Horror Stories from Horrified - Volume One (2)

w or ked up. It was common know ledge that the collection of glass epigr aphs found
in Middleton defied r egular categor isation. All attempts to decipher them, or even
to place them into ar chaeological histor y, had not only come up blank but had
r esulted in ever y r esear cher disappear ing. And that was w hen the book that helped
decipher the inscr iptions was still ar ound, befor e it had been lost to the ages.
As she tr ied to find anything in Mister Gr egor y?s vast ocean of books that could
r elate to the haunted glass epigr aphs, Lily?s eye was again dr aw n to the black NO
ENTRY door that hid the oddly colour ed book in the glass cabinet. Paddling thr ough
the stor e, Lily paused to listen for any sounds of Mister Gr egor y upstair s, befor e
inching thr ough the black door.
Lily poked her nose inside, instantly tur ning it up at the foul smell. She cr ept into
the back r oom, spotting the str ange tome, only this time the thing began changing
its shade as if br eathing thr ough the spectr um. Wide-eyed, Lily star ed as its colour
changed fr om gr een to pur ple to r ed. And the mor e Lily star ed, the dar ker its black
binding seemed to get. She felt the sense that the book was alive.
She peer ed in closer , squinting as she tr ied to r ead the inscr iptions on the fr ont of
the book. It looked to be in Latin and fr om w hat Lily could make out, appear ed to
suggest that the thing was ?ar cane?and ?tr eacher ous?.
Betw een the changing colour and the str ange war nings, the book cer tainly
seemed to be par anor mal in natur e. Per haps even par anor mal enough to make
people disappear w hen they r ead it?
Like the feeling one gets w hen star ing dow n a pitch-black stair case at night, Lily
began to get a sense of unease as the book continued changing its colour.
And w hat was mor e, Lily?s r eflection in the glass began to defor m a little. Her
pupils seemed lar ger than nor mal, her limbs longer. Her eyes flicked back and
for th betw een the book and her r eflection, the sense of unease now tur ning to a
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