Thomas’s Midnight Book Club (at the Library)

September 15, 2025

Date: 2025-09-15 00:02

(Thomas’s Midnight Book Club (at the Library))

[Mon Sep 15 2025]

A Vast Circular Pit of Books/span>/spanThe Well of Books opens in the center of the library floor, a perfectly
circular pit approximately thirty feet in diameter with polished stone edges
worn smooth by countless hands. Curved bookshelves line the walls of the
shaft, rising from the opening’s rim and descending into darkness below, each
shelf packed with volumes of varying age and condition. Brass rails run
vertically at six-foot intervals, supporting rolling ladders that allow
access to the books at different depths, their wheels creating a distinctive
clicking sound against the metal tracks. The topmost shelves, visible from
the ground floor, hold leather-bound tomes and cloth-covered volumes, their
spines showing titles in Latin, Greek, and scripts that predate modern
alphabets. Electric lights illuminate the first twenty feet of the descent,
but beyond that, older gas-style sconces provide progressively dimmer
illumination until the light fails entirely and the pit continues into
absolute blackness. A cool draft rises constantly from the depths, carrying
the scent of old paper, leather, and something mineral, like wet limestone,
while the faint sound of turning pages echoes up from far below, though
whether from other readers or some other source remains unclear. A brass
plaque mounted on a pedestal near the edge bears a simple warning in several
languages about maintaining three points of contact on the ladders at all
times./span>/spanIt is about 60F(15C) degrees. The mist is heaviest At Birch and Madison/span>/spanDragging herself in, Seraphina is in fact wearing PJs.

Dovie waves to Seraphina, grinning. “Love your PJ’s! Too adorable.”

“Evalina,” Thomas says to Evalina, from where he perches with some concern at the pit’s edge. “And Miss Hawke!” he says, delight in his eyes as he sees Seraphina. He glances towards the door. “I see a few more coming,” he says. “And I’m getting text messages saying others are on the way.”

Evalina glances at Seraphina, “Sera, you look amazing. Like a cute present for all of us.” She glances to Dovie then, nodding. “Quite so.”

Coming in with Eloa and Sophie, Buck gives a tip of his hat as he says, “Evening, all. Good to see you.”

Sophie gives a little wave as she walks in with Buck and Eloa, snuggling into Buck’s side as she gets cozy.

“Well I can’t judge as it is only my second,” Dovie tells Evalina before waving to the incoming trio as the book club seems to fill up.

At Dovie’s claim, Seraphina unties her robe and gives the woman a quick flash of her actual PJs, then ties her robe back up, flip flops flipping and flopping as she heads to the pit’s edge. “No pendulum in the pit, I promise.” She adds, while sitting down, “But Mister Hale and I have yet to find the bottom.”

Coming in behind of Buck with Sophie, Eloa smiles, waving at everyone gathered including ducking her head in greeting to Thomas. Seraphina gets a bright smile and wave and ,@dovie, Evalina and Obadiah get more polite smiles as she settles into a seat near Sophie, but with room on her other side, presumably saving it for someone. She waves friendily towards Teagan when Teagan comes in as well.

Evalina giggles softly, then her voice takes on a conspiring tone, “I only read this because it was in a collection of what I presumed to be poetry, so I am woefully underprepared.” A wink, and she’s straightening.

“Gorgeous!” Dovie tells Seraphina. “Where do you shop for your PJ’s?” she inquires, curiously, waving belatedly to Teagan. “I heard an urban legend once of a pit somewhere in the midwest that the neighborhood just used as trash, never realizing how bottomless it was until one day, a man tried to figure it out, and told people on a radio station; and then soon after the government came and shut it down.”

Dovie waves to Lorelei also.

Thomas tells Dovie, “Miss Hawke and I have gone a long ways down,” he says. “And yet despite that long, long, long climb… We have never reached the bottom.” He pauses. “But we have found roads to the cities before down there, hidden tunnels away from where we descend.”

Lorelei breezes in like a Victorian ghost wearing narwhal slippers, her long flowing coppery curls trailing behind her as her dramatically flowy nightgown clings to her frame in such a way as to obscure most of her features, at least in this lighting.

Teagan arrives a touch late, looking a bit flustered. Likely due to the mad dash across the street from the campus proper. She is even tugging down her skirt just a bit. One of the discussion notes is taken up before she claims a chair, carefully setting her backpack down behind her chair so it’s not at risk of going over the edge. That’d be a disaster! There are small waves to others as she gets settled: with her copy of the story ready on her phone and the notes.

As more book clubbers arrived, Thomas says, “I printed up some discussion notes. Feel free to grab a copy.”

Dovie blinks in surprise at Thomas and Seraphina, and then peers down into the dark expanse below.

“Chateu du Hale.” Seraphina tells Dovie, nearly losing one of her flip flops, not slippers, into the pit, but curls her toes to keep it on. She winks at Dovie and Obadiah, and leans back on her palms after wiggling her fingers to Sophie, Buck, Eloa, and also Lorelei. “Evening, everyone.”

“It is kindof smart to use a bottomless pit as garbage dump.. then you never have to deal with it again. What if it ends up in magma pit at the bottom? Would be perfect.” Eloa muses, giving Lorelei a wave as the other woman makes their way in.

