Chapter 1: The Shadow Woman

Gladstone rarely visited the local library. He found the eerie silence and the blank stares of their keepers to be more nightmare inducing than a job application. But on this extremely hot summer's day he felt that any shelter would do. Even in a place where he wouldn't be caught dead in on any other day of the year. But something other than the sun was causing his discomfort, ever since he left his house that morning he's felt something watching him that he couldn't put his finger on.

"Hello. Welcome to the library, do you need any help finding a new book?" A friendly young woman asked him as he walked in.

Gladstone gave her a smile and shook his head. "No thanks. Just thought I'd brows around for a bit." He didn't want to admit that he didn't even own a library card. Let alone the fact that he wasn't even a reader.

"Well just let me know if you have any questions. If I'm not at my desk, just ask my fellow librarians for Athena." She said with a smile and a courteous nod. Her eyes were like melted pieces of caramel and her hair was a smoky brown. She wore a long white dress with a golden pin on her shoulder that looked like a laurel. "Enjoy your stay here at the library."

Gladstone watched her move on to the other patrons in a trance before he eventually moved towards the back of the building. He wanted somewhere he could prop up his feet and take a short nap where he knew no one would bother him.

"I don't think I've seen a librarian like her before." Gladstone thought to himself. He found a comfortable padded chair with a matching stool that he immediately claimed as his footrest. Not a soul was in sight as he propped himself into the chair and sunk into the soft pillows around him. "Maybe when I wake up it'll be cooler."

Before he lost consciousness he felt a shiver run down his spine and a chill in the air. Cooler than any breeze from an AC machine. He felt his body stiffen and his eyes shot wide open to see a shadow of a woman hovering above him: staring at him with the eyes of pure amethyst.

"W-What the-" Gladstone tried to speak but the woman silenced him with a raise of her finger to her lips.

"Shh... this is a library. A place for knowledge and power, not a place for making a scene. I have plans for you Gladstone Gander. Oh yes. But we'll have to meet another time face to face, but to keep me in your thoughts..." The shadow woman said as her hand materialized a slip of paper that floated onto his chest. "Here's something for you to read and solve. And you must solve it or else you'll lose what you love the most."

Gladstone wanted to scream. He wanted to kick this woman off of him and file a police report against her. But her words were cold and threatening, her eyes were hypnotic, and something told him the police weren't gonna believe that a floating shadow woman was pinning him down inside the public library. So he simply blinked to let her know that he understood and the woman cracked a wicked smile.

"Glad you understand. Don't worry about finding me: I'll find you." The shadow woman whispered into his ear and like a pile of dust in the wind, she vanished.

The only thing left of her presence was the single piece of paper on his chest.