Chapter 78About Brilliant Books

We walked on for a while, me still looking at her in surprise and disbelief. She had said it so mysteriously, what did she mean?

Valerie giggled after she saw my look. "Well okay, not friend exactly. But he's a nice old guy that has helped me a few times in unexpected ways."

I stuck out my tongue. "Nyeh. You're being mysterious on purpose." Okay, it was childish, but so was she!

Valerie laughed, for the first time in years it felt. "Yes. Yes, I probably am." She winked playfully and took my hand.

Laughing and skipping we went through the streets. I guess it was the build up of all this time, but I needed this far more than I had ever realized. Even my dreams, usually where I was free, had given me little rest. I felt refreshed every morning but my head was still full. I felt like a little girl again, and it was good. We just walked, skipped and ran together through the streets. The only thing that could have made it more perfect was rain. Because there is nothing more silly than being happy in the rain and laughing at all the people running away for it.

Not to say I wasn't happy to be dry.

"We're here." Valerie still smiled and led me into a sort of old bookstore.

Old didn't really do it justice though. Ancient was more like it. Everything just breathed age here. From the old bookcases, to the windows, the lighting and of course the books themselves. There was a none too faint smell of binding glue in the air. And here and there the thick smell of wax. While I usually focus on what I see, this time my nose was assaulted by a thousand different stories. Each book seemed to have a distinctive smell. The cover, the pages, the inc, the glue and of course how it was handled. The old guy in the middle of it all was bland by comparison. A silent leaf in the center of a terrible gale.

"Good evening!" Valerie spoke happily and walked to the old man.

So anyway, it was a deep bookstore, rows upon rows of books from floor to ceiling. It was higher than people could reach and a cute ladder on wheels was available in a few places. A large solid table in the middle was mostly cleared of books, save those needing repair. Some tools I didn't recognize were next to glue, holding clamps and much more. I couldn't help it, I was just attracted to a place like this and I couldn't believe I never found it before.

Books used to be my life even though I now lived stories beyond those of books.

"Thank you." I said softly to Valerie.

She turned around with a surprised look on her face. "Thank me?"

I blushed and giggled. "I love stores like this and I had never seen this one before. It's like the mother of all old book-stores."

"Thank you, miss. I'll take that as a compliment." It was the old guy talking. His voice was a bit hoarse but it was by no means unkind. His smile, reserved probably for only those in love with books as much as he was, genuinely shone out to the both of us.

Valerie brandished the paper I had drawn on and put it on the table. "Can you help us with this?"

"What do you have here?" He put on some reading glasses and studied the paper.

"Can you find out whose family this belongs to?" Her voice was sweet and kind.

I, in the meantime, listened only with a half ear to what they were saying. With awe and wonder I was looking around the store. Something tugged at my mind. It was something I had seen when I came into the shop and I wondered what it was. It was important, that I knew. But where was it...

"Hmm... This is quite a good drawing, very precise. Did you make this?" He sounded preoccupied already, his mind ticking over.

"No, she did." Her voice gentle and honest.

"Amy?" Valerie's voice.

I felt like a girl, interrupted. "Yes?"

"You have to see this. I think we found the family." She sounded in awe.

I walked toward her again and again I felt as if something was tugging on my eye. I shrugged. "So, what's the family?"

The book he had on the table was obviously old. Much older than the man and probably even older than the shop, family trees, crests and coat of arms. A very old heraldry book I presumed. The man was patiently waiting with his little smile and his eyes still darting over the page. The family name was bold on top of the tree, somehow it rang a bell.

"Elohim." I spoke the name softly.

It sounded like something I should know. But why? "What does that name mean?" Perhaps the old man would know.

"Elohim? It's the name of God in Hebrew, one of the names in fact. Some of his other names were Shaddai, Shekhinah and Afentis." His voice droning like he had said this a thousand times before. "It was deemed respectful not to speak the true name of God."

I blinked. "Afentis?" I spoke it softly, still not believing I had heard it.

The man nodded. "Yes, it is Hebrew for 'my lord' if I remember correctly. One of the more often used replacement names."

Something made me feel dizzy. I still had a feeling that name was important but if only I could just remember why. I leaned on the table to get some grip on myself again, it's solid form reassuring. It was then I finally saw what had been tugging at my eye all this time. A book in black leather, no lettering on the side. Just as thick as the one in my room. It couldn't be...

"Can I see that one?" I tried to sound as calm as I could but even Valerie gasped when she saw what I was pointing at. Her eyes following the old man's moves as closely as I did. He frowned, maybe in surprise, and looked at me.

"Are you sure? It's not a book that young people like to read." He didn't sound reproachful, more... afraid for us. As if it held real horrors to those who read it. Which it did, probably.

"Yes, we're sure." I spoke very calmly.

He got it out of the bookcase and opened it for me. It couldn't be the same book. It really was. Maybe a bit older, not as kindly treated through time as the one I had... taken. But it was the same.

'Nosferatu - Vampire Findings Through The Ages'