Chapter 31 - The Library of Futures
The endless bookshelves swallowed the beam of my flashlight.
Each shelf stretched so far into the darkness that I couldn't see where it ended.
Rick walked slowly between the rows.
His nose stayed low, following a scent only he could detect.
I pulled Volume 17 from the nearest shelf.
The pages felt new.
The first chapter described the night I bought the house.
Every conversation.
Every receipt.
Every thought I had while signing the contract.
Word for word.
I turned ahead.
Volume 48.
Events that had already happened underground.
Perfectly accurate.
Then I opened Volume 92.
The pages described conversations that had not yet occurred.
The realtor asked a question.
The elderly woman answered.
Rick scratched a steel door.
Seconds later...
Exactly as written...
The realtor spoke.
"What if these aren't predictions?"
The elderly woman answered with the exact sentence from the page.
Rick scratched the nearby steel wall.
I dropped the book.
Nobody had seen the words except me.
Yet reality followed them perfectly.
The Caretaker's calm voice echoed once more.
"They're not predicting."
"They're remembering."
A cold silence settled over the library.
I slowly looked around.
Every volume carried my name.
But they weren't numbered to one hundred.
Or one thousand.
The numbers climbed into the millions.
Near the far end of the endless shelves...
One final book rested alone on a pedestal.
Unlike every other volume, it had no title.
No number.
Only a handwritten note tied to the cover.
May you like
It read:
Do not open this until Rick leaves you.
