The Library - The Complete Series Read Online Free PDF Page B

floor.
    "Hey!" I shout, excitedly making my way as fast as possible along the aisle. If I'm going to be trapped here in this coma-based library, I might as well find someone to talk to. Besides, it'll be kind of fun: I'll basically be talking to myself. "Hey!" I call out again, although as I get closer, I start to see that the figure isn't moving. After a moment, I come to a halt just a few meters from the shape, and I realize to my surprise that it appears to be a person wearing a full suit of body armor, slumped in a heap against the lower shelves.
    "Hello?" I say, hoping against hope that the figure might turn out to be merely resting. I wait for a reply, but there's no movement at all.
    Taking a deep breath, I carefully lower myself to the ground and take a closer look at the figure. The armor is a kind of silver color, and there's a faded coat of arms on the chest. Leaning closer, I see that the visor over the face is slightly loose and I can see something inside; I look closer, but it's hard to make out what I'm staring at; I'm expecting to see eyes, but instead I can just see some kind of white mass. After a moment, there's a hint of movement inside the visor, and finally a small maggot comes crawling out.
    "Fuck," I mutter, sitting back. I watch as the maggot crawls across the metal and then heads back inside via a small hole where the helmet meets the neck. My first instinct is to turn and get out of here, but curiosity gets the better of me and once again I lean closer. Since I'm in a coma, I can't be in any danger from anything in the library, so I figure I might as well get a better look at whatever sick ideas my mind has dreamed up for me. I mean, it'd almost be rude not to look. I'll probably start waking up soon, so I might as well take this opportunity to see what kind of sick stuff my subconscious mind has created. I reach out and take hold of the helmet, before slowly lifting it up. To my surprise, it seems at first as if there's nothing inside; however, after a moment I see a couple more maggots drop out from the bottom of the helmet.
    "Gross," I mutter.
    Before I can let go of the helmet, a huge mass of maggots comes dropping out, accompanied by a skull. Forcing myself to keep hold of the helmet, I stare in disbelief at the maggots as they wriggle all over the armor.
    "Seriously gross," I say.
    Seconds later, a much larger maggot starts to emerge from the neck cavity of the armor. Taking a moment to calm my nerves, I remind myself that this is all just a part of my imagination: I'm not really in a giant library, and I didn't just take a maggot-filled helmet off the head of a dead guy. I focus on the image of my body in a hospital bed, and I imagine my parents noticing a small spike in brain activity. They're probably wondering whether I'm dreaming in here. Although this whole situation is gross, I really hope that I remember it all when I wake up. If I wake up. Suddenly I'm struck by the realization that maybe I'll never come around, and I'll be stuck in this fantasy world until someone decides it's time to switch off my life-support machine. Then again, my parents would never allow them to do that; they'll insist on every possible procedure being tried to get me out of this mess.
    Still, it's too much grossness for me: I drop the helmet and back away from what is now a huge pile of maggots, with just the armored legs of the human figure visible. I guess those maggots had a pretty fun little eco-system going on in there, and now they've suddenly been allowed out to explore a whole new world. A bit like me.
    Backing away from the maggots, I try hard to keep from panicking. If I'm really trapped in my own mind, and if my body is really in some hospital bed somewhere, I might never be able to escape. No matter what I do, I'll just be stuck in this fantasy world until my body dies and everything goes blank. I can't help but imagine the doctors standing by my bed, explaining that they think I'm brain-dead and