30th November 2022, Week 4: The Fix

It was Sunday at 10:35 pm and I was late for my tour. Being curator would mean I would have to be prompt in time. The sun had set an hour earlier, and the sky was filled with clouds. The moon and the stars were hidden behind the clouds and the only light I could see was a muted yellow glow coming from within the library. As I briskly walked towards the entrance a tree scraped my arm. Its bony tendrils snaked out from the trunk, seeming to reach for me. The sky was filled with clouds but just earlier this day there wasn't a cloud in the sky. I heard the rumble of thunder and felt a cold breeze sweeping across the entrance, making the leaves lying on the ground flutter and fly about. I hurried inside the State Library after unlocking the door. The interior of the library looked a lot different at night. The cafe at day looked bright, happy and full of life yet at night it was a horrific parody of the fun and jovial atmosphere of where I usually had lunch. Someone had appeared to have broken into the state library and trashed the cafe. The tables and chairs were pushed to one side of the cafe and were mangled and bent in odd angles. Books were thrown to the floor, and some ...

Chapter 1 As I snuck into the library I senses something was not right. A death freezing quiver slithered down my spine like a slippery python. Once I entered the library, the horrible feeling attacked me once more. The bright moonlight glinted through the glass panes on the roof and the stain glass panels of the wall. I went into the reading room as I felt a distinct yet clear and determined voice that urged me to the reading room. "Release me" suddenly said a mysterious voice in my head. I was taken by surprise, then I felt the urge to dash out of the library and never come back again. "It is because of your ancestors that I am trapped. And only you can free me." The voice howled, it sounded sinister and powerful. But there was a hint of sorrow in it. I had a pang of sympathy come to me and I wanted to help whoever was speaking to me. It was the middle of the night in the old and enormous library with the walls lined with old, thick books. I want to get out of the library. I don't care about this mysterious voice wanting to be released. It's all a trick. "Please don't leave me alone. You're the only one who can help me." The continuous voice pleaded. "How can you ...

Naomi took the diary home and looked through it. She discovered with a shock that the true life of David Scott Mitchell was way different to what the other people knew about him. The next morning, Naomi went back to the library and searched for information from the state library and David Scott Mitchell as well. Finally, she pieced all the clues together and started to look for the case which Mr Mitchell mentioned about. She asked the librarian and found out it was with a person called Mr Dang. Mr Dang lived two streets across the library in an apartment. Naomi managed to find his phone number and called him. When Naomi mentioned the case he was shocked. That case was passed to me from my grandfather and he was a historian. He wrote a book about David Scott Mitchell and he also an artefact connector. The day he got that case my grandmother died and not long after my uncle and aunt all died in a sort of accident. My father was the only one who survived from the family. When my grandfather died, the case belonged to my father and in the same year my mother died while giving birth to me. Later, I became a professor at history when my father gave me the case he told me a ...

~THE CRY OF THE NIGHT~ CHAPTER THE FIRST Ryan was not sure how long the night had been crying. Could have been weeks, could have been months. Maybe it’s all just in his head. But for as long as he could remember, the night cried out like a completely alone soul was trapped with nowhere to go. He shifted between the various objects in the boot of the car, trying to find a comfortable position. He didn’t. It had been like this for the last few weeks after he ran away. His method was simple: Hop on a car. When the car stops, run into whatever place the car brought you to. Find a hidden place to rest and store whatever crumbs of food you have. Manage the hideout to be more homely. Remember the spot, and then go find some food. The only reason he moved from his old place was because he was caught trying to steal some food, and was chased by the police. He didn’t have time to grab anything from his hideout, so he was back to square one. Even though the chase ended several minutes ago, his heart was still hammering away at his ribs. It was so loud that he was beginning to worry that the driver would hear it. The car swerved and skidded. Whoever was driving was ...

I peered down staircases as I opened door after door! Each room drew me closer to it every time. Their frames looked like they were brand new from the nearest antique store! “Did any of you know about this?” I asked in excitement. “Actually, we had no idea there was a place like this.” the ship replied calmly. In confusion, I stepped backward as rocks kicked my shoes. In alarm, I fell back towards one of the doors! WHAM! Pain spread throughout my throbbing head as I rubbed against the bumpy surface. The dusted door revealed a black room filled with darkness. And there stood an object in the middle of the room. Ruffled pages squirmed in my hands as I flicked through the contents. But beneath it all was a clean beige folder lying on the hard ground. I gently picked it up as I examined its surroundings. Taking a deep breath, I looked inside its papers. In an instant, I hopped onto the phantom ship. “Ghosty. I know you’re known as ‘the ghost guide’ but I’m gonna call you Ghosty. Okay, I know our last and final destination.” I ordered. Clutching the precious information in my grip, we entered the journey. I steered along the slippery hallway as we turned to the left and we ...

The Midnight Hour Angus J. Term 4, 2022 Chapter 1 An Unexpected Visitor The clock had just struck midnight. Why on earth would a mystery door-knocker be knocking on my door?! I covered my ears and tried to ignore the knocks. But they just kept getting louder. I tip-toed down the stairs and opened the door. But no one was there. Just a piece of paper on the welcome mat. It read: Angus, Good things will happen to you if you meet me at the State Library tomorrow night. Good things such as lollies and love. Be there when the clock strikes midnight. See you there, Tobias B. Senyard. It was creepier than last Halloween when all the kids were dressed up as vampires and werewolves! But that was then. This was now. I had been left with a tough decision. Should I go or not? Should I trust my old schoolmate or not? It had been ten years since I had last seen him. Maybe I shouldn’t go. But I did… ****** The tall sandstone building of the David S. Mitchell library was staring at me. I suspected it was staring at me because I was staring at it. The library seemed to be saying, “Come inside. Come closer. You know you want to…” I started to get the feeling that maybe I’d made the ...

Warning: this story gets a little bit dark (Not too bad, just perceived risk of death and fairly graphic terror). Don’t read it before bedtime and remember that everything turns out well in the end. ‘In books lies the soul of the whole past time the articulate audible voice of the past when the body and material substance of it has altogether vanished like a dream.’ – Thomas Carlyle (Quote carved on the wall of the Mitchell Vestibule in the NSW State Library) Nixie exhaled and their breath condensed in the cool air, forming a little cloud of dragon smoke. Morrigan sat next to them on a park-style wooden bench. She was letting her gaze excitedly scan the dark, damp courtyard and dwell on the silhouette of a statue on a pedestal, the mossy low wall that weaved around the stone building and the two trees that spread their swaying branches above the whole scene. “Thanks for organising this,” Morrigan grinned, looking at Nixie with glittering eyes, “I can’t wait for the tour,” “I thought you’d like it! I’m really glad that you do,” Nixie smiled. They both leaned back, relaxing as much as they could on the hard bench. Their cold hands gently brushed and their fingers slowly ...

793.8 PLEASE READ THIS IF I GO MISSING. Diary Entry - 31st of October 2014 8.30 pm Hello I’m a scientist. My name is Stephen Simon Smith and I heard about this haunted paranormal library called the NSW State Library. There’s supposed to be a secret book in the shelves that tells you all of the secrets about this historical library and the secret book is supposed to only show up at night. At night the sandstone brick library has a green glow on the inside that can actually be seen through the windows from the outside. It looks like a scene from Ghostbusters if they went to investigate a ghost at the library. Dairy Entry – 31st of October 2014 8.45pm I’m inside the building and I don’t see anything weird at all. This should be a piece of cake. You know what……I take back all the words about this being a piece of cake. There are hundreds if not thousands of books, but the book I’m looking for is very different from the others so it’s not a ‘win, win’ for me but instead it’s a ‘win, lose’. Finding this secret book is going to take me forever! Diary Entry – 31st of October 2014 9.00pm After one hour of searching randomly in the Non- Fiction section of the ...

Secret of the black puss Chapter 1 Unexpected “And this is the sydney Harbour bridge.” I yawned, as my teacher listed all the possible ways to bomb the sydney harbour ( seriously, who would do that?)We were on the bus heading to the state library. The weather was storming. I was excited, not because of the two million books but because I could sneak away to the look at the interesting collection. It reminded me of my dad. When we arrived I was the first one to get out of the bus. There it was, standing solemnly in the rain. The large building looked sinister in the rain and storm. By this time the class should’ve gotten out. I looked back, the bus was not there! Then I looked at my watch, it was exactly 12:38pm. Of all the peculiar things that happened to me this was the most crazy. Running to the entrance I noticed something, a murder of crows. I approached the door. With simple pull of the door handel I was in the library. Chapter 2 Trim Advancing towards the Mitchell reading room I felt scared. Goose bumps were creeping up my arm. This was not good. Every step I took, the courage inside me lessened. After what seemed like an hour of creeping towards the ...

Prologue Things can never be forgotten. No matter how deep you stuff them down to the back of your brain, how hard you try to erase it from your mind, it will stay there. Lurking. Waiting for the right moment, the right time, to pounce back into your brain. Like now. Deep, deeeep under the State library of NSW, something stirred in the black catacombs of Know-how. Something that was meant to sleep forever, trapped. A case, laced with Qualkinite, shifted. Cracked. Splintered. Someone, no, something, rose from the debris. The Bane of Knowledge was free. And it was out…for revenge. Chapter 1 Strange things had been going on in the large city of Sydney, and strange things were going to happen. Axel just knew it. it had started with the disappearance of creatures. Dogs, cats, horses. No one really cared except the people who owned them, and all the animal-lovers (Axel included). Then, people had vanished. When 25-year-old Barry Baloney, 86-year-old Sarah Gregory, 5-year-old Teddy Smith, and 18-year-old Jemimah Barber had gone missing, it had caused an uproar. Everyone wanted to know what had happened. Detectives were out and searching. Axel Delimand was sitting in the state ...

The Silver Blade    By Samantha Nam 5/12/2022                  The stars were scattered across the sky like spilled marbles. The lonely caw of a crow could be heard in the still night air. Lights were dotted around the village as people got ready for sleep to overwhelm them. The only creatures awake now were the animals that feasted on the darkness. Yet as the clocks struck midnight, a girl appeared at the library. She was no ordinary girl, for she had a mission and her name was Raven. The faint sound of clocks striking midnight could be heard from the village. Raven leaned against the library walls as exhaustion threatened to overwhelm her. The library was overflowing with books but Raven had not come for them. Crooked shadows covered the walls and the ominous ticking of the clock filled the room. Suddenly, Raven froze. The clocks had stopped ticking. Slowly, she turned around and was met with two piercing eyes. In front of her was a figure in a khaki jacket with a belt and a rifle. That was the last thing Raven saw before everything went black.   The moment she regained consciousness, Raven could tell ...

The Medal I was here again. The thought ricocheted in my brain as I stood in front of the train station. The lights flickered time to time giving the station an abandoned sense. Paint peeled from the walls and the railway was rusted and cracked. The monotonous sound of the clock ticking filled the room. Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick. It was enough to drive you mad. I turned and walked up the stairs eager to be released from the gloomy prison of the dark station. The wind smacked me in the face making me gasp. It stung my cheeks and made my eyes water. What now? I had gone all this way yet there was no reason. The sun had surrendered to the moon and now an inky blackness crept across the town. Aimlessly, I wandered down streets. I didn't know if it was fate that had twisted my path, but when I looked up, the state library looked above me. It stood tall and proud in all its glory of bushes and flowers. The moonlight showered a dim glow onto the sandstone pillars. A light breeze swept over my hair and as if a cue, I stepped in. The faint chirping of crickets could be heard from outside. My footsteps echoed around the empty building. I hadn't come for the books but I still felt ...

Cold bony hands grabbed my wrist as I jumped in fright. I looked around with bewilderment as I was dragged across the wooden floor. I caught a brief glimpse of who was holding me. I didn’t believe it, it was Rumpy! Suddenly a wicked idea popped into my head! I could bargain with him! “Rumpy . . . “ I began to say but my words were drowned by distant chattering. Ahead of us was a large metal door that looked like a big boulder loomed in front of us. Then I started again “ Rumpy, please why are you doing this!?” “It’s worth it, you have no respect for me so why should I keep you alive? “ Rumpy replied “ But I didn’t do anything! “ I desperately snapped back. “ I will keep you rotting in my dungeon “ boomed Rumpy. I was speechless as my mind searched for words to keep from being thrown into the dungeon. Questions started to bubble up in my head but I was thrown down onto the hard tiles. The door slammed shut. I felt around blindly and felt something was weird. There was a little crack in between the tiles and slowly I lifted it up. I gasped as a long spiral staircase led down, down, down. The rails had specks of dust on them and the stairs were crumpled, the walls were made ...

New South Wales. I hadn’t been here for two years, ever since “The Fall ''. Ever since I took an oath to never come back to this place. At that time I thought it would be impossible to get from Melbourne to Sydney all by myself. But now as I stand here, 878 km away from home. I wonder how I did it. How I found the courage to break the oath and take one train and five buses to get here. If Mum found out she’d ground me for eternity, but she’d also ask me why. And the answer I will give you now. Someone had called me. But I do not know who. Why me? Why now? Why here? Unless … No. It couldn’t possibly be. I refused to believe it. She was dead, and only someone alive could’ve called me here. Right? I shook my head. And lifted my chin. Whoever had called me, I would find them, find out why they called me and then I’d return. I tiptoed up the steps, being careful not to make any noise. At one point I was distracted and I fell grazing my knee. But that didn’t stop me, I kept going, until I reached the doors, and a problem appeared. I would not be able to get into the library, the doors would be locked. I reached for the handle anyway and the door opened. I pushed it open an ...