Stranger from the Rain

Water Drops on Thorns – Lilly Ramsey

Stranger from the Rain

Evelyn Lunardini

Footsteps echoed against the tile floor as moonlight seeped in through the windows. Marliene walked with a stack of old leather books in her arms to the corner of the ancient library. Her footsteps stopped in front of a tall bookshelf that held a great number of old books. She brushed a piece of hair out of her eyes before running her hand along the spines. She lingered and stopped on a certain book towards the end of the shelf and pulled the false book halfway out. She could hear the pulleys and gears winding behind the hidden door as the bookshelf slowly screeched open. The noise was unpleasant but having been around it so long, Marliene was used to it by now. The door creaked to a stop and she stepped inside the room. She placed down the books in her hand onto the table and reached to her side in the dark to grab the box of matches. She pulled one out of its resting spot and lit it using the wall. Lighting the lamp, she picked up her books and made her way down the dark tunnel. The tunnel was made purely out of stone and she walked for a good half mile before light began to appear in front of her, growing brighter until it broke out into a wide open space.

The room was round with a step down to the middle of the room where a fire pit sat in the middle. Pillows scattered the floors and lights sparkled on the ceilings. Marliene blew out the lamp and set it aside on the floor. She walked over to her bed that sat near the stairs for the second floor. Setting her books on her bed, she rubbed her hands up her arms to try to warm herself and walked over to the fire pit. Taking the poker, she stoked the fire to a consistent blaze. Settling in on a pillow, she watched the flames dance on the wood. As she closed her eyes, a squeaking sound came from under a pillow.

“Pio! What are you doing under there?” She leaned toward the pillow and lifted it up to find the source of the squeaking. Pio, Marliene’s small ferret, rushed into her arms and curled up into a little ball.

“What were you doing under there?” Marliene slid her two fingers across the ferret’s head when a bang on the old oak doors reached her ears. The sound disrupted the ferret and he bounded out of Marliene’s lap and into another hiding spot. Marliene got up from the pillows and ran up the stairs to look out the window that overlooked the front doors. It had started to rain and a man clothed in black was standing at the large brown door dripping wet. Marliene slid down the railing of the stairs and ran to the opening of her cave. She grabbed her lanter, the fire had not yet gone out. Pio ran to come meet her at the door, watching with his small eyes.

They ran through the library until they got to the old oak door. The door was at least ten feet tall with ancient carvings decorating it from top to bottom. She unlocked the huge lock and opened the door which made a low groan as it moved.

“Hello are you Marliene?” The man asked. He was much taller than Marliene, but she figured he was around the same age.

“Yes.” she replied. The rain was coming down even harder now.

“My name is Nevian and I would like to speak with you.” He pushed his dark, black hair wet from the rain out of his eyes. “May I come in?”

Marliene thought about letting him in and decided that even if he was dangerous, Pio would bite and she had a dagger in her boot in a pocket she fashioned months ago.

“Ok.” She stepped aside to let him in. As he walked through the door he looked around in awe at the great library.

“Quite impressive.” He took off his jacket and hung it on the coat rack by the door. Marliene looked around with him and she was in total agreement. From the pale tiles to the winding rows of books, the library had intricate details scattered throughout the building.

“Yes. Been in my family for years.”

“Hmm. Amazing. Well,” he stopped looking around abruptly and walked out of the entryway. “shall we sit down?”

“Oh yes.” She was thrown off by the stranger directing her in her own home, but didn’t correct him. “Follow me.”

She led him to the lounge-like area in the corner of the library and he sat down at one of the old couches. Marliene picked a dark colored green chair across from him.

“Can I offer you some tea? Water?” Marliene got up again and rushed over to the small kitchen area at the back of the small room.

“Yes, tea please. Now, you are probably wondering why I am here and I don’t blame you. It is odd for someone to show up uninvited especially in this type of weather.” Nevian propped his boots up on the table and Marliene cringed inside as she heard his boots hit the antique wood. Once again ignoring his rudeness and busied herself with the tea.

“Let me ask you a question.” He exhaled a long sigh. “What do you know about your family?”

Marliene faltered with the tea bags and his question echoed in her head. She knew nothing about her family to be honest. She had been living on her own, well not entirely on her own if you count Pio, for as long as she could remember.

“What about them?” She tried to hide how startled she was.

“Well, what if I told you one of your relatives was alive?” He raised his eyebrow almost knowing that she was listening now. Marliene thought about what he said and brushed it off immediately.

“What if I told you they weren’t?” She asked back. “I have no family. They have been dead for years.” She walked the cups of tea over to the table in front of Nevian. He swung his feet down from the table and took the tea cup between his hands to warm himself.

“You can deny it as much as you want but they are alive. I’m asking you to leave this place and find out for yourself.” He said before taking a sip of tea. Thunder broke outside and the rain came down harder now.

“Let me guess. You want me to go on some high stakes adventure to get out of my comfort zone and leave the library? That’s asking a lot from someone you just met, isn’t it?” She responded.

“And let me guess. You have been stuck here your whole life never stepping outside to see what the world is actually like only reading about it in stories and claiming you know everything.” Aside from his harsh remark, Nevian was keeping a wide smile on his face as if he enjoyed the fight. Marliene felt his words slam her like a punch to the stomach.

” For your information, I’ve been to town plenty of times. And no. I won’t go. Why would I risk my life for someone who never even came to visit or seemed to care about me before?”

“Reasonable to ask, but they still are family.” He had a point there. Marliene remained quiet and sat drinking her tea. Nevian took another huge sigh and set a piece of paper down on the table.

“It seems that your mind is set so I will leave you alone.” He said as he got up to leave. “If you change your mind though.” He nodded toward the paper on the table and turned to leave. Marliene followed him and shut the door behind him.

As she cleaned up the cups she ran over what her strange guest had said to her. Was she afraid of leaving? It was all she had ever known. She sat down with a big sigh and looked around her home. If it wasn’t a library, it would surely have been a palace. The priceless chandeliers that hung from the ceiling were lit with a dim light and the books on the shelves, that had been dusted thousand times over, had enough adventures and stories for a lifetime. She didn’t need to make her own. Did she? She picked up the piece of paper and read where to meet Nevian if she had changed her mind. Pio came to curl up next to her and she patted his little head.

She and Pio headed back through the tunnel and once in the round room, Pio bounded away to one of his hiding spots. Marliene exhaled a long sigh she felt that she was holding all day. Putting down the lamp by the door again, she walked over to her bed to put on her nightgown. She slumped down onto her bed and opened the piece of paper the stranger had given her.

If you change your mind, I’ll be at the tavern in town until tomorrow night.

She scoffed at the words. Did he really think she was going to go find him? A feeling tugged at the back of her mind. Why did she feel like she should go? Family was never important to her and she was doing just fine on her own. She got up from her bed and walked up the stairs and over to the huge window that overlooked the town. She had, of course, gone into town and met other people, but going out into the world itself on her own felt overwhelming. She watched the rain pour down on the town as the lamp lights flickered in the wind. She rubbed her hands up her arms and tried to decide what her next step would be.