Tremble

Chapter 8: To The Library!

I was so done with it all. Confusion, frustration, fear for my own life, it needed to stop. So many unanswered issues caused me to formulate a list.
Who was it that ran from my house all those weeks ago?
What happened at the library?
Who was that kid at the creek?
Who was the fake police chief?
Who was the man with the riffle?
And finally what does it all have to do with me?

Tuesday evening was darkening even further into the night and I began to jog down the beaten forest path.

Why?Why?Why?

I probably should drop all these questions, and relax like a normal teenage girl in the middle of summer. Will I, no. I go through the list in my head once more, I can't answer the first question as of now, and what happened at the library is still a mystery to me, that fake police chief hasn't come back, nor has the man with the riffle. I guess I just had to wait until something happens.

I slowed down by the edge of the tainted stream, staring at the greenish gunk that flowed with the water. Staring into the there I see a few small fish, but nothing else and decided there was nothing here. I stood and turned just as I spotted letters engraved in a tree trunk to the left of me.

Back door of the Library, 10;00 Thursday

The letters were choppy and difficult to read, but I got the message. As of now weird notes no longer creeped me out, but intrigued me to figure something out for once. Although this meeting didn't sound safe, late at night, next to the woods, and by the back door of a building in presumably the middle of nowhere. I needed protection when I arrived, it was Tuesday so I had time to plan. I proceeded to jog slowly to my house where I would look for my dads old pocket knife he kept in the pie safe drawer. He rarely uses it though, unlike many of the men around here he rarely did "manly tasks'' outdoors that would require one.

I worked at the library that Thursday and Mrs. Kimbley would want me to close the library after she leaves. The plan was set, I probably couldn't call the police, and I don't want to get shot or something, so I would have to suffice with a knife by my side.

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9:00 Came Thursday night and Mrs. Kimbley needed to go home because she felt unwell. So I was left with the key, a pocket knife, and a cell phone with no service to meet a complete stranger who engraved a message into a tree trunk that only I am most likely to see. I felt sooooo safe. The next hour I took inventory of the children's books and alphabetized the Dr. Seuss section while I glanced over my shoulder ever five seconds. About five till I waited by the back window, waiting to see something outside.

CLANG!!!!!

A globe fell of the top of the encyclopedia shelf. I moved quickly and hid behind the fiction section where I peered through the books. A girl with small stature looked around nervously, she seemed harmless enough. I spoke up.

"So hey what's the deal, you said outside the back door."

She jumped and spotted me through the books.

"Are you Elizabeth Maine!" She said shaky, and quietly, but confident.

"Yes, may I ask who the heck you are."

She came out from behind the shelf, she wore a red shirt sporting some band, and dark jeans, both of which were too big.

"Listen you're being watched, and I would recommend that both of us leave out the back door quietly and you follow me, no questions, no time, just hurry!' She whispered with urgency creeping into her voice.

I was about to make a smart retort about how I shouldn't trust weird girls in dark libraries, but before I could I heard the sound of a car pulling into the drive and its headlights shone in the window. Before I could move the girl grabbed my arm, stronger than you would think, and dragged me to the back door. Naturally I followed instead of fighting, for some reason I wasn't too sure that the people outside wanted to check out a book at 10:00 at night. She left out the back door and I locked it behind us, I had already locked the front door, so I'm not entirely sure how this girl got in.

I ran after her, and she seemed to know where she was going in the dense woods, normally I would trip and fumble on briers, branches, and roots, but we didn't meet any of those obstructions. It was almost like the forest moved and adjusted to make a path. I glanced back and saw flashlights shining in the distance, but far enough away that I felt safer.

"Where are we going?" I asked between gasping breaths, man this girl was fast.

I got no reply, so I asked a different question.

"Who are you, and who is following us?"

She slowed slightly and said effortlessly.

"Their not following us, their following you."

That was comforting.

"Then why are you here?" I said as my feet began to become sore.

"I was told to." She replied, "And please no more questions, we should keep quiet until we reach our destination."

I shut up, it was hard to keep going as she sped up, but for some odd reason I trusted this person. I hope my trust wasn't misplaced.