Uncanny Tales

The Study Session of TERROR

"I've really got to get this paper done. I've had months to do it, and as usual I wait until the last minute to even start it," Sophie complains to herself as she types away on her laptop, "I've been in college for nearly two years and I still haven't dropped my old high school habits."

She looks out at the sunset shining through the second story window of her campus library, and then quickly turns back to her laptop screen, eager to finish the exam before the library closed, in a few hours time. Students came and went, and it was getting dark out.

"Crap, I'm not even halfway done with this damned paper yet!" She exclaims, somewhat loudly. The library was all but empty, there was no point in using an inside voice when there was nobody to scold her for it.

"What's a pretty girl like yourself doing at a library at this hour?" An elderly woman with a warm voice asks softly from somewhere behind her, "No boyfriend to go home to?"

Sophie jolts in her chair, turning around to look at the lady who had gave her a start. She was hardly over five feet tall, and her whole face sagged with age and wrinkled over like an aged raisin. But she had a warm smile, and a comforting presence about her.

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize what time it was, I'll get my stuff." Sophie starts to gather up the assorted papers on her desk, and the old lady places a hand on her shoulder reassuringly.

"Oh there's no need for that, dear." The lady smiles down at the young girl sixty some odd years her younger, "I don't mind if you stay. I'm Helen, the overnight librarian, and you're hardly the first student to stay here after dark to get their work done after putting it off for weeks."

Sophie laughs to herself calmly as Helen walks towards a pile of books on the desk beside hers.

"I didn't know that the school library was open 24 hours. The old librarian used to throw a fit whenever I stayed later than 6. But my friends said she hasn't been around these past few days."

"I'm her replacement, dear, she got caught drinking on the job. But trust me, dear, you won't get any complaints from me. You can stay in this library as long as you want, but I'm mostly only here at night. Night life is the party life of the library, dear. When all of the books come to life."

Helen smiles at Sophie before laughing at her own joke. She walks towards a row of books labeled "Mathematics" and places a few of the books in her hands down in their proper places before turning and walking towards the staircase.

"Stay as long as you need to, I'll be downstairs at my desk if you need me for anything."

Sophie nods and expresses thanks before reaching for the small double espresso shot in a can in her backpack. She chugs the whole thing down in mere seconds, putting the empty can back in her bag before shaking her head and diving back into her godawful psychology report. She types, types, types away, stopping occasionally to delve through her notes and textbook for help. Finally, she finishes the report and re-reads it for spelling errors.

"DONE!" She shouts excitedly as she saves the document and closes it, "This might be the best damned report I've ever written."

She looks up at the clock, sighing heavily as she sees the hands indicating that it's 12:25 A.M.

"Since I'm here I guess I should cram in some studying for my damned Stats final tomorrow night.". She stands up, stretching and yawning to herself before walking around the second floor in search of the books that she'd need.

The bookcases towered up almost to the ceiling, some with textbooks, some with books of horror or fantasy or journalism or romance. She recognized a few authors from her mother's collection at home; Stephen King, Piers Anthony, Avery Owen, Maggie Shayne. She looks towards the section of the library labelled "Required Texts", full(or rather, almost empty) of books that most of the professors who taught here demanded their students to have. She makes her way through the aisles towards the windows on the other side of the building, looking over at the campus.