Treading across the dull, multicolored bindings with his delicate fingers, Arthur checked through various manuscripts to find the perfect book for Caleb and Nessa.

In spite of their different sizes, covers, and colors, the books almost look like a strange puzzle if you think about it. 

From sappy romance to teen fiction, the novels were lined underneath the letters of the alphabet—much to Arthur's chagrin. 

Why people put books in alphabetical order is beyond his comprehension. But since Arthur's boss is a neat freak, he wants everything to be organized to a T.

One by one, Arthur shows the duo a book that discusses Greek gods and goddesses. 

However, Nessa and Caleb weren't eager to read it; so, he puts the paperback novel between Wuthering Heights and Catcher in the Rye then continued looking. 

Meanwhile, the restaurant looked as though something had drained the life from the customer's eyes. 

The music is depressing; the customers sighed between meals and the worst part is that it was pouring outside. 

"Wow," Caleb looks outside to see heavy raindrops soaking the floor. "Does Lovecraft Creek always rain here?" 

Arthur solemnly bobs his head. 

"Not so many people enjoy the weather," he explains. "A part of me wonders if this rain has something to do with the incidents going on in this town."

A confused Nessa puts 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea away so she can listen to Arthur. 

"My girlfriend read in the newspaper that a cruise was devoured by the underwater boogeyman," said Caleb, squinting at the brownish-gold book cover.

"Do you think this 'boogeyman' killed those people?" 

Arthur did a low snort. 

"I doubt a boogeyman would bring down an entire ship. But if there was a monster who would do this type of thing, I'd start with this."

He pulls out a worn, leather dark brown novel whose size is a little heavy in his hands.

After that, he opened to page thirty-seven where Caleb and Nessa witnessed beautiful illustrations and elegant writing.

But the foul stench of dust and ancient glue made Nessa cough.

"Dear God." she winced. "How long have these books been there?" 

"Sixty years," Arthur answers as he lowers the book on the floor. 

"It's been a while since people come to our library. Nowadays, everyone gives a damn about their looks and shitty cassette tapes."

Nessa frowns at this. "Wow, you don't get out much, do you?"  

That made Arthur's snakes hiss in response.

They attempted to crawl out of his woolen cap, but Arthur angrily pushes them back inside. 

"Oh my God, will you guys shut the HELL up?" he barked to his snakes. 

His intense words made Caleb feel uneasy. 

Caleb had encountered Gorgons like Arthur before. Usually, they enjoy the company of their snakes—but not this kid. 

Truth be told, he looked as though he wanted to strangle them. Removing his sunglasses, Arthur looked at Caleb and Nessa. 

His irises were brown dipped in forest green, but his pupils were as thin as a snake's. 

"Sorry about that." Arthur apologized. "They haven't eaten in a while."

Nessa and Caleb nod, though they had no clue what Arthur meant. 

"Oh," Caleb laughs nervously. "That's cool." 

Putting his dark sunglasses back on, he resumes scouring the shelves for the perfect book.

Nessa tries to focus, but the stale odor drove her insane. 

"God, I hate this smell," she grumbled.

"Me too," Caleb whispers in agreement. 

"These books are older than that librarian Mr. Shepard. Remember the time when we put a whoopee cushion on his chair?"

"Holy shit, yeah!" Nessa cackled. "It was so loud everyone thought he farted!"

The duo laughed until Arthur peered into the book with pages of watercolor paintings and words examining every monster, nymph, and demon from all around the world. 

Just then, the teenage gorgon stabs the page with his index finger.

The page discussed a Greek monster called Cetus. It has two front legs like a dog, a body the size of a bloated whale, and a serpent-like tail. 

"Rumor has it that this monster was conjured by Poseidon himself."

Caleb made a face. "Why the hell would he do that?" 

Arthur sits on the floor, not caring about the piercing glares coming from the customers.

"Queen Cassiopeia made the mistake of bragging to everyone that her daughter is more beautiful than Poseidon's."

Nessa's eyes widen. 

"Damn," she thinks. "This lady signed herself a death warrant." 

"Poseidon punished Cassiopeia by sending Cetus to destroy the kingdom." Arthur went on. 

"So that's when Perseus came in."

"Hey!" Caleb exclaimed. "Isn't he the one who killed Medusa?"

Arthur became silent. "Yeah."

In an instant, Caleb's face matched the color of bright cherries. 

"Way to go, dude." Nessa hissed. 

Scratching the back of his head, Caleb apologized to Arthur once more. However, the Gorgon didn't hold a grudge towards the awkward telepath.

Instead, he warns them of impending danger. 

