Chapter Text
It was a day like any other. The library was quieter than it had been, the after-school crowd come and gone. All that remained were one librarian, a page, and several patrons hunting down one last book or cramming as much as they could into their free Internet time as the clock ticked closer and closer to closing. The library closed at seven, as was the usual, and the librarian made sure that everyone was out before she locked up and left at seven-thirty.
And, as had happened before, a man who had previously been using a public access computer started following her from a distance.
This time, though, was slightly different, as it had begun to rain and the librarian had left her umbrella at home. As she cut through a lonely gap between buildings, the man continued to follow her, and although she was still a good distance away, she heard a voice hiss, “I know what you are.”
She ignored it and sped up, hoping beyond hope that the voice was just the wind. But no luck. “I know who you are,” the voice hissed again, and she cursed under her breath as she heard the footsteps coming closer.
“My lady,” the voice taunted as the man stood behind her, lips unmoving. The librarian whirled around, her hand moving inhumanly quickly to press two fingers against his head. A bright light glared from the point of contact, causing the man’s eyes to roll up into his head and his legs to give out from under him.
The librarian took a step back from the unconscious man, lowering her hand and wincing. She hadn’t meant it to be that bright, or that strong. She quickly glanced around to make sure no one was rushing towards them, then turned and hurried along her way home.
It may have been nothing, an abnormal happening masked by a normal night, were it not for the teenager not far away holding a dog’s leash in one hand and a smartphone in the other.