Emory remained wide eyed on all fours for a few minutes as he tried to catch his breath. The sudden inundation of images and feelings that filled the gaps in his memory caused his breathing to become irregular, beads of sweat forming on his face. Panic set in as he fumbled for his inhaler, he took huge breaths from but it didn't seem to have any effect.The entire store was silent, too silent until Emory was broken out of his trance by the strange man's voice.
"You look a mess, perhaps you should be at a hospital and not a bookstore boy" said the man as he walked over to Emory offering him a hand
Emory finally managed to pull himself together, he looked up and was greeted by the mildly muscular figure of a man with blonde flowing locs, the man was clean shaven and sporting a nice fitted black khaki pants and a white shirt that had two buttons undone at the neck area. He looked clean and very handsome to boot, he exuded an ethereal demeanour.
He inspected the man and his hand, then proceeded to take his hand, the man's hand acted as a support for Emory to pull himself up. Emory looked at the mess he had made on the finely polished and waxed wooden floor of the store.
"I'm so sorry for the mess, I'll clean it up. Where can I find your mopstick please" Emory said as he rolled his sleeves up
"You needn't worry about it, I'll take care of it" the man said, his voice a calming force and his blue eyes staring directly at Emory unblinking
"It's my mess I would not like to burden you with cleaning it, I'll take care of it." Emory insisted
The man stared at Emory intently and snapped his fingers. Emory looked around feeling puzzled and a little bit nervous and then the man pointed to the spot where Emory had vomited. Emory turned around to look at it, only to find out that the disgusting mess he had made was no longer there, vanished like it had never been, leaving the polished floor unblemished.
"How did you do that?" asked Emory
"It is but a little trick, nothing out of the ordinary"
Emory was now wary of the man, he felt a tinge of nervousness and he decided it was in his best interest to just go home and sort out himself.
"You did not come here to retch and clean I suppose? So why are you here?" Asked the strange man as he leaned on the counter facing Emory. Emory answered the man's questions with silence
"Oh how rude of me, not introducing myself before asking such questions. I am Micheal, the owner of this….bookstore" He said, extending his arm for a handshake
Emory shook his hand in reciprocation and a form of respect as it would be rude to leave him hanging. "I am Emory. Emory Carson"
"Well Emory, why are you here?"
Emory deliberated whether to tell the man about his situation and sudden transformation or keep mute and just leave it at him just coming here to buy a book. After contemplating, he concluded that he should tell Michael, afterall the man did seem to have an unnatural presence about him and he did just literally vanish a puddle of human vomit out of existence. A man of such unnatural demeanour may just have an answer to his unnatural situation and if not, he could just play it off as a prank or joke that is if the man doesn't disappear him too. Emory cleared his throat and looked at Micheal who shot him back a faint smile.
"You might want to take a seat Micheal because what I am about to tell you is a little bit uncanny"
"You can try me" Michael smirked as he pulled out two wooden chairs and offered Emory one.
"So here's what happened, I was walking..."
Emory recounted the events that happened from the previous day to the present without leaving a single detail out, except for the fact that he needed the money for his mother. That bit was personal and Emory didn't want anyone's pity. He talked about how he lost his job, how he stumbled on the library, the irresistible call of the strange books, the words that moved, the mind numbing pain he felt, the black liquid,his sudden change in appearance and physicality, and about the symbol on his wrist and back, as well as how he got to the bookstore and the whole like incident.
Michael was a good listener, he listened intently, without asking a single question but he was following Emory's story.
Emory finished telling his story and waited to get a reaction or expression from Micheal who sat directly opposite him, but Michael just sat there, staring at Emory with such intensity that made moving or talking difficult for Emory, all he could do was wait for Michael to break the ice. Micheal continued to stare at him with his deep blue eyes, it was as if Micheal was looking beyond Emory's physical appearance and peering into his soul, his very being. The atmosphere grew so tense and thick that it could be cut with a metaphorical knife, Emory gulped audibly hoping the man doesn't really 'vanish' him. The man continued to stare at him for five minutes straight but it felt like hours to Emory.
