Demons in the Library

by Cathy Williams

  “I’ll come too,” said Prof T. “If I slow you down, run ahead. I’ll catch up with you via cell phone when we’re all safely home again. But, listen up, people.”

  Brett, Dirk, Maxine and Liberty looked at him.

  “Please take care,” he said. “This is not the time to be a hero. And please take careful note of anything out of the ordinary that you can see, hear, or smell. Anything. But at the tiniest hint of danger – run!”

  The others nodded solemnly.

  “I’ll drive us to the library,” Prof T continued. “Being out on the streets on foot is not advisable right now.”

  Liberty shivered at his words.

  They drove in silence to the library. As they drew close to the building, the colors of police car lights could be seen reflected and refracted in the puddles of a recent cloudburst.

  “I’ll park here,” Prof T decided, pulling in to a small parking lot at the side of the building.

  “I think we should stick together for now,” Dirk suggested as they climbed out of the car.

  Liberty stopped herself saying, “Duh!” just in time.

  As the group rounded the corner to approach the library’s entrance, they saw an ambulance drive off into the distance. Small knots of people stood around in the drizzle.

  “What happened?” Liberty asked one of the small knots: a group of three security guards who were trying to look unmoved by the drama unfolding around them.

  “Some guy stabbed a female student,” the youngest-looking guard told her.

  “Is it bad?” Dirk wanted to know.

  “Pretty bad,” said the guard.

  “Ah no, she’ll be okay,” said another guard, while checking his phone.

  It was Maxine’s turn. “Do they know who did it?”

  “Some guy in a long coat, that’s all we know. Long gone, of course,” said the young guard. “But, sorry, I have to ask you to move along. The library is shut now.”

  “Okay, let’s go,” Brett muttered to the others.

  Liberty was amazed to feel Maxine grabbing her hand as they walked back to the car.

  “You okay?” she asked.

  “Just scared,” Maxine said, shivering.

  “We didn’t have a chance to drink our medicinal whiskey,” Dirk said. Liberty was pleased to see him glancing at Maxine with concern.

  “If ever we’ve needed medicinal whiskey…” said Prof T. He didn’t need to finish his sentence.

  Back in Prof T’s lounge, there was a somber atmosphere. Liberty’s focus was on Maxine who was usually so sunny and strong. Everyone has their vulnerable points, and Liberty worried that dealing with this bizarre situation was too much for her friend.

  But Maxine took a long swallow of her whiskey, then said with her usual brio, “Okay, history buffs. What does history tell us about fighting demons?”

  “That it’s very hard,” Brett said, then hastily added, “but not impossible.”

  “Do we need special weapons, or what?” Dirk asked. He looked a little pale, Liberty noticed.

  “Not in the conventional sense,” said Prof T.

  “Well, if we can’t rustle up an angel or two, salt and sunlight will do the job,” said Brett. “It seems to be a well-known solution in the folklore that salt repels demons, as does bright sunlight.”

  “Is that all?” Liberty asked.

  At that, Dirk gave a bark of laughter. “Yeah, can’t we go to the mall and buy angels?”

  Shooting him an annoyed look, Liberty said, “Well, obviously we can’t do anything about the angels – I meant the salt and sunlight.”

  “They are what history tells us is effective,” said Prof T hastily, clearly hoping to diffuse the tension that had sprung up between Dirk and Liberty. “They’re useful for fighting vampires, too. But it’s not as easy as it sounds. Firstly, salt and sunlight are not guaranteed to kill demons; they only banish demons from the vicinity. And secondly, how do you suddenly introduce sunlight into a dark space?”

  “And how do you wander around the library with a bag of salt in your pocket, haul it out at the right moment, and sprinkle it about before the demon spots you?” Brett mused.

  “It would still be a lot easier than having to stab them with a sword or hack them with an axe,” said Maxine, voicing exactly what Liberty was thinking.

  “True,” Prof T conceded.

  “And guys – the time has come to do whatever we have to in order to get rid of them, right?” Maxine pleaded.

