Templeton Manor Book 2 of The Reflections Trilogy

CHAPTER 9. UNCOVERED

We follow Tiffany down a long hallway and through the doors of the library. I almost forget we're here for one specific reason as I get engulfed by the beautiful old paintings and the rare antique collection.

The smell of the old books and the way the old library is decorated instantly pulls me in and gives me a warm nostalgic feeling as we take a few minutes to explore. Even the bookshelves are antique and bear the intricately hand carved Templeton Manor trademark "TM" along the sides of each one. Whoever built these was a woodworking master because they are quite exquisite. From floor to ceiling there are books galore and it's so impressive that this library is definitely worthy of being a historical landmark.

I stop and take a few books off the shelf to examine them and I see that some even date back to the early 1900s but are still in remarkable shape despite their age.

"Ok everyone, my aunt said the lever to the tunnel is on the side of one of these bookshelves. She couldn't remember which one, but if we split up, we should be able to find it quickly."

At Tiffany's direction, we all spread out and begin running our hands up and down every bookshelf, looking for the switch. I squeal as I'm searching my third one and I find it.

"I think I found it! It's right here! Come look everybody!"

Everyone stops searching and runs over to me to take a look. Tiffany gives me a warm smile and a thumbs up.

"Well, what are you waiting for, Joy? Pull it down and let's see what happens!"

I look at each of the others and hesitate just to add a little more suspense. They all have a gleam in their eyes and I can tell they're as eager as I am to go on this adventure together and see what's down there.

I wrap my hands tightly around the lever and pull down as hard as I can until it finally slides down and makes a loud thump. It rattles the books on the shelf and echoes out across the library walls.

The bookshelf pops away from the wall, but it is so heavy that it only moves just enough to reveal a small crack that we can only peek through. Tiffany tries helping me out by pulling on it too, but we have no luck. It won't budge. So, she does what Tif does best, she complains and motions for the others to help us.

"Shit! This thing is massive. It's going to take all of our strength to get it open far enough for us to get through. Come on you guys, give us a hand, would you?"

As the others join us, we spread out and take hold of the shelves and pull together, using all of our might to pull the tall heavy bookcase toward us. As we keep pulling, it slowly reveals the hidden room behind it. Once it's open far enough for us to walk through, we turn on our flashlights.

We decide it's a good idea to prop a chair up before we go to hold the bookcase in place so we don't get trapped down there. One by one, we go through the secret doorway, each with the same look of mystery and intrigue in our eyes.

I feel like a young girl again on a mission to solve the mystery of the haunted tunnel, like in the Nancy Drew Mysteries I used to be obsessed with when I was in grade school. As I'm reminiscing about school book fairs, something catches my eye and startles me. I jump back and alert the others.

"Eww! Look guys, a dead rat! Aunt Rose was right!"

"Or half of a dead rat!" Tiffany adds as she shines her light on it too and then kicks it out of our way.

"As long as we don't see any spiders the size of our hand, I'll be good." I joke around as I duck my head around a bunch of cobwebs that are directly in our path.

We walk down the dark, dirty concrete path for several minutes, dodging the occasional cobweb and other unknown debris along the way. There are old broken bottles, trash and a lot of other unidentifiable objects strewn about, but we're on a mission at this point and nothing is going to stop us.