Across the Veil: Open Eyes (Book 1)

Chapter 2: Friendly Family

 Books. Piles and piles, upon endless piles of books. Books gathered in the return bins. Books stacked high on trolleys to be put away. Books left lost on tables. Every part of the library was filled with the sight and smell of old, well-used or worn out books.

Willow sighed as she sorted through the final set of books brought back to the campus library during her shift. There wasn't too much to complain about when it came to the work. It was quiet, the work was easy, and the pay was okay, but Willow had found herself becoming increasingly restless during her shifts. Most days she could walk into the library, mentally zone out, and still complete all her work before even realizing her shift was done. The quiet days were the worst for her. Just wandering through the library surrounded by silence that was typically interrupted by the pinging of the elevators or brief idle chatter from a coworker or another student who had a question. If she was lucky, a chatty group would come in to use a study room, but oftentimes she would be sent to quiet them down when they became too loud.

She loaded up her cart and started wheeling it to the elevator to put away her final load of the day. As she passed by a window, she looked outside at the dark sky and fresh fallen snow. Even the sidewalks were quiet now. With finals being a couple weeks away, she was expecting things to get a fair bit busier. She let out a small sigh as she wheeled the squeaking cart to the elevator and tapped the call button.

Out of the corner of her eye she caught a bit of movement. It was just enough to draw her attention, like someone passing by in a hallway or rounding a corner into another aisle between the shelves.

She shrugged it off. It wasn't uncommon for there to be at least one or two wanderers in the library during the late evening. Maybe someone was just trying to get a head start on their final assignment.

She glanced over to where she'd seen the movement and found herself staring at an empty hall leading to some study rooms. She squinted as she caught a glimpse of a shadow receding into one of the rooms.

Weird. She thought. She hadn't heard the door to the room open, nor had the automatic lights turned on like they usually did when someone approached the hall.

Leaving her cart by the elevator, she wandered over to the study room door and peeked inside. The lights were off and everything was still. She tested the doorknob and it was locked. Grabbing her pass, she tapped it against the plate beside the door and waited for a quiet beep before stepping inside. She tapped the lightswitch with her knuckle, lighting up the space so she could get a better look around. Just as she expected. It was still quiet and still empty. She ran a hand through her hair and sighed, she was far too tired. She probably just needed a good long nap. She'd been so busy lately with classes, a group project, and work that her sleep schedule had suffered for it.

Locking up the room again, she made her way back to the cart. The elevator opened with a ping, allowing Willow to finally get in. She reached out to tap the button for the sixth floor, pausing when she heard someone's boots against the metal floor of the elevator beside her. She jumped slightly, shifting to face the person who'd snuck up behind her and finding a rather amused looking Savio.

"Boo." Savio grinned, amused as the surprise melted away from Willow's face and was replaced by slight annoyance. He leaned against the wall of the elevator, "Got you, didn't I?"

"Yeah, you kind of did. You asshole." Willow gave him a playful punch to the arm. As the elevator closed she shifted her cart to the side, "So, what brings you here? Do you have more research to do for your paper? Or are you just here to practice your sneaking bullshit?"

Savio shook his head and laughed, "Nah, I got that sorted out already. Thanks for helping, by the way." He grinned mischievously, "And hey I can't help it if I am the master of sneaking." He watched as the floor numbers slowly ticked up. "Actually, Blake is planning supper tonight. They sent me a message to check in and see if you wanted anything in particular."