by Flynn, Mac
It was the name of the book. My book. A strange and familiar chill ran through my body. I wrapped my arms around myself and happened to look down at my feet. My eyes bulged out when I saw my shadow twist and morph into long, thin tendrils. I gasped and stumbled back, but my shadow followed me. The flat tendrils gained dimension as they lifted themselves from my shadow and swayed their bodies in front of me.
That's when I realized the creature had done more than change my body. It had become a part of me. I turned and fled from the shadows and mine, but I could feel it just behind me. Its arms stretched out for me, commanding me to stop, turn around, and give in to its lustful desires. I wanted to, but my fear was too great.
I hit the stairs running and scrambled up them. My terrified eyes spotted the tendrils on the wall to my left. They were racing me to the door. They meant to shut me in there and have their way with me. Kinky, but at that moment not what I wanted. I wanted fresh air and lights. I wanted normal companionship and someone to talk to. I wanted out of that basement. I threw myself through the door and crashed onto the floor.
I sat up and looked at the basement door. There was nothing there. The tendrils had vanished. However, there was someone standing beside me, and that someone was Hamish. Her foot stood beside me and tapped impatiently on the floor. I lifted my head and sheepishly smiled into her frowning face. "I hope you have a good explanation for this," she spoke up.
Chapter 14
I wished I did, or at least one she would believe. "My office. Now," she ordered. I stood and glumly followed her. She held the door open for me and closed it behind us. I sat in the usual chair, and she took the one behind the desk. Hamish set her clasped hands together on the desk and looked at me with an unflinching gaze. "What were you doing down there?"
"Marvin didn't really want to go down there, so I said I would," I told her.
"And why did you run out of there?"
"The shadows scared me." All was the truth, just not the full truth.
Hamish sighed. "Did you at least find the card?"
"Yeah, it's right here." I held up the thin slip of yellowed paper.
She held out her hand. "Let me see it." I winced, but handed it over. Hamish read over the contents, and her eyes widened. She set down the card and looked at me. "Do you know what this means?"
"Um, we found out which book is missing?" I guessed.
"That, and we know where it is, don't we?" she asked me.
I shrank in my seat and nodded. "Yes," I squeaked.
"Do you have it with you?" she wondered. I meekly nodded. "Could you go get it for me?"
I rose, went to where I kept my bag, and took out the book. This thing had caused me so much trouble, but nothing was as bad as the storm forming in Hamish's office. I returned to my boss, and favored leaving the door open for a quick escape. "Close the door," she reminded me. I closed the door and held out the book. She took it, but I didn't feel a weight lifting off my shoulders liked I hoped. Actually, I didn't feel anything, at least not for the book. My mind was still on Jonathon and that kiss. I could still feel his warm lips on mine.
During my thoughts Hamish opened the cover and frowned. "No title," she muttered. Her eyes flickered up to me. "Did you steal this book from the Forbidden Collection and tamper with the pages?"
My mouth fell open. "What? No! I found it in the drop box!"
"But you admit to stealing it from my office?" she persisted.
I slid into my seat and nodded. Hamish sighed and set aside the book. "Surely you can see why I suspect you of stealing the book, and why I have to suspend you from some of your duties until this matter is cleared." I didn't argue. What defense did I have? The book made me do it? "From now on you are to remain at the front desk, and can only work on the computers and put books away. You are not allowed to go back to the offices, and must use the front doors to enter and exit the buildings," Hamish ordered me.
"I understand," I mumbled. This was so humiliating. I was being accused of a theft I didn't commit, and all because I committed one later. I know, not a strong argument for my innocence, but I was innocent. Of the first crime, that is.
"There's a stack of books that need carted out. Take those and get to work," she ordered me.
I stood and slunk out of the room. At the front desk I found Marvin waiting impatiently for my return. "Well? Did you find it?" he asked me.
"Yeah. Hamish has the card. You can ask her about it," I told him. I grabbed the filled cart and quickly carted myself away from the front desk area.