"It's a hunch," began Arthur. "but I think this creature is responsible for their deaths."

Nessa looks at him funny. "You think so?" 

"I mean, think about it: why would so many people disappear in a blink of an eye?" 

Caleb ponders for a moment. 

"Arthur does have a point." he thinks to himself. "If it were a hydra, it would have terrorized the town."

Getting up from the floor, Nessa thanked the Gorgon for his help. 

"No problem," Arthur smirked, removing his butt off the floor. 

Brushing the falling dust off his jeans, the Gorgon adjusts his woolen cap, then walked around a puzzled Caleb. 

"Hey, do you know much do these books cost?"

"Thirty-seven silver guineas."

Both Nessa and Caleb were caught off guard by the enormous price; but even so, the kids agree to pay for it.

Reaching into his pocket, Caleb hands out the pile of silver tokens, but the Gorgon silently shakes his head. 

"You have to pay the cashier." he clarifies.

With a kind gesture, Arthur indicates his index finger at the stern woman standing in front of the register. 

Her hair was in a big, curly Afro; rich brown skin brightens underneath bleach white lights as the cashier examines her nails. 

The woman's attire is made out of a simple white T-shirt with pipes jeans and worn Birkenstocks. 

Sighing some more, Caleb politely collects the ancient dictionary from Arthur's hands, carries the basket full of books, and leaves so he can talk to the cashier.

Meanwhile, Nessa prompted to follow him when Arthur asked: "So, is that guy like your boyfriend or something?"

Nessa casts a strange look at Arthur.

"God, no." she frowned. "He has a girlfriend." 

"Oh." Arthur blushed. "Are you from here?"  

"Nope."

"Okay." the Gorgon slid his hands inside his jeans pockets. 

Through his dark sunglasses, Arthur's eyes studied Nessa's brown hair, fiery dark brown eyes, and rebellious grunge clothes. 

But for some reason, she reminds Arthur of Rayanne Graff—that quirky girl from My So-Called Life. 

His mom would rain hell if Arthur was caught talking to rule-breaking hooligans. But the girl was cute in Arthur's opinion.

He wondered if she has a boyfriend. 

"What's your name?" asked Arthur suddenly. 

Nessa scrunched her eyebrows but didn't say anything. 

"What brings you to Lovecraft Creek?" 

She sucks her burning cheeks and stares at Caleb, who is paying the cashier lady the stolen money. 

"Christmas stuff," Nessa replied. "Anyway, I have to get back to my friends."

"Cool."

After giving him an awkward wave, Nessa heads over to the table where Brooke and her parents were sitting. 

"Hey!" Nessa welcomed. "The books are being purchased, we just need to wait." 

Brooke and her parents both nod in sync. 

"So, who was that boy you were talking to?" asked Adelaide. 

Nessa's cheeks start to turn bright pink.

"His name is Arthur," she responds.

Corners of Brooke's lips aroused as she glances at the teenager restocking the bookshelves. 

"He seems like a nice boy," she observed. 

"Arthur is a Gorgon." 

"Oh." 

Sitting in front of Brooke, Nessa asks: "Where is Johnny and Triton by the way?" 

"They are over there." Thomas indicates his index finger to the men who came back from the lunch counter, carrying their coffee mugs. 

"Hey everyone." greeted Triton. "Johnny and I bought ourselves some coffee."

After Johnny plopped down next to Nessa, he tells her that he called and told their parents where they are. 

"I told them that we were in Lovecraft Creek," he continued. "So they made a couple of reservations at the Eridanus Hotel."

Nessa bobs her head. "What else did they say?"

"Dad says he loves us while Mom told me to keep an eye on you."

Brooke smirked whereas Nessa grumbles something rotten under her breath.

As soon as Caleb returned with a basket of material, he places it in on the table so everyone can see. 

"Whoa," Brooke murmured.

An exhausted Caleb bobs his head. "You have no idea."

Thomas gets up from his chair, allowing the boy to sit close to Brooke. Lifting one of the paperbacks from the vast pile, Johnny opens the book and flipped a couple of chapters.  

"Jesus," he mumbled. "This is a lot of reading we have to do."

"Well then, let's do it together," suggested Triton. 

The waiter came by to take the group's orders; however, Triton informs them that they will take their bowls of chowder to go.

*  *  * 
After leaving the depressing establishment, Adelaide, Thomas, Triton, and the kids head over to the Eridanus Hotel.  

Thanks to the Phoenix couple, the hotel manager gave everyone each a silver key to the master suite. There, they had lavish beds, functioning lights, good cable, and glamorous sceneries.

Not to mention it has expansive bathrooms.

