A Deal WIth A Demon (Infernal Love Series Book #1)

Part 9

Celeste opened the front door, winching at teh squeaky hinge at she quickly turned to close it. Putting her bag on the hook when a voice stopped her.

"So where are you actually going to the library?" Holly said as Celeste turned and saw Holly sitting on the couch on the tv the only thing illuminating the dark room.

Celeste in her hyper focused research mode hadn't planned on staying at the library all day. But the librarians were going through each floor dismissing anyone that was left in the library. And embarrassingly she was one of the few that were shooed nicely from the property as the librarians were trying to lock up for the night.

Celeste fumbled with her bag, the little scraps of papers that she had written out details from flew across the room as her purse hit the floor, spewing the paper scraps across the hardwood flooring.

Celeste hesitated just for a second before getting down on her hands and knees, picking up her purse. And started putting the paper scraps into her purse. Holly got down and started picking them up in her hands, and started looking at celeste's scribbles on the papers with a quizzical look on her face as she was trying to make out her notes.

"What–" Holly said as Celeste took the scraps from her hands and put them in her purse before scooping up the rest and taking her purse into her room. And closing the door behind her with an exasperated breathe.

She threw her bag on her bed, wincing as it mad a loud thud as it landed, and waiting for the paper sdcap to poof out of the top of her purse. But they didn't, which made celeste smile slightly as she took her shoes off and changed into more comfier clothes. Then grabbed her laptop to digitize everything she wrote out of the paper scraps so she wouldn't have a hard copy of this research for Holly to find.

She laid everything out on her bed in chronological order so she could type it out. Flinching when there was a knock on her door a minute later.

"Yes?" celeste asked out knowing that Holly was going to open the door even if she protested.

"Hey, you forgot these," holly said as celeste looked at her friends outstretched hands and saw a small pile of paper scraps in her hands.

"Couldn't quite make it out, but from the looks of it you were tring to find alot of books? What were you trying to do, see what the library's book loan limit was at one time?" Holly asked with a laugh as Celeste got up and took teh paper scraps from her friends hands.

"Something like that, but most weren't really matching my search results or the ones that I did find were already on loan," Celeste said, the slight lie rolling off her tongue easily.

"And here I thought you would've called Andre after last night and you spend all day at the library on your day off," Holly said with a shake of her head as she leaned against Celeste's open door.

"Hey next time you go though take me with you. You've convinced me to get a library card to get that app so i can save some money on books," Holly said as Celeste smiled and nodded her head, as she was trying to suppress the groan she wanted to let out at the fact that her friend wouldn't leave her room so she could continue her research.

"Oh totally, I might go back this weekend, see if anything I was interested in got reshelved," Celeste said as she looked back at her laptop at the open note file she had started only a few minutes ago. THe cursor blinking on the empty page almost taunting her.

"Ok cool sounds like a plan, in the meantime I got some pizza. If you want any its in the kitchen," Holly said before walking out of Celestes room and closing the door behind her as Celeste just nodded robotically as she took the first scrap of paper and started writing the material down.

***

Celeste looked down at the time that was displayed on her laptop making her gasp at how late she had stayed up, considering she had a shift to work the next morning.

Slapping the computer closed, she looked around her room and couldn't see anything with her eyes having been looking at the stark white screen on her laptop for hours after she had talked to Holly last. She moved her laptop to her bedside table and collected the little scraps of paper and put them ontop of her laptop. Since she hadn't managed to write all her notes down and got caught up with the rabbit hole of the local library's digital archive that she managed to find. Which filled in the gaps of her research about the area that the house was in.

The house that she had bought from the previous owner that she had been renting it out to her for years, had managed to sell it to her for dirt cheap. Which never really phased you because of the area that it was in. And from your research it was in one of the oldest incorporated parts of Los Angeles.

Celeste shook her head with a smile on her face as she got up from the bed, not wanting to continue on that train of thought because then she definitely wouldn't get any sleep at all in her brain was still in research mode.

She walked out of her room, tiptoeing past Holly's room, headed towards the kitchen. The pizza was no longer sitting out but was neatly tucked away in the fridge. Which was even better because cold pizza trumped hot any day.

Celeste grabbed the plastic baggie that was full of the pizza and a drink from the fridge. Closing the door and seeing something move out of the corner or her eye. Making her drop both items from her hands in surprise.

She closed the door and flicked the kitchen light on. Something she didn't want to do because now she was squinting due to the change in light.

Celeste looked around the kitchen finding none of the windows had been left open because that had happened before numerous times. To the point her and Holly had to try and chase a pigeon out of their living room. And there was an incidence with one of the stray neighbor cats making themselves more than comfortable in the kitchen throughout a night.

Celeste leaned against the kitchen sink looking out the window into the darkness and saw something in teh reflection of the mirror, a mass that seemed to be right next to her, right by her shoulder. She blinked thinking she was seeing things as she whipped her head around and saw that there was nothing there. Looking through the kitchen she went to pick up both the drink and the plastic bag full of pizza. Putting the drink on the ktichen counter and then getting a slice of pizza out from the bag and grabbing a paper plate and putting it on the plate, setting herself down at the table in the kitchen. Flicking her phone one and popping in her earbuds to watch something as she ate. But every once in awhile looking nervously towards the living room and the front door.