November Rain peeked around the corner of the building to watch the gray-eyed girl she had been tailing for the past week. The girl was headed towards the science hall. November ducked back behind the corner and leaned against the wall. She checked her watch and yawned.
So far the girl she had been watching was boring as dirt, following a bland routine everyday, except for Thursdays, which she would spend in the campus library studying. November was beginning to think that maybe she had been wrong about the girl. She didn't seem to be dangerous, perhaps this one was like herself. Maybe she was just trying to blend in with the crowd.
November stepped out from her hiding place and dissolved into the crowds of students milling about the quad. She made her way in the direction of the science building, following the ginger-haired girl at a safe distance. Ahead of her, the girl entered the building. Thirty seconds later, November opened the door just in time to see another door closing down the hall.
It was the door to the Zoology classroom. November positioned herself by the classroom window to get a good look inside. The girl was opening the lid to the class snake tank. November had asked around a couple days before and learned that they called Scarlet King snakes and were relatively harmless.
The girl pushed her sleeves up before reaching her hands into the tank. Two particular snakes slithered up her arms, wrapping around her upper arms like unique armbands. The girl replaced the lid to the tank and November quickly walked to the classroom across the hall.
If the girl maintained the same routine she had all week, she would most likely exit the classroom soon. It had been the same all week, the girl went to the Zoology classroom in the morning before classes and placed two snakes in the tank. After classes were finished, she would go back and take two out. November had yet to figure out the significance of the snakes other than to learn their breed.
November heard the door open and close across the hall. She turned around and smoothly tailed her subject back outside into the quad. November checked her watch. Same routine, same timeline. If she continued to stick to her normal schedule, the ginger girl should be heading back to her apartment nearby, as she had all week. November was so bored tailing this target that she was thinking about finishing the mission early. She was certain the girl was too dull to be be dangerous. If nothing of significance happened today, November decided she would leave the girl alone, unaware she had ever been observed so closely at all.
Only the girl was not heading to her apartment November realized. Instead she was heading toward the school library. But it's not Thursday, November thought to herself. She felt her heartbeat rise in her neck as she dodged between bodies and closed the distance between herself and the girl, readying herself for action.
The girl was already at the top when November had almost reached the library stairs. That's when November witnessed the girl purposefully shoulder-check a boy coming out of the building. The bump caused the boy to trip and crash ungracefully on the hard concrete steps. Books, pens, pencils, and the boy's glasses clattered around the ginger-haired girl and November ducked behind a nearby tree to watch what would happen next. The redhead bent down t help the boy retrieve his belongings, picking up his pens and pencils as the boy pushed himself up to collect his books.
"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry! I should have been more careful, I'm such a klutz!" the girl gushed.
"That's alright, it happens," the boy mumbled. "Thank you for helping me pick up all my stuff." The boy reached out to take his pens from the ginger-haired girl. November watched as one of the snakes slithered down the girls hand and struck out, biting the the boy's wrist before retreating back up the girl's sleeve.
"Ow! What was..." the boy asked, sounding confused halfway through his sentence.
"Oh my gosh, see? I told you I was a klutz. I must have accidentally stabbed you with one of the tips of your pens while handing them back to you. Let me at least make sure you see the nurse, sweetie." The girl guided the boy back into the library, making sure to step on the boy's fallen glasses on the way, snapping them in half with her heel.
As she stepped out from behind the tree, November's heart started to beat fast, the way it always did before a fight. The nurse's office is clear across campus, she thought as she raced up the steps, chasing the couple. This girl may not be as boring as I thought. November opened the door to reveal an already empty hallway.
"Shit," November cursed under her breath. She ran down the hallway to the split and look frantically left and right. Nothing to her left, but there! To her rights she glimpsed the couple right as the door to the microfilm room in the library's basement was closing. November took off after them, down the long hallway.
When she reached the door, November leaned against it to catch her breath for a few seconds, before quietly opening the door and creeping down the stairs. She held her breath as she descended the stairs as silently as she was able, hoping for the element of surprise.
"There's no use trying the be sneaky," a voice hissed. "I can taste you in the air." Suddenly the lights flicked on and in the middle of the basement was the ginger-haired girl, holding the boy by his throat. The girl licked the boy's cheek.
"Did you come to join us for dinner, Storm-Bringer? It's been such a long week and my hunger is ravenous. You'll make a lovely dessert after my main course."
Before November could respond, the basement door flew open, revealing a panting boy at the top of the stairs. He stared at November with curious intensity before noticing the scene in the middle of the room.
"What is going on here?" the boy inquired nervously before all hell broke loose.
