Nephilum

Chapter 4

"I swear, that dude is everywhere I go." I exclaimed, getting annoyed. Ethan, Sam, and I are at our cafe and Ethan thinks I'm being too paranoid while Sam thinks I'm not being paranoid enough. I figured that they would have good advice, so I told them what happened yesterday. I was sadly mistaken.

"Calm down, it's probably just a coincidence." Ethan said, taking a considerably large bite of his burger.

"You need to stay away from him." Sam stated.

I rolled my eyes."How am I supposed to stay away from him if he won't stay away from me?"

"Just avoid him. If you see him, then go the opposite direction." Sam said simply. I glared at her.

"Neither of you are helping."

"Don't listen to her Lizzy," Ethan started, completely ignoring my last statement, "she's just paranoid."

"Excuse you? I most certainly am not paranoid!" Sam said, her voice rising. "I'm just considering the fact that some random guy kidnapped Lizzy and interrrogated her in his car!"

"It wasn't kidnap. He didn't even drive off with her, plus he let her go."

I shook my head, but they continued arguing.

"She should call the police."

"No she shouldn't."

"Yes she should."

"No."

"Yes."

"No!"

"Yes!"

"Guys, Enough!" I stood up. "I'm right here, so stop acting like I'm not. I'm not going to call the cops, but I am going to try to avoid him, ok?"

And with that I walked out of the diner. Neither fo them said anything as I made my way outside. I breathed deeply, trying to calm down. I love those two to death, but man they sure know how to push my buttons.

I scanned the streets for James and walked over to the local library. It was a long walk, but I figured I needed the time alone. I finally arrived and started browsing. Yeah I know, I work at a bookstore so couldn't I just read books from there? I would except for the fact that you have to buy books from there, and the library is free. Plus the library just had this way of calming me.

I waved at the librarian, a nice elderly woman whose husband died last year. Her name is Joyce Rodger. She smiled warmly at me and waved back. I trailed my fingers gently along the spines of the books I walked past. I stopped when a certain book grabbed my attention.

The title read The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong. I sat in a bean bag chair in the far corner of the library where no one would disturb me. I read and I read, transfixed by the novel. I was so focused on the pages in front of me, I didn't even notice the faint smell of smoke at first.

What finally got my attention was the ear splitting alarm that started blaring. It scared me so bad I dropped my book and lost my page. I looked up in surprise.

I stood up quickly, and scanned the library. Orange flame quickly crawled accross a few book shelves. The fire was spreading too fast, engulfing everything in its path. My heart started racing. The smell of smoke grew so bad I couldn't help but cough.

I looked around frantically, trying to find Joyce. There. She was underneath a fallen bookshelf, her glasses on the ground a few feet from her head. I stumbled over to her as fast as my legs would carry me.

She was unconcious. "Joyce!" I yelled, shaking her. She didn't wake up. I coughed again. I bent down and grasped the book shelf with both hands and pushed as hard as I could. It only raised an inch. I coughed and let it down to catch my breath. The fire had now grown into a vicous inferno.

I was coughing uncontrollably. Smoke filled my lungs, making every breath feel like inhaling fire. I bent down again to lift the shelf. I grunted, pushing with all my might. It went up two inches. I set it back down on Joyce as gently as possible and slumped to my knees.

"Please, Joyce, wake up." I tried to yell at her but my voice failed me. Tears stung my eyes.

I looked for the exit, but it was blocked by a raging wall of fire. Crap, Crap, Crap.

I ripped a peice of my shirt off and put it over Joyce's mouth, doing the same for myself. I looked behind me, feeling like someone was watching me and jumped. A guy with red eyes and severely scared flesh stand before me.

"Who are you?" I yelled, though it came out as a mere whisper.

The man laughed. A crazy, demented laugh. "You don't need to know that."

"Get away from us." I screeched, moving to cover Joyce. She groaned, but remained unconcious.

"You're both about to die anyway." The man said, drawing a knife from his pocket.

I looked down at Joyce frantically. I could run and leave Joyce here, but the entrace is blocked off. Besides, I could never bring myself to abandon Joyce.

"Not if I have anything to say about it." A familiar voice said. I looked behind my shoulder and gazed in bewilderment at the person standing behind me. James. As much as I hated it, in that moment he looked very hot. The light from the fire fell on him and he looked dangerous.

"What are you going to do about it?" the red eyed man asked.

"You won't live long enough to see." And with that, James moved faster than I thought possible when he was suddenly in front of the red eyed guy. James slipped a wicked looking knife out of his sleeve. The two of them blurred together, fighting faster than I could keep up with.

I turned back to Joyce, coughing even harder. I wiped a few tears from my cheeks and tried to lift the shelf again. It still didn't budge but I wouldn't give up. Suddenly James was beside me. "Lizzy, come on. You need to get out of here!"

I looked behind me and saw the guy on the floor, obviously dead. A large wound on his chest, blood slowly pouring out of it. I paled. Oh my God. James just killed someone.

I tore my eyes from the unmoving man on the floor and looked at James head on. "No, I can't leave Joyce!"

James sighed loudly and ran a hand through his blond hair. "Fine."

He bent down and practically threw the shelf off of her. He knelt down and picked her up bridal style, none too gently might I add. He and Joyce disappeared.

I stared at the spot he just stood moments before with wide eyes. I glanced back at the dead man a few yards away from me and had to repress the urge to puke. My vision was becoming a little blurry and I was starting to get kind of dizzy.

I slumped down to the floor, holding my knees to my chest, choking on the thick smoke circulating around me. I struggled to breathe. I tried to swallow but my throat was too dry. I saw the book I was reading earlier and I had a crazy urge to laugh. I am going to die because I wanted to read a book.

I didn't even flinch as James appeared before me. He looked concerned, but not necessarily for me. It looked like he was going to be in trouble. "Dang it, Elizabeth. You couldn't just let me just take you, you had to be a hero and save the old lady."

I wanted to tell him off for being a jerk, but my dry throat wouldn't allow me to speak. I did however, roll my eyes.

He quickly gathered me into his arms the same way he had Joyce. He said something I couldn't make out, and then we disappeared into a world of black.