goofy ah oc story

Chapter Four

Once they had returned from the lake, Rosalia informed them that they would be visiting the library next. Rowan assumed that Nurse Graves would probably have done his own thing now, leaving Valery in charge, but apparently not.

Valery speaks. "We'll be splitting up now. Twenty five will go with Nurse Graves and the other twenty five with me. My group will be in the library, as Rosalia said, and Nurse Graves' group will visit the gardens. Please line up appropriately, and make sure to stick with your group." She gestures towards Nurse Graves and then to herself.

Rae and Willow come up to Desmond and Rowan, soon followed by Jaiden. They seem to have a good idea of which Nurse they want to be led by. Desmond proposes an idea, "Nurse Valery, I suppose?" He shifts weight, looking to the other three for responses.

Rowan glances from Valery to Nurse Graves, taking in his options. Ms. Pretty lies or a sociopathic masked man... this isn't that hard of a decision, I guess. Rowan nods, agreeing with Desmond. Rae, Jaiden and Willow do the same.

The three slink over to Valery, and it appears that the majority of the groups chose her as well. With the remaining groups left to Nurse Graves. There's some chatter as the groups head in opposite directions.

Rowan walks along with his group, the moist velvet carpet squishing under his feet with each step. In this room, the wallpaper is a lavender color, with a daisy pattern overlapping it. Just ahead, an oak door is visible, which is likely the entrance to the library. Valery saunters towards it, reaching out a hand to turn the doorknob. She fiddles with it for a moment, struggling to get it open. Then, after a brief pause, she slips a key from her belt, and unlocks the door. Then, with a tug, the door swings open, to reveal a vast room.

Everyone begins to pile in, with Valery at the front. Inside, every wall is hidden behind bookshelves. The room is huge. So many books... a reader's heaven. But why? Why put so much effort into one room? Plants decorate the tops of shelves, a painting or two hung on the rarely spotted bare wall. Nobody appears to be specifically in charge of the library, which means it's safe to assume that it's just whoever is in there that is trusted to keep it tidy, and well, it seems to be working. There are only a few books fallen from their shelves, otherwise, it's sparkly clean. Despite it being empty, it looks like it's dusted regularly.

Valery turns to us all, taking a breath as she smiles, and begins to speak. "I'm sure most of you are well acquainted with the library, but with the few newcomers, let me explain." She briefly pauses to make sure everybody is actually listening. "There are many books, sorted by alphabetical order of the genre title. A group member will be able to help you if you don't understand." Valery finishes, stepping back as she tucks a loose strand of her strawberry blonde hair behind her ear.

Rae nudges Willow's shoulder. "Come on, Willow. We can bring back some books to the group room once we're done helping out."

Willow sighs reluctantly, giving an awkward smile. "Eh, I've never been into reading all that much..." she adds after a moment, "you of all people should know that, after all, I've been here for a month already. I'm gonna just pretend to be doing stuff..." She offers a sheepish smile.

Rae rolls her eyes, before quickly resorting to Rowan. "What about you? Do you like books?" She prompts him.

Rowan can't remember being incredibly devoted to reading or anything, but then again, he can't remember much at all from before this place. "Uh, yeah...?" He responds hesitantly.

Rae hums quietly. "Great, let's go." She gestures for him to follow her, leading him past shelves, multi coloured novels filling each one. "So what genre do you like?" She kneels down, facing a bookshelf as she picks through options, swapping around a few novels that are misplaced.