• Absolute •

][ XIX ][

I stood up and stepped over the old woman's whimpering body, dropping the heavy book on the floor as I walked away from the bookshelves. I would've gone back to save my work but I was sure it was all lost anyway. Plus, I didn't want to take the chance of that lady finding me again.

I had dropped my backpack at the mouth of the aisle and bent down to pick it up as I walked. Slinging it over my shoulders, and trying to look like everything was fine and that I hadn't just smacked a old, demon lady in the face with a book, I made my way to the exit doors.

The desk at the very front of the library came into view and as I walked past it, and out the sliding glass doors, I realized something. Every single person who stood at the checking-out desks and the Help and Communications desks - were staring at me.

I paused and turned to look back at them through the glass. They had all stopped doing what they had been doing, to stare at me. A man, with his fingers hovering over a keyboard turned his head to look at me, his face blank and emotionless. A woman who was checking-out a little girls book had froze to stare at me, the girls book in one of her hands. Another old lady had stopped stapling papers together to look at me too. Were they all like. . .like that other woman? And if they were, what exactly were they? Without wasting another moment, I turned on my heels and headed straight out the doors. I don't think I would be returning any time soon.

. : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : .

The sidewalk I walked on was empty (they usually were) but this was. . .eerie yet also calm and relaxing. I had a feeling of being watched but I didn't know if it was Ezra, another creepy librarian - even if it was, I wouldn't care since I knew I was able to knock their teeth out - or Lorin, or maybe even something else entirely.

Keeping my head straight ahead, but my attention and hearing behind me, I continued to walk down the empty, quiet street. There were no buildings or houses or parking lots on this road. There were only vast, expansive forest on both sides of the road. And in those forests, wild animals, wild creatures -that probably existed that I didn't even know of - and a wild Ezra, roaming free somewhere.

Sighing in I-don't-know-what, I picked up my pace to get away from that feeling of being watched and from being on this mysterious road. Then, I froze. I've felt this feeling before - and then, Lorin showed up in my bed in the morning. Could this be just Lorin again? I felt stupid, but I had to know.

"Lorin?" I called out into the empty, cool air. No reply. "Its. . .you, isn't it?"

"No." A voice, one of a male, came resounding from behind me. I turned but saw no one.

"Ezra. . .?" I questioned. I doubted it was him though. I usually felt this cold shiver run down my spine. . .like someone had spilled cold water down the back of my shirt, whenever he was nearby. There was no reply, but I stood still, waiting, listening intently.

"Nope." The same voice whispered. This time, the sound of his voice was right by my ear, his breath fanning the side of my face. I started, and turned around to look at who it was. No one. The voice had been teasing, playful. . .but he - whoever he was - didn't seem to be playful at all.

"Then who is this?" I asked, growing frustrated. I had just come back - had just survived - being attacked by a old-lady demon. There was no way I was going to let this guy mess around with me.

"Okay, okay. . .relax." The voice floated through the air and to my ears again. "I was just kidding around. What's up your as$, babydoll?"

"Seriously!?" I yelled in exasperation and relief when Lorin suddenly appeared in front of me. He grinned a wide smile that showed his white teeth. His smile was so genuine and. . .happy that I had to smile back. "I just came back from getting roughed up. Dint joke around with me."

"What happened? And oh, I just thought you naturally looked liked you ran through a carwash." Lorin commented lightly and I gave him a look that was only half pretend. I turned back to the way I was going and started to walk once again. Lorin followed beside me, his hands in jean pockets and his walk lazy and laid back.

"A librarian attacked me." I said shortly, not wanting to relive the moment.

"What? Did you have an overdue book or something?" Lorin joked. "Did you. . .did you vandalize a book!?" Lorin faked shock and looked at me with wide eyes.

"No, and no." I replied. Usually I would have joked back with anyone, but this. . .incident was unnerving and unsettling and spooking me out too much.

"Hey, what creature has nasty yellow teeth, black pointed fingernails - that are the size of my arm - and yellow eyes, and a black forked tongue?" I asked Lorin just in case he knew somehow.

"Sounds like a demon. . .or a bad faerie. . .or ghoul. . .or a vampire - no, not a vampire - they're not that ugly." Lorin spoke, seeming as if he was talking to himself more than he was talking to me. "Yeah, I say either demon or bad faerie. Ghouls are gigantic and. . .ghoulish."

"Oh. . ." I whispered in astonishment, fear and shock. Had I just fended off a demon? Or even a bad faerie? Either way, I seemed pretty badas$ now that I thought about it. But the fact that I had been fave to face with either a demon of a bad faerie, seemed terrifying to me.

"What? You haven't seen one before?" Lorin asked in astonishment. "You shouldn't be scared because you're 'Ezra' is considered something way worse than them."

"Oh. . ." I mumbled again. Fear struck me as I realized that Ezra was always around me. The shiver that slithered down my spine and pulled me into awareness, proved so.

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DUN DA DA DUNNN!!!