The Protagonists

Chapter Eleven - Annalise

It was dusk as the girl-Annalise Dakota-swung back on forth on the swingset; the violet swingset was meant for elementary school children, as Annalise's high schooler weight was causing the structure to wobble with her. She continued to refresh her feed on her social media, waiting for some sort of update on Jessica and Julia; she received nothing but obvious news: Lead Vocalist for Rushing Waters Found Dead, Lead Guitarist Found Dead, Death in Los Angeles Library. "I know they're dead!" She suddenly yelled, throwing her phone onto the grassy ground in front of her. "I just want to know what happened!"

"Are you alright?" Annalise quickly spun around to be met with two, hooded figures in front of her. "You threw your phone angrily, so I knew something was wrong. Say, were you crying?"

This girl is definitely a talker, Annalise thought, wiping her wet, teary eyes. "Yeah," she replied softly, embarrassed that this stranger had caught her in the middle of a fit. "I'm just upset because my two favorite singers were killed."

"Who?" The second figure questioned. The hooded person removed his or her hood, revealing his masculine face; he had curly, brown hair and mint-green eyes-Annalise couldn't help but continue to stare at him.

"Er," Annalise did not know if the two strangers had even heard of the band, "Jessica Ebony and Julia Cleo. They're in a band called..." Her unsteady voice trailed off as she noticed how pale and shocked the two had turned. The girl's light tint of pink on her cheeks had completely disappeared and the boy's lighthearted smile had faded as well. "We listen to them all the time!" The girl cried, shaking her head as if it was not true.

"We truly do listen to them all the time," the boy said. Annalise smiled at his light, British accent. "That must be why Iris gets angry at us whenever we start playing them," he added, facing the girl. The girl, tearing up slightly, let out a small, halfhearted laugh, merely coming out as a breath. The boy-trying to lighten up the sorrowful mood- turned to face Annalise again. "I'm Flynn," he said, holding his hand out. "Flynn O'Brien." Annalise gladly shook his hand, smiling warmly to the new boy. "That's Stacie Reid," he added, motioning to the girl beside him.

"I'm Annalise Dakota," she replied, letting go of Flynn's warm hand to wave to Stacie. The three sat together in silence-not a comfortable silence, yet it wasn't completely uncomfortable-as the stars twinkled in the sky above them; Flynn's skinny figure was leaned against the wooden, creaky swingset and he was practically towering over Annalise. Stacie remained shy and reserved, her arms folded against her chest as she gazed up to the dark, spring night. Annalise couldn't help but tear up again; as if Jessica were her absolute lover, everything reminded Annalise of her: the night sky-Jessica admitted that she had an unconditional love for the moon and stars-and the clipped, red monkey-bars-Annalise was reminded of a brief video filmed of Jessica climbing monkey-bars and then proceeded to fall on her face-especially.

A sympathetic, reassuring hand rested on Annalise's right shoulder all of a sudden; turning, she followed the arm up to notice Flynn looking down at her, frowning. "A pretty girl like you shouldn't be upset," he said quietly, as if Stacie would be upset to hear him.

Annalise's face heated up; no boy had ever really complimented her-other than the occasional "you're hot" from the teenage, high-school boys she despised-let alone called her pretty. "Iris is at the library," Stacie told Flynn, breaking the romantic-Annalise did not know what to call it-tension between the two. "She has some... news."

"Who's Iris?" Annalise questioned, obviously curious. Flynn and Stacie looked back and forth between each other, hesitant on whether to tell her the actual truth or not. "A friend of yours?" She asked, trying to get them to say something about this "Iris" girl.

"If she's at the library," Stacie glanced back over to Annalise, ignoring the surprised, uncertain look she was gaining from Flynn, "then why don't you just come along with us. The library is a wonderful place; there's even a café next to it, so after we introduce you two, maybe she'll join us for some coffee."

Flynn opened his mouth to say something-he did not think that was a good idea-but he closed it as soon as Annalise agreed. "I would love to!" She cheered, her mood changing drastically. Stacie nodded quickly, clapping her hands together excitedly. Flynn, on the other hand, was a little less enthusiastic; he remained quiet and unlike her friend, he did not clap. "The library isn't too far from here," Stacie stated, looking around at her surroundings. "We could get there in maybe ten minutes by foot."

The trio walked out of the elementary school's playground-Annalise was surprised no one had noticed them climbing over the gates-and headed towards Greengrass Park. Stacie and Annalise walked ahead, chatting like they had known each other for ages, while Flynn remained behind them, thinking to himself. "Everyone thinks LA is such a busy, glorious place in the nighttime, but really it is scary, man!" Stacie continued on-and-on about the stereotypes of Los Angeles, but Annalise was not paying any attention to her; instead, she kept looking over her shoulder to check on Flynn. "Are you okay?" She mouthed to him, all while pretending to listen to Stacie's rambling. Flynn would just simply nod and give off a slight, halfhearted smile in response.

Stacie's time-estimate was indeed on point; the trio had arrived at the Greengrass Library in ten minutes. Annalise was amazed at how comfortable the library looked, even from the outside; everything seemed to made of wood, which is always a comforting material when it comes to reading, and the windows revealed a small reading nook at the side-perfect for her. "Stacie, go on in and talk to Iris," Flynn instructed, standing beside Annalise. "I need to talk to Annalise... alone."

Annalise's heart fluttered and her heartbeat quickened anxiously. Stacie-not understanding what was going on at the moment-nodded awkwardly and walked in through the wooden doors, leaving the two alone. "Listen," Flynn, again, towered over her, "Iris can sometimes be a little... strict. If she says anything rude or regretful to you, don't take it personally. And whatever you do, whatever you do, do not say anything rude or regretful back. Although we have been trying to make it better, Iris definitely does have anger management issues."

"M-My father is a psychiatrist" was the only thing Annalise could think of to say at the moment. Flynn smirked, shaking his head at how socially-awkward she was. "He could try to help her with the whole... anger management thing," she added, trying to fix whatever she attempted to say before.

"We'll hit him up," Flynn replied, still smirking. As Annalise laughed along awkwardly in response, something quickly darted out in front of them, brushing alongside her shoulder. "Hey, I know you!" Annalise instantly recognized the figure as the boy she had saw earlier, while she was sitting on the swings. "You passed by the playground earlier!"

"You're Iris's new neighbor," Flynn noted, looking the boy up-and-down. The boy nodded quickly, blocking the entranceway. "Umm... Joel, right?" Again he nodded, trying to keep the conversation going.

"Er, excuse me," Annalise attempted to push past the boy, "we're trying to get in and you're...umm...blocking the door." The boy remained still, not budging with Annalise's gentle push.

"You can't go in there," he whispered, worry evident in his silver eyes. "There are bad, terrible things in that library. A murder occurred earlier today, books will burn you, and you can travel through fairytales. You may not believe me like the others, but I promise you, I am telling the truth."

"That's just silly!" Flynn laughed awkwardly, playfully nudging Annalise's shoulder to get her to laugh along with him. With that, he finally pushed past Joel and entered the library, pulling her along with him.

As Annalise was pulled-Flynn had a strong grip-away from the "silly" boy, she gave him one, last look before the doors shut to separate them; it was a look of pure faith and a slight, discomforting feeling of trust. Annalise truly, actually believed that boy, no matter what Flynn attempted to make her think.