Chapter Text
This year, just like every year, was supposed to be perfect. Of course, it never has been, but a girl can dream right? That's what Paige thought anyway as she roamed around the shelves of the library at which she is employed, pushing a cart of returned books to reorganize back into their appropriate alphabetical sections.
She wasn't in a hurry, 6pm was just half an hour away and the number of visitors had dwindled down to only 3 elderly men sitting together talking a bit louder than they should be in a library, but it was so close to the end of the day neither her or her coworker, Abigail, minded anymore.
Paige scanned the shelves looking for the best place to put away a novel by Don Delilio; but her mind was elsewhere, primarily on her need for more money, if she didn't make more then she would either be late on her rent, or have to go a little hungry for a week or so. Neither of those options sounded ideal, and it was all the fault of her now ex-roommate and boyfriend. Rent going up 25 dollars this year didn't worry her one bit when she had him, in fact, nothing ever seemed to worry her when she had him. How delusional.
She sighed sorrowfully to herself, throat tightening as she fought the urge to cry. 6pm couldn't come soon enough.
Once all of the books on her cart were returned to their proper places amongst the many shelves Paige, a little antsier and therefore quicker now, pushed the cart back to the main desk, she was surprised to see Abigail was no longer behind it. She scanned the large room to see that the old men were now saying their goodbyes to one another and moseying to the front doors, but where was Abby? Moving behind the desk to grab her purse, Paige heard the sound of heel'd foot steps on carpeted floors to her right, she looked up to find Abigail strutting up to her with a large smile and a question in her eyes, along with something else she couldn't quite pin down.
As much as Paige liked Abigail, she did not like that look in her eyes. Not one bit, because that was the look of someone who wanted something. When Abigail became close enough to the desk she placed her well manicured hands on the smooth mahogany surface before speaking,
"Hey, I've gotta favor ta' ask," she started, her grin now turned a little apologetic as she continued, "Do you mind locking this place up alone? I went ahead and checked the bathrooms, they're clean enough, and the main part of the place is finished, all you gotta do is clean the Lounge! What'd'ya say?"
Paige fixed her with a raised eyebrow, "Why? You gotta be somewhere in a hurry today?" It felt awfully rude to ask her like that, but she knew Abby wouldn't mind, and with the months she's had Paige believed she deserved to be a bit rude every once in a while. For her own sanity.
Abigail quickly turned sheepish, which was a rare sight for such a confident and beautiful woman like her, "Welllll, actually, yeah kinda…" Paige cocked her head as if to ask her 'why' without really saying it, "I've got a date." There was that sunny grin, and now that Paige thought about it, she did know what that other look in her eyes meant, it was a look of glee, pure lovestruck glee.
It caused an ache that nearly took her breath away, "Oh." Was all she could manage in that moment.
Abigail, undetermined, "I will absolutely make it up to ya I swear! And I checked out the Lounge on my way back from the bathrooms it's a mess but it wouldn't take ya long, oh please, please, pleaseee say yes!" She clasped her hands together to her chest as if saying a prayer to the Lord above.
Part of Paige wanted to be selfish, but she knew what it meant to go on that date, what it had meant to her years ago to go on her many dates with the man she had loved. So, with a heavy sigh and a weak smile, "Yeah, you go ahead sweetheart, just be careful alright." At this Abigail let out a quiet squeal, practically shaking with excitement. She enveloped Paige in a tight embrace, "Thank you!".
With that, Abigail grabbed her own purse from behind the desk and made her way to the double doors, but not before turning to face Paige one last time, "I promise to make this up to ya, you're the best!" And she blew a kiss before practically running out the doors.
Letting out another sigh and now finally alone, Paige stopped smiling and instead wore her face exactly as she felt in this moment. Miserable. She didn't regret saying yes, and she didn't feel any resentment towards her work-friend, but if it wasn't one thing it was another. It seemed everyone and everything, intentional or not, was out to make this year the absolute worst one yet.
With a bitter bile building in her chest, she made sure to grab her cardigan as well before making her way to the "Little Dreamers' Lounge", a kids and parents only area of the library that was filled with toys, cozy and colorful chairs, books and a TV with a VHS player. Pillows too, lots of pillows.
First order of business, she needed to make sure all toys and books were put away properly, she began to work, and as she began to put a dent in the mess the children had made she began to feel a bit uneasy with the thick silence that had fallen over the building now that she was alone. It didn't sit right with her at all, and so, that is why she began rummaging through the cardboard box filled with children's VHS tapes placed conveniently next to the TV and VHS player.
She began muttering to herself as she tried to find something appropriate for background noise, something that wouldn't distract her from her work completely but just enough to make it feel less eerie, "let's see…Brave little toaster, Barney, Barney again, Mickey Mouse, Sing alon–oh!" Her list came to a halt as she spied a tape without a case, how odd, she thought to herself. Without a moment's hesitation she pulled the tape from the box and examined it, "Welcome Home. Huh, it sounds familiar? I think?" She couldn't be sure, it seemed to her lot of children's shows and movies reused some words for titles, so if she knew this one it wasn't off the top of her head. With a small shrug she made sure the VHS player was empty before inserting this unfamiliar tape.
