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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Old Drew Id" data-source="post: 979230" data-attributes="member: 12175">Session 2 (5/14/2003) The Library AgainSession 2 (5/14/2003) The Library Again“I may not be an expert in such areas, but does anyone else here find it peculiar that the ‘Occult’ section of this library is five times larger than the rest of the religious section?” Brother Cooper asked, as he carried another stack of dusty books back to their table.The group was gathered around a table on the second floor of the library. Closing time had come and gone. Taylor had made coffee, locked the doors and allowed everyone to remain behind while they researched the strange symbol they had found. “Actually I think its strange how crappy these books all are,” Joe answered, looking up from a copy of Masonic & Occult Symbols Illustrated. “No offense, padre.”“What do you mean, Joseph?” Brother Cooper responded. “Well, I don’t know.” Joe answered. “I just figured this place, what with Ward being all into this weird stuff, would have, like, some old original books or something. You know, like scary forbidden magic book kind of stuff. But all of these here are just things you could find at Books-A-Zillion.”“Are there closed stacks somewhere, Taylor?” Willie asked.“Nope. We’re like the Gap. Everything we have is out here.” Taylor answered, setting down another book in failure. “We don’t even have a back room.”“Do you have a basement?” Joe asked hopefully.“Nope, just first and second floors, and attic space, but that’s condemned.” Taylor answered, and grudgingly picked up the next book in her stack. After a beat she looked up, and everyone was staring at her.“What?” . . .The stairwell was dark once you went up past the second floor landing, and it turned abruptly before ending in a blank wall with a ladder leading to a trapdoor in the ceiling. The trapdoor had a clearly visible lock that Taylor said she did not have a key for. “Willie, can you pick that?” Joe asked.“Oh sure! We got to break in somewhere. Ask the black guy! Look, just because I’m black does not mean that I know how to pick locks, or sing gospel, or make fried chicken.” Willie spouted as he pulled a small pack of tools from his jacket pocket and began to climb the ladder. He examined the lock for a moment and then set the tool pack onto a rung of the ladder and began fishing inside for the right pick. He glanced down at everyone watching him. “Well, okay, I do know how to pick locks, but only because I needed to learn for my job. It has nothing it all to do with me being black.”Finally after twenty minutes, there was a hollow click from the trapdoor, and Willie smiled as he gathered his tools and climbed back down the ladder. Brother Cooper raised an eyebrow, “Wilson, aren’t you going to go up?”“Oh sure, but I’m not gonna be first,” Willie answered, un-holstering his gun and clicking on his flashlight. “Exploring dark places where nobody belongs? I’ve seen enough movies to know the black guy always dies first. I’ll let you guys go on, and I’ll follow.”“I’ll do it,” Joe decided, and climbed the ladder up to the trapdoor. He opened the trapdoor with a surprisingly quiet creaking sound, and poked his head and flashlight up through to look around. “I feel like that kid from the Goonies. One-Eyed-Willy, you up here?” He paused and squinted in the dark, then spoke: “Wow.”Soon everyone had clambered up the ladder and into the attic. The ceiling was low and angled in most spots, but rose up to allow comfortable walking room in the center of the building. The floor and the walls were all natural wood, with numerous exposed beams and support posts for the roof. The streetlight outside filtered in through three shuttered windows, creating long pale shadows. The floor was painted in spots in multi-colored dark paint, and through the dust, a series of large circles with numerous arcane symbols was painted over the whole room.But most importantly, the attic was half-filled with bookshelves, tables, and chairs, all covered in a light layer of dust and cobwebs. The bookshelves contained perhaps a thousand books in total. And even in the pale slits of light offered from the windows, it was obvious. These were the kinds of books that Joe had been talking about.</blockquote>

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