“…Now I kind of want to climb down…” Evalina murmurs, a bow and a sword still on her, “I did fail to finish my hunt quite as properly as I wanted to. Perhaps I could find something…” She questions, her eyes on the pit.

Obadiah waves back to Eloa from his perch on the edge of the pit. Evalina, Lorelei, Seraphina, and Sophie also got their waves too but as he is wearing a suit, feels more over dressed than anything and gets quiet

Sophie looks down, “Whatever is down there to hunt, can stay, as I greatly love Edgar Allan Poe and woe to any who interrupt this.”

Lorelei peeks down the hole. “You can’t all literally be felling the call of the void, that’s a little on the nose.” She says, planting her hands on her hips and scrunching up handfuls of sheer nightgown.

Sophie returns the wave to the group, wiggling her fingers happily.

Seraphina smiles at Dovie, “Don’t worry. There are ladders to try to grasp onto if you were to fall.” Its not very reassuring. “We always warn those who come to take heed.”

To all, Seraphina reminds, “Take heed.”

Sophie emits a low whistle at someone’ outfit, “Damn.”

Dovie nods at Seraphina before shooting a grin at Evalina and Lorelei. “The void does so call sometimes, doesn’t it?”

Sophie emits a low whistle at Lorelei’s outfit, “Damn.”

Lorelei lifts a hand magically into the air and echos melodramatially, “Take heed!”

“Let the Void’s calls go to voicemail, it’s really annoying when it keeps trying to get ahold of you.” Buck mentions.

Evalina nods towards Dovie, “Its voice is most alluring. I wonder if someone is looking at us on the other side, wondering the same?”

“I have been to the void once,” Obadiah says in a dreamy voice. “They have good ice cream. It’s a little shop in the foothills of madness just outside of town.”

“Well!” Thomas says to Dovie, Evalina, Lorelei, Buck, Eloa, Teagan, Seraphina, Matias and Obadiah. “Welcome to Midnight Book Club!” He smiles. “Speaking of meditating upon the void — we have Poe’s the Masque of the Red Death,” he says. “Which is about protecting ourselves from some dangers outside. I linked to a free copy of it, but the summary in short is — Prospero, the Duke of some city, cloisters himself away against the Red Death, which stalks the streets. He fortifies an abbey and throws a grand party, but there is an Intruder — a guest, behind a Masque, who is the Red Death himself.”

Matias arrives late and makes his way to find a seat beside Eloa unless she is flanked and then he just sits a row behind.

Lorelei drums her long pink nails against her phone case as she considers. “It’s odd, a little spooky when it’s empty space, but if you filled it with water I’d be all let’s goooo”

Dovie turns her attention to Thomas as the book club begins in earnest.

“So I’ll open us up with — did people like the story? Not like it?” Thomas asks. “Then we can start picking it apart. Who had a strong reaction to the story?”

Teagan is looking at her phone, but muses aloud: “And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, an abyss will gaze back into you.” And then goes quiet as Thomas begins. She hasn’t even paid attention to if anyone has taken a seat next to her! She must be finishing up her read.

Eloa definitely saved a seat for Matias and smiles up at him, leaning into him when he finally sits down.

Sophie giggles excitedly, “I love this story. It’s not my favorite of his, but it’s up there. It’s a beautiful tale that warns so eloquently of ..how foolish it is to try avoid death.”

Matias in a quiet voice to Eloa, “I had to have a brief call with Arachne, it sounds like I did not miss much but no cliff notes.” instead he hands her his phone with the book brought up forcing Eloa to actually read the thing.

Sophie’s summary has Seraphina looking up to Thomas, pensive, and furrowed.

Evalina gives a shrug. “I sort of read it by accident. I really liked the description of the palace really – and the symbolism behind it…” She trails off. “But it didn’t really resonate with me. Considering, you know, there’s people who did succeed at that…”

Putting the notes between them, Eloa looks like she’s pulling up the actual story on her phone to show Matias, just incase the professor hasn’t read the story of course! “You didn’t give me the cliffnotes.” She whispers to Matias although, the whisper may be slightly loud.

Obadiah keeps his attention forward and then looks at his smart phone which has a cheat sheet open, “I thought many scholars warned about reading it as an allegory. I mean sometimes a cigar is just a cigar right?”

“…The Abbey.” Evalina corrects herself, “…It’s dawning on me. It not being a palace was part of the symbolism..”

“Death is a door,” Thomas tells Sophie. “I wonder, sometimes, what is on the other side.” He glances at Seraphina. “I was in a position where walking through it seemed a very strong contender for ‘my only choice left’, but thankfully I had an angel on my shoulder.” He looks at Obadiah. “All the same: whatever Poe intended, it -is- allegorical, isn’t it?” He looks at Evalina. “And we’re in it — why do you think it matters that it is an abbey, not a palace?”

Dovie nods in agreement with Evalina. “Yes, I missed that too, but also I figured that since they wanted somewhere to cloister that a place like a palace would be much too easy to infiltrate.”

Sophie taps her heels lightly against the stone as she listens. She tips her chin toward Thomas, voice steady but thoughtful. “It matters because an abbey is meant to be a refuge, a place of sanctuary. A palace would only shout power and pride. Prospero tried to wall himself up with holiness the way he walled himself up with wealth, but none of it was enough. Death still found the way in.”

