Prologue (Test Drive)

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Dark clouds swirled in the horizon, unnoticed by a 13-year-old child who seemed strangely entranced by whatever that was beneath him. His shoes dragged as he trudged along the edges of the city. The wind tugged on his favoured hoodie, a particularly dark one that enhanced his aura of gloom, perhaps to match the skies above.

The boy was making his way home from school, which was a measly 20-minute stroll. As per normal, he didn't bother to pay much attention, having known the route so well. Simply setting his leg muscles to auto-pilot usually was sufficent. Usually.

Unfortunately for him, the first signs of a downpour presented itself towards him. A slight percipitation rose above, gently tapping his forehead like a constant reminder to bring an umbrella next time. Despite this, he kept resilient. Things like this happen. Nothing to cry about. He could just keep walking without much interference.

Thunder roared opposingly to that desicion. More raindrops splattered onto the floor, making a noisy riot like CNY firecrackers. Both his jacket and bag were soaked to the brim, dripping as fast as the lightning in the distance. No amount of fabric could shield his forehead from being the slightest bit dank.

"I'll be fine. It's just a drizzle." he comforted himself.

Out of the blue, a bulky tree off the sidewalk tumbled over, bringing part of a nearby fence down with it. The mechanical movement of the adolescent's legs halted into two parallel lines. He blinked and initiated a staring contest with the trunk.

"Okay, NOW perhaps some shelter is required," was what went through his mind. He observed the broken fence area that left a large opening along with what was beyond it with maximum vigilance.

There was a distant monument lying dormant outside the city where no man even dared to stray near. Not that any man would care anyway. It would pass as a regular suburban building if it weren't in such an odd location.

Despite the fact that it was probably deserted for a good reason, a subconscious inclination sprouted within his mind. It was awfully alluring, plus the reasoning that any roof atop his head would be rather pleasant.

Shambling through the drenched soil, the structure slowly became reminiscent of a small bookshop in his eyes. A bookshop structured like a massive cuboid. He could tell it was supposed to look bright yellow, but a thick blanket of shadows overwhelmed it due to bad weather. Connecting this eerie enigmatic establishment with the outside world was a dark chocolate door standing strong with multiple battle scars.

The boy hustled it open with his shoulder, nearly toppling over. The first attribute he noticed was the air that reeked of packaging cardboard. A few more glances had him identify the presence of the large array of shelves surrounding him from both sides, each nesting a noteworthy number of novels.

"Hello there." greeted a voice from behind.

"Who's speaking?" the boy nonchalantly took his time to turn around.

A woman sat opposite to the entrance, leaving her lower half behind an ebony mini-bookshelf/countertop. Her face was one that any young lady would desire, clean of blemishes with no obnoxious makeup required. She wore a broad indigo sunhat that had poppies surrounding the band and a solitary pale feather protuding out from its crown.

Whatever that was behind the lady was mostly obstructed by her. However, he could tell there was a human-sized opening in the wall from the white door frame. The decor in the other room was vastly distinct from the current one, starting with the appearance of being painted a murky purple instead of baring the wood planks unprotected.

"Welcome, little boy. You may call me Anne." She introduced.

"Alex here. Shall I refer to you as Ms or Mrs?"

She widened her eyes in response.
"My, my, I certainly wasn't expecting that. But for your sake, it's Ms. Anne. Not getting eloped when I'm stuck in this darned place."

"Wow. Being a librarian sounds like it sucks."

"Well I'm not exactly a librarian...but I guess you are allowed to assume such. Anyway, it's not so bad. You get to read and have all the time you need to analyse a book."

"Why would you analyse a textbook?"

"Not just textbooks, Alex. This place holds the greatest literature to ever be printed, where you can feel just how much blood and tears were poured into the pages."
She put emphasis in the sentence as if she had achieved a great triumph.

"So that's how you craft writing ink? They never taught us that in chemistry. Or maybe because I always fall asleep." Alex thought to himself.

"Anyway, feel free to check out whichever book you want, as this is a library after all. No borrowing though. Just because you're a bookworm doesn't mean you can't be a thief." Ms. Anne went on.

Alex didn't need her to tell him that this was a library, but he was relieved to have some form of permission. He scrolled through the books using his fingers, his expression as if in a trance. It felt like a homely family reunion, except that he didn't know any of his relatives. Though at the very least, he knew he was meant to be here.

POM!

A weighty book dragged itself along the path of Alex's fingertips and made quite an ungraceful landing. He spun his head around like a professor overhearing a conversation outside of class topics.

Reading off the cover, he managed to identify some words. He might have spoken them vocally if someone hadn't decided to yell from the back.

"CE QUI?! I'll kill him! I'll give him a proper execution!" A shrill male voice blasted out the room from Anne's backside.

"Chill out, Sohta. He seems innocent. Don't let your guard down though, can't simply trust any kind of face that comes by..."

A groggy, gangly man peeked out the door frame. His eyelids were visibly drooping at every attempt to stay ajar. His mouth however, was gaping open to unleash a crude yawn. Beneath previously mentioned eyelids were dark circles like the remains of a severed tree, except the rings were counting how much rest he still required. If his comparision to a tree wasn't too much of a stretch, then his head may as well be described as a bird's roosting spot.

"You know what...I'll go freshen up. Then I'll greet le visiteur." informed the man.

Ms. Anne rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to Alex, who had glanced at Sohta for approximately two seconds before losing focus.

"The guy really needs to stop oversleeping." Ms. Anne uttered her thoughts out loud unconsciously.

"WHAT ARE YOU GONNA DO? GET ME A ROOSTER? Honhonhonhon...." Sohta retaliated by bursting out in haughty laughter.

"I really do regret telling him about 'french' laughter."

Ms. Anne heaved an exasperated sigh. She was clearly used to this.

Alex said nothing. He had already chosen a VIP seat on the floorboard to analyse his newly-obtained novel. It was only when Ms. Anne finished her ordeal with Sohta that he actually began the first page.

"Great Expectations." The lady peeked at the cover that was masking his facial features better than any angsty hoodie could.

"I sure do have great expectations for you."

Finally. First part done. Please warn me about any errors I made, improvements I should work on, or just your heartfelt opinion. (Also I may not update frequently)

P.S: If you actually read all of that, thank you. I appreciate it. A lot. I really do.

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