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New South Wales. I hadn’t been here for four years, ever since “The Fall”. Ever since I took an oath to never come back to this place. At that time I thought it would be impossible to get from Melbourne to Sydney all by myself. But now as I stand here, 878km away from home. I wonder how I did it. How I found the courage to break the oath and take one train and five buses to get here. If Mum was here she’d ground me for eternity, but she’d also ask me why. And the answer I will give you now.
Someone had called me. But I do not know who. Why me? Why now? Why here? Unless … No. It couldn’t possibly be. I refused to believe it. She was dead, and only someone alive could’ve called me here..
I shook my head. And lifted my chin. Whoever had called me, I would face whatever had called me and then I’d return.
I tiptoed up the steps, falling once when I wasn’t paying attention. Then I reached the doors. They were open.
I pushed them open an inch wider and squeezed in. In my mind I had imagined someone to be waiting for me. Turns out I was wrong. The library was empty.
I crept in further, taking in the scene in front of me. The marble map of the world on the floor, the marble and glass case with an ancient banner. And the balcony, I shuddered, memories flooding my eyes. Maggie noticing the map for the first time. The man creeping up behind her. Then Maggie screaming as she fell. Then silence.
The memories in my eyes became tears. But I wiped them away. I wasn’t here to remember. I was here to find the person who called me, then leave.
I walked ahead. Into the doors of the reading room. Where, even in the silent night, everything in that room was screaming for me to leave, to go home. But I continued walking, until someone coughed. I froze. I was 99% sure that no one else was in the library except me. I turned slowly, quickly coming up with excuses in my head for why I was in the state library in the middle of the night. Then I screamed. Because there, right in front of me was a ghost.
“We’ve been waiting for you, Hillary.”
Someone had called me. But I do not know who. Why me? Why now? Why here? Unless … No. It couldn’t possibly be. I refused to believe it. She was dead, and only someone alive could’ve called me here..
I shook my head. And lifted my chin. Whoever had called me, I would face whatever had called me and then I’d return.
I tiptoed up the steps, falling once when I wasn’t paying attention. Then I reached the doors. They were open.
I pushed them open an inch wider and squeezed in. In my mind I had imagined someone to be waiting for me. Turns out I was wrong. The library was empty.
I crept in further, taking in the scene in front of me. The marble map of the world on the floor, the marble and glass case with an ancient banner. And the balcony, I shuddered, memories flooding my eyes. Maggie noticing the map for the first time. The man creeping up behind her. Then Maggie screaming as she fell. Then silence.
The memories in my eyes became tears. But I wiped them away. I wasn’t here to remember. I was here to find the person who called me, then leave.
I walked ahead. Into the doors of the reading room. Where, even in the silent night, everything in that room was screaming for me to leave, to go home. But I continued walking, until someone coughed. I froze. I was 99% sure that no one else was in the library except me. I turned slowly, quickly coming up with excuses in my head for why I was in the state library in the middle of the night. Then I screamed. Because there, right in front of me was a ghost.
“We’ve been waiting for you, Hillary.”