Daniel tried to calm himself. Now he was focused and opened his mind to become aware. Then his sharp, always serious, eyes combed the rows of shelves to find which part he had not finished examining so far.
As his gaze turned to the opposite corner where Daniel was standing, again his gaze found Sam. However, there was another silhouette in the figure of Sam, which currently gave off a glare like a mirror reflection. Sam also gave a soft glow from around his body, transparent in color like flowing water.
Daniel covered his eyes to block himself from the glare. After making sure the glare was gone, Daniel was encouraged to come closer and check again, whether it was Sam or someone else.
When Daniel's feet reach the point where Sam had been standing, again Daniel only found emptiness. There were only a few children who were seen reading in the library who were standing away to sit on the reading chairs not far from Prof. Hudson on duty.
"What am I doing?" Daniel massaged his temples. He decided to return to the bookshelf where he had wanted to resume his search. But just before that a book fell out of nowhere, hitting Daniel's head, making him groan.
Crouching down and picking up the thick, plain book, Daniel's forehead couldn't stop frowning. His eyes looked up to check the shelf that might look empty, so Daniel would put the book back in its place. However, strangely all the shelves lined up in front of him showed a row of tight and not hollow books. That meant the book did not come from the shelf that was standing in front of him.
Daniel looked around to find the library's white walls giving off the smell of fresh paint. Rows of iron bookshelves snaked forward, with unseen signs of life. That meant none of the pranksters deliberately pelted Daniel with the book.
Then Daniel chose to decline and opened it, to examine its contents. When his body leaned against the library wall, his eyes again found the grinning figure of Sam with a body that suddenly entered and disappeared behind the library walls.
Daniel rubbed his eyes. He got up to run and checked the wall where Sam had disappeared. His hand rubbed against the wall and found that it was just like any other wall. What did Daniel expect? A portal? If so then who was Sam?
Choosing to ignore what he saw, Daniel sat back down to read the book in his hands. The cover was thick, plain black with a slightly shiny impression like a natural rock. The book was about five centimeters thick, or maybe more. The scent was very worn out, a form of scent that Daniel loved.
One scratch sheet was open, but there was only blank paper with a very dark color in it. Daniel's forehead frowned, as his fingers kept flipping through the pages of the book.
"Is this a new kind of prank? Whoever threw this book at me must hate me. " Daniel stood up angrily. He put the book anywhere, on the shelf space that had a cavity so that it could fit inside.
However, it seemed to reject its position, or the bookshelves that rejected the presence of the book because every time Daniel put the book in the middle of other books, strangely book would fall suddenly. Daniel thought it was just the fault of his hand, which did not press the book tightly. However, after three tried and the results were the same, Daniel began to feel that something was wrong with the book.
So he went to Prof. Holand's desk and handed it to him. And the most surprising thing happened again. Prof. Holand said, "I don't have this book."
"But I found it in the library earlier. They are also very thick in size, the most common type that can be found in books in this library." Daniel was adamant.
"But this isn't mine. I also don't have a list of these kinds of books. The title was missing, and it was just blank paper. Maybe this belongs to one of the students."
"Can you keep it if only a student is looking?"
Prof. Holand frowned regretfully. "I'm not sure, Dan. Look at my storage place. " He nodded at a storage rack that was already filled with the many unclaimed items. "Children never want to take their things. There are even new cell phones that are left out. My place is not enough to accommodate. Go to the information desk to make an announcement. But my advice is you save it first while waiting for news from me. I will keep posting announcements regarding the discovery of the book. "
Finally, Daniel gave up. He put the thick and empty book into his arms. The time for admission was already ringing, he then returned to class.
The book was a book of history in the past that had now come down to earth. It was written by the Slenders of the Sotah world. Now it was in the hands of Daniel, a legend who still couldn't awaken his powers. Also, there was still a seal on the book that Daniel had not opened, preventing him from knowing the contents of the book.
While in the classroom, Sam was mysteriously out of place, he didn't even come back until class ended. When Daniel asked one of his classmates who was kind enough, she said that Sam had to come home early because of family matters.
Seeing an opportunity to ask further questions, Daniel also asked her about his friendship with Sam. "Am I and Sam close enough?"
The girl named White frowned. "I don't know, you should know, Dan, because you're Sam's friend. You are together almost all the time, except today. Are you guys fighting?"
The home bell rang shortly after. In a hurry, Daniel left the classroom. Remembering that Uncle Ted was not at home, Daniel felt indirectly responsible for Wendy's condition at home, even though there was still Mrs. Nana who would often visit Wendy every few hours.
Before leaving the school building, on the way Daniel met Prof. Ian. His tall body in a light blue shirt now swayed gently like a twig in the light wind. Seeing Daniel, Prof. Ian also waved.
"Are you going home, Dan?" said Prof. Ian was very friendly. Around Prof. Ian, the children greeted him and said goodbye respectfully. Everyone liked Prof. Ian, and it could be seen now.
"Yes, Prof. What is wrong? Do you need my help?" exclaimed Daniel, who fixed the location of his bag, which was rather heavy due to the excess weight of the book he had found in the library earlier.
Prof. Ian shook his head. His soft voice almost sank into the crowd. "No, thank you. I just wanted to remind you if you want to see a doctor then I can drive you. "
"Oh, looks like I'll be fine tonight."
Vaguely depicted a disgusted expression from Prof. Ian, and it all happened so fast. At that time, Daniel wondered whether he did not seem to appreciate the offer of help from Prof. Ian? However, when he saw the smiling face of his teacher, Daniel pushed the thought away.
"That's great. However, you can still contact me if you need help. Is your uncle coming home tonight? "
Daniel shrugged. "I don't know, Uncle Ted didn't tell me anything about his return that morning."
"Maybe he'll be home in a long time." Prof. Ian grimaced. When his lined teeth appeared before Daniel's eyes, he again smelled a faint scent of burnt. Then when Daniel's eyes sharpened their gaze, Daniel vaguely saw a shaded face that flashed across Prof. Ian's face.
***