Evalina thinks for a moment, looking a little flummoxed at Thomas, “It’s a bit obvious, isn’t it?” She suggests, then cocking her head, a finger to her cheek. “A palace is a symbol of rule – of authority and, in a way, of responsibility.” Beat. “An abbey of seclusion. He’s in an abbey while he should be in a palace, escaping his responsibilities in his attempt to escape death…”

Lorelei says “I think this story in particular might be the one time Poe actually indulges in allegory beyond just dipping a toe“

Seraphina fusses with the tie on her robe, clearing her throat softly at the mention of the very real, and not-so-long-ago brush with said Death.

Obadiah falls quiet, leaning back on his hands, not prepared to argue either way, and just watches.

Matias seems to be listening to a lot of the back and forth and lifts his baritone of a voice to query Thomas, “What do you make of the numerology and color theory? Dante’s Inferno is from the 14th century but this piece is from 1840s. Do you believe perhaps that Poe is creating his own layout and map of… not hell but the mortal experience with the unknown?”

Teagan is listening, discussion notes balanced upon her lap; phone in hand. Her other hand is held up, fingers curled into palm, thumbnail caught between lips as she chews lightly at it. A pose of someone in thought. As everyone speaks, there is no attempt to interrupt or cut in. She does glance up every now and then to someone in particular before looking back down.

“If only Prospero had you, Miss Hawke,” Thomas murmurs sidelong to his assistant.

Thomas looks back at Evalina. “Escaping his responsibilities. What a fascinating turn of phrase. Is that something you’re projecting onto Prospero, or do you see that in the story?” he asks, before he looks back to Matias. “Is it a mortal experience with the unknown? It might be.” A pause. “Or it could be a description. I wonder sometimes if Poe is describing a ritual, glimpsed through a looking glass in some fairground funhouse.”

Sophie leans forward a little, peering into the pit as if it might answer for her. “A ritual, or just a carnival mirror that makes mortality grotesque. Poe loved pageantry. Maybe the masque is both: theater that looks like a rite. The fact that it feels like a ritual only makes the final moment heavier, because you realize the only prayer in it is the clock ticking down.”

Mayhaps Eloa hasn’t read it. Or maybe Eloa’s english is too poor to understand it but Eloa sets her hand on her chin and rests her elbow on the side of the chair, gazing over at Seraphina somewhat intently for a moment before scrolling her phone. Those who can see her screen can see she’s still on the first paragraph. Oops.

Thomas nods to Sophie before he asks, “Who else has thoughts about the meaning of the -place-, whether it is the setting of the Abbey or the very specific arrangement of the rooms?”

“I believe that the fundamentals of ritual magic and the reaction to unknown forces are one and the same. There is a power, misunderstood, but tangible. There is an intent, likewise unknown but placed upon a thing. There is a manifestation. These are the fundamental elements of facing the unknown. Something which has power, so it can act. Has an intent, we do not know so we fear. That manifests its presence so we know it can act and is real. So ritual observed or metaphor it is one and the same.” Matias points out to Thomas

“Seven apartments, seven colors, seven circles of hell? It could be symbolism of allegory. In my opinion, he’s a dumbass for inviting a thousand friends over during the height of a pandemic.” Buck says with a shrug.

“The act of doing that just screams to me of a rich person having hubris to believe that none of the problems of the poor and plebian will effect them.” Buck adds.

Sophie leans over and quietly say to Eloa, “Alright, quick version: Prospero and his rich friends lock themselves in an abbey to hide from the plague. They throw a massive masquerade with seven colored rooms. Think, stages of life colors with black at the end. Death is at the end. They dance, the event is full of music and laughter. But at midnight a figure dressed like the Red Death walks in. One by one they all die. Moral? You cannot wall yourself off from death, no matter how rich or clever you think you are.” She gives Eloa a wink.

Lorelei tugs her sheer nightgown tighter around her shoulders, curls spilling forward as she gives a wicked little smirk. “My take is that Prospero built a mood board for denial, then Death crashed the invite list.” Her tone lilts, teasing but edged with knowing finality.

Seraphina leans back further onto her palms, eyes going a bit hazy, and dreamy, lost a moment in some thought, before she returns to the world. “Uh.. Sorry.” She sits up, brushing her fingers through her hair and turning her attention to Sophie and Eloa as the story is summarized. “Selfish is more the word, I think, Buck,” she offers to him.

Evalina considers Thomas for a moment. “Perhaps some of both? I do have some history of escaping death…” She admits candidly. “But he’s a prince, in a nation at, if my memory doesn’t fail me, great peril. And opposed to ruling, acting, solving. He’s fleeing. Hiding.” Beat. “Amongst the Mundane’s I’d imagine that would sound like foolishness. But of course, in the real world, it’s the Prince Prospero’s that live a thousand years or more…” She worries her bottom lip. “Presuming Poe was mortal – and wrote from a mortal perspective, I would say it is /intended/ to drive home the difference in expectation. Prince from a public symbol of rule, to a private symbol of seclusion. But it gets more interesting if we imagine Poe might have been an immortal, maybe. In which case the Prince could have very well been real – and death could have been a more direct consequence of something he was abandoned..” She trails off, thinking.