Coming out of the steamy shower, Caleb showed up wearing nothing but a white bathrobe and slippers.  

His takeout food and shopping bags were placed evenly on the ivory table—right next to his girlfriend's. 

"Babe, have you seen the fucking shower?" he asked for the umpteenth time. "It's hella gigantic!" 

A grinning Brooke sat on the luxurious bed, putting down her plastic bowl of chowder. 

She wears a white tank top and light blue shorts. As for her hair, Brooke transformed her luscious black locks into a natural Afro.

As he joined her on the bed, Brooke kissed his forehead, then watched Living Single playing on the flat-screen television.

But somewhere in the background was the sound of drizzling water spraying on the cool windowpane.

Light blue curtains struggled to conceal the terrible weather, but it was impossible. 

The intimidating thunder roared like a wild lion and the blue walls darkened the tone of the room.  

Sighing, Brooke switches off the remote and collapsed into bed.

"I hate the rain, sometimes," she confesses to Caleb as they were cuddling. 

"I don't blame you." he agreed. "When I was a kid, I used to make mud pies and dance in puddles." 

"But now. . . I just avoid it." 

"How come?" 

Caleb opens his mouth to speak, but closes it.

In spite of his immense love for Brooke, Caleb does not like lying as much as I do. He wasn't comfortable sharing his traumatic event.

"So, did you and your parents have a great time?" he asks, changing the subject. 

Brooke smiled, "Yeah, you could say that." 

An intrigued Caleb leans his back against the mattress.

"What did you guys talk about?" he asks. 

"Oh, just some old memories from when I was a little kid." shrugged Brooke. 

"Cool." 

The couple stared at each other longingly.

Brooke's nimble fingers sauntered on his left cheek whereas Caleb was astounded by how absolutely beautiful she is. 

For nearly one year, Caleb has been busy trying to figure out a way to show Brooke how much she means to him.

But every time he tries to speak, it comes out awkward. 

"So, what do you want for your birthday?" he eventually asked. "I can take you to your favorite cheesecake restaurant."

However, Brooke humbly shakes her head.

"No, thank you," she answers. "I am fine." 

Caleb's expression grew suspicious. 

"Are you sure, babe?" he inquired. 

"Yeah, and besides," she smirked. "I have friends, a wonderful family, and a man who treats me right."

Wrapping her arms around Caleb's neck, Brooke puckered her lips and passionately kissed him on the mouth.

Her eyes were closed; her gentle hands guide Caleb as he tilts his head like a puzzled artist attempting to complete a masterpiece.

However, just as he continued to go further, Brooke tells Caleb to stop.

"What happened?" he asks quickly. "Did I do something wrong?"

Brooke awkwardly shifts her weight on the bed.

"You were fine," she responds quietly. "It's just that my parents are probably listening in the other room." 

"Shit, sorry."

Caleb removes his hands away from Brooke and slides himself off the bed. 

The soft blue carpet repressed his footsteps. 

Rain thumped on the glass; but somehow, the noise attracted the attention of Johnny and his little sister Nessa—who was sleeping in different beds. 

Scampering her fingers through her messy brown hair, Nessa glances up at the baby blue ceiling. 

Her bare toes brushed against the satin blue covers, but Nessa's gray Pearl Jam T-shirt and black pajama pants did nothing to protect her from the cold.

Throwing the thick bed covers over her body, Nessa began to turn off the lights when an insomniac Johnny enters her bedroom.

"Hey, Johnny." Nessa yawned. "What's wrong?"

Her older brother closes the door, motions toward her mattress, and declined beside Nessa 

"I cannot sleep in that fucking room." Johnny groans. "King-sized beds aren't my thing."

Nessa sighs as Johnny scoots close to her. For his sleepwear, he dons a black Minor Threat T-shirt and sleek, dark red pants. 

As Johnny rolls on his back, he asks Nessa how she is doing. 

"Fine," she says. 

"Really?" Johnny smirks. "You seem pretty flustered around that Gorgon kid."

His little sister glowers at him. "Shut up."

"So, you're ready to get back out there?" he inquired. "It's been a while since you have dated someone."

Nessa leans her back against the light blue bedpost. She tries to make a perfect ponytail, but her hair ended up clouding her eyes.

"You're one to talk." she retorts. "You haven't had a steady girlfriend since Brooke dumped you."

Johnny made a face. "First of all, Brooke didn't dump me. And second, you never liked any of my girlfriends!"

"I like Brooke." Nessa shrugged. "She's better than those airheaded bimbos you bring home."

He rolls his eyes but didn't argue. 

Instead, Johnny turned off the lights, wished Nessa good night, and crawled under the covers.