"I see" said Michael, breaking the suffocating silence
"What the hell was that? You see what?" Emory replied as he took huge breaths
"Ah that, It is an old habit turned skill I cultivated in my old place of work, it allows me hold a person or something in place and take a look into their being, it could let me know if you're lying among other things. I apologise if I scared you" said Michael as he stood abruptly
"You didn't scare me….next time just give me a heads up" Emory said curtly
"These markings of yours, may I take a look at them" said Micheal with an expressionless face that hinted seriousness. Emory pulled off his shirt and turned his back to Micheal, revealing his markings to the man.
The man examined the markings with a strange expression, and soon he burst into laughter.
"Hahahah. Finally I found it, I know you haven't forsaken me my lord"
Emory looked around confused and unsure how to react to Michael's words and actions.
"So do you know what exactly happened to me?" Emory asked as he pulled up his shirt
"Yes! Yes I do. Give me a minute" Micheal said gleefully as he walked towards an aisle of books Emory was sure wasn't there before.
After a minute of laughter, strange mumblings and parabulation, Micheal reappeared holding a huge silver hard cover book with a strange symbol on it, it looked like something a wizard would have, if they do exist. He flipped open the book to a page and he pointed to a symbol identical to the one on Emory's body and next to it was a drawing of a book Emory hadn't seen before as well as words written in languages he could not read.
"Aside from the symbol, what exactly am I looking at here?" asked Emory "I don't understand any of these, I can't tell what language it is either and I can speak seven languages and recognise ten" With the whole situation of being a loner and not having the time for a hobby, Emory spent his free time garnering all type of knowledge, in a way it was his own type of hobby.
"Ofcourse you can't read it, it's not a language a mortal mind can comprehend. It's the language of beings far above you. However, you may have some knowledge on what it says" Micheal said whilst opening three other large books
"So what does it say?" Emory said as he dropped down to his seat
"Have you ever heard of the 'Heavenly records' ?" asked Micheal
"No, I don't think so. Sounds interesting though"
"Oh it certainly is interesting. You see it is an archive that stores information about every soul, thought, and event throughout history, it stores all information. Information on what was, what is, what will be and what may be and it manifests itself in form of a book"
"Like the Akashic records?" Emory asked
"Yes! that is another name for it, Akashic records, omnibus of totality, primordial library and so on. That book has been missing ever since a certain….event, and I have been in search of it for Millennia" Micheal continued
"Please don't tell me it is what I think it is" Emory shifted in his seat as he pieced together everything Micheal had been telling him
"I'm afraid it is, what merged with you was infact the heavenly records or Akashic records as you call it" said Micheal as he tapped the picture of the book beside the symbol.
"But the book I saw that day looked nothing like this one"
"Because it changed its appearance whilst laying dormant. That was why I could not find it even when it was right under my nose. Hahahaha"
"So what now? You have found the book, are you going to take it from me?" Emory asked as he stood up and backed up uncomfortably. He had no idea what Micheal would do now that he has found what he had been searching for, for Millennia. Would he kill him or perhaps do something worse to him.
"Be not afraid Emory, I won't harm you. If I killed you, there's no guarantee where the records might end up and what form it might take. I would not like that and besides I am not some maniac who would resort to killing as a first solution" Micheal reassured Emory
"So what now? What happens now?" Emory asked frankly
"Hmm why don't you come by tomorrow and we'll discuss what the next course of action is okay? It is getting quite late "
"Okay that's fine by me. Thank you Micheal, I mean it" Emory said as he approached the door
"Don't mention it" Micheal said calm smile
Micheal waved his hand and the chairs and books vanished, returning the their rightful places. Emory paused, shook his head then continued towards the door.
"You will have to get used to that if you're going to be working with me boy"
"Huh? Working with you?"
"You heard me right, since you love cleaning so much. I am offering you a job but you can decline if you wish"
"I accept it.Thank you Micheal!" Emory said as he left the store excitedly. Micheal smiled a
nd after making sure Emory was completely gone, he vanished without a trace or utterance of a single sound.