Action Short Stories

6. At The Library

The glass doors slid open.

Serra and Brittany rushed in from the pouring rain. Thunder cracked throughout the dark skies as the doors slid closed behind them, shielding the inside of the library from the wind and rain. A last gust of wind snuck in, making the orange and black streamers flitter and twist from where they adorned the walls and ceilings.

"Happy Halloween," the Librarian called.

"Hey Miss C.," Serra said. Her septum and labret piercings jangled loudly as she shook the water from her hair; she made her way across the lobby to the giant kiosk. Brittany slowly followed behind, face buried in her phone.

"I left my USB stick here when I was using one of the computers yesterday," Serra said, water dripping from her ear helixes and running coldly down her neck.

"Oh, yes, dear," the Librarian said, leaning to her side to reach under the counter. She plopped a giant, beige purse on the desktop. "But it's actually a vape."

Serra's eyes widened. "Oh, I—I didn't know that. Really. I just use it for whatever."

"Uh-huh." The Librarian began rummaging through her giant purse. "You should know—"

A cigarette lighter fell out of the bag, bouncing down to the floor in front of Serra's feet.

"Miss C.!" Serra said. She bent down to pick up the cheap plastic BIC lighter. "You smoke?"

"Smoking is super-bad for you," Brittany said disapprovingly, not looking up from her phone.

"Holy shit, Miss C.," Serra said, nodding her head approvingly. "That hits on a whole different level."

"That's enough, girls." The Librarian held out her hand. "Just give me—"

The lights went out.

The heater that had been humming loudly in the background before fell silent; it slowly whirred down, a low thrum that faded away into complete silence. The only sound was the rain pounding outside, thumping on the roof and tapping against the giant, glass windows.

Serra looked around, not able to see much in the blackness—the glow of Brittany's cell phone blurrily bloomed from over her shoulder, a soft orb of luminance hovering around them.

"Everything's dead," the Librarian said, reaching over to tap on her keyboard. "Can't get—"

A scream came from the darkness.

"What's happening?" Serra whispered, her heart pounding.

"Quickly, girls," the Librarian said, hurrying out from behind the kiosk. "Out the front. Brittany, call the police."

"No service," Brittany said, eyes stricken.

The large glass front doors wouldn't open. They all tried to pry between the doors, to use their palms and force the thick panes of glass to slide apart, but all to no avail.

"We'll never get through," the Librarian said.

"Break it," Serra said.

"That glass isn't just ballistic-proof, it's explosive-proof," the Librarian said. "But there's an emergency exit in the back, through the old part of the library."

Serra started to get nervous again. Through the old part of the library?

In the dark?

But the Librarian was already moving.

She moved with fluidity and assurance; Serra and Brittany followed behind, clumsily crouched, squinting to see in the dark. The three began down one of the many long aisles of bookshelves—to Serra, the aisle looked like a dark tunnel, a black hole that went on for infinity.

She felt her chest began to tighten as claustrophobia gripped her.

They continued on for what felt like eternity. Every once in a while Serra would hear some rustling and shuffling coming from the shelves she couldn't see surrounding her; she would jump, imagining a hand suddenly shooting out from between two books, grabbing her and—

"Why is this aisle so long, Miss C.?" Serra whispered to the Librarian.

"It's not," she whispered back.

"Hey, Brittany," Serra whispered, turning around. "Have you noticed—"

Brittany was gone.

The dark aisle behind Serra was completely empty, for as far as she could see. That's impossible. Where could she have gone? Terror began to steal over Serra's heart, her fear growing into something that threatened more and more to overcome her.

"Miss C.," Serra finally managed to whisper. "Brittany isn't behind us anymore."

"No," the Librarian's hushed whisper came back. "She's in front of us."

Serra looked.

In the darkness ahead, she could see a black shape hidden amongst the shadow of books... just a lump on the floor. But as she looked closer, she saw movement—not just movement, but a lot of little movements.

Like something was writhing over the lump.

"Give me the lighter," the Librarian whispered, her voice a bare husk. Serra passed the lighter to her, her body tense, breath held.

The Librarian flicked it alight.

Serra could only freeze in horror, unsure to assimilate what she was seeing, trying to make sense—

There were books crawling over Brittany's body.

They writhed and wriggled over her from her head to her toes, their covers opening and closing in the dim, dark light. Serra could see dark liquid pouring from the books—as she watched, one cover closed down on Brittany's arm, her skin beginning to sizzle and foam, the pages seeming to chew flesh like if from the sharp teeth of a shark. Blood poured, Brittany's body convulsing as the swarm of books continued crawling over her—

Like maggots.

Serra opened her mouth to scream.

A hand suddenly came down over her mouth, clamping it shut. The Librarian's face was instantly right next to Serra's—Serra got the light scent of something fruity and pleasant.

The Librarian slowly brought her finger up to her lips.

Shhhh.

Serra nodded.

The shelves far behind them began to topple over, falling into the aisle. One followed the other, the books falling onto the floor—the books began to flop around, violently flapping their covers open and closed as their pages angrily fluttered.

"Run!" The Librarian shouted.

They ran towards the body on floor being swarmed. Serra closed her eyes, jumping over the body, feeling the hardcovers of books slamming themselves into her legs, cutting her pants up.

Just run!

Serra fell.

She rolled over on her back, scrambling to get up, to push herself back. Books began to fly out from the darkness, liquid frothing and sizzling from their open covers. They started hitting her, landing on her, burning her skin. Something sharp stabbed her leg. All she could see was the fluttering of paper pages—it was like being in a hurricane of butterflies, a tsunami of fluttering wings blinding her vision.

Fire suddenly exploded in her face.

Serra looked up. The Librarian stood above her, holding some kind of torch—Serra thought she could only see a broomstick, the end wrapped in some kind of cloth and lit ablaze, creating a large circle of glowing orange light around them.

The books slowly worked their way back, an angry hissing sound filling the library. They slowly circled the perimeter of light the torch was making, covers gnashing.

Serra clumsily took the Librarian's outstretched hand, getting to her feet.

"Hold this," the Librarian said, shoving a large bottle of hand sanitizer, the lighter, and a roll of tape into Serra's hands. "We're almost there."