Page 3 of Soul Food

I thought it was all by chance, but looking back now, coming here must have been a dark fate I so easily walked into.

The sound of the door popping open froze me in place. I turned slowly and eyed the door like it was an ax murderer. I went over and shut it once more, then squinted around. It was bright out and the sun was even hotter, so no one really gave much attention to me as they rushed to get out of the heat.

Hurrying away again, I sighed when I heard the creak again. I wasn’t going back. Someone else could deal with the broken door. Just as I said that though, I peeked over my shoulder and glanced through the window. A white light floated around the corner of one of the tall bookshelves before disappearing around the corner.

What the hell?

Did someone break in? Was that why the door was broken? Whipping out my phone, I contemplated calling the police, but did it really matter if someone was in there snooping around a bunch of old books? Did I want to encounter the police again? This place was run down and should have been demolished. Someone could have built a nice little business here.

Whether a lapse in sanity or claiming those steel balls that come with growing up in my neighborhood, I ventured into the old library.

“Hello?” I called out. “Is anyone in here?” Stepping further into the doorway, I said, “If you own this place I’m sorry. I just want to let you know that your door’s broken.” The place was eerie and quiet. The further I got away from the window, into the dark, it was even creepier. When no one answered, I whispered, “Please be nothing.”

It was apparent no one else was in here so; I wondered if I had imagined the light. Would today’s betrayal be what triggered me into becoming a crazy old bat like my ma? I ran my hand across a layer of dust on the books and studied the dirt on my fingertips a second before I sighed.

I better get the hell out of here.

Just as I turned around, my phone started going off, scaring the life out of me. I grabbed my chest, inhaled, and tried to calm my heart rate. “Jesus!”

As I dug into my front pocket that the scary shit truly happened. A single book fell off the main bookshelf. My phone continued to ring as I peered into the darkness. “Is someone in here?” I asked again. I took in a shaky breath.

Okay. It most likely fell when I jumped. My thunder thighs werethatthundering.

Yeah, right.

That’s what I thought as I went to retrieve the fallen book. Any sane person would have run out of the building like their life depended on it by now, but not me. This was how every chick died in a horror movie.

My phone finally stopped ringing. I bent down—I swore I heard the chuckle before I even touched the book, then I did touch it, and a wave of air blew over me and everything else in the building.

The door slammed shut. I rose up and took off running into the dark. And then I heard the male voice—deep, rumbling, andmenacing.

“So unwise.”

I whipped around, searching for who spoke, but I saw no one.

Today was numbing. This small bit of fear was slightly thrilling. Maybe I conjured the demon to me because of that. I was so desperate for nothing and everything. I was so lost and bitter, so betrayed, that he was drawn to me like a moth to a flame.

Or maybe it was fate.

“Foolish girl, why would you come in here?” asked the disembodied male voice.

I was terrified. The stark contrast of his voice sent goose bumps over my flesh. “Sorry,” I whispered, then ran for the door.

Panic seized my lungs when I jiggled the knob but the door wouldn’t open.

“I’m afraid you won’t be going anywhere,” he said through a sigh like being trapped in here was a trouble for him instead.

“Why won’t the door open?” I asked him, still jerking the knob and throwing my weight against the door trying to get it to budge.

“Um,” he paused. “Because I locked it. You’re not leaving here.”

How could he have locked the door? Wouldn’t I have heard him?

Slowly, I turned and looked around for him. “Where are you? I can’t see you.”

He chuckled dryly. “Come back here and let it be a surprise.”

Oh. Hell. No.

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