While Martha was busy, I decided to check out a library which opened a couple of days ago near the train station. But first things first, let's talk about Fanro.

Fanro wasn't in a good state until the government changed and immigrants came and improved the economy 15 years ago. Then, also thanks to foreign investments, Fanro became one of the most technologically developed cities in the world.

This brings us to the current Fanro.  It's the cleanest city, poverty is zero, most people are quite rich and lots of families move here to study or work in tech related fields.  This is also where the most popular tech devices were invented and where the first social network was built. 

People got bored of sharing everything with strangers pretty fast, so local networks started to catch on. Fanro has had its local social network for about 2 years or so. People there post news, funny things that happened, and, like in every other city, rumours. Well, not simple rumours. 

Due to the rapid change of government and the foreign investments, people thought there was something fishy. In about 2 years, Fanro radically changed without knowing when or why. It was to be expected that conspiracies started to gain traction, little by little. All these conspiracies started to appear in this “Rumours” section. But with time, they became so crazy that people came back to their senses. So this section became unused and rarely visited.

Only “horror” stories are now posted there. I say “horror” cause they really seem like they are written by preschoolers. The problem is, some of them are true.

I had a boyfriend until a couple of weeks ago, and he was the sweetest thing in the world. Caring, kind and honest to the bone. He was an actor too, like me, and he didn't have a reason to kill himself. Absolutely no reason.

Then I came to know about this forum, and I came to know that he wasn't the only one who killed himself that week. Tens of people did. Until a couple of weeks ago, it wasn't rare to hear of four different people than hanged themselves in the same day, but fortunately now it doesn't happen as often as before.

I learned that every month a new rumour appears in the forum. And by watching the news, most people would link these strange deaths to these rumours if they knew about its existence.

A new rumour popped up a day ago. There's a library in the city centre where you can find books connected to the people you care the most. By burning those books, you'll make that person die. As I said, only a preschooler would come up with a lame rumour like this one. My job is to discover if it's the truth or not. 

"Welcome."

As soon as I got into the library, a man in his fourties greets me. It seemed like a normal library, with lots of different sections and a small reading room upstairs. It wasn't a busy place though. Kinda strange for a library in the main street.

"Do you need help with something in particular?" 

"No, thanks. I'm just giving a look."

"I see."

"It is a normal library." - I muttered.  There were books for kids, teenagers, other novels and such.  I randomly picked up a book just to seem busy to the man who was looking at me ever since I stepped in this place. I picked up a crime story, and from the pages I read it was a really good book. It made me think of how I don't read many books, mainly due to work. 

When I was thinking about this, something changed. I was certain it did.

I put down the book and looked around. By memorizing lines of the roles I played throughout my career, I developed a good memory, at least better than the average person, I guess. That's why I immediately thought something was strange: all the books had now a different cover. I was 100% confident they had. There were also many less books on the shelves than before. Two books caught my eye.

As I read the pages I could clearly recognize the protagonists. One was Martha, the other was Cel, a friend who I first met about two months ago. It was strange that her book also appeared here, because I didn't really think of her as a close friend.

I wasn't sure wether the shelves changed on the spot or I just didn't notice those books. Nevertheless, I bought both of them.

"That's 10,50."

A question popped in my mind.

"Are you the only one working here? I mean, it's quite a big library, isn't it?"

"Yeah, you're not the only one who asked me this. Despite being a big library,  there aren't many people who would come and buy something. Most would just look around, or read a book upstairs for free."

 "For free?"

"Well, technically speaking it's not free. There are vending machines upstairs, and I make a profit from those."

"I see."

"Can I ask you a question instead?"

"Go ahead."

He got closer as not to let hear the conversation to the people nearby.

"Doesn't the police know you're alive?"

I was startled by that question. I put on so many things that I was 100% unrecognizable, even by my mother and my manager. In any case, the only thing I could say to him was the truth.

"No, they don't."

"Oh, I see."

At that time I thought he was just someone who enjoyed interfering in others' business.