Dovie raises her hand to offer to the group. “I think of it like time. Because aside from the color coordination of each room, it seems like you can only get through one, by walking through another. So time is linear. Maybe the way life is?”

“Usually hell has nine circles,” Thomas comments to Buck. “It is heaven which numbers seven — is the Red Death the Devil, assailing the very fortress of God’s creation?” he wonders. “Is that why it is an abbey?”

As Eloa’s hero summerizes the writing, Eloa flashes Sophie a bright smile, “Thanks. Guess Prospero wasn’t supernatural and hadn’t heard of immortality or becoming a vampire.” She comments a little, piping down to listen to the others.

Thomas turns to look at at Evalina, listening. “I think even for the immortal, there are red and bloody things for us to fear.” Then he nods to Dovie. “Oh, I like that!” For a moment, there is something almost childlike — Thomas has a genuine love of books.

More listening, the paper almost slipping from her lap save for the hand holding the phone landing on it. Teagan looks almost bored for a brief second before her eyes go distant and she takes in a sudden breath. That kind of ‘almost fell asleep and started awake’ moment. Her chair makes a rather painful sound against the floor and she flushes scarlet as she scoots it a little back from the edge of the pit, muttering her apologies.

Lorelei twirls a curl lazily around her finger, gaze flicking toward the pit as though she were seeing those seven heavens or nine hells stacked below. “I don’t think it’s the Devil,” she muses with a sly little smile, “It’s obviously a literal walk from dawn to dusk, life to death.”

Dovie nods in agreement with Lorelei.

Thomas turns to someone “The rooms, perhaps — but that brings us to the Intruder, doesn’t it?” he asks. “What does the Intruder mean?” His eyes flicker to Teagan. “Miss Lawson — did you have some thought about the Red Death?”

Thomas turns to Lorelei “The rooms, perhaps — but that brings us to the Intruder, doesn’t it?” he asks. “What does the Intruder mean?” His eyes flicker to Teagan. “Miss Lawson — did you have some thought about the Red Death?”

“Plague personified.” Seraphina says, “So in turn, they are Death, not the Devil.” She slowly kicks her feet as they dangle in the pit.

Obadiah raises his hand slightly and offers, “Well the intruder is probably just the plague bearer of some mystical malady. Hester if you will.”

“What if instead of symbolizing mortality and the futility of trying to seclude oneself of the journey of life, the story symbolizes immortality and the attempt at holding structure and amusement in the eternal while in perfect safety – of the way fear of death may invite danger? The very idea of it of such a terror, Prince Prospero cannot act rationally and hoard his eternal revelry after such a period of escapism..” Evalina considers for a moment, then furrowing her brow, shaking her head. “…Nevermind, that thought just doesn’t click right…” She crosses her arms, then leans back, “…It has to be the original meaning.”

(re) “Plague personified.” Seraphina says, “So in turn, they are Death, not the Devil.” She slowly kicks her feet as they dangle in the pit.

Lorelei gathers a fistful of her sheer nightgown against her hip, leaning forward with a wicked little smile. “The Intruder? Obviously the smug bastard at the covid party who swore he tested negative.”

“He is plague,” Thomas agrees with Seraphina and Obadiah. “But I think there’s something more than that: plague, too, is a metaphor. It is the original enemy within, isn’t it?” he says. “There are sicknesses that are more than just a miasma of the air. There are sicknesses of the mind,” he says. “Worse still — there are sicknesses of the spirit.” He pauses. “And then there sicknesses, too, of the body politic.”

“Writer’s are clever and may hide meanings but I also think Writer’s want their audience to understand. Poe specifically uses relatable things in his motif but purple prose in his painting of a scene. That is why he was so prolific. His stories could play out in your mind in your own home. A door, a hallway, a living room, a hallway, a bedroom. So death enters my house and comes for me and I at the end of all things flee or wait for him. It does not need to be 7 rooms and many colors. It could happen to me. Because the imagery is so direct. In this story I think things are what they are.” Matias comments

“Or to briefly tangent on authorial intent. The heart of your victim you can hear beneath the floor. The Guilt you cannot ignore. Also very simple, very relatable, something the readers mind can take and project upon their own fears.” Matias adds

Thomas begins to respond — and then falters, his thoughts lost for a moment.

“Of course, the plague is a personificaion of the main characters greed, selfishness, and desire. It has no concern for others.” Seraphina says, quietly. After this is said, she brings her legs inward, and looks like she is about to stand.

Sophie lets her legs dangle into the pit, musing, “Maybe that is the point though. Death is literal, plague is literal, but it is also whatever sickness you fear most. Spirit, mind, body, even the smug bastard at the party. Poe leaves the mask blank enough that everyone sees their own terror in it. Which is why it works.”

“Oh, hm. The enemy within, what a thought…” Dovie hums. “I’ll be honest, I am rather a fan of the way the rooms are color coordinated…” She seems to have no shame over admitting such.

