Book of Binding Chapter Three
Ella decided as soon as she left the cafe she would go back tomorrow. She didn’t know why she would though. She could have died in that earthquake. Was that even what it was? She didn’t know. All she knew at the moment was she wanted to go back tomorrow.
The next day she went to the cafe as planned. As she was walking down the road and saw the cafe, she almost fainted. The entire cafe was like new. It was like nothing had touched it in the first place. It was just impossible. It was the kind of thing you only saw in stories. She galloped the rest of the way to the cafe and saw Adam standing outside, almost admiring the cafe. Today he had a bag slung over his shoulder. He turned to her as she ran up and said, “Isn’t it grand, Ella?”
“I-I don’t know what to say. This is impossible. It was almost in ruins yeserday.” She gave a long pause.
“Nothing is impossible with the right tools Ella.”
“Yes, but this should be impossible! Look at it! It would have cost a fortune to rebuild it all in a single night.”
“It didn’t take that long. It only took a few hours.”
“Few hours?” She was quite annoyed with him now. This shouldn’t be possible and yet it was. She must be dreaming. Maybe none of it ever happened in the first place.
“Would you like to see my library?” He said, cutting through her thoughts.
“You have a library? I don’t know if I should. I barely know you.”
“Come on! It’s in the cafe. Under it I should say.”
“Under the cafe? That shouldn’t be possible either.” She was getting annoyed and suspicious of him now. This was all too strange. “Why do you trust me so much already?”
“I guess I just trust everyone by default.” He said back to her, almost happily.
“I-I guess I’ll go see the library. I do love books.”
“Great! Come on!” He said ecstatically while grabbing her hoof and leading her off through the newly repaired door. The inside was just as repaired as the outside. He led her to the employee’s only door. Inside was a short but wide hallway that led to an elevator with a cage door. He finally stopped leading her and opened the door. It squeaked loudly as it opened. He motioned for her to go first. “I don’t know about this. It doesn't look too safe. Also, if you could fix the cafe like that, why can’t you fix the squeaky elevator?”
“It’s perfectly safe. Trust me on that part. For the second one, some things just don’t need to be fixed.” He replied with a smile. He walked in first and she carefully followed him in. He jumped, making the elevator shake.
“Hey!” She said, a bit scared now.
“Haha! It’s fine. I promise.” He said, laughing. He reached over and pulled a handle on a rope down, the elevator descended much faster than she thought it would.
“Is it supposed to go this fast?” She said, now completely scared.
“Of course it is! This is the fun part! Just relax.” He said, completely calm, unlike her. The elevator reached its destination with a sudden lurch. She looked nauseous. Like she could throw up any second. She tried to regain herself quickly as Adam opened the door and stepped out. As soon as she saw what was beyond that door, she quickly recovered. It was astounding. A fairy tale come true. It was a giant lab. The size of a hoofball stadium at least. Tables were everywhere. Drawers and cabinets on all the walls, doors every few feet. In the very center was an arrangement of tables surrounding a circular table filled with writings on old, yellowed paper, many strange tubes and beakers and vials.
“Like it?” He asked, amused.
“Its, well, I don’t really have words for this. Its just astounding.” She spoke this softly.
“Now that that is out of the way, to the library!” He once again led her off to a door close to the elevator. When he opened it, she was even more astounded. Behind it was a huge library, shelves lined the walls and dominated the floor space. It must have been bigger than the library even in canterlot. Maps and books galore, along with all kinds of things of interest to anypony. She noticed a door painted completely black, which was crisscrossed with bright yellow caution tape, in the very back of the library.
“What’s that door lead to?” She asked, curious.
“Don’t ever go back there. Theres things nopony should read or see back there.
“Oh.” She said, almost disappointed. They suddenly heard a loud pop back in the lab. “Um, excuse me for a moment. Help yourself to the library.” He quickly ran out of the library, seeming quite annoyed. Her curiosity was getting the better of her at this point. She couldn't stand to not know what was behind that door at this point. She crept slowly toward the door. As she reached it she reached a single hoof out, turned the handle, and gave a gentle push. The door opened slowly, with a creak that was much louder to her than it actually was. It was pitch dark inside save for a single light in the center, illuminating a book. It sat on a stand with a clasp over it. The book seemed to be made of some kind of skin. The skin had hooks in it and the hooks had chains that were nailed into the ground with thick, metal spikes. She had no idea why he would have something like this here. She suddenly felt compelled to go forward. To open the book. She didn’t want to but her legs made her. She began walking toward the book. She heard the voice in her head saying no, but then another, stronger voice spoke to her. It said open it. Open it and unleash the hell contained inside.
Open. Me. It said inside her head. She didn’t know where the voice came from, but she didn’t care. She just wanted to read the words printed inside it. Printed in blood, haha! The voice inside her head said to her. She wasn’t scared anymore of it. She reached the book and began unhooking all the hooks inside the skinlike cover. As soon as the last one was out she fell backwards. It was like coming out of a trance. She looked up to see the book still on the stand. The book suddenly flipped open. Pages began flipping crazily. A black mist shot up from the book as she scrambled backwards. I am finally free. Thank you, girl. I promise to kill you last. Hahaa! The mist said as she bumped into the far wall. The mist suddenly shot toward the ceiling, almost melting through it. Adam rushed inside then.
“Stop!” He screamed at the ceiling. “No! No, no, no!” He yelled, furious now. He turned to her and screamed, “What have you done? You have doomed the world! Gah!” He grabbed at his mane in frustration.
“I-I’m sorry.” She said nervously and shakily.
“Sorry doesn't cut it sometimes!” He yelled. She started shaking a bit then gave a small sob but tried to compose herself. He suddenly gave a sad, sympathetic look then walked out of the room, leaving her crying and alone in the cold, dark room.
