Available for download in PDF. I promise you that I don't have any viruses. I just strongly recommend it seeing as this was written in book format. Visit the Tumblr dedicated to this series, "11785", for details.

Or just read it here (:

FOUR

West Willow Library
Willow, Connecticut
Friday, October 6, 2006
3:23 PM

Taylor sighed loudly from across the table as Amy sifted through the pages of the thick volume in front of her, trying to decipher lines of text that had been written in a language that was neither in English or legible. Beside the book splayed before her, a translation dictionary sat open, one that would hopefully give meaning to the Spanish inscribed on the page.

For the past three hours, both Taylor and Amy had been trying to narrow down the number of possibilities as to what could be behind Molly Walter's attack, with Taylor immediately jumping on the water-drenched, child-snatching creature theory that Susan had mentioned during their interview. As Amy browsed aisles of folklore on her friend's behalf, not really sure what she was looking for and pulling down books at random, Taylor checked her phone for messages from across the room, sometimes verbally complaining that she had a feeling her e-mails weren't being forwarded to her mobile. Suggesting that she check the computer, Amy sat down and waited for Taylor to sign onto the station beside them before returning a second later, groaning audibly in disappointment.

Knowing that her friend was waiting for a reply from A, Amy began to feel impatient for her, wondering what the e-mail Taylor had sent had contained and whether or not this guy would get back to them with the right information. For some reason, Amy had a sense that the reply would enclose only tidbits of what they needed to know to figure out just what kind of demon or spirit or whatever they were dealing with—if they were even in the right ballpark, which chances were they weren't. According to various volumes, these in English, there were about ten different species of aquatic beings that went after children, some of them sprouting from folklore in Ireland and carrying across the pond. So far, she had read about rawheads, a creature that dwelled in damp places to attack kids who had been disobedient of their parents; cryptids, species that existed and defied scientific classification; and Leviathan, a serpent that dwelled in water and seemed to derive from Christian mythology. Unfortunately, none of those things appeared to match the description of something that could materialize inside of a locked room, then vanish to leave nothing behind but a puddle of liquid.

Deciding to crack open the more challenging of books, Amy had immediately begun to translate the first page of Los Demonios y Los Monstruos del Mar, which apparently meant Demons and Monsters of the Sea. As she worked line-by-line, scribbling down her botched rendition of what had been written onto a yellow legal pad Taylor had pulled out of her purse—which seemed to contain just as much stuff as the grandmother's bag from Halloweentown—Amy occasionally glanced up to check on her friend, noticing that the other girl was just as absorbed in another piece of text, this one more recent than Amy's.

"Urban Legends and their Roots?" Amy read aloud with a grin. "Interesting choice."

"It's proving to be," Taylor muttered before tearing her eyes away from what she was skimming. "Did you know that there's a video tape that kills you if you watch it? It's like The Ring in real life. Maybe that's where they got their inspiration for that movie."

Smirking to herself, Amy shook her head before turning back to her work, wondering if Taylor was truly buying into everything that was scrawled in that book. While she was sure it was better to believe it rather than attempt to disprove it, especially if whatever Taylor was reading about turned out to be real, Amy wasn't so sure about VHS murders. Kicking the thought aside, Amy continued to finish the first page of what she was transcribing, finally coming to the end and reading it aloud:

"Of the many creatures of the deep, there lives one that dwells in shadows and attacks only in the night. In this book, such a being is discussed, as well as many others that are like it, though none are as horrible as those that dwell beneath the earth. Contained in each chapter is information pertaining to every sea-dweller known to man, and some not known to science. Whether alien, amphibian, or otherwise, those mentioned following this page are sure to shock and alarm."

Glancing up, Amy tried to hold back a groan while Taylor grinned, obviously finding enjoyment in the fact that her friend had worked for an hour on translating nothing but the foreword. Deciding to try to find mention of something familiar in one of the following pages, Amy thumbed through them, stopping every now and again whenever she stumbled across los niños pequeños, which she knew was Spanish for "little children". Ultimately, though, the more she tried to mentally translate the context surrounding the words she understood, thanks for a brief stint of Spanish class at St. Mary's in Northbrook, the more a headache began to form, causing Amy to want to take a break.

