The Book of Doors
by Gareth Brown
Contents
Pain in the Forgotten Ballroom
Overview
Barbary violently derails the Bookseller’s auction, executing guards and a bidder before revealing he has stolen multiple books and can weaponize the Book of Matter. Lottie briefly seizes an opening by offering the Book of Pain and attempting to tear Barbary’s pain from his soul, but Okoro interrupts and reclaims his prized Book of Matter. Cassie and Drummond arrive through a door-portal into the chaos, and Barbary escalates by threatening Izzy at gunpoint while demanding his Book of Control and Cassie’s Book of Doors.
Summary
In the Macintosh Hotel’s forgotten ballroom, the Bookseller, Lottie, confronts an unexpectedly aged Hugo Barbary as he crashes the midnight auction. Furious and claiming he has waited fifty years, Barbary refuses to play by the auction’s rules. When Lottie signals her armed security team, Barbary reacts first and shoots three guards dead with clinical precision.
As panic spreads, Barbary turns on Lund for “stealing” his book; when bidder Merlin Gillette heckles the Bookseller, Barbary shoots Gillette through the forehead as well. Okoro charges Barbary, tackling him, and a struggle breaks out. Lund pulls Okoro off at Lottie’s order and disarms Barbary, allowing Lottie to confront him directly while the room watches her authority being tested.
Barbary reveals he planned for this moment and used the chaos of past auctions to target the Bookseller’s bookkeeper and steal multiple books. He then produces the Book of Matter and liquefies the ballroom floor, sending a wave that hurls people (and Gillette’s body) into the ceiling before dropping them back down, leaving injuries and deaths in its wake. In the confusion, Barbary snatches his gun back and boasts that Cassie stranded him in the past, making him ninety-four, but that a stolen health-or-vigor book now makes him feel strong again.
Lottie changes tactics and offers Barbary the Book of Pain. When Barbary takes it, Lottie uses the connection to attempt to strip away Barbary’s physical and spiritual pain, hauling up darkness and agony as Barbary screams and briefly looks like a terrified child. Before Lottie can finish, Okoro breaks the contact by tackling Barbary, then immediately abandons the fight when Barbary throws the Book of Matter aside; Okoro retrieves it and turns on Lottie, demanding the Book of Pain.
Lund steps between Okoro and Lottie, holding the line as Lottie considers escaping through her mirror. At that moment, a door opens into a different location, and Cassie and Drummond Fox enter, shocking the room and drawing Izzy’s attention. Barbary recovers, aims his gun at Izzy, and issues a new ultimatum to Cassie: return his Book of Control, and hand over the Book of Doors as well.
Who Appears
- Hugo BarbaryAged intruder; kills multiple people, wields stolen books, and takes Izzy hostage.
- Lottie (the Bookseller)Auctioneer; confronts Barbary and uses the Book of Pain to try removing his pain.
- OkoroBidder and Book of Matter’s owner; tackles Barbary, reclaims his book, then demands the Book of Pain.
- LundLarge enforcer; shields Izzy, disarms Barbary, and blocks Okoro from reaching Lottie.
- IzzyCassie’s friend; witnesses the massacre and becomes Barbary’s hostage target.
- CassieArrives with Drummond through a door-portal; faces Barbary’s demands for the Book of Control and Doors.
- Drummond FoxCassie’s ally; enters the ballroom and recognizes Barbary as the renewed threat.
- Merlin GilletteRude bidder; shot dead by Barbary after heckling the Bookseller.
- Elizabeth FraserAuction attendee; seriously injured or killed in Barbary’s Book of Matter attack.