Phantom of the Library

Title: Phantom of the Library. (Prologue?)
Author: SilverInk
Writing: random story excerpt from an idea from....a long time ago/ impulse-writing/ 
Word Count: 739

This is for is Drawn in Words,  a challlenge I doomed myself to -.-
Does that count as a word? The emoticon I mean. I will have so many tyrping errors at the end of this. I'm not editign. The world can see my awesome/ lack-of-awesomeness in typing correctly. The people can see how much effort it takes to come up with all this crazy stuff. How hard NaNoWriMo was! (if only that was four words>.<) Nah, now I'm just being self-pitying. Ok. Screw this. Time to write an actual story.

Ella shivered. She could feel nothing but cold racing through the wind, pulling at her hair and chilling her skin. She hurried indoors, her fingers hidden in her sleeves and her head down. Inside, the relief was not immidiate, and in any case she had to rush onwards or she would be terribly late. Brushing her hair from her face she tromped through the school. The halls were deserted, as she expected. She tried the door of the library and found it locked. No matter. From within her cloak she pulled out a dark blue wand and tapped the handle silently. It unlocked and opened and she stepped in, tucking her wand away again. "Master, I have arrived."

At first it seemed she was talking to the dust in the air or else the books sitting quietly on their shelves. She made her way to the center of the the library and looked up to the large hexagonal shape on the roof. "Master Phantom?"

There was a gust of wind but no indication that anything there was even remotely alive but Ella was unfazed. She took a seat in one of the library chairs and glanced over the dark room again. She did not speak--if the phantom was there it would have heard her already and would have his reasons for not showing himself immidiately. Meanwhile, Ella took the moment to catch her breath and warm her numb fingers.

She was scared of what the cold meant--at least, to her. The Keeper of Water did not often feel cold, for she had frequented the snow-capped peaks and the ice garden when she had lived with the other Keeper of the Elements. But neither did she dwell too much upon it--since the Keepers had disbanded and Ella was separated from her dear pet wolf, she had resided in a warm city. She had learned simple wand magic since then, though she did not use it often. It was only natural for her to have adjusted to the warmth there. What once seemed a light chill was probably now preceived as cold.

"Miss Black. I was beginning to think you wouldn't come." The voice was soft and low, but not menacing or evil. In fact, the phantom of the school library sounded more like a wise old man--a former student or staff member?--than a weary phantom confined to the school's pitiful library.

"I have come though," Ella said, standing and bowing briefly to the wisp of smoke that had appeared. "You called."

"I did," the old man said and floated in a seated position next to her. She resumed her seat and looked at him expectantly. "Miss Black, as you well know, I grow weary of being confined forever to this library."

"But it is your domain, sir? Can you not adjust it to suit your needs?"

The old shadow nodded but held a hand up to indicate she should not speak. "But I have been withheld of the right of phantoms to travel freely to other locations within their Range. I cannot visit other libraries, and this little library is so very small and insignificant that almost no other phantoms stumble upon me. During summer and winter vacations I am completely and utterly alone with no other solace but unchanging books.

"No. I have decided this will not do. I may be cursed to forever stay in this form within my domain, but the curse comes with a gift, and I am able to reside within the entire school. I am, in a sense, the phantom of the school."

Ella nodded in comprehension; this was not new to her, but the old man was getting at something and she knew every detail he chose to mention--to reiterate to her--would be significant. "What are you planning?"

"A test. A challenge, to find somebody or some bodies to take the power and burden of this school and free me from my eternal confinement."

Artist's Note: Hiya! I am at school now, during my open period! o_O Anyways, Lewis was using Write or Die and I challenged myself to 500 words in 20 minutes, and made it! :D This was 739 words in 27 minutes, unedited intentionally as you can probably tell from the first paragraph/ rant. ^_^

The idea for the actual was originally just random because it was cold today. And because I'm writing in the library. The story concept turned into something from a very very old story concept titled "The Curse" that stems all the way back to fifth grade and was my first--as far as I can remember--official story idea. I haven't actually written much for it, and I don't intend to really, until I finish a bunch of other stuff I have planned.

Other stuff I have planned. Well, you'll just have to find out fer yerself, harharhar. :D

Notwithstanding, please read and review/ comment and critique/ skim and suggest! =)
~SilverInk


P.S. Everything above this postscript was written in school, on...Wednesday the 5th, I think. Hehe!