Worlds Collide (The Land of Stories #6)(5)

The author pulled the sixth and final book in his series off his shelf and stared down at the cover.

“Fairytaletopia 6: The Great New York Adventure,” he read.

Unfortunately, the title didn’t trigger a memory like the rest of the books had. Mr. Bailey tried as hard as he could to remember what the book was about and the events that had inspired it, but he drew a blank at every turn. The answer might have escaped him completely, but he knew that the information he craved was somewhere inside the book. Even if he had misled his readers to a false happy ending, he was certain he could read between the lines and discover the truth.

So the beloved children’s book author took a deep breath, opened his own book to the very first page, and began reading, hoping with all his heart that the story would remind him where his sister had gone all those years ago….





CHAPTER ONE





DISTRESS CALL FROM THE PUBLIC LIBRARY


It was a typical afternoon at the main branch of the New York Public Library. The marble halls of the world-famous structure echoed with the footsteps of obnoxious tourists, restless college students, and noisy groups of elementary school students on field trips. Tour guides shared little-known facts about the library’s expansive history and refrained from rolling their eyes at questions about the movies that had been filmed there. Librarians gave directions to the renowned reading rooms on the upper floors and reminded the guests that library books weren’t allowed in the bathrooms.

There was absolutely nothing to suggest that anything strange or peculiar might occur later that evening, but strange and peculiar events rarely give any warning before they happen.

Security guard Rudy Lewis began his four—PM-to-midnight shift by patrolling the library’s entrance on Fifth Avenue. He yelled at teenagers for climbing Patience and Fortitude, the iconic lion statues that flanked the library’s sprawling front steps. He kindly asked the homeless people sleeping beside the fountains to continue their naps at the shelter down the street, and once they obliged, he went back to the statues to yell at a new gang of teenagers for climbing them. Once the library closed and was cleared out, Rudy spent the rest of his shift patrolling the interior.

For hours and hours Rudy walked up and down the vacant halls of the four-level structure, inspecting its various forums, galleries, studies, and stairwells. Five minutes before the end of his shift, he was positive there wasn’t another soul in the library and was eager to hand his duties off to the next security guard. But as he made his final inspection of the third floor, Rudy discovered he was mistaken.

At the end of a long, dark hallway, the security guard found a young woman standing alone. She wore a sparkling white dress and had strawberry-blonde hair, and her head was bowed as if she had fallen asleep standing up. At first, the sight of the young woman startled Rudy. He had walked past this part of the library a dozen times and hadn’t seen anyone before now. It was like the young woman had appeared out of thin air.

“Excuse me,” he said. “What are you doing?”

The young woman didn’t respond.

“Hey, I’m talking to you,” Rudy said.

The angry security guard shined his flashlight on the young woman to get her attention, but she didn’t move. Once she was illuminated, Rudy could see that she was trembling and her skin was as pale as a ghost’s. For a split second, he worried that she was a ghost. His co-workers had always warned him that the library was haunted, but until now, he’d had no reason to believe them.

“The library’s closed.” Rudy’s voice cracked as he spoke. “Unless you’re an employee, you’re trespassing on city property.”

Still the young woman neither looked up nor said a word. Her silence was making Rudy paranoid. The longer he stood in her presence, the creepier the young woman became. The fate of every security guard in every horror film flashed before Rudy’s eyes, but he mustered the courage to approach the strange young woman.

“I’m gonna call the police if you don’t say something!”

Suddenly, the young woman gasped and jerked her head up, causing Rudy to jump. She frantically looked around in a panic as if waking from a bad dream.

“Where am I?” she panted.

“You’re at the library,” Rudy said, but that only confused her more.

“The library? Which library?”

“The New York Public Library at Fifth Avenue and East Forty-Second Street,” Rudy said.

“Oh no!” the young woman cried. “You have to get out of here! Something terrible is about to happen!”

“What are you talking about? How did you even get in here?”

“I don’t know what she has planned, but you’ve got to go before she makes me hurt you!” the young woman pleaded. “Please, you have to listen to me! I can’t control it!”

Tears spilled out of her blue eyes and rolled down her face.

“Who are you talking about?” Rudy asked. “No one is in here but me and you.”

“The witch who cursed me! She put me under some kind of spell that makes me do things—awful things!”

“Lady, you’re clearly on a lot of drugs,” Rudy said. “I’m taking you outside and calling the cops.”

“You have to get my brother! He’s the only one who can help! His name is Conner Bailey—he should be at Saint Andrew’s Children’s Hospital in Willow Crest—”