Placing her pen in the spine of the book to mark where she had left off, Amy sat up straighter to look at Taylor, noticing that her friend was staring intently at her phone for what seemed like the hundredth time. Knowing that asking if A had gotten back to her friend yet was useless, Amy remained quiet as she massaged her temples and closed her eyes, feeling Taylor's gaze on her after a long moment.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, fine," Amy replied, not bothering to return the stare.

Dropping the subject, the sound of pages cracking open again came from the other side of the table as Taylor continued reading, obviously more engrossed in the words in front of her than anything else. Keeping her eyes shut, Amy tried to stare into the blackness of the back of her lids, something that usually helped her headaches fade. Instead, all she felt was the pounding growing the more she kneaded her forehead, as though the motion was causing a bigger boom inside of her head. Deciding to give up on easing the throbbing pain, Amy opened her eyes and looking around the library, noticing that the group of people that had been sitting at a table nearby had left.

Suddenly, the sound of Taylor's phone chiming once echoed throughout the nearly-empty building, causing the four people within earshot to turn around and glare angrily at the abrupt noise. Ignoring them, Taylor eagerly flipped open the mobile to read the message contained on the screen, frowning deeply as her eyes passed over the contents more than once. Turning it around for Amy to see, Taylor held the phone out while she scanned the text, finding nothing but a book title underneath a pair of e-mail addresses.

From: miles_roadhouse

To:

Els Dimonis Mortals D'aigua by Agustí Alexandre

Forwarded to Mobile, 3:20 PM

Furrowing her brow, Amy glanced at Taylor as her friend snapped the phone shut, looking disappointed that her contact hadn't given her more information than that. Deciding to help alleviate the dissatisfaction, Amy began to search through the titles of the volumes she had retrieved from the shelves, hoping to find the one that had been mentioned. Unfortunately, after reading five different front covers, none of them contained the foreign language that had been sent Taylor's way. Getting to her feet, Amy watched as Taylor flipped open the phone again and headed for the stacks containing folklore, disappearing down the aisle and leaving Amy to continue with her translation of Los Demonios y Los Monstruos del Mar.

After a long moment, Taylor returned looking disheartened, slumping in her chair and shoving her phone into her pocket as though to signal that she was through checking it. Shooting her friend an encouraging look, Amy pushed the Spanish book away and placed it on the pile beside her, wrapping up her notes and sliding the legal pad back over to Taylor. Not seeming to care that something had been shoved in front of her and instead choosing to stare at it, Amy bit her lip, wondering why her friend was so crestfallen. This A guy was nothing but a web contact who had, according to Taylor, only given small snippets of information and links as to where to find the best intel and not much else. Hoping that he would come through with more than that, that someone from behind a computer screen was going to help and point out where to go, was foolish for her friend to count on. Still, Amy felt bad for Taylor, who seemed enthusiastic to throw herself into this "case", even if she was a little misguided and overly expectant.

"Maybe the Yale library will have it," Amy suggested quietly, leaning forward as she prepared to take the books she had pulled off the shelves back to where she had found them. "That place has literally everything you could want to read. This is just some small-town joint. Maybe you've been given more of a lead than you think you have."

Nodding slowly, Taylor placed the notepad Amy had put in front of her into her purse and rooted around for her keys, standing up a moment later when she had found them. Handing the clinking metal to Amy, Taylor absently pulled her phone out again to read the message, seemingly becoming obsessed with taking in the singular sentence the forwarded e-mail contained. Snatching the keys, Amy lead the way out of the library, directing them toward the silver Lexus that was sitting in a metered stall right outside of the front doors. Getting behind the wheel, Amy pursed her lips as she waited for Taylor to get in, suddenly remembering that she hadn't driven in quite some time. Trying to recall the last occasion she had been in the driver's seat, Amy tapped her fingers against the gearshift for a moment, thinking that it couldn't have been any sooner than spring break when she had navigated their way to New York City. All summer, she had sat shotgun with John, and hadn't had anywhere to go once she had returned home.

Chewing the inside of her cheek, Amy started the car, wondering if it was possible to forget how to drive. Thankfully, right at the moment she shifted gears, her thoughts were eased as she pulled away from the curb and pointed them toward the freeway.