Recovering herself a touch, Teagan sits up a bit straighter. She tucks the discussion notes into her bag. “In the Victorian Era, there was a fascination with these things. Death, the macabre. It’s… part of Poe’s success, in truth. He would never have made it today. Self-published zines at best, I am sure. Oh, I like him myself, but much of his imagery was… well, a bit of self-wankery. But for the time it fed into the… sensationalism of it all. So yes, it was the… well, it was a horror movie before such a thing. The Intruder was whatever your mind conjured. The plague. A vampire. A murderer. Your own mortality. The-” a gesture toward Matias as she returns from her personal horror at having lost herself for a moment, “yes, purple prose. It is almost purposefully vague and colorful to allow you, the reader, to fill in the gaps however you may wish. It is only as frightening as you make it.” She looks down at her phone again, gesturing with it. “I could rewrite this as a comedy.”

“Since Prospero was rich and assumedly everyone involved in the ball was of the upper class, as was common with the time, do you think this is a metaphor for greed and how it would consume all of them? Perhaps it is that metaphorical disease like you are saying.” Buck queries.

“It –” Thomas takes a moment to collect his thoughts, before he replies to Buck. “It might be,” he says. “Dovie and I were considering how the Red Death might be a metaphor in our own lives for the Legion: an enemy within, consuming our city,” he says. “And perhaps it is our own obsession with who gets what that lets them slide into our lives.”

Dovie nods in agreement with Thomas. “I think it is an interesting parallel, though the analogy can really apply to a wide range of things.”

“You are so right Hale… We should go to Aurora Heights and just kill every 63rd member we find there. We can form a mob.” Matias says in a wry tone. “You could argue that Prospero was gregarious and generous. That his failing was inviting the healthy indiscriminantly instead of secluding himself.”

Thomas glances over Seraphina as she begins to stand. “I suspect that if we do not care about others, Miss Hawke, we all end up like Prospero, don’t we?”

Obadiah is momentarily distracted by his phone, whatever is on it brings a small, thoughtful, frown to his features but after a quick response he hides his phone in his jacket pocket and offers up, “Plague is just a plague sometimes. This plague looks like Ebola. Probably some poor guy who was shut out from the Abby and made his way in to kill the people who thought they were better than him. He was already a dead man, why not take down a couple of bougie bigots with him?”

Lorelei perches at the pit’s edge, precariously dangling her precious narwhal slippers over the abyss as she gathers her sheer skirts higher, baring her long legs to the knee. One hand balances lightly on the polished stone rim, the other twirling her phone idly as she smirks. “Greed, denial, plague, whatever name you give it, Death doesn’t need an invitation to the party.”

Thomas looks to Lorelei. “He doesn’t need one: but -was- he invited, in the story, do you think? He’s called the Intruder, but as Dovie pointed out…” He nods to Dovie. “The rooms might symbolize life: and life always, always ends with Death.”

“He would have gone bored, insane, and died alone.” Evalina posits to Matias, “I’d argue his failure was attempting to run, instead of fighting death head on. There’s no point building defenses against an enemy you cannot defeat, running from one you cannot escape from. As such, the only option is logically to find new paths. A palace offers more methods than an abbey there, I’d argue…”

“Could also just be a hungry vampire that just got let out after being starved for a while.” Eloa muses thoughtfully as she listens to the others speak about the legion. “Is not red also the color they choose for communism.. The red giant coming to conquer the world?”

“Hence the term cautionary tales,” Seraphina says.

Lorelei lifts her bracing hand to comb her fingers through her wild coppery curls and after a heartbeat of thought she simply replies, “Perchance.”

Thomas asks, “What do we all think about the guests? Are they the chorus? Players in the story? Victims?”

“They aren’t named, and often in a play of this time, they would be considered the chorus, or some sort of background symbolism of fates.” Buck says with a grin.

Teagan gives a small shrug, goes back to chewing at her thumbnail and scrolling on her phone. Through the story? Another story? Something else altogether? Who knows.

Obadiah nods in agreement with Seraphina about cautionary tales

“You know, if you come to talk about a book, perhaps you should get off your phones.” Seraphina remarks,

“They are hale explicitly so. And when death appears, Prospero accuses it of mocking their woes. So the selection of the guests is clearly meant to avoid the plague which they acknowledge is a woe to them.” Matias says to Thomas

Sophie puts her phone away, “Apologies Professor.”

Seraphina remarks this, while she stands, and fidgets with the robe tie again to tie it, looking beyond the group to the exit.

“The chorus is a Greek concept,” Thomas agrees easily with Buck. “But — significantly — not only did they serve as a kind of background, they also stood in for the audience.” He turns to the crowd. “Where do you all see yourselves?” he asks. “Are you a party-goer? Are you Prospero? Or — are you the Red Death?” he asks. “Let’s have a show of hands.”

“Raise your hand if you see yourself as a party-goer,” Thomas begins.

Matias lifts his hand up.

Dovie raises her hand as well.

Seraphina lifts her hand, robe tie falling from her grasp, still untied

Sophie raises her hand, a little shrug following as she says, “I’d be the one sneaking wine in the corner and pretending the clock is not ticking.”

Eloa raises her hand as well, leaning against Matias.

“How about Prospero?” Thomas asks, looking around. “Who sees themselves as the doomed Prince?” A beat. “Show of hands.”

Obadiah raises his hand as well.

Lorelei says “Surely in this allegory there’s room for people who were not stupid enough to accept this invitation… Maybe I am dying somewhere alone in the countryside… “

Evalina notable keeps her hands firm on her legs with the talk of the guests. “I think the guests are a symbolism for the foolishness of followers, sharing in the revelry, but also in the inevitable fall, of the Prince. Yet having no choice in it of note – not their company. Miserable, honestly…” A sigh, and she raises her hands with the mention of Prospero. “Sort of. Fleeing from death isn’t new to me.”

