The Nightscape

The Guy

Lyra was stood in an abandoned house near her apartment, gun tucked into her waistband. Every couple of minutes, she readjusted the position, checking that the safety was on. She knew how to shoot one, courtesy of her father taking her to a shooting range a few years ago, but to say she was a sharp shooter would be an outright lie. Now that it was getting closer to the time to meet the stranger who texted her, she was getting less and less confident in her abilities to protect herself. She had thought about cancelling, about making him meet her in the normal world, about telling one of her friends about everything and taking one of them with her, and yet she knew she couldn't do any of that. 

Cancelling would leave her with no answer and a hundred questions, with potentially no chance of ever resolving everything. To get answers, they had to be somewhere private, as these were secrets that shouldn't be spoken out loud, not when people who didn't understand could hear. And telling one of her friends was the most stupid idea she had ever had. Lyra couldn't trust any one of them with anything like this, and even if she could take them along, if this person turned out to be dangerous, how the hell could they help? It wasn't like she knew anyone with combat training, and if she died in the Dayscape, they couldn't get back. And she didn't even know if doing that would be possible in the first place. 

Yeah, she didn't have a choice. The meeting time was closing in, and she didn't want to be late. With a deep breath, she scraped up every scrap of courage, and jumped over to the Dayscape. For once, she had planned out her jump, so she ended up in the middle one of the wrecked towns, where she had spent many afternoons exploring this strange world. Today, she didn't have the chance, instead starting to stride through the desert, a cap on her head and a bottle of water in hand. And, of course, the comforting presence of the gun in her waistband. 

It didn't make her feel any better when she reached the library, though. Lyra stood outside for about ten minutes, trying to scrape up the gall to go in. Finally, she inched closer, slowly approaching the door with a racing heart and nausea in the pit of her stomach, quietly turning the usually squeaky handle and just opening the door wide enough to press her face to the crack. Nothing seemed out of place. No movement, no sounds, as though it was as though it was as abandoned as it had always been. Keeping her eyes glued ahead, she opened the door and stepped inside, stopping a few feet in. The shelves in the library created a maze, one that if she went into it would make her painfully easy to sneak up on. 

"Hello?" Lyra called her, her voice wavering and clearly terrified. No answer. A few more steps in, the sound loud in the silent space, but still nothing. 

"Hello, Lyra." A male voice spoke from behind, close, too close. In one janky, panicked movement, Lyra spun around, yanking the gun from her waistband and fumbling with it, almost dropping it before she managed to level it at the man. Instantly, he backed up a few steps, throwing his hands in the air with a frightened look. He looked to be a few years older than her, taller and more muscular, with a mess of blonde curls and china blue eyes. He was dressed in robust and yet clearly expensive clothes, and something about his perfect posture screamed 'rich boy' to her. 

"Woah, woah, I'm sorry. Didn't mean to scare you, I'm soft footed." He hurried out with a nervous laugh, eyeing the gun with fear. As she looked him over a second time, this time more measured, she decided that he probably didn't have a weapon. But he could still overpower her with ease, so the gun didn't waver. 

"You were creeping up on me." She accused, glancing behind herself quickly to see if anyone was coming up behind her. The library seemed as empty as before. 

"No, no, not at all. I was running late; my little sister wasn't feeling well so I needed to check up on her. Think about it, Lyra, if I had been sneaking up on you I wouldn't have answered your hello, would I?" That was technically true, but she didn't like his tone, and she was still on edge. Suddenly, this meeting sounded like a really, really bad idea.