Over and Over Again | ONC 2023

Chapter 8

Aurelia laid in bed, mindlessly staring up at the ceiling.

It couldn't have been him, she tried convincing herself. Derek was dead – he had been dead for over a century, she saw his body with her own two eyes.

Lily's gentle breathing and soft fur against her arm normal lulled her to sleep, but she hadn't felt this restless in over a century. She didn't sleep for days after she lost Derek.

The first night was still a delirious blur. Despite how desperate she had been over the years to try and get a hold of Azrael, she barely even remembered meeting him that night. She sometimes wondered whether or not it had all just been a bizarre fever dream. Even his words could only be vaguely recalled.

"I'm sorry Aurelia, I promise to try and give you the closest thing."

She suddenly shot straight up. "Azrael," she groaned, "was this you? Is this what you meant?"

The room fell silent once again as she waited. The tiniest flicker of hope was lit inside of her, though she knew that he wouldn't respond. He clearly couldn't care less about her.

-

Aurelia entered the building. The sun had barely begun to rise, sending in rays that illuminated the library with a soft, warm glow. It was the calm before the storm, as she and Elaine liked to call it, though Aurelia was anything but calm.

She was over an hour early for work. Being left alone with her thoughts was driving her crazy, and she spent the entire night wide awake. Working would take her mind off of things – at least she hoped it would.

The computer played its usual two note tone as it powered on. There were plenty of things to do, but they all seemed incredibly frivolous in comparison to what she wanted to do.

Just a peek.

She opened up their database search bar and nervously hovered her fingers over the keyboard.

Max Baker

She needed to confirm her suspicion; Max was simply a frequent visitor of the library. It logically explained his familiarity, she saw hundreds of faces everyday but rarely spoke to anyone. He was just another passing face in the crowd.

His account page opened and she sighed in relief, he had definitely been here before if he had a card. Elaine made every new person who entered the library sign up for a card – whether they wanted to or not. She found herself distracted for a moment by his photo. Even just through a screen, she couldn't help but stare. His smile was ever so slightly wry, as if taunting her and her investigation. Despite the rest of his features being completely different from Derek's, she knew there was something there. 

Snap out of it you idiot.

She quickly returned to reality and her research.

As she scrolled, she noticed his account had only been made less than a week ago – using their website. He hadn't borrowed a single book since then. The uneasy feeling lingering in her chest began to grow again.

She buried her face in her hands. "It's fine, it's fine, it's fine," she murmured to herself. Max must have visited and left without borrowing anything.

She considered her options.

Was she really about to go through seventy two hours of security camera footage?

You bet.

Aurelia opened the software that stored their old security footage. Going back to the day he signed up for a library card, she began to play the footage. Thank goodness for the adjustable speed settings.