I want to see people ruined. If I only had the power I would…

You slam the coin down on the table. I’ll show them. There was so many things I wanted to do, but couldn’t. Maybe this was how that life ended, and another life began. You sweat a little thinking you are overreacting, there’s no way something like this real. Getting excited over nothing.

You dress and bring your phone, just in case. You’ll leave if it’s something too dumb for you. Maybe no one’s even there.

It takes you awhile of walking to get there while your fantasies rage in your head about what you could do. How you could survive. Could I end up losing my sanity over this? You shake your head. It’s time to decide things for yourself. Other people have gotten their way long enough, this time, it’s your turn. You grin to yourself as you enter a building.

There’s a stairwell to a basement door, mysteriously and ostentatiously designed and made with red mahogany. You swallow thinking this might be the real thing. You descend down the narrow staircase, halting before the door. After turning to open it and failing, you knock.

A slit in the door opens and some angry looking eyebrows and intense eyes stare at you.

“Password?”, the man says in a grumpy voice.

“I found a coin,” you say in response.

He looks at you, his eyebrows going up a bit.

“Damn it. Wait here,” he grumbles.

You wait. Whoever’s on that other side at the very least has money to burn. You’re awkwardly pacing after a bit has time has passed. Should I just go? No, you thought of the things you wanted to do. Can you really walk away from this now?

The slit opened.

“Okay, come in. Good luck,” he said a bit compassionately.

You were surprised by his change in mood, but not as surprised as when you saw what you were getting into. A robust library formed the walls and a bar formed a center island. A small number of patrons lightly talking to each other under some delicate classical music you couldn’t place. You’d heard it before. They were all in varying states of dress, completely ignoring the code that you assumed would exist for a place like this.

There was extremely intricate carpet of red and gold as the man who greeted you revealed himself to be in a tuxedo with white gloves. He stopped you with a gesture, as you were about to walk in while dazzled.

“Don’t look at the girl in white and black with the long silver hair, she’ll be sitting alone. She’s trouble. The rest of them, they won’t mess with you if you don’t mess with them. Usually. I’m going to take you to the Boss who owns this place. It’s customary to give him a greeting. I don’t know why you came here, but don’t trust anyone. Not even me,” he said with surprising alertness in his voice.

That’s good. Use or be used, I’ll carve my own future here. You felt fear and excitement as you followed the butler.

You chanced a look at the girl. You figured that whatever he said was a lie, but took it under advisement.

She was wearing tight fitting aristocratic clothing and had long silver hair. It almost didn’t look real. You quickly realized your eyes were getting drawn in and snapped your attention back to the butler on reflex. You were completely unsure of why you felt you had to do that, and felt a desire to look at her more closely. You quickly ignored that feeling, speeding up to keep your mind off of it.

You were pulled into a room in the back through a small narrow corridor. A small refined office with a bespeckled type sitting at a desk was staring at you. He spoke first as the bulter exited and closed the door.

“You found a coin? Where?”

“Under a bridge.”

“Just under some bridge? No one gave it to you?”

“No.”

“Do you have it? I’d like to see it.”

“No.”

“A shame. I can’t even check what runes were on it then. Guess you’ll find out one way or the other, right?”, he smirked.

A discomfort spread through you. Runes?

“Don’t worry about it, not much you can do now. Well, until you get a bit better after all. I’ll give you a choice. Follow my rules, and you’re free to do what you want. Or you can leave right now and hope no one took interest in you. From here on, it’s nothing but danger and learning hard lessons. You can understand what I mean, right?”

He was giving you a look filled with scorn for some reason.

“Um, who are you? What is this place?”, you asked, even though you had a good idea.

“The rules first. Agree or not, that will determine what I will tell you.”

“I agree.”

“Fast. You don’t even want to know what they are?”

“Tell me about them.”

“First of all, don’t ask names. Names are powerful. Giving your name is also a rookie mistake. Protecting your name in the regular world from those who would find it out is difficult, but once someone uses your name in front of you then you know they are an enemy. First rule, no names.”

“Second, don’t bother telling anyone about us. There are types of people you don’t want to anger in this world. I’m one of them, but I’m not the worst. Secrecy is vital, even if you get caught doing something you’re on your own. There have been people who blabbed, it never ends well for them. There are things worse than ****, you know.”

I felt a chill down my spine as he continued.

“Third, work out things amongst yourselves. If you have a problem with someone, you deal with it. If you come to me to work out a deal, that’s fine, but don’t complain to me unless you have something to offer. Currency in this world changes hands fast, and currency types change depending on the person you’re selling or buying from. Let’s just say money isn’t much of an issue for most of us.”

“Fourth, you have to learn what you can from here. The books are precious. Some are dangerous. Take a book and you become my enemy. Donate a book, especially if it’s one without any nasty runes in it, and I’ll be a little bit more of your friend. Once you leave this place, you will not have an easy time. I suggest to everyone that you stay here as long as you can. This is just about the safest place there is in this world for people like you. You leave at your own risk. I offer free housing and food here. If you have family you want to protect, don’t contact them. That’s my advice.”

“I’m a bookman. I like books. Treat my books well, and you’ll have a place to stay here. Oh,” he said, like he remembered something as he was talking.

“That girl, the silver haired one, the butler probably warned you about her. He’s a nice person, you can trust him. I wouldn’t advise you to trust me though. I like being honest and fair, no matter what. She’s staying here, the only other one doing so. She’s not an amatuer like you though. If there’s a way that you’re in danger here, it’s mostly her. I can’t do too much about her specific talents. Do whatever you can to avoid her. Even just looking at her too long is dangerous.”

“That’s, I thought you said this place was safe?”, I questioned.

“You’ll understand. Make sure you buckle down and read dutifully. I’m not your teacher. If you haven’t guessed yet, it’s everyone for themselves. I’m a bit different in how I operate, and I’m not the only one like this. Keep that in mind.”

“Is that it?”, You say impatiently.

“You understand then. Good. Break a rule and things will get difficult for you quickly even here. Take care,” the bookman gave an amicable wave though there was no smile on his face.

You leave the room and the butler was waiting outside, he showed you around to the room assigned to you and handed you a key. The place didn’t look like much from outside, but it was at least a small house with eight rooms upstairs squished to the side with the middle of the floor open to the bar on the first floor. You avoided looking anywhere near the bar below in hopes of avoiding that girl. Doesn’t look like it’s going to be easy to avoid her at all, the only places are the common area and the rooms. Once you go outside, you’ll be fair game.

Not that you have any idea what’s going on or what she can do.

Looks like it’s difficult already.

Your head is full of questions with only one answer. Reading books.

You crash into your bed and ruminate over what’s possible and what’s not, what’s dangerous and what threats might exist here. It all washes over you like a wave.

Read the books. That was the only solution.

You looked at the room key the butler gave you. Would a door stop her? Is she even going to notice me here? Why would both of them warn me about her?

You…