A Feast For The Vampires

XXXIX

The library was the one place that Kimi had never envisioned himself doing one act: reading. Even if he hated the mere sight of clustering words, he still forced his body to move into the still library; he forced his legs to carry him to the section he was looking for. In the end, when he got the books he needed, he still had to force his mind to grasp whatever concept the book was trying hard to explain. This made a headache to take over his brain and he just beard it, struggling to cram every single word in the book.

Kimi paid little attention to the world around him and did not know when the bell rang, signifying the end of the day. People began to leave and soon he was the only one left in the library. Jianbing, being the library perfect, was moving around the library—putting books back into their rightful places—when she stumbled upon his dying figure that was sat in the most secluded part of the library, hunched over a book.

Jianbing walked to him, her gait slow and steady. As she stood over him, she hugged the books in her arms to her chest and cleared her throat.

Kimi’s head sharply popped up. He gazed over a shoulder at her hands before they slid up and met her eyes. “Mmm?”

“The l-library has closed for the d-day and school has alr-ready dismissed. You’re the only one remaining.”

“Really?” Kimi turned his head and picked up his phone. “Oh shit,” he hissed lightly as he saw the time. He turned back to her. “Uh... Can I still stay here for a few more minutes? I’m trying to catch up on a few things.”

Jianbing slowly tilted her head to the side, a thoughtful look on her face. “I don’t know,” she said in a confused tone. “B-but I can’t say b-because the librarian isn’t here at the m-moment. If you want to...” She gently shrugged.

Kimi watched as her features suddenly became tensed.

Jianbing spun on her feet, her shoulders bunched up. “B-but be gone by the time she r-returns.” She said no more and rushed away from the corner.

Kimi exhaled softly. He turned back to the book and felt queasy at the sight of foreign words mashing together. He closed his eyes and lightly rubbed his temples with the tips of his fingers.

Kimi beard the headache he was having and continued his studying. Kimi read for a few more minutes before he heard the sound of the library door whirr as it was opened. This made Kimi flinch and he jumped to his feet.

Shit! he thought, rushing to pack the books before him and separate the one that was his from the one that was meant for the library.

“I’ll be freaking gone before you know it so don’t complain,” Kimi said, throwing his bag over his shoulder.

He dumped all the books that weighed more than himself in his arms and groaned. Kimi dashed to the shelves and started searching through the catalogues, looking for where he had picked out each and every book. When he found them, he began to push the heavy books into their rightful positions.

As Kimi did that, the sound of even footsteps filled the library. He quickened his pace as the sound of the footsteps drew closer. When Kimi drove the final book into place, the sound stopped abruptly. Kimi frowned and quirked a brow.

“Mrs. Grant?” he asked, moving out from between the shelves.

Kimi held onto the straps of his bag, searching the empty library. His brow stayed lifted as he peeped in between various shelves and saw nobody.

“Mrs. Grant?” he called out, stepping to the door.

Kimi walked to the door and gripped its handle. He hadn’t even kept a firm grip on the handle when a gloved hand flew over his mouth.