“Lorelei please… You would accept the invitation. Show up. Take the good stuff and go to the afterparty.” Matias says in an aside to Lorelei.

“I am afraid you are,” Thomas says to Lorelei. He quotes: “No pestilence had been ever so fatal, or so hideous.”

Lorelei says “I’m famous for not showing up to things!!“

“I would like to think you’d create your own rainbow room in the abbey, Lorelei,” Dovie giggles, nodding at Obadiah after.

“And yet every mist rescue who is on a horse riding around with me at 4am in the morning.” Matias says in a pitched lower voice trying not to interrupt the book conversation but briefly giving Lorelei grief.

“Evalina thinks herself Prospero!” Thomas says. “Anyone else?” he asks. “Anyone else who is the Prince — full of power, fighting against the plague?”

“Lorelei would flood one of the baths and end up flopping about.” Evalina teases of Lorelei

Lorelei wrinkles her nose and goes back to messing around on her phone brattily.

“Who would want to be Prospero… He is portrayed as a dead fool, but was he a noble fool. Who took his friends, with his wealthy, to a House of God, to celebrate life and good friends. Only to die because Death does not care for good intentions?” Matias asks Thomas as a fair group already raised their hands for invitees.

Hearing none, Thomas asks then the last question: “Party-goers, Prospero… who is none of these?” he asks. “Whose hand goes up because they themselves in the Intruder — in the Red Death, come to toll the party’s end?”

Dovie gazes around at those gathered for the book club to see who responds to this one.

Teagan is on her phone, but not texting. She does, if anyone checks, have the text up. She swaps every so often to another app: a note-taking program. She actually has some… fairly extensive notes about the book going. She’s engaged. She just isn’t speaking up much, but then… Her one attempt might prove why: Teagan is one of those quiet types that tends to not be heard and be spoken over by everyone around her. Observe, listen, simply write down everything you’d say if you could. But she does not raise her hand as a party-goer. Nor does she raise her hand as the doomed Prince. Nor, when it is mentioned, does she raise her hand for the Red Death itself. Instead, should there be any sort of lull, she will raise her hand just halfway, barely above her bright red hair and murmur: “The musicians. The only living set decorations.”

Obadiah is likewise curious as to see themselves as the epic wet blanket of parties, his eyes scanning each face intently

Dovie smiles in Teagan’s direction. “Ah yes, there were many others there who were not in the main categories too.”

Raising his hand, Buck lets out a long, tired sigh. “I think it’s a part of my work in The Twilight Bureau that when we shine a light on the actions of monstrosity, it tends to lead to violent reactions sometimes. Often death or other calamity follows, so I don’t think it is necessarily Death in this instance, but The Intruder being a catalyst for a downfall is similar to the outcomes of many of my cases.”

Lorelei pulls a wickedly sharp diving knife from beneath her nightgown and rises ominously, her eyes going flat and dead inside as her pale fingers clench the blade. She sweeps the crowd as if searching for the weakest member to cull, then she laughs and collapses back to her seating position, giving her wild red curls a toss and sighing to herself.

Pointing at Matias and Thomas, Eloa offers up, “The professors are probably the red death. The dorm spot searchers who end the party and doom people to low GPA’s because they like drugs or party too hard in dorms.” She mentions, twiddling her fingers a little.

When Buck raises his hand — well. Thomas does, too. “Everyone in the story is powerless,” he says. “Everyone except the Man in the Mask.” He lets that linger, emerald eyes passing from face to face. Then he lowers his hand. “We’re almost at an hour,” he says. “But: I wanted to ask about the last line of the story,” he says. “Who knows it?”

Lorelei says “I only brought one mask today.“

“I’d argue anyone who would truly be out there killing those seeking immortality, would probably not be here, at a book club. They would be over at the Natural History Museum, pondering if they could get away with bombing this place.” Evalina opinmes with a shrug.

Lorelei says “Oh wait I brought two…“

Lorelei pulls on a sleep mask and tucks her hair into a bonnet.

Dovie giggles softly at Lorelei.

After chastising people about their phones, Seraphina is lost is a thought, and there comes a flush in her cheeks, and a clear of her throat, as well as a sleepy shake of her head. There is a drowsy ruffle of her hair, slow doe-eyes landing on Matias a moment, then trailing to Thomas. “I do not know off the tip of my tongue.”

“Anyone? It’s printed in the notes, for God’s sake!” Thomas says, laughing. He picks up a copy, then reads: “And Darkness and Decay and the Red Death held illimitable dominion over all.” A beat. “What does that say to all of you?”

“And Darkness and Decay and the Red Death held illimitable dominion over all,” Teagan says after, yes, sending some texts. Terrible.

“And darkness and decay and the Red Death ruled forever over all.” Matias recites in a droll baritone. “Because everyone is dead and everyone else is dying. As you said Hale. If Lorelei did not show up to the party, she was dying alone and everyone in the party died. Everyone in the world of this story is dead and Death stands alone.”

Lorelei says “the cheese stands alone“

Thomas wonders, “Is it dominion at all, if your kingdom is a single man?”

