Normal // A Ticci Toby x Reader Story

Chapter 16

It was huge.

The library that is.

I couldn't believe I hadn't noticed there was a hidden room before. You'd think I would realize that there was a lot of space between rooms here, but I guess not.

Bookshelves stretched from floor to ceiling, accompanied by wheeled ladders that moved along the shelves and allowed access to the higher books. The room must have been two stories tall, because a staircase on the left wall of the room led to a sort of balcony thing that circled around even more bookshelves.

There was a desk tucked underneath the staircase and it looked like it had been untouched for a long time.

Actually everything in the room looked that way.

There were no windows, but instead at the very top of the room, a small skylight allowed light from outside to drape the room. Other than that, the room was mostly dark. An old lamp sat on the desk as well as a few wax candles.

In the center of the room, there were a few shorter bookshelves placed in a sort of square formation, a platform built on top. About six steps went up to the platform on the right side, and the platform itself had an iron railing surrounding its perimeter. On top of the platform were a few filing cabinets as well as a large, red armchair.

Slender gently nudged my shoulder, so I turned around to face him. He stood in the entryway, slightly hunched over.

"I trust that you will not ruin anything in here. As I said before, you may read whatever books you'd like, but I warn you to be cautious about reading any spell books. Some of them could be cursed or contain spells that no mere mortal such as yourself can handle." He warned, his tone serious.

I nodded my head.

"It seems very dusty in here. Does no one else come here?" I asked.

"A few of the others may know about it, but it's likely that they've forgotten this room exists. If you ever need a safe place to go to, come here. Whether you are bored, need a place to think, or are in danger, this is the place to you. That is part of the reason I am showing it to you." Slender explained, still hunching over in the doorway.

I nodded my head once again.

Slender went on to explain the basics of the library, like where to find things and how the books are sorted. Afterwards, he showed me how to close the door from the inside and also how to open it back up again. And then he was gone, leaving me to explore the rest on my own.

I was thrilled.

It's not every day that you get to explore a secret room.

With the entrance shut, I made myself at home, removing my shoes and relaxing my posture.

I walked along the shelves slowly, running my fingers over the old book covers and skimming through the names.

But before I read anything, I decided to spiff up the place and spiffing is what I did.

I don't know how much time I spent dusting the shelves and brushing cobwebs away with a broom. I did my best to sweep, but the most I could sweep was the wooden platform since everything else was carpet. I was too scared to vacuum, worried that the sound might draw attention to my new 'hideout'. Nonetheless, by the time I was done, the room was looking better than ever and I was more than satisfied with my work.

Looking up at the skylight told me it was late, but I couldn't bring myself to leave until I had looked at at least a few books.

So with that, I went back to skimming the shelves and picked out a few books that seemed interesting, noting the places I got them from. A few of the books I selected included: