The Librarians and The Book of Myths

Chapter 1, Having a Really Bad Day

Working an oil rig was exhausting. Every day entailed long hours, short breaks, and heavy manual labor. By evening, a man could feel the fatigue in every muscle in his body including a few he forgot he had. Jacob Stone was on a first name basis with that particular fatigue. At one time, he actually believed that working on an oil rig was possibly the most tiring job on Planet Earth. But that was before Jake became a Librarian. This thought made him grin wryly. Just the word "librarian" virtually poured a flood of images into the mind. Such images included dusty stacks of books monitored by gray haired spinsters who commanded a desk covered in filing cards which they shuffled importantly when not called upon to shush offending patrons who had the effrontery to raise their voices above a whisper. Ah, well. Jacob Stone was no gray haired spinster. But then, his library was not filled with dusty books, either. Oh, technically it was, he thought, but that certainly wasn't all it held. The Library where Jake worked was deep beneath the Metropolitan Library and held wonders from around the world and throughout history. It held artifacts without price and devices with magical properties. It housed things of unimaginable beauty and things capable of senseless cruelty. It was vast (who knew just how vast as Jake had still not seen it all), and seemed to have a presence, an innate intelligence of its own. It was more ancient than history could tell. And it was overseen-no, Jake mused, it was not overseen….it was assisted by the Librarians. Such assistance might include anything from vanquishing a vampire to holding court with a dragon king. Containing harmful artifacts and stopping villains was tough work. Yes, Jake thought, working on an oil rig no longer earned his vote for Most Exhausting Job on Planet Earth. But then again, what he was doing now wasn't technically on Planet Earth. No, what he was doing now was holding up Planet Earth. And, he mused as the sweat ran down his torso and his teeth ground together in pain and frustration, when I get my hands on Atlas, he is going to consider resuming his hold on Earth as the absolute highlight of his day.

Earlier that day….

Cassandra had chosen her outfit with care. A soft fuzzy pink sweater complimented her red hair and perfectly matched the floral pattern in her short flared skirt. White tights and pink ankle boots completed the ensemble. Cassie liked bright colors. They cheered her and today she was in need of some cheer. She had slept badly the night before. The headache was worse than usual and her limbs had felt twitchy. Her cancer was diagnosed when she was just 15 years old. The tumor was inoperable and Cassie had already outlived the expectations of her oncologist. Cassandra's parents had held such high hopes of a remarkable future for their brilliant daughter, a girl who's mastery of mathematics and science as a small child was renown. The diagnosis of terminal brain cancer dashed those aspirations. It left her parents shattered, though more for the loss of Cassie's future than for Cassie herself. Never actually comfortable in the parental role, her scientist father and physicist mother withdrew from their disappointment- and from Cassie- by immersing themselves in their work and each other. Cassie had long ago resigned herself to living alone with her fears and her failure. The defeat she would suffer at the end of her battle with cancer felt inevitable and at some point Cassie has stopped fighting, had indeed stopped feeling that the fight was worth it. Then there came the day when the Library chose her. She could not imagine why the Library would want such a damaged person, a girl with a ticking time bomb in her frontal lobe. A girl who, at any random time could be immobilized by pain or lose herself completely in visions or sounds. But for whatever reason, the Library had chosen her, had brought her here to this amazing place, had shown her incredible wonders and had introduced her to these crazy, wonderful, astounding people. For the first time in many years, Cassie felt that she had value and that her life was worth living. This was a cruel kindness since she doubted that she had much time left to enjoy this new life as a Librarian. So, yes. Today she was in need of some cheer.

Later that day, Cassie had reason to regret that she did not limit her quest for cheer with her bright attire. She really should have left that book alone.

Ezekiel Jones prided himself on his stealth. Stealthiness was an essential skill for any successful thief but Ezekiel knew that his abilities were superior. His slight build was limber, allowing him to step silently and slide effortlessly through small spaces. His hearing was acute, his eyesight perfect and his sense of awareness so finely tuned, that he could traverse even a crowded area virtually unnoticed if he chose to do so. And he generally did choose to do so as he knew that his finely honed skills required practice to maintain. Rather than allow his precious talent to decay, Ezekiel made stealth a way of life. Unlike his associate Jake, who's booted tread could be heard a block away by a granny with a dead battery in her hearing aid, Ezekiel's steps were always soundless. One would think that his associates would be used to that by now. Given the decibel level of Cassandra's scream when he leaned over her shoulder to get a better look at that interesting book, it would seem that this was not so.

"Ezekiel! Don't DO that!" she cried as she shot to her feet and whirled to face him in one frantic motion.

Replacing his smirk with what he imagined was a look of concern, he replied "Do what?"

"You know what! Stop sneaking up on me!"

"Me? Sneaking? I have no idea what you mean." Ezekiel, though amused, idly thought that sneaking up on Cassandra wasn't all that bad of an idea. It did seem to bring some much needed color to her pale cheeks. "Just because my foot steps don't sound like….wait for it…yup, and there it is…the thundering of Leadfoot Stone's steel toed work boots, doesn't mean that I was sneaking…."

"I heard a scream!" Jake exclaimed as he skidded to a stop.

"No worries, Mate. Cass was just a bit startled, you know, being as she was so engrossed in that very intriguing book. Is that real gold leafing?"

"Don't touch it! Seriously Ezekiel, don't!" Cassie cried, trying fruitlessly to put herself between Ezekiel and the book.

"Ah, jewels. Those are real jewels imbedded in the cover!"

"Ezekiel, please! Don't!"

"STOP! Both of you. Just stop!" Jake's voice thundered out louder than his aforementioned boots. "Have you any idea how old that book is? How valuable? It's in pristine condition and it's priceless. That is not a toy, Ezekiel. Cassie, where did you get this? And don't tell me it was just in the stacks."

Cassie gave some thought to weaving a good lie, but Jake's dark blue eyes were flashing with annoyance and Ezekiel was grinning widely in anticipation of her clumsy falsehood. Hanging her head in defeat, she confessed. "I just wanted a better look at it. It was in the glass case…in the Greek Room. And I have always loved Greek mythology."

"Seriously, Cass? Seriously? You took a priceless, antique and probably magical book from a display case? What were you thinking?"

"Lighten up, Mate" Ezekiel interrupted Jake's tirade more to annoy Jake than to defend Cassandra. "This is a library, right? She's just reading a book. No harm, no foul."

"Well, I wouldn't rule out the harm part just yet," Jake growled "Wait until Jenkins finds out."

"I'll put it back now. He won't even know." Cassie's crestfallen face, unusually pale and fragile looking, broke Jake's resolve and even tugged on Ezekiel's heart (though he would never admit it).

Feeling guilty over his outburst, Jake mumbled "It is actually an amazing specimen." He was rewarded with a sunny smile from Cassie as she excitedly opened the book.

"Yes! It's incredible! The artwork is breathtaking! Just look at this illustration of Atlas holding up the world! It seems so real you feel like you could reach out and touch him!"

"It does" agreed Ezekiel as he reached out to run his fingers over the gold leafed pages.

"Don't touch that," snarled Jake, lunging to swat Ezekiel's hand.

Ever the limber thief with lightning fast reflexes, Ezekiel dodged Jake's swipe, deftly stepping away from the book. Jake halted his forward momentum just before crashing into the table but not well enough to prevent his own fingers from lightly sweeping across the gilded page.

A sudden blinding flash illuminated the room. Cassandra heard a whooshing sound and felt as if the air had been sucked from her lungs as she fell to the floor. She saw Ezekiel fall just as she squeezed her eyes shut to block the painful brightness. The light penetrated her eyelids and seemed to pierce her already pounding head.

Abruptly, the light and sound ceased.

"Cass? Cass? Can you hear me?"

She slowly opened her eyes and tried to focus on the blurry face of Ezekiel above her. " Gimme a minute " she slurred "Head hurts".

"Cass. You gotta wake up Cass. It's Jake. He's…gone."