The Lost Library of Alexandria [edited]

The Lost Library of Alexandria.

More like a heap of rusty old books no one cares for. It was said to be one of the largest and momentous libraries in the ancient world. The library was part of a larger research institution called the Mouseion, which was dedicated to the Muses, the nine goddesses of the arts. It was established – probably – during the reign of Ptolemy II Philadelphus (285-246 BC) in what was then called the Ptolemaic Kingdom.

It has become common belief that the Library of Alexandria was burned once and cataclysmically destroyed, but the library actually declined gradually over a course of several centuries. The burning story is just more exciting for the newspapers and the general public. From all the Romanian, Greek and Arabic texts it seems impracticable for any of the architecture from the library to still be in tact let alone the flimsy papyruses.

I arrived about 3 hours earlier than when I told my team reporting is so I could scope the area in serenity. My company paid a fortune to get the first dibs on searching the Serapeum.

There’s been a theory going around that, since it is common knowledge that the Serapeum was referred as the daughter counterpart of the Library of Alexandria, there might be a secret passage way leading from the temple to the library’s underground floors. If any of it is even left untouched. Previously the possibility had been ruled out because of the immense distance between the library and temple but of late a group of philologists found similar mentions of an underground system used by noblemen to slip to their mistress’s homes without detection. So, it could entirely be possible that there is a direct channel connecting the Library of Alexandria to the Serapeum.

The daughter library, subsisted up to the 4th century as long as paganism survived. But when Christianity became the one and only religion acknowledged throughout the empire, Emperor Theodosius I in his zeal to wipe out all vestiges of paganism issued a decree in 391 sanctioning the demolition of temples in Alexandria. Empowered by the imperial decree, Theophilus, bishop of Alexandria, led an attack on the Serapeum, and he himself gave the first blow to the cult statue of Serapis. His frenzied followers ran amok in the temple, destroying and plundering. Tragic.

I had been at it for easily more than an hour and had come across nothing but dust particles, a few different types of stones and of course the occasional litter. I was ready for a nap. I was looking for a nice flat area to sit and doze on, when I noticed a flower which looked like a rose but had a very peculiar design. It, in a way, resembled a star rather than the common rounder shape. It was carved in a strange spot too, at the bottom of one of the walls on the far right; nearly at the end of the temple. There was some debris surrounding the symbol, almost discernable if you didn’t know where it was. Prominently I searched the internet for any information and what’d ya know, sub rosa (Latin for “under the rose”) is an ancient symbol for secrecy. JACKPOT!

In enthusiasm, I put on a pair of rubber gloves and pressed the rose symbol that was going to reward me worldly riches and fame.

My face lit up with delight for nothing. Not one thing moved or changed, no secret passage or anything! At least there was a slight breeze.

I kicked the stupid decorative carving for the anticlimactic mood, and something squeaked. I examined the rose closely to find it a bit refocused. I assiduously gipped it and turned clockwise. It moved like a clog that hadn’t been oiled for ages, which it hadn’t since it was made of stone.

A small space opened up, with a loud thump, beside the rose carving. It was barely enough to fit a grown man but I would fit given my small physique. The narrow passage ran for a drawn-out distance and my knees were definitely scrapped; not far from bleeding. The dust was almost suffocating.

In some time, a large crypt with a two-floor cavity was filled with sunlight and vines hanging from the second story, which is absurd since this is underground with no opening from the surface, it was like the sun itself was in the room. The sides packed with rows of bookshelves. I was looking at the ceiling trying to figure out where the light was coming from and almost dropped into the pond in the open area at the center of the space. The water was clearer than what i'd imagine it like.

An exposed plot caught my attention. There was a drawing on the ground and a small table outside it, crowded with old books and-

“A projector thing? That would imply that there was a flow of people coming and going even after the collapse of the Serapeum. That’s impossible.” I chuckled aloud.

The projector turned on with the flick of a button, starting a video half way through as it seemed. A group of men, dressed in black robes with red embroidered on the edges, were standing bordering a large circle with a five-pointed star inside said circle along with writing I couldn’t read. They were mumbling words I couldn’t make out. Not much seemed to be happening so I looked at a leatherbound book atop the table, appearing similar to a journal. I checked the date on the video and flipped to that page in the book. Before I could read, something in the video caught my attention.

Someone small walked towards the middle of the drawing, a larger body followed to take off the former’s hood revealing a small boy, probably 6-8 years of age, smiling in gaiety. The bigger one took out a polished dagger from his robe. “I slay thee in the name and to the honor of Raum.” He said and slit the boy’s throat. The boy’s mass dropped to the floor with a vociferous sound. Blood creeping over the star drawing.

The man moved out the circle and started again, “O high and powerful being, may this sacrifice be pleasing and acceptable to thee. Serve us faithfully and better sacrifices shall be given thee.”

A pocket-sized light appeared above the, now dead, boy’s body. Till then I hadn’t noticed but there were dead animals all around the circle. Heart pounding from the mortifying horror, I read the contents of the 341 AD dated page. “When the circle was to used for evoking evil forces, candles made of human fat set on black wooden candlesticks encircled with vervain should be put at each point of the pentagram used to trap demons and spirits. Along the outer edge of the circle four objects are placed – the head of a black cat which has fed on human flesh for five days, a bat which has drowned in blood, the horns of a goat which has had intercourse with a human girl, and the skull of a parricide.” That’s disgusting.

The pocket-sized light had now turned into a tear in reality. It looked like the embodiment of nothing, black and threatening. The body of the dead boy got up and his face formed an unruly grin, eyes red reminiscent of his blood on the floor. He held his arm up and dragged one of the disciples into the pentagram, catching his neck. The boy compressed his nape hard enough to make his head fly off leaving a fountain of blood spraying into the repugnant atmosphere.

All the other men start running but the demon gets his fill torturing, eating and playing with them like a cat messing with her food before dinning. The video ends a few minutes later in a sickening massacre.

I looked over the other books scattered over the table and most of them contained pagan teachings, demon summoning spells along with precautions and a list of previously summoned demons beside their unique abilities. The list included demons that could torment people with putrefying wounds; bring agonizing death in three days from festering wounds; time travel; destroy a victim’s sight, hearing or intelligence and ones that could change people into animals.

“I need to get out of here.” I turned to leave but I had unknowingly stepped into the pentagram. Trapped in it. They got me.

“Well, I guess I paid all that money to make sure no one accidently discovered this crypt for nothing. Caught me right where it all began. Ironic.” I said ticked off for falling for their tricks.

“It may have been eons for you but it’s only been months for us, thanks to one of your brothers. Your kind isn’t permitted to roam Earth this long especially after breaking your infernal contract.” Stated the same high priest surrounded by his followers.

“I don’t care what the rules say. I won’t go back to that endless void. And if my fun ends here, I vow to take you down with me.” I spat.

“I'd like to see you try. I banish you, Raum.”