Horror Stories from Horrified - Volume One (2)

Lily took a few seconds to ensur e the old man was indeed gone, watching the door
handle for any movement. Nothing.
Lily held her br eath and dar ted thr ough the shop and into the back r oom.
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The smell of r ot had still managed to penetr ate Lily?s held br eath, and by the time
she?d gotten to the book, she?d given up tr ying to keep it fr om her nostr ils.
As Lily star ed once mor e at the book in the cabinet, the sinking feeling in her
stomach appear ed again. Unable to r esist any longer , she clunked open the cabinet,
r eached in and took out the book.
It felt cold and heavy in her hands. It had the same r otten scent that per meated
the r oom, and as Lily gagged a little, she noticed it was fastened w ith a small br onze
latch.
Lever ing the latch open, she peeled back the fr ont cover and smiled to her self. On
the inside cover was mor e Latin, and she could make out a few key w or ds she?d
lear nt thr ough her r esear ch. "Something, something glass," Lily quietly r ead aloud.
"Something, w r iting, something. I?m sur e that w or d means uncover. Oh, phantasma
definitely means ghost. A-ha! Middleton."
Glancing thr ough the r est of the fir st page, Lily mentally confir med that this was
indeed the myster ious, haunted book concer ning glass epigr aphs that made the
r eader disappear. How macabr e!
"I?ll tell the old man that I?ll close up shop tonight," she thought to her self, "and
w hen he?s left, I?ll sneak it out. Only for a few days, just to photocopy it." As she
flicked thr ough a few mor e pages, str ange lines of w r iting caught Lily?s eye. They
appear ed at the bottom of ever y page and w er e ar r anged in an odd five-pointed
patter n:
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