All characters are 18 years or older and have given their consent to have their secrets revealed to the mundane world. Also, no demons, spirits or elementals were harmed in this story, well none that didn't have it coming that is.
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The Rare Book Section:
I guess I am amazed at how many people still visit the public library. I would have thought that the internet and all the Wiki sites would have doomed an antiquated notion such as a brick and mortar thing like a library but it is still going strong. I have the opportunity to visit it quite a few times a week since my older sister works there. In fact she is the assistant head librarian. She even has her own domain of the library she lords over, the rare book section. It is more like a climate controlled vault than an actual section of the library. Most of the volumes are very valuable and require a certain temperature and what not. I don't pretend to understand it.
To even get into the vault, I mean rare book section; you need credentials and permission from the head librarian or my sister. I guess for me it is like I have a sister that works as a roadie for a band. I go in and out of the rare book section all the time. When she told me some of the books were worth over a hundred grand I about pissed myself. Now I understood the security and the location of the vault. You couldn't just walk in and walk out. The rare book section was located on the fourth floor of the library. The vault itself was pretty much in the middle of the floor so you had quite a walk to either a stairwell or elevator. They had security in mind when they installed it.
On this particular day I had just gotten off of work. I was saving up to go to college. I hadn't managed to land a full ride the way dear old sis had. So I worked for my mom and dad as a maintenance guy for half a dozen or so properties they owned. It sure kept me busy and as they were often fond of saying, out of trouble. It allowed me plenty of time to flirt with the MILFs in some of the complexes but not enough time to take full advantage of them. I was working six days a week and by the end of next year would have enough socked away to quit and go to school full time. I wanted to study archaeology of all things. The thought of digging in the Valley of the Kings or some other exotic location kept me going. I already had a leg up and thanks to a few language courses I was fairly fluent in Latin, Arabic and Mandarin. I was working on Greek at the moment and struggling.
I turned off my MP3 player as I entered the main branch library. It was air conditioned inside and I shivered as the sweat I had earned cooled on contact. I greeted the guard by name and headed for the nearest elevator. One ding and a short ride later and I was on the fourth floor. I greeted the two other librarians by name as I headed for the rare book section. Sis would be tapping her foot when I got there since I was close to fifteen minutes late. It wasn't my fault I ran into traffic heading downtown. I slipped through the old fashioned turn style and entered the reading area of the rare book section. It was here that the valuable books could be taken by students, academics and others to read under the unblinking scrutiny of not less than four security cameras.
That was strange; sis was usually waiting at the open doorway of the vault. I could hear her moving around inside the vault and humming. Humming was good that meant she was in a good mood. I stepped in and saw the minor chaos that was completely unexpected. Sis was bent over one of the two work tables located within the confines of the vault. She was dressed as always in a knee length skirt, white blouse and comfy leather shoes. I paused to take in the scene and had to admit, if she hadn't been my sister I'd hit that. She had a well-rounded bottom she inherited from our Latin mother and the dark red hair she got from dear old dad. I wondered if I lifted up that skirt of hers what I would find, panties, t-bar or was she going commando?
"Commando," I said breaking the silence.
"Perv," she said back as she stood up and adjusted her skirt. She only did that when she was being self-conscious which meant I was right. "I don't know how you do that."
"It's a gift. So what the hell is going on?"
"Shit, I forgot to call you... again. I know, I know but this time I had a very good reason," she said as she turned to face me.
"She finally let you reorganize and properly catalog this mess," I said stealing her thunder. Sis narrowed her eyes but then smiled and let out that annoying sound of hers.
"Squeeeeee," she said hopping in place. I took full advantage and noted the luscious way her boobs bounced. "You really need to get laid."
"I agree, so when do I pick you up?"
"UMMMM..." she said and another one of her tells came up as she nervously interlaced her fingers.
"Oh hell no," I said as she closed in for the kill.
"OH Pleaseeeeeee," she begged. "I really need your help on this one."
"Lily," I weakly responded knowing I was already doomed. "I have already worked eight hours and I am all filthy."
"Three things," she said grinning almost maniacally. "One, you can use the staff showers. Two, I stopped by and picked out some clean clothes for you. Three, Rhonda has agreed to pay you this time around. She has a voucher for a full grand."
"Whoa, a thousand dollars for one night of work," I asked.
"WELLLLL, a grand for three nights work," she said cringing. "She wants it done by Monday. There are big wigs flying in from the state capitol and they are going to inspect the library."
"Damn, let me call mom and dad... you already called them didn't you?"
"Yeah, they are cool with you helping out," she grinned wickedly.
I knew my way to the showers. I had used them before, just not with permission. Lily had already placed my clothes in a locker for me, how considerate of her. I opened the locker to inspect the contents and amazingly she had not only packed clothes but a towel, shampoo and body wash. She had forgotten however to get me a comb, wash towel or loofa. Oh well, she had done better than usual. I showered, dried off and dressed. I returned to the vault and she showed me her schematic of the new lay out of the rare book section. Now I knew why she wanted my help. Some of the books were really big and quite heavy. I was going to be the muscle of the team while she cleaned and verified each volume. I would move it to its new resting place.
It seems like it had been decades since anyone had performed this particular task. No one had the eagerness that my sister possessed and just let things be. The ledger that held the contents of the vault was ancient and falling apart. Sis had a brand new one as well as a laptop that would enter the books into the central register. We were entering the computer age here people. I wasn't surprised really. The librarian was a civil job and the wheels of progress moved slowly indeed. I was actually getting excited. Many of these works hadn't seen the light of day in a decade or more. The first task was to move all of the books from one corner of the vault clean the shelves and then begin the laborious duty of hunting down the right books for that section.
There were over five thousand books and many didn't have writing on the spines or that writing had faded a long time ago. I would be handling many of the same titles over and over again. It couldn't be helped. We did our best to move books from the old shelf and place them in the vicinity of their new location to minimize the insanity. There was one book that caught my attention early on. It was like many of the others being a beautifully crafted leather bound tome without title or author on the outside. What really made it stand out was the fact that there was no title or author on the interior. I didn't have time to look it over properly bit it nagged at the back of my mind.
We halted at midnight that first night and shut the vault behind us. I was so damn tired I could hardly keep my eyes open. I handed sis my keys and followed her out as she turned on the alarm and relocked the outer doors on our way out. She drove and I fell asleep on the way home. I stumbled up the stairs unlocked the front door and staggered in waving goodbye to her. By some miracle I managed to reach my room in one piece, strip down and crawl under the covers. I was asleep before my head hit the pillow.
The alarm went off at seven o'clock and I hit the off button. I rolled onto my back and looked up at the ceiling. My stomach growled loudly since it hadn't been seen food in over twelve hours. I told it we would go by a pancake place before I returned to the library to help sis out. Suddenly the bed shifted slightly and I realized I wasn't alone in my bed. I turned my head and there was a mane of deep scarlet hair poking up from the covers. Why was my sister in my bed? Did I finally cross the line and do the nasty? I didn't remember anything like that.
"Lily... Lily... LILY... what are you doing in my bed," I asked.
"Morning sunshine," she said her eyes only half open. "I was TOO tired to drive all the way home last night. I didn't think you'd mind having a naked girl in your bed."
