The Fate Of The Marked

Chapter Seven

It didn't quite work out like that. This time, the librarian did question if I was a student. When I responded in the negative, she politely told me to leave before she called security.

I snuck back in through the bathroom window when she went on her lunch break and hid as far away as I could get.

I didn't sleep well. Each time I drifted off, I would wake up with a jolt of panic. I was unusually hot, then cold, then hot again. I was glad my shirt was black. You wouldn't notice the dried blood unless you looked closely.

No one bothered me all day. I assumed that it was now the weekend, because the place was deserted all day.

Half of me hoped that the professor from yesterday wouldn't show up again, but the other half of me did. Something inside me yearned to see someone who didn't want to kill me.

When I felt a little better, I dug through some of the books. I searched for ones about massive red dogs and found something on hellhounds.

Of course it would be a hellhound.

I read the entire thing before I realized how late it was getting. I worried about the man with the knife trying to find me again.

I stood carefully and put the book back in its place. I made my way to the door marked "Staff Only" and took the stairway up to the roof. As hungry as I was, I wasn't willing to die to satisfy it.

I curled up in a corner to block the wind and tried to sleep. After I woke up for the fifth time, I tired to heal the cut on my chest again.

The blood had stopped flowing, but it was still open. The skin around it was raised and red with irritation. Even trying to make the beginning of what was sure to be an infection go away made me dizzy.

I paced for the rest of the night through the library. The heat couldn't warm me up. My hands stayed numb. I searched through the back rooms but couldn't find any medicine.

I went into the bathroom and guzzled water from the sink, hoping it would make the dizziness go away.

I threw it up as soon as I managed to stand again. I tried to drink and hold it down a few minuets later, but it made my stomach turn.

I sat at a desk and tried to keep my thoughts straight. I needed to get another few towns over, just not at night. It was too dangerous to stay here much longer, something was bound to find me eventually, and it had been far too silent las night.

I would have to walk it. I doubted anything would attack me during the day in public.

Just as the light began to peak in the distance, I slipped out the window and headed east. It was freezing out, ice was scattered in patches on the sidewalk and rooftops, but I had to wipe the sweat from my forehead.

I kept my head down and my hands in my pockets. Anyone who passed me didn't give me a second glance. I had to walk slowly. My legs hurt and the cold soaked my thin shoes within a block.

I took a shortcut through the park and ended up walking through a tiny fair. As I walked passed a vendor they placed a tray on the edge of the entrance. I was tempted to take it and run, but I doubted I could manage to be fast enough.

The crowds got thicker as I tried to find the exit. People knocked into my shoulders and stepped on the back of my heels. I stumbled several times and grew neasous of the smell of so many people.

I ducked off the main path, which I knew was a big mistake. The trail right beside it was abandoned, all the vendors were on the other side. I jogged as fast as I could, but couldn't manage to be quicker than that.

I made it into another part of the city. I couldn't be far away from where I had started. The sun was up fully now. I stopped for a few minuets and tried to keep myself from sitting down, because I knew I wouldn't get back up.

I made it past the city limits before I noticed someone was following me. I saw him out of the corner of my eye, about ten feet back. I turned onto several streets, but he was always there.

My unease grew. I walked a little faster and turned right again. This street was nearly empty. There was no foot traffic. I didn't dare turn around the way I had came.

In front of me, another man in a suit turned the corner and began to walk towards me. I darted across the street and into an alley. The dumpster was just tall enough so I could climb onto the roof.

I crawled across until I came to the opposite side of the street and jumped.

It was only a story up, but it hurt when I landed. My hands scratched the pavement. I couldn't keep my balance. I pushed myself up and ran.

This street was more crowded, I had to push people out of the way. The feeling that someone was following me was so strong that it was almost overwhelming.

I made it back to the fair in the park, heading for the safest place I could think of: the library. I took the crowded route, even though the empty path would have been faster.

I got lost and spent what felt like hours wandering, looking for the tall white building. My heart was pounding I'm my ears the whole time.
As the sun began to go lower, I started to panic. I couldn't use whatever it was that I had to defend myself. I couldn't even heal a cut.

I stood on the edge of the sidewalk and looked for something familiar. For the first time, I noticed the people around me. They were young, and most of them were wearing college gear.

Mayfield college gear. My heart skipped a beat.

I was close or on campus. I wasn't that far from the library. I went left and kept turning that way. I saw the shop were I had sat on the steps, and all the apartments. I hardly noticed that all the foot traffic disappeared the further I went.

Someone stepped into my path a few feet in front up me and I had to stop to keep from slamming into them.

I looked up and my heart fell to my stomach. The man was wearing half a mask, of what looked like a mask until I realized that it was his actual face.

He reached out and pressed something against the hollow of my throat before I could even move. I felt little claws dig into my skin and I jerked away.

I reached up to pull it off, but it was too late. It was scalding hot and getting hotter. I let go and looked up. The thing was gone.

A wave of dizziness came over me and I stumbled. My whole body felt like it was trapped in an icy fire. The library was so close. If I could just get there-

I veered off the path, unable to keep my legs under me. I scratched my arms. My blood was poison. It was burning me. I bit my lip to keep my screams in.

I hit the ground and couldn't move. I was shaking so hard that my vision was blurred. The rain picked up, harder than before, and felt like bullets against my skin.

The pain stopped all at once and the world went black.