The Soul Seekers Read Free Page B

should just go talk to him, stop the game. Maybe he’d welcome it, tell me to sit down.
    Suddenly, he looked to the front door. “Son-of-a—”
    I craned my neck fast to see what had captured his attention, only to curse at the muscle cramp that resulted. Moving a book, I peeked through the shelves and saw five men step inside the library. They were dressed in business suits, and each had thick black glasses. The way they stood together, the way they surveyed the whole place felt menacing to me, like sharks on a hunt.
    Superman remained seated as they approached his table. “Hello, Marcus . Gentlemen .” His tone was civil, but I could detect a hint of sarcasm, laced with fear. “What brings you in today? Bored with the job? Running out of members? You think I’d be desperate to talk to you, being stuck here my whole life with nowhere else to go, but ironically enough, I’m not.”
    One of the men spoke, using a voice like nails on a chalkboard. “We came to deliver some important news.”
    Superman looked around at the group with a chuckle. “I’m dying to hear it. Go ahead and tell me—”
    I’d bumped my nose into a book and had caused it to fall off the shelf, garnering the attention of one of the group’s shorter members. He looked my way and began to approach.
    “Vincent!” Superman shouted, standing to attention. “Uh—aren’t you going to insult me? Come on, I’m good for it, you ugly little troll.”
    I swallowed hard, hoping this Vincent would take the bait. He did, turning to make his way back to the table—hands clenched and ready for action.
    Marcus, the one sending thick waves of premonition down my spine, stepped in to issue a low command. “We own you, boy. Don’t you forget that.”
    “Oh, I haven’t. Believe me. No matter how hard I try, I can’t forget all the wonderful things you do.”
    “The rest of the town would give anything to be part of our family.”
    “ Family .”
    “Yes. We’ve made Springvale the perfect place to live—no crime, no poverty. You can’t deny what we’ve accomplished here.”
    “Take a quick hike to hell, Marcus.”
    The man leaned in. “Fool! The eclipse comes soon, and we believe someone has found it. You’re running out of choices. Continue the way you are and die with a slow fade into nothing. Join us and live forever. Which one sounds like a better choice, William Joe Bennett ?”
    William—so that was his name. I watched as he thrust out of his chair to gridlock Marcus in the face. “Death, Marcus! I choose death.”
    “Anything I can help you with, gentlemen?”
    The entire group, including me, turned to focus on Ethel. She stood with arms crossed, a deep line furrowing between her brows. I peeked in between two copies of Great Expectations to get a better view.
    Marcus grabbed one of William’s books and held it up in distaste. “You can start, Miss Lacey, by removing this trash from your library. Don’t forget, the town council has strict guidelines concerning the material you shelve, and this book does not meet its criteria.”
    She plucked it from his hands. “ Strengthen Your Mind is hardly a threat to the human race. Don’t forget, I own every page in this institution. It was given to my mother, who gave it to me. Your church—oh pardon me— council has no right to dictate any of the books in my collection.”
    She made a point of shoving it into a shelf behind her—the wrong place, I thought, making a mental note to move it later.
    Tossing her head, Ethel spoke with contempt. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a lot of work to do. Have a good day, and feel free to sign up for a new library card. You’ll be pleased to know they’re laminated now. That’s a little thing we like to call progress .”
    I smiled behind the shelves. The laminating machine had been my idea.
    Marcus turned to William who sat unmoved in his seat, his face a beautiful vision of unreadable stone. A few seconds later the front door closed with a