The Protagonists

Chapter Seven - Jessica

The door slammed behind the girl as she burst into the backroom of Greengrass Library. She was met face-to-face with the boy again; the same boy who was in front of her when the book burnt her hand. "Why are you still here?" He yelled, sorrow evident in his voice. "You need to go!"

"E-Everything is locked!" Jessica replied, attempting to keep her voice low due to the fact that they were in a library, but failing miserably. "There is no way out," she added, softer than the last time. "The doors are locked and all the windows are too high up. I work here, so I know that there's a window we can reach in the Forbidden Section. So," she tried to move past the boy, "excuse me."

"She's waiting over there," he whispered, motioning to the darker part of the room. This is pretty much just like your average horror movie, Jessica thought to herself. The oh-so-scary person is waiting in the dark, frightening corner. "Please," the boy pleaded. "Do not go. She will hurt you."

It was then when Jessica noticed how rough the boy looked; his hands and arms were wrapped in bandages, his cheeks were bright-red and tear-stained, and blood was dried up on his once-white shirt at his chest. For a brief moment, she saw past his creepy dialect and felt bad for him; he did seem like he was trying to help Jessica and Julia out, although it didn't really help them out too much. "What's your name?" She questioned, trying to break the awkward ice forming between the two. "I-I'm Jessica and that other girl was Julia."

"I'm J-Joel," he replied, looking down at his shoes-a pair of maroon high tops. He suddenly spun around to look at the corner behind him, where he said "she" was located. Jessica frowned, looking in the same place; no one was there. "Where is she, Joel?" She asked, stepping forward to get a better look. Continuing to walk to the corner, Joel maintained his warnings: "Stop!" he'd yell. "She's right there! What are you doing, Jessica?"

"There's no one here!" Jessica stopped walking, finally reaching the dim, shadowy corner. Turning back to Joel, she placed both hands on his shoulder and said, "Joel, I don't really know you, but I do know that you need help. You're seeing people that aren't real, you're saying things to freak us out, and you're badly injured. You need to get out of here, Joel, and go get help. Do you know where the hospital is?" He shook his head, as he was new to the Los Angeles area. "Okay, I want you to go to someone, anyone, and have them give you directions. Get yourself checked out and then tell them you need help. Tell them you need mental help, Joel."

"You don't believe me," Joel whispered. "You think I'm insane."

"You keep talking about some person that's not even here!" Jessica yelled, her voice echoing throughout the room. "Honestly, Joel, do you think that is normal?"

"Leave the boy alone." Jessica spun around to be face-to-face with a shadowed figure-not Joel, but a hooded, shadowed figure. Gasping, she stepped back until her back was completely up against the wall. "He did nothing to you. It's me you should be worried about, not him."

"W-Who are you?" Jessica asked, trying to see someone under the hood; although, she saw no one. No one seemed to be underneath the cloak; there was just a pair of brown, beady eyes. "W-Who's under there?"

"You don't need to know, Jessica," the figure said. "I just need to confront you about my book. You can't just read my book out of nowhere, you know. In fact, Joel needed to pass a trust-test before I let him even touch it. But you, you didn't pass a test. You didn't even encounter me. You just read the book all willy-nilly, didn't you?"

Jessica shook her head; it wasn't she who read the book, it was Julia. "I only touched it!" She replied, revealing her burnt hand, which was clearly a third-degree burn. "I only touched it and it burnt me!"