I was purposefully slow in my shelving because I didn't want to return and face the accusatory faces of my coworker and boss. Marvin would find out sooner rather than later, and he'd treat me like I was a newly discovered plague and glare at me as though I was about to infect him with the thief disease. I was so engrossed in my thoughts that I set my steps on autopilot and didn't notice the handsome football player seated in a far corner of the second floor. He saw me, however, and my new body had his attention.
"Hey," he spoke up.
I jumped and whirled around to find Tyler staring at me with that dazzling smile. After all the erotic situations I'd been in recently his smile was a little too cutesy, and sort of fake. "Um, hi," I replied. I grabbed an armful of books and set about putting them away.
Tyler wasn't done with me. He got up from the couch and strolled over to me. "I've never seen you around here before. You new here?"
"I've been working here for a few months," I told him. I snuck a smirk when his smile slipped a little.
"I guess that tells you how much I'm around here," he laughed.
I turned to him and raised an eyebrow. "You're here almost every night, especially if you want to trade notes with someone," I revealed. I took pleasure in his color draining from his face. It was exhilarating having this cute guy under my power, and I wondered if this was what the book felt like while seducing me. My blame against those white-hot pages lessened with my relating to its feelings, if a book could have feelings.
He sheepishly smiled and scratched the back of his head. A week ago I would have swooned at this attention, but now I just found him mildly amusing, like a cat playing with a mouse. "I guess you librarians notice a lot."
"I think it's because people don't notice us," I quipped, and went back to my shelving.
Tyler saw an angle. "Well, I'm noticing you now, so how about we, um, trade notes here? Or maybe you like to go to football games?"
I focused half my attention on his desperate pleas, and the other half on a shadow beyond the bookshelf I was working on. A sly grin swept across my face, and I turned back to him. "I love football games, but they're so expensive."
His face lit up. He dug around in his varsity jacket and pulled out one of those season tickets. "I keep this just in case I meet a special girl. I think you're that special girl."
I sweetly smiled at him and took the pass. "That's very sweet of you, but I don't think I can go out with you," I told him.
Tyler's face fell. "What? Why not?"
I jerked my head toward the shadow at the end of the bookcase. "Because by the time Ashley's done spreading your name around campus as a jerk nobody's going to want to be seen with you." Tyler whipped his head in the direction I indicated and his eyes widened. Ashley stood there with her hands clutched at her sides and her body quivering with rage.
"You! You! You asshole!" she shrieked.
Tyler flew over to her and pawed at her arms, but she brushed him off. "I-I didn't mean anything by it," he protested. "It was just-"
"It was just a special girl you give your season pass to? How many of those damn things do you have?" she growled.
"Just two! I swear!"
"Probably more than that," I spoke up.
Ashley slapped his face as tears rolled down her own. "We're through, and so is your reputation!" she warned him. She spun on her heels and stomped out of there.
Tyler turned and snarled at me. "You knew she was there, didn't yo
u?" he accused me.
I shrugged. "Maybe," was my indifferent reply. He took a threatening step toward me, but the clack of Ashley's heels took priority. Tyler raced after her, leaving me with a sweet taste in my mouth. A playboy like that didn't deserve any better ending.
I went back to my work with a clear conscious and went up to the fourth floor to drop off some books. My conceit clouded my eyes to a danger of my own making. I was in the back of the fourth floor rearranging the messy couch and chairs when two shadows fell over the floor in front of me. I looked up to find Austin and Justin standing side-by-side and far enough apart to block a quick run around them. There wasn't even a hint of niceties in their faces. They were out for revenge, and the punishment for me would be painful.
I backed up and glared at them, but inside I knew my position of cat had just changed to mouse. "What do you want?" I asked them, knowing full well the answer.
"We want some payback for that stunt earlier," Austin growled. He looked me up and down, and his eyes stopped on my heaving breasts. His sneer changed to a feral smirk. "And I know just what I want."