“Isn’t there a quote somewhere that says to rule the universe you first have to rule yourself?” Buck notes.

“Does every King, Emperor, President and even God, not bow in the end to fear of death by necessity of survival?” Evalina wonders, cocking her head

Sophie had been letting others talk, but now she tips her head back as she says, “Dominion doesn’t need a crowd. Darkness and Decay don’t ask for subjects, they just keep going. Even if only one is left alive to see it, that is enough. Poe is saying death wins because death always waits, even when the party is over.” She glances toward Lorelei with a crooked smile. “And yes, sometimes the cheese does stand alone.”

“When Lucifer fell and all the other fallen angels became demons. Lucifer did not, he remained an Angel. Is Lucifer not the King of Hell despite being the last arguably Divine thing in it. Being one of a kind does not mean nothing matters. It means you are singular.” Matias sugests.

Lorelei quothes, “If you want to bake an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe.”

Dovie cannot help but smile at Lorelei.

“As long as death is not like Ebola and more like covid. Ebola kills too fast so it cannot spread as well. Unlike the cold or covid which no kill but it means they live on forever more. Spreading over and over.” Eloa isn’t very good at contributing.

Matias eyes Eloa there and suggests, “We need to read these books before the start of the club, Eloa.”

“Lorelei is the smartest among us,” Obadiah says with a nod for the redhead then comments back to Dovie. “She’s very pragmatic. I respect that.”

“Death always waits,” Thomas says, echoing back what Sophie said. “Doesn’t it, just,” the necromancer shares. “Well.” He pauses. “I think that gives us all something to consider,” he admits. “I always try to promise to keep us to an hour,” he says. “And here we are — any last thoughts about the Masque of the Red Death?”

Dovie nods in agreement with Obadiah. “I think it was a fun read, and an interesting discussion. Thank you, Thomas, for holding this.”

Lorelei seems to just be saying random quotes now as she adds, though with some thought this time. “With strange aeons, even death may die.”

“I have a question for you Hale.” Matias calls out with a bit of a grin. “If Death is a Doorway and there is knowledge and power on the otherside… Is the Red Death itself denied that knowledge and power forever. Does Death even know what is on the otherside of the threshold of Death or is it the most powerless thing of all. Left alone dominion over corpses, never knowing where everyone went?”

“It just sounds good,” Teagan says quietly as she sits up a bit straighter and tucks her phone away. There’s a brief glance up toward Thomas. She puffs a bit of air out, more to blow an errant strand of hair out of her face than anything else. “Like ‘it was the best of times, it was the worst of times.’ A few sentences prior to the last, you have ‘he had come like a thief in the night.’ An oft-used line, but also a good one. Certain things just… tickle the mind. I think reading too deeply into it gives a man who had a history of addiction too much credit.” She goes to stand, her skirt briefly catching on the edge of the chair. She starts, as if she’s been bit by something. The fabric of the skirt is gathered up against her thigh and she spends a moment just collecting herself while staring down at it.

Lorelei spots Arachne and leans over to whoever is closest to her to whisper in that sort of stage-gossip-Hanselissohotrightnow style way. “Double briefcases are in, alert the fashion authority.”

Evalina lifts her hands in a wave to the Summer Queen, smiling at Arachne. The discussion seems to be coming to an end – and she looks a little out of it by now.

Dovie waves to Arachne.

“That is a good idea.” Eloa admits to Matias like it isn’t the most obvious thing ever, to read the book that the book club is about. “Although Eloa kindof need someone to explain it to her.. English is not quite good enough for all these fancy flowery words although Eloa like listen to them.”

At Matias’ question, Thomas turns to look at him. “I don’t know,” he says. “I am not sure if he is trapped on one side — or if it is just that has passed through the Black Gate and then returned.” A long pause. “I do not know, Alejandro: but I want to.”

Matias rises up and brushes off the back of his jeans before checking his watch and considering Thomas for a moment and nodding.

Obadiah looks around and lets out a soft sigh, “Well that was fun. I was a little out of my depth but it was fun. Maybe I can come to a couple more of these and get a totally legit degree out of this.”

Arachne inclines her head to Dovie with familial warmth, her lips parting as though she were going to speak to Lorelei before her phone begins to vibrate in her hand. Irritation flashes briefly over her features, quick to murmur an apology before she turns, drifting out to handle her business discreetly.

Sophie smiles at Obadiah, “You did fantastic.”

Buck nods to Obadiah, “Most of my reading ends up being files and non-fiction, but this helps me to expand my horizons more.”

“Well,” Thomas says to Dovie, Sophie, Seraphina, Evalina, Eloa, Matias, Buck, Teagan, Obadiah, and Lorelei. “I am glad you all enjoyed yourself. I’m always open to talk more about the book.”

“Though — I’ll be traveling doing research for the next ten days or so starting tomorrow night, so it may be mostly by text, and that intermittently.” Thomas smiles.

Lorelei rises from the pit side to stand proud and hotly. She strikes a pose and for a second you might think she was going to jump in, but she does not. “I hate when people ask me to put myself in a category especially when its multiple choice.” She says, to no one in particular.

Stretching upwards towards the sky like she did hard work – which she did not, Eloa gives Thomas a bright smile, “Eloa hope you have safe travels around for the next two weeks. Thank you like always for holding book club.”

