert looked at the top of his map. His title was:


THE ADVENTURES OF FANGS DUNGAREE, TEENAGE VAMPIRE COWBOY DETECTIVE #1: THE CASE OF THE FLAMING HORSESHOE

By M. J. Hetter

Section: General Fiction – Mystery – Paranormal


Robert raised his hand. “Could I get a different book?”

“I’m sorry,” Ms. Lavinia said, “there’s only one per student.”

Robert couldn’t believe his rotten luck. He liked books about kids with supernatural powers, but this was ridiculous. The Adventures of Fangs Dungaree sounded like the dumbest book in the world.

“If you don’t like your selection,” Ms. Lavinia continued, “you’re welcome to choose more than one title. Students may borrow up to five books at any time.”

The other students seemed happy with their assignments and everyone quickly spread out across the library. Robert decided he would find Fangs Dungaree first and then use the rest of his time to find books that he would actually enjoy.

Using the map as a guide, Robert plunged into a maze of shelves labeled GENERAL FICTION, and the chatter of his classmates faded behind him. After three left turns and two right turns he arrived in GENERAL FICTION – MYSTERY and a few steps later found himself in GENERAL FICTION – MYSTERY – PARANORMAL.

When he finally looked up again, the shelves seemed to have grown taller. It must have been a trick of the light—the tops of the shelves appeared to be leaning over him ever so slightly, like trees blocking out the sun.

Tracing the spines of the books with his finger, he followed the alphabet along its erratic path, from A to B to C to D. The route was slow going and full of unexpected twists and turns; the library had many more books than he’d realized.

By the time Robert arrived in the H section, he felt like he had walked the length of a football field. He found all seventeen Fangs Dungaree mysteries by M. J. Hetter, grabbed The Case of the Flaming Horseshoe, and stuffed it in his backpack. Then he turned to leave but realized he couldn’t remember which direction he’d come from.

It was weird. He’d meant to follow the alphabet backward—H to G to F to E, until he was back where he started—but somehow he’d taken a wrong turn. The surrounding books were wholly unfamiliar. Robert turned left and right and left again. Books blurred past him; all the corridors looked the same. He consulted the map but couldn’t orient himself; somehow, he’d managed to get completely lost.

When Robert looked up again, he saw a flash of movement—a girl in a white T-shirt, darting around a corner.

“Hello?” Robert called.

She didn’t stop or turn around. Robert followed her. “Excuse me? Hello?”

The girl moved faster, slipping around another corner, just out of sight. Robert began to run, heading deeper and deeper into the seemingly endless corridors.

From out of nowhere, he sensed a pungent odor of moldy mothballs. The smell seemed out of character for Lovecraft Middle School, where everything was sparkling and polished and brand-new.

“Wait up!” Robert called.

He followed the girl around a corner and found himself facing a dead end.

The girl was gone.

“Hello?”

No answer. No footsteps. Nothing but silence.

Robert walked all the way to the very end of the corridor. In the shadows between two of the bookshelves was a tall, narrow doorway—so narrow he would have to turn sideways to squeeze through. It was bordered with dark brown wood and etched with all kinds of mysterious symbols, like the random characters that would pop up on his computer screen whenever it decided to crash.

Robert felt a chill. The smell of moldy mothballs was strongest right here. His heart pounding, he took a deep breath, grabbed the straps of his backpack, and plunged into the shadows.