Mr. Linden's Library

17-year-old Rosel worked as a housemaid of the famous Linden family in Sweden. She was abandoned by her parents a few years ago and wasn’t well with people. She did have a younger sister, Lovisa, who was 13. To make money for her and her sister, she made it her responsibility to look for a job. To her luck she found Mr. and Mrs. Linden looking for a housemaid. Someone like her. They were good people and treated her and her sister like family. They had two kids of their own, Noah, 18 years old, and Erik, 14 years old. Before being abandoned, she was an excellent straight-A student, passionate about reading. Lovisa, on the other hand, was the exact opposite. She had no care for her studies and focused only on her social status. Rosel admired that Lovisa was able to connect with people, and envied how many friends she used to have. After working for the Linden family for a while, Rosel had stopped focusing on her studies and dropped out of school. Since Noah wasn’t that much higher than Rosel in his studies, he would teach her what he had learned at night. This grew a bond between them which resulted in Lovisa and Erik hanging out more often. Mr. Linden was a gentleman, and Mrs. Linden made sure that Rosel wouldn’t work too hard. Once Mr. Linden saw how she loved learning, he gave her access to the famous Linden Library. She was allowed to go during her free time, the library being only a 2-minute walking distance. There, she got attached to many books and sometimes woke up in the library, forgetting to go back home. One night on returning to her room, she was stopped by Mr. Linden. He had started to worry about what she was reading and warned her about a book that had been locked in a chest. He figured that she would find it one day because of how long she would spend in the library. He told her that even if she found it, never to open it and read it, for there were many unfortunate events that would follow after. Rosel, not believing in such fantasies, shrugged it off, but her curiosity sparked. The next day, she woke up early to head to the library. She searched for the chest and found it hidden in a secret compartment under one of the shelves. Excited, she opened it up and found the book inside. It had a brown leather cover and a gold latch on it. The latch had a strange symbol and foreign words underneath, but she didn’t think too much about it. She looked outside and realized that the sun was rising. Hiding the book under her dress, she quickly ran back home and stuck the book underneath her pillow. She then got out and prepared breakfast. She was greeted by Erik who was in the kitchen trying to bake something. It explained the burning smell that had started to fill the house, and upon her arrival, he turned bright red. “What are you doing?” She asked, hiding her smile. “I-I- uh- Cookies- uh- Lovisa- uh bake- uh burn- uh-uh- help?” He stuttered. Rosel laughed, realizing what he was trying to do. “Let me help you with that.” she laughed.

An hour later, the cookies were done and Erik took them to Lovisa, who joyfully ate them and thanked him over and over. He again turned bright red.

All throughout the day, she couldn’t keep her mind off the book. Even when Noah asked her to his school dance, she absent-mindedly nodded, missing the bright gleam that sparked in his eyes.

Finally, it was time to go to sleep. She pulled the book from under her pillow and started reading. The second she opened the book, the leather turned soft in her hands, and a soothing melody played in her head. The room was filled with a relaxing vanilla scent, and she could taste something sweet in her mouth. The book was playing with her senses. All of a sudden, vines reached out of the book, and darkness seeped out, darkening her room. Still, in her trance, Rosel didn’t realize what was going on and fell asleep. The second she shut her eyes, the shadows caved in on her and swallowed her whole.

The next morning, everyone continued with their day, not noticing Rosel’s absence. It was as if she had never existed.

Thanks for reading!

Kashika Paul