The Book Waitress (Book 1, The Book Waitress Series) (7 page)

“Do what?”
Feeling self-conscious, she picked up a pencil and twirled it in her hand.

“You were able to
tell me all that without even opening a book. You’re amazing.”
Her face flushed an
d a full-on blush took over.

“
I told you, I have a photographic memory of sorts. I remember
most
everything I
see,
and I’d read about the history of this place
in a coffee table book not too long ago
. Now, y
ou better stop talking nice to me or the other patrons will want the same treatment. I only divulge my
knowledge
to certain pe
o
ple.
” She offered him the hint of a smile along with a wink, and suddenly frowned.
“
Wait a minute. D
o you realize what this means?”

“Yeah, it means the basement has seen
more than it
s fair share of
evil-doings
. I need access to it. Can you work on it
for me
?”

“I’ll be here probably
un
til midnight with
these stacks of books
. Just hide in the men’s bathroom at closing. Then I’ll come knock
ing
on the door when the coast is clear.
”

“All right. Thanks a million.”
He returned to his newspaper room.

Susan carted in another load of books.
“A present for you.”

“What’s this?”

“Nancy wants these to replace the ones already on the shelves. They’re updated journals. She wants it done today.”

“Okay, Susan.
” She slapped her thighs and stood up.
“
What gives? Nancy’s expectations of me are far from realistic and border on slave labor. What is her problem? What could I possibly
have
done to annoy her to the point where she wants to abuse me like this?”

“I don’t know, Camille. But if you can’t handle the workload, then maybe you ought to head back to the mainland library where there are more people to let you slack off.” She flashed a smirk, turned sharply, and stalked away.

What the hell’s going on around here? Has everyone taken nasty pills or something?
It’s almost as if they want me out of here.
But why?

***

The incision wouldn’t be deep, this time, but it would be long.
He dragged Satan’s Saber
across his skin, from the crook of his elbow to his wrist. The bloody rivulets
dripped
into
a
jewel-encrusted
chalice,
and
he closed his eyes
,
reveling
in the searing pain that kicked his endorphins into high gear.
A smiled tugged at the corners of his mouth.
His hearing, acutely sensitive now, alerted him of another’s presence.
One last drop and he covered the opened wound with gauze
wrapping
.
“
Is she here, then?”

“Yes,
Overlord
.”

“
Excellent. Keep a close watch on her.
We’ll need her by Sunday.
And the boy…
still alive
?”
He turned to face his second in command
, a short, stocky man with a lazy eye, but not a lazy
mind
.

“
Yes. He sleeps a lot.”

“Make sure he eats. He must be fit for the ceremony.”
He brought
the blood-filled cup over to the fire pit already crackling and snapping with burning
kindling
.
He
’d
made sure to
build
the pit far enough into the woods so as to not raise suspicion. The scent of
wood smoke
permeated his nostrils as
he added a couple of logs to the fire.

“
Of course.
He
’s
fed three times a day.
” Rubbing the back of his neck, he added,
“
He still calls out for his mother.”

The
Overlord
remained stoic.
“Arrange a visit. Explain she must put his mind at ease. She must tell him how special a boy he is and what an honor it is that he’s been chosen.
She’ll do it. She’s a loyal follower.
”

“Yes, sir.”

“Leave
me
now.
I have preparations.
”

Without
so much as a
word,
Orion,
his
trusted
soldier
,
turned and
trudged back through the forest
, while he
resumed what would begin the week-long ritual to sanctify
the earth and ready the alter
.
Sacrifice
to his Lord and Master
must occur this holy year of years
.

He dripped
some of
his blood
in the corners of a pentagram he painted on the ground
surrounding
the pit,
and
then the remainder he poured right on
the burning logs.

“My Cursed Father, King of all Damnation, I revere you. Accept my blood as a symbol of my undying allegiance to your dark reign. Possess my human body for your will. Create my utterances and move my limbs for your purposes alone.
”
Flames soared into the night sky,
as he knelt down on one knee and bowed his head toward the raging inferno.
“I am your humble servant and guardian of Evil.”

Raising his head, he peered within the flames and straight into
the eyes of
His Lord.
A shriek of horror escaped from his lips as he tried to turn away, but
found he couldn’t
.
Satan’s viselike grip held him
in place
.

“
Does my appearance offend, human?
Look upon me and u
nderstand who you worship and to whom you pledge your life.
Your servitude comes with a price. Are you willing to pay?”