  “Unfortunately, yes, I think so,” said Prof T.

  “Now that someone’s been hurt…” said Brett, nodding.

  “We don’t have a choice,” said Dirk.

  “We don’t,” said Liberty.

  “Right,” said Maxine, “so we each go to the grocery store and buy bags of salt? And maybe we can find small mirrors somewhere?”

  “How small?” Dirk wanted to know.

  “You can buy mirrors that fit into a purse,” Liberty told him. “The pharmacy stocks them.”

  “Could you buy five for us?” Brett asked her.

  “I think it’s important to not bring any sort of attention to ourselves,” said Prof T. “So let’s each buy a couple of bags of salt along with our usual groceries in the next twenty-four hours. And then let’s each go into the pharmacy and buy a few things, including a small mirror.”

  Wondering if her budget would stretch to this unplanned shopping, Liberty said, “Would such small mirrors be effective?”

  “We can only try,” said Prof T. “It sound a good idea to me. If they prove to be not powerful enough, we can easily acquire some larger mirrors.”

  “True,” said Brett, while Liberty nodded, swallowing her questions about what ‘proving to be not powerful’ would involve, and imagining a flurry of gigantic, dark wings, a flashing knife…

  “I think,” she said in a small voice, before clearing her throat and speaking louder, “I think that if we’re going to enter the library with the intention of getting rid of demons, we should go in pairs.”

  “Absolutely,” said Prof T at once. Then he added, at the very moment that Liberty looked at Maxine with raised eyebrows, “And they should be boy-girl pairs, to maximize physical resources, so perhaps Brett with Liberty…?”

  “That would work. We have similar schedules,” Brett agreed.

  “… And Maxine with Dirk?”

  Maxine and Dirk caught each other’s eye and smiled shyly.

  Liberty saw the look and sighed inwardly. She would far rather be paired up with Maxine, but spending time with Brett wasn’t a hardship, she supposed.

  “So we all do our shopping, and then meet back here, say, 6pm tomorrow evening for a quick run-through of what we’re planning?”

  “That sounds great to me,” said Prof T. “Bring your purchases, too, so we can plan precisely.”

  “But wait – Prof Trelawney, who will be your partner?” Maxine wanted to know.

  Before the professor could answer, Brett said firmly, “Prof has health issues. It’s going to be up to the four of us to do the running around.”

  The older man pulled a face, and smoothed his hair down with one hand while he considered Brett’s words. Finally, he said, “I don’t like to admit it, but you’re probably right, Brett. Arthritic knees and an unreliable heart do not make for an action hero.”

  Knees and heart, Liberty noted. Poor man.

  “You’re a vital part of the team, Prof,” Brett assured him.

  “The leader,” Dirk muttered.

  “Yeah – the leader of the team,” Brett amended.

  “Well, age has some benefits, I suppose!” said Prof T cheerfully.

  Without discussing it, Dirk went into the hall to call a taxi. “We’re all sharing, yes?” he asked on his return.

  The others nodded. Tonight, of all nights, no-one wanted to walk.

  “These transport costs are mounting up,” said Dirk in the taxi later.

  “Yes, but only now, while it’s winter,” Br
ett said. “We could run back home together in the summer months.”

  Glancing at Maxine’s set face, Liberty guessed they were thinking the same thing. It was hard to imagine a time when they would ever feel safe walking around at night. And Liberty hoped they would not need to be fighting demons until summer time.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  “Let’s all see what we’ve bought,” said Prof Trelawney.

  There was a crackling of plastic and canvas bags as ten identical packets of salt were produced, along with five identical hand mirrors.

  Everyone grinned.

  “Oh, this town is too small!” Maxine cried. “There’s no choice at all, is there?”

  “I actually heard Sadie Cooper – my boss at the pharmacy – commenting that there’d been a ‘sudden demand’ for small mirrors,” Liberty said.

  With a chuckle, Prof T said, “See? That’s why we had to be stealthy about it. In London or New York, no-one would notice.”

  “Why did you buy salt and mirrors, Prof?” Maxine wanted to know.