I opened my mouth to scream, but the pair of them rushed me. Austin slapped his hand over my mouth and Justin painfully pulled my arms behind me. They pressed their sweaty, smelling bodies against me and I could feel their arousals as they rubbed my clothes. Justin held my wrists with one hand and I felt him wrap a cord around my hands. Austin pulled out a scarf and stuffed it into my mouth. Then they dumped me on the couch and stood over my prostrate body in admiration.
"She's gotten prettier, hasn't she?" Justin spoke up.
"Yeah, we should ask her later how she got this pretty, but right now let's just enjoy it," Austin suggested. He sat down at my head and ran his hand down my stretched shirt. I screamed when his grimy fingers slid into my bra, but only a muffled sound came out. He chuckled. "None of that. You're just gonna lay there like a good girl and take it." He squeezed my breast, and that's what woke up the thing.
My shadow beneath me raced up my chest and wrapped itself around his arm. It pulled his hand out of my shirt and tossed it against him. His mouth gaped open when more tendrils stretched out beneath me and toward him. He stood and stumbled back to stand beside Justin. The shadows followed him and glided down the side of the couch toward the stupefied pair. The thing seeped under their feet and climbed up their legs. The boys screamed and writhed, but the shadows held them tight to the floor. In a second the shadows swallowed them whole and strangled their cries.
I felt my bonds snap and a shadow pulled the gag from my mouth. I sat up at the same moment the shadows fell from the human forms and back onto the floor. There wasn't anything there. Austin and Justin were gone. The puddle of darkness slid back to me and formed itself back into my shadow. I gasped, stood, and stumbled back, but like before my shadow followed me.
I was stunned, terrified, and relieved. My attackers were gone, but I knew the shadows had somehow killed them. I abandoned my cart and raced down the stairs to the first floor. Marvin and Hamish stood in front of the desk with concerned looks. They'd heard the scream of the men, but hadn't yet pinpointed it. I needed to escape this place, to get some fresh air, so I rushed past them to the doors.
I ran into someone coming inside. We collided, but a pair of strong arms caught me. I looked up and found myself staring into the worried eyes of Jonathon Veer.
Chapter 15
I don't know why, but a sense of relief fell over me. I'd never been so glad to see a familiar, handsome face. I burst into tears and clutched at his jacket. Marvin and Hamish rushed up to me and she put her hands on my shoulders to pull me against her, but I wouldn't be moved.
"Is there some place she can get some privacy?" Veer asked Hamish.
"My office," she suggested.
Jonathon guided me behind the front desk and into the back rooms to Hamish's office. He set me down in the visitor's chair and knelt beside me. I shivered and clutched at my arms. Every twitch of my shadow put me on edge, but he put a warm hand on my shoulder and soothed some of my fears. Hamish brought a glass of water, and I drank a little.
"What happened?" she softly asked me. I shook my head. What explanation could I give her that she would believe?
"I think she's had quite a shock," Veer spoke up. He checked my pulse and my forehead. "Her heart beat is very high, but she doesn't have a fever."
"Should I call for an ambulance?" Marvin spoke up.
"I-I'll be fine," I spoke up. I handed Hamish the glass and sat up. "Just got scared again, that's all." Really scared.
"What in the world were you thinking trying to rush through the doors like that?" Hamish scolded me.
I shrugged. "I just needed some fresh air."
"In that condition you could have accidentally hurt yourself. It's fortunate you were here to help, Mr. Veer," she commented.
"Fortune has less to do with it than you think," Jonathon commented. "I came here to see if maybe you'd found a book I was missing. I dropped it on campus Monday and haven't see it since."
"I'm afraid we haven't had any unknown drop offs all week," Hamish told him.
Jonathon's eyes glanced over her desk and he happened to notice the library book I'd stolen. "There, that's the one I'm missing."
All our mouths dropped open, and Hamish chuckled. "I'm sorry, Mr. Veer, but you must be mistaken. This book belongs to the library," she insisted.
"Can you prove that?" he argued.
"Well, not through a bar code, but the title matches the one in our records," she countered.