He trembled in
evil’s
grasp.
“Yes
…yes
, my Lord and Master
of the Abyss
.”

“Then you shall wear this as a reminder of your duty.” Two
flame
licks leapt from the
inferno
and scorched separate paths
down his cheeks and
neck
. They
etched
a pentagram
deep
into his chest. As quickly as they laid their path, they retreated back to the pit and the fire died out, leaving him writhing an
d quaking in pain on the ground, convincing himself that he’d made the right choice.

***

Closing time couldn’t have come soon enough. If one more bar code label crossed her desk, Camille thought she’d
scream
.
John “The Poltergeist”
Stalworthy
decided to be a pain in her ass and kept throwing books across the aisles for her to pick up. He made sure he did it on aisles where no one could actually see it happening. But she heard it, knew it, and had to go put them all back.
Susan and Nancy
came
downstairs to let her know they were leaving.
Good riddance!
Now she could let Derek out of the bathroom
to
explore the library basement
.

She sauntered over to the alcove where the restrooms were. Knocking three times, Derek acknowledged with a knock of his own and opened the door.

“You’re such a dork.” Camille laughed
and pulled him through the doorway
.
“Come on. The beastly ladies have left for the day.”

“Sounds like you have a hostile work environment here. And only a couple of days in? So sorry.”
His empathetic grimace felt like a boon on her weary soul
, yet s
he waved
off
his comment
, deferring to her protective nature over her heart
.

“
My poltergeist isn’t helping much either. But, i
t is what it is. I figure I’ll
deal with
the evil ones
if
they continue the hazing
after
being
here a week. Right now, let’s get
you
to the bottom of this library, shall we?”

“Sounds like a p
lan. Which way, fearless leader?
”

She rolled her eyes and led him down a hallway to the back stairs. A light switch at the
landing
didn’t seem to work. “Do you have a flashlight?
The
switch is broken. Maybe there’s one at the bottom of the steps.”

“I think
I have one in my backpack. Let me check.” He knelt down and opened the bag
.
A netbook, an emergency kit, a
pencil case, a bag of almonds, a sewing kit, and a comb were among the assortment of odds and ends dumped onto the floor.

“Kitchen sink in there, too?”
s
he said
,
leaning over
to get a better
look
.

He
glanced
over his shoulder at her and with perfect deadpan replied,
“I just took that out the other day. Pack was getting too heavy.”

“Ah,
” she nodded with understanding as he returned to his search.
“T
hey should do something about the weight of those things, shouldn’t they?”

“Here it is!” He pulled out a small LED flashlight and pushed the on button. “Oh, good. It still works.”
He quickly put his menagerie back in his bag and stood up.

“Good, you can go
on your own
.
” She ushered him onward.
“
Not too fond of darkness.”

“Is that so? I’m surprised to hear you say that given the fact you interact
regularly with the ghosts around here.”

“Ghosts are one thing. Let’s just say darkness and I go way back and leave it at that.”

“Okay then, here we go, down a flight of stairs, to the deep, dark basement of horrors.” He walked down
a couple of steps
like a limping hunchback.

“You’re a regular riot. A laugh a minute.” She swatted him playfully on his arm.

“
And
I’m here all week.”
He winked.

“All kidding aside, I have no idea what’s down
t
here, so be careful. I don’t even know if there
is
another light switch.”

“No worries, Camille. Come on.
”

“What? You mean you want me to join you? Down there?”

“Yes, I thought you might be intrigued to see where those ghosts spent their last days as people. And maybe you could help me look for evidence.”

“Well, I…I guess I could.
” She nibbled on her pinky fingernail. “
I mean what harm could it do? And I have been wondering about that couple.”

“Then it’s settled.” He peered at her resolutely and reached for her hand, grasping it in his strong, seemingly capable one.

They journeyed down the steep wooden staircase in silence.
She had no idea what
swirled around in
Derek
’s
mind
. He said he was an investigative reporter. Did he do stuff like this all the time? Sneaking into places could be a regular past time of his if he needed to get to the truth of a story.
The
idea intrigued her.

Curiosity
had gotten
the better of her and
was
why she followed him
down those stairs. It’s one thing to have a knack for memorizing everything on the written page, and quite another to
experience those very things
first-hand.
She’d never done anything like this
before
. With her
parents gone
and
her life in
a
shambles, tonight seemed like a good time to start an adventure.

“We’re at the bottom. Let me see if there’s a
…
yup. There’s a switch. Let there be light!”