  “In case we need spares,” the professor explained simply. “Now, let’s think of ways to carry bags of salt into the library without it being obvious.”

  Liberty kept quiet, while the others made suggestions. She’d imagined carrying the plastic bags in as they were, but saw now how impractical that would be. You would spend five minutes trying to open the plastic bag, by which time a demon could’ve done whatever he wanted.

  In the end, Dirk’s suggestion of stuffing a zippered pencil case with salt was agreed on as the most efficient way to transport the salt.

  “Of course, no-one will notice if you carry the pencil case around the library, and if you see a demon, one quick movement opens the bag, and … bingo,” Brett said. “Sprinkle salt; bye-bye demon.”

  His words had Maxine quietly convulsed with giggles, but Liberty still had questions.

  “So we have to do this salt-and-mirror trick over and over again? Once for every demon?”

  “My research seems to indicate that if two or three demons are standing together, you’ll get them to move away instantly by a few hundred yards if you use salt only. Exposing them to sunlight will make them stop doing whatever they’re doing.”

  The four students grew quiet at this prospect.

  At last, Brett said, “The problem is, we don’t have a clear idea on how to use the salt and the mirrors. It’s not as though any of the historical accounts include step-by-step instructions, right, Prof?”

  When Prof T nodded, Liberty felt a trickle of icy cold fear in her stomach.

  “I have a suggestion,” said Maxine, who was also looking anxious. “Let’s try some role-playing exercises. We learned in our psychology tutorials that they can be helpful when faced with scary situations. Okay? Brett – can you pretend you’re a demon? And Dirk – you’re just Dirk, in the library, when you spot Brett.”

  Rolling their eyes good-naturedly at Maxine’s instructions, Brett and Dirk played along.

  In the end, acting out the situation helped all of them. Dirk was such a poor actor that his efforts were comical. Laughing at him dispelled much of the tension. Everyone, including Prof T, had a turn to practice what they would do if they saw a demon, which meant they could formulate some sort of plan.

  Twenty minutes later, when they were all seated again, Prof T said, “So, to summarize it all: each pair spends half an hour in the library, maximum. If a pair of you sees a demon, the one you’ve elected beforehand as the Salt Person tries as unobtrusively as possible to move to within six feet of him, unzip the pencil case, and throw half the salt down on the floor. The other half of the pair, the Mirror Person, moves very quickly to about twelve feet away, whips their mirror from their right pocket, if they’re right-handed, and flashes sunlight onto the demon. But you only do that if you have time. That means that if you stumble across another demon, you have at least half a bag of salt left to deal with him. And then you get the hell out of there.”

  With a diffident smile, Dirk said, “That’s salty language, Prof,” which made everyone groan.

  Although Liberty felt better, something at the back of her head was nagging at her. An unpleasant, half-formed thought wanted her to face up to something. She refused to, though. She needed all the positive thinking and confidence that she could possibly muster.

  Then Brett dispelled the good humor by saying, “Guys, I think we need to put this plan into motion tomorrow.”

  There was a pause. For once, nobody asked, “Does that suit everyone?” They were all thinking the same thing, Liberty suspected: that whether it suited them or not, they needed to do everything they could, as soon as they could.

  “People are getting hurt,” she said. “We need to take action.”

  The others nodded.

  “I could put names in a hat to decide who the first pair should be,” Prof T suggested.

  Brett spoke up. “I don’t see the point, really. We know we need to be in the library mid-morning and early evening, so let’s figure out whose time-table will best fit those two times.”

  With some discussion and a little compromise, it was decided. Liberty and Brett would visit the library a little after 10.30. Maxine and Dirk would take “the night shift”, as Brett called it.

  “Take care, I beg you,” said Prof T, his face grave. “If you need me, please call me. I’ll be at home, with my phone on me and the ring tone volume turned up.”

  “I think when a pair finishes their shift, one of them should text the others and tell them how it went,” said Dirk.

  “Definitely,” said Prof T. “Text me too, please.”