She hit rewind just in case and once it was ready she hit play, when she was sure it was running she immediately got right back to what she was doing, organizing toys into their bins so as to fit them all. She heard the intro song and occasionally would glance over at the TV just to check it out, she was sure now that she had never seen this show or movie before. It appeared to be a show, maybe, its cast was a bunch of colorful and cute puppets with equally cute names. Julie Joyful? Eddie Dear? Barnaby B. Beagle? How adorable!
She turned away from the TV in order to focus once again, after all she picked this for background noise, not for a genuine distraction. And so, for the most part the beginning of the show had been a little lost on her, the host was now speaking and she heard a call from the TV before hearing more speaking. She had drowned it out almost completely until she had just finished placing the last stray book on a shelf and then suddenly–"Helloo??" A smooth very nearly monotone voice called out from the TV speakers, "Can you hear me neighbor?" This slightly caught her attention, only because it felt as though someone was staring at her, very intensely. It physically sent a shiver up her spine before she even turned around.
There on the TV was a small puppet, eyes hooded, a wide smile on their face as they ever do slightly tilted their head to the side and stared. It was creepy how this TV character seemed to almost know exactly where her eyes were, maintaining heavy, almost anxiety inducing eye contact. This character's eyes were dark, darker than coal, and his pupils (did this thing even have pupils?) were so large it deeply unsettled her. Why did such a cute looking and colorful puppet have such intense eyes? Suddenly he spoke once more, and it shook her to realize he was speaking to her directly,
"I'm sorry neighbor I seem to have caught you at a bad time, ha ha, I asked if you would want to come with me to visit my friends Julie and Frank?" Wait, was he really speaking to her? Surely not, this was just one of those open ended shows where the character asks the child a question but doesn't expect an answer before answering for themselves. Surely.
Paige sighed, geez that's a lot of sighing today she'll need to work on that, shaking her head at her own foolishness. "Geez I went and scared myself, me and my damn imagination, I need to sleep more." And she intended for that to be the end of it, she was going to say that–to herself–turn around and go back to work, but no, the puppet had something more to say to that.
"There's no need to be scared at all, neighbor, and as for sleep I hope you're getting at least 8 hours of it a day." It said, a bit of concern laced into its monotone, but the concern was lost on Paige as she suddenly whipped around to once again lock eyes with him. His eyes were now a bit wider and his iris smaller, not significantly so but his face seemed to attempt to mimic concern even with his smile. Again, the concern and genuine nature of this pompadour wearing puppet was lost on Paige as she suddenly shrieked very loudly. It was absolutely speaking to her.
Before he could get another word out Paige grabbed her cardigan she had discarded on a garish red and green striped chair and threw it unceremoniously over the TV, attempting to block the–definitely–haunted tape's host's line of sight. She was shaking as she stepped back from the TV and once again the voice spoke again, "Neighbor! Wait, I'm sorry I didn't mean to startle you! Was it something I said dear Neighbor?" That was enough for Paige, immediately she dove for the VHS player and hit eject, the voice disappeared and so did the distinct feeling of his gaze. She yanked the tape from the player and dropped it to the floor.
What the hell was that? She wondered to herself and she shook, any fatigue and bitterness she felt before whisked away by confusion and fear. Had she just imagined it? Was she really just losing her mind from lack of sleep and all of the stress from these past 2 months? She couldn't be sure, but there was no way that actually happened, even if it had felt and sounded so real.
A new uneasiness filled her, she couldn't leave the tape here to be seen by children, not that she believed in what happened, but it was better safe than sorry. Even though she felt uncomfortable with stealing, and having what she assumed was a cursed tape, she shoved it into her bag and made final touches to the room. It was good enough, she was going home.
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Once she reached her Apartment room, Paige discarded her purse on her small, rounded dining table. Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, relieved to have some space from that tape now. Now she faced a new problem, fatigue and dizziness ambushed her the moment she separated herself from the tape and stepped foot into the relatively safe apartment she called home.
"Forget a shower, I obviously need more sleep." She grumbled, shedding her clothes as she made her way to the bedroom, not caring where they may end up on the way. She opened her dresser and picked out a pajama set, it wasn't the matching pieces but she just wanted to lay in her itchy bed and sleep now, not like anyone would be seeing her in her PJs anymore. Not for a long while at least.
Now dressed in slightly comfier attire, she released her hair from its elastic prison and crawled into bed. As she began to drift away, completely numbed to the damp heat of the room and itchy worn out comforter and bed set, she swore just as she fell asleep she could still feel that piercing gaze; and then, nothingness.