Dovie giggles at Evalina, telling Lorelei after. “You are uncategorizable, Lorelei.”

Sophie gives Thomas a happy smile, “Thank you, once again you’ve chosen an exquisite bit of literature. Thank you. I’m so glad we got to spend this time together.” She looks at Buck, giving him a tender nudge, “Can my chariot take me home to sleep?”

Obadiah gives a two fingered salute to Thomas, “You will be missed but I am sure there are plenty of other adventures to be had on your return.”

Matias walks over to Dovie and while Eloa chats with Thomas, “So the next time we meet. Pickled veggies and guest speaker. Have a day in mind or wing it?”

Buck nods to Sophie as he stands up and puts both his and Sophie’s chairs back at one of the library tables for easier cleanup as he tips his hat and says, “I hope you all have a pleasant evening, as I’ve been requested to find myself in bed.”

Matias waves to Sophie and Buck while speaking with Dovie

Eloa waves at Sophie and Buck, “Have good night!” She calls out before returnig her attention to Thomas

“Always,” Thomas tells Eloa. “And I’m sure my research will be fine,” he says. His eyes flick to Seraphina. “Don’t things always turn out fine, Miss Hawke?”

Sophie smiles and waves to the room, “Night all!”

Seraphina crosses her arms beneath her soft bosom when she is asked that question, if that is the answer.

Lorelei gives Seraphina a funny look, and sticks out her tongue in a friendly sort of way.

Buck nods to Matias, “I’ll remind her tomorrow morning as well.” and he strides forth with Sophie in arm towards the parking lot.

“Maybe sometime the four of us can explore the endless library together?” Eloa gestures towards Matias and Seraphina before returning her hand towards Thomas, “Like have double date picnic when you get back.”

Seraphina murmurs softly, “And she says ew about certain things.” She is distracted by …

“Fine!” Thomas tells Seraphina, though he steps towards her. He leans in, to claim some kiss. “I do appreciate being alive,” he murmurs to her. “And without you — I’d be exploring that other side.”

Matias hears himself being volunteered for something from afar and turns to look around and spy Eloa with a squint

Teagan steps up to the actual edge of the pit and leans just enough to gaze down. Perhaps to see if the abyss does, indeed, gaze back.

Lorelei says “I text Dovie all the time she does not always reply.“

“Certainly,” Thomas tells Eloa, turning away from his assistant, who appears to be straying considerably more into ‘girlfriend’ territory. “When I get back.”

Lorelei says “It’s alright I only reply to like one out of four texts myself“

Evalina for a moment gives Teagan a strange look as she leans over the pit, as if considering something, then glances away from her.

“Weow.” Eloa crosses her arms under her breasts to as she squints over at Thomas, “Eloa had to give you mouth to mouth! And you say only one angel was on your shoulder.” She sniffs at the man as she takes Seraphina’s side.

Obadiah winces at something then smiles up at Seraphina and Eloa, enjoying the show at Thomas’s expense.

Lorelei dramatically waggles her bright red eyebrows at the mouth to mouth implications.

“it is true,” Seraphina tells Thomas, the kiss accepted, but with some reluctance, given — well — everything? “But I do want you to try to be safe. I’ve said it before. It is not all fine. I wish you would stop.” She gives him some level of plea in her eyes. “Hm?”

Dovie moves over towards Obadiah. “How do you find wearing faecloth? Is it very comfortable?”

“I will be safe,” Thomas tells Seraphina. “I promise.”

Evalina blinks at Obadiah at the mention of faecloth. “Jeesh, that looks nice…”

Lorelei turns her gaze to Obadiah’s pants, which are clearly not shorts. “They make faecloth shorts?” She asks, “Wow those are long shorts…” She enhthuses. “Magic can do anything…..”

“I need to go to bed,” Seraphina reports, breaking away from Thomas, and then finally giving Obadiah a good once over.

Matias walks over to Teagan who is peering down and goes, “You could jump, it does not actually end.”

“Good night, Miss Hawke,” Thomas tells Seraphina. “I’m not far from there,” he admits. “I’m too old for midnights.”

“I do not know what to make of you not wearing boardshorts.” Seraphina tells Obadiah.

“It will be fine don’t worry!” Eloa tells Seraphina, giggling a little and then looking back up at Thomas, “Eloa did not even hear a thank you for hte mouth to mouth!” She looks at Thomas as if disappointed and then returns to Matias’s side.

“Thank you,” Thomas tells Eloa at last, teasing.

“However!” Thomas says. “It is time for me to sleep.” He pauses. “Good night, all.”

“I am considering it,” Teagan says quietly back to Matias. “Maybe you could push me, so that I don’t have to keep thinking about it.”

“I dress up occasionally!” Obadiah says defensively. “I thought tonight was a dress up occasion!” He shakes his head, then pausing as he looks to Seraphina and coughs before saying to Dovie, “It is very light weight. Would you like to try it on?”

Sticking her tongue out at Thomas but not looking like she’s upset in any way, Eloa hooks her arm around Matias’s, resting her head against his shoulder. “Goodnight Thomas. Have good trip. Eloa will take care of Sera while you’re gone!”

Lorelei says “I was wearing somethign way nicer but then Sera said something about pajamas so I ran home and changed…“