. : HELLACIOUS : .

The Boundary

The Black Avenue Municipal Library was one of the few safe spaces that wasn't hopelessly segregated. Even a D'Jinn without a penny to their name could enjoy the cushy chairs and endless corridors of weathered hardbacks and bound scientific journals.

Kash pushed through the glass doors and was embraced by a new bookish smell they would forever associate with knowledge in all its sensual forms.

They made a beeline to the nonfiction section, afraid to ask for help from one of the librarians busily tugging carts from the desk.

The occult section was small but dense. Research into the supernatural was a young but rapidly expanding field. Humans were endlessly fascinated by the idea that they weren't, and never were, alone in the vast earth. 

Maybe one day I'll see Malcolm's theories on this shelf, Kash absently thought.

They crushed the happy feeling they got whenever they thought of the young graduate assistant, not dwelling on what it could mean.

Kash ran their finger down hundreds of spines, looking for anything remotely related to D'Jinn, but the only information they recovered suggested they'd have better luck in the fairy tale section. The focus on angels and daemons was discouraging, but Kash poured over the books nonetheless.

Angels prefer to conduct heavenly business in the nude.

Daemons are known for their low tolerance to alcohol.

...All this and still nothing on D'Jinn?

The depictions of the Angels and Daemons were Anglocentric, all blonde and Nordic blue and and eerily thin. Both species were locked in ancient battle, fierce expressions with even fiercer battle axes. Wings and horns and sharp teeth. White magic and black smoke. Prestige. Honor. Representation.

The D'Jinn pushed their kinky hair from their face and scoffed.

They couldn't relate.

I'd be happy with just a footnote at this point.

"Do you have a library card?" A young woman shelving books across the hall waved a pamphlet at Kash. She had a monthly quota to meet.

Kash looked up from the desk, startled, and slapped the book shut.

"Uh, no. Can't say I do."

The curly haired librarian smiled enticingly. "You want one? Just need a home address. Two minutes of your time, max."

Kash imagined signing 587 Redwater Lane down for their first library card ever.

Kash imagined checking out as many books as they could carry, becoming rich in the currency of knowledge.

Kash imagined the library sending a kind welcome letter to their household, encouraging good reading habits for people of all ages.

Kash imagined Billy finding said letter and realizing Kash was trying to grasp what little happiness they could, anything as a means of escape.

They imagined a muzzle and a beating of a lifetime.

"No." They said. "No, thank you, I'm good. Thank you."

The D'Jinn handed the librarian the book and beat a hasty retreat, wishing more than anything they had the freedom to have a place called home.

.:.:.:.

Though the library proved fruitless, Kash decided to test their boundaries and see just how far twenty miles ran.

They skirted Black Avenue until they were past the county road, waiting for the sudden magical drop that signaled when they were too far away from their lamp. Kash wandered into the suburbs, curious of the neat lawns with pink flamingos and garden gnomes and gas barbecues.