Saving Seraphine [ONC2020]

CHAPTER 3

"Good morning Seraphine," Silas says from his spot behind the counter.

A dark shadow presides over the right side of his face from the dull lighting inside the store. He's looking down at his lap, most likely reading a book from the back room. He spends most of the day reading and sorting through them, in fact it's rare to see him sitting up front at the counter. There aren't many of us who work here, it's mostly just Silas and I. That's okay though because there's never more than five customers in here at a time. Honestly, some days I don't even know where the paycheck comes from or how this man pays rent, but I don't question. He likes to keep me and the rest of the employees working up front. We handle the customers who are looking for your every day book, while he helps those searching for an escape. There are only two other employees that work random shifts throughout the week, and one of them is my friend Joe, he only works two nights a week in addition to his full time job as a production assistant on Broadway.

"Silas, how are you?" I ask.

He narrows his eyes at me, "Better than you my dear," he says, taking in my appearance.

I might be tired, but I don't think I look that bad today. Sure there are dark circles under my eyes, and my face is a bit drier and more pale than usual, but other than that I think I put myself together nicely this morning. That includes stealing one of Hailey's white designer blouses she purchased at work to go with my favorite skinny black dress pants.

"Is it that obvious?" I ask, coming around the counter to put my things into the locker underneath.

His eyes bore into me as he studies my every move. Silas is very intuitive, and if I believed in past lives I'd peg him as a psychic or someone with great power.

Silas goes back to flipping through pages of the book he's reading. The pages are wrinkled and yellow, and the leather cover bindings are fraying. I don't make it a habit to stare too long at what he's reading. I sometimes get an odd buzzing sensation in my body when I'm near those books, and if I can help it I tend to avoid the back area of the store all together, no matter how tempting it is.

I straighten my body and start for my usual Monday morning task of reorganizing the shelfs from the weekend.

"Uh - Seraphine, I've got a new task for you today."

I whirl around in shock. I've had the same routine for the past seven years and suddenly he wants to change things up, that's not like Silas at all. The last time someone even attempted to do something other than their usual work they were reprimanded for not following the daily tasks. It was Joe of course, he's a breaker of all rules.

"Sure Silas," I say, I try to offer my best smile to let him know I'm not the slightest bit confused by this change.

"I need you to sort through the books in the back room, I seem to have misplaced one book in particular. I need a fresh pair of eyes to find it."

I'm frozen in place as I stare at him wide-eyed. All of us employees have been in that room at least once on our first day, but no one has ever been asked to work in that room. I can't tell if I'm nervous or excited, maybe a little bit of both. Just the thought of going in there creates a strange tingle throughout my whole body.

"Is something the matter Seraphine?" He asks.

He narrows his eyes at me, and for a brief moment I thought I saw a spark of fire in his eye. I swallow hard, as my body warms the same way it did this morning. Fire rages through me and I yell out in pain like it's burning me from the inside out. Maybe I really am sick, there's no other explanation for this feeling.