  In the taxi home, Maxine said, “I am so glad we are doing this in pairs. Doing it alone would be …” She didn’t need to finish her sentence.

  “Yeah,” said Dirk. “I can’t believe we’re doing this. It feels like some sort of horrible drug trip.”

  “The worst,” Brett agreed.

  “Let’s stop taking these drugs,” said Liberty, which made the others smile.

  As usual, the taxi dropped Liberty off first, since the others lived a little further out.

  “See you tomorrow,” said Brett. “Hey, should I come and meet you at your apartment at 10.30? Then we can walk together to the library.”

  “Wait!” said Maxine. She clutched at Liberty’s arm. “Lib – spend the night with me and Chloe tonight, come on.”

  Liberty hesitated, then agreed. The idea of spending the night on a pull-out couch in a friend’s apartment had never seemed more appealing.

  Their taxi driver was one of only three in town, and was willing to wait while Liberty threw a few things into a bag. “Only five minutes!” he said teasingly.

  When she emerged again, Dirk said, “Do you realize you were only two-and-a-half minutes?”

  Liberty grinned at his admiring tone. “Is that approval in your voice?” she asked, climbing back into the taxi.

  “Enjoy this rare moment!” Brett said.

  “Aw, guys, I’m not that bad.”

  Liberty and Brett stared at him until he conceded, “Okay, okay, let’s move on…”

  Much later, Liberty lay on the couch, a comforter pulled over her. She and Maxine couldn’t talk about what lay ahead, of course, because Chloe was around. But chatting about student matters, food, and climate change had helped Liberty – and Maxine, she suspected – to feel a sense of normality again. And Chloe had produced a three-course meal of sublime comfort food.

  Although she’d half-expected to toss and turn with anxiety all night, the dinner plus the demands of the day sent Liberty into a deep sleep.

  The next morning, the three women set off for campus together. It was a gently sunny day, the first indication that winter should actually come to an end sometime soon.

  “I am going to work in a restaurant the whole summer and then buy myself a damn car,” said Chloe, panting slightly as they walked up a long hill that led to campus.

  “Good plan,” said Maxine.
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  Liberty glanced at her friend and said nothing. She knew Maxine’s father was a successful businessman and Maxine didn’t need to work. She herself would probably stay in town and work in the pharmacy all summer simply to cover some of her college expenses. Her mother had remarried the previous year and couldn’t seem to pay attention to anyone or anything other than her ghastly husband, Fred.

  Chloe chatted on about buying a car before waving goodbye when they reached the tall brown building that housed the Business Sciences faculty.

  “God,” said Maxine, as they walked on.

  “Have you been hearing a lot about the car?”

  “Too much,” said Maxine with feeling. “But she’s nice.”

  “Yeah.”

  “You feeling okay?”

  “A little sick,” Liberty allowed.

  “Deep breathing,” Maxine instructed. “Think of the calm – blue – ocean.”

  “Calm – blue – ocean… It does actually help.”

  “I know, right? Apparently you can download a Relaxation app that is nothing but a short video clip of the sea.”

  “And no doubt costs many dollars a month.”

  “No doubt.”

  Outside the Physiotherapy department, Maxine hesitated. “You’ll be fine, you know. Tell me what happens.”

  “Thanks, my friend.”

  After a quick, fierce hug, Maxine went off to a lecture, and Liberty started off to do some research in the archives. Halfway there, she changed her mind. She could just as easily make notes at Granules, and she wanted to avoid a library-like setting that morning until it was unavoidable.

  Settling down with a cup of herbal tea in the dappled sunlight outside Granules ten minutes later, she was glad of her choice.

  Focusing on her work helped the time to pass. It was hard to entertain dark fears of death and destruction when oak leaves overhead were lit up by the morning sunlight and she had to concentrate on theory. She even managed to eat a chocolate muffin.

  Shortly after she’d finished the last crumbs, she heard a “Hi”, and there was Brett.

  “How are the nerves?” he inquired.

  She swallowed and said, “Not great. Yours?”