"Show me the title," he challenged. Hamish frowned, but took up the challenge. She opened the cover and revealed nothing. The page was blank. "Where's the title?" he persisted.
"Sometimes it doesn't show up. We haven't quite figured out the reason why," Hamish told him.
He held out his hand. "May I see it?" he requested. Hamish raised an eyebrow, but closed the cover and handed over the book. He tilted it up and opened to the title page. A slow smile slipped onto his face. "Is this what you were looking for?" He turned the book around so we could see the page. Hamish and I were shocked to see not only a title, but credits and authorship. The title was also different. It read "The Art of Gardening and Its Practical Applications." Veer chuckled, and snapped shut the book. "I guess the secret is out. I like to garden."
Hamish shook herself from her daze and frowned. "I'm afraid this still doesn't prove your ownership of the book, Mr. Veer," she countered.
Veer tapped the page opposite the title. His name was scrawled across the paper in a large, bold hand. "Is that enough proof?" he asked her.
I'd never seen Hamish flustered before, but I got a good look at it right then. Her face turned red and her eyes dodged from the book to the man. "I-I guess it really is yours. I'm sorry for the mistake," she managed to apology.
Veer shook his head. "No apologies needed." He slipped it under his arm and held out his other hand to me. "And on that happy note, shouldn't we be leaving?"
"Leaving?" I repeated. "Leave where?"
"I need to take you home. You've had a nasty shock and need some sleep," he replied.
Hamish stuck her face into our conversation. "You don't need to trouble yourself with her, Mr. Veer. I can-"
"I'd like to trouble myself with her. I think she's worth it," he insisted.
Jonathon wouldn't take no for an answer because he tucked his book under one arm and helped me up with the other. I couldn't stand very well on my shaky legs, but he pressed me against him and steered me into the hall. Marvin and Hamish followed us to the library front doors and waved goodbye to us. Jonathon took me to the library parking lot. "We can take my car," I offered.
"But my car's a lot closer, and tomorrow I can drive you to yours," he suggested.
"All right, but only this once," I agreed.
He stuffed me into his nice car and we pulled out of the parking lot. There was silence between us as we drove down the road, but I broke it when my turn came up o
n us. I leaned forward and pointed at the left turn. "Turn there," I ordered him. He drove right by it without a glance. I glared at him. "You just missed my turn," I told him.
There was a sly smile on his lips. "I said I'd take you home, I didn't say which one," he replied. "But to be honest, I think you need some looking after. I don't want you to collapse just after I leave your apartment."
I narrowed my eyes. "How'd you know I lived in an apartment?" I asked him.
He chuckled. "You're not the only one who's been following people around."
His words left me with an unsettling feeling, especially since he'd stuffed the book in his chair close beside me. My eyes flitted over to it a dozen times expecting something bad or erotic to happen, but it sat still like a well-behaved book. Jonathon parked his car in front of his house and opened my door for me. Remembering what happened in the house last time, I hesitated to get out. "I-I think I'm feeling better. You don't have to watch over me," I insisted.
"Nonsense. You've had a nasty shock and I've got plenty of rooms," he insisted. He gently pulled me out and led me inside. The place was dark and quiet, but a few lights illuminated the rooms and it took on a more cheerful atmosphere. He even built a fire in the living room and sat me in front of it. "Now let's get you that cocoa I forgot to give you earlier."
"You don't have-" He was gone, but I noticed he'd left the book on the coffee table behind me. I waited for shadows to come out and take me in front of the warm, crackling fire, but still it sat there.
Jonathon returned a few minutes later with two mugs brimming with marshmallows. I took mine and snickered. "Any cocoa in here?" I teased.
"I like to put a little cocoa with my marshmallows," he returned. Jonathon sat down just behind me and close to the coffee table. He pulled the book off the table and opened the cover.
I glanced between him and the book. "Any good gardening tips in there?"
He chuckled. "I'm afraid there aren't any tips at all. At least, not for gardening."
