Two things surprised Will as he entered the library: the first was there were a lot of people his age coming to the library at the end of the month. Probably to return books or check out a DVD to watch, nothing too strange. What was weird to him that apart from Jenny Emerson, the Mayor's youngest daughter who interned at the library, the place seemed
devoid of anyone else. Jenny was busy with her left arm cradling her cheek as she listlessly watched a Netflix show on her laptop. Will wondered if he could just walk off with half the furniture before the girl noticed anything.
Still, messing with a stuck-up senior like her wasn't something Will did. Not that he did much of anything. He barely had any friends besides Kim Wilson and Barry Wang, and they only really
talked in school. This was how it had always been, and how he expected it to always continue. It was why he needed to get out of this fucking town, away from his parent's constant arguing, away from the small-town small-mindedness, and away from the memory of Sarah, constantly following him around like a creepy reminder that the dead never come back.
The library was stuffy, like always. Poor ventilation even after the huge refurbishment 15 years ago meant that the less-open areas like the book stacks were stifling at times in the summer. At least today's high temperature was going to be 72 degrees Fahrenheit, a nice comfortable temperature. Meaning that with any luck, the stacks would only get up to around 80. Not that Will needed to spend too much time walking around the stacks, he already knew where he was going:
Mystery and Horror. The section was deeper in the stacks, as the
Young Adult Fiction and
Romance sections were the most well-traveled. There was always a demand for The Hunger Games or Fifty Shades of Gray from bored students to sex-deprived housewives. The DVD section was also near the front; showcasing a lackluster mix of classic films and the previous year's blockbusters. Most of the popular stuff, the Marvel movies, action flicks, and your teen romances, they'd get rented out in a flash and you'd never get a chance to borrow a copy. The only good DVD in Will's opinion was the Masters of Horror collection, something that he and his sister had watched when he was still quite young.
The horror section wasn't even on the first floor of the library and instead was on the lower level of the stacks, in the basement. This was always nice since it was a good five degrees colder in the basement year-round, meaning that you never sweated your ass off searching for a good copy of Poe or Lovecraft. The basement was one of the few sections of the library that had been spared in the extreme refurbishment of 2005. The stone walls were original to the old courthouse, and there was always an air of tension down there that the first floor lacked. Will walked to the door leading to the library's staircase, to find that it wouldn't budge. He didn't see a key to lock the door either. Was something wedged in the door to keep it from opening?
There was still the elevator. The librarians loaded their book carts onto the elevator to move between floors; the children's library on the second floor, the main floor, and the basement. Even though it was reserved for staff, Will felt that if a door was jammed, that constituted enough need to try it. Plus talking to Jenny Emerson was like having your teeth pulled for as many "likes" as she added to every sentence she spoke. He'd rather do things alone.
He walked around to the other side of the first floor, as more people his age filed in. He recognized some; he'd seen them at school or shared a class with them. There was the rich girl, Abbie Prescott. He'd never really spoken to her, even if they'd had classes together. He recognized another girl. Her name was something to do with a gem. Emerald? Diamond? Ruby? Something like that. The gem girl was talking to another one of the school's rich kids. Astrid something or another. Family-owned most of the local fisheries on the coast. There was that redhead girl from Canada, talking to Danny, the football guy. Will had never really had any run-ins with the football team, and Danny seemed nice enough. But it wasn't like he'd had a huge amount of trust for anyone around town. Another underclassman had also walked in. He didn't know her name but the fact that anyone of mixed heritage stuck out like a sore thumb in the mostly-white city was enough to make her memorable.
There was the British underclassman. She'd gotten a lot of attention for her accent. And probably a lot of annoying comments about sounding like she belonged in the Harry Potter movies. He'd recognized nearly everyone at the library, either on their way in or being inside now. They all went to the same school after all. But he didn't recognize
one person, the blonde girl holding a pair of rollerblades.
Who the hell rollerblades anymore? Was she new? Did she just arrive? It made his theory of being trapped in town feel a little less weighty. He noticed another familiar figure making their way towards the doorway as well: Walter Dawson. He'd never talked to the guy, but he knew him all the same. Fifth-year senior, class clown. It seemed nice enough.
Still, this was no time for talking, especially not to people he knew. He felt a well of anxiety build as teenagers his age were all here. That voice in the back of his head, reminding him that he was
weird and had a dead sister and was probably seen as a creep echoed around in the chamber of his mind, and he quickly made his way to the elevator. He pressed the button, but it didn't light up. No sound, no nothing.
"Seriously?" He muttered to himself. Was everything out of order or broken in this damn library? He steeled himself because NOW he had to talk to the Emerson girl about getting into the basement.
Walking back into the front of the library, everything felt
colder. It was like the air conditioning was on full blast and then some. He shivered slightly, looking around the room, before musing out-loud,
"Did it just get really cold in here?"Jenny Emerson couldn't hear anything and didn't seem bothered by the air. It was what followed that made him jump, and made the hairs on his arms stand up. A loud slam came from the back of the library, and the loud creaking sound of a door opening up. The cold air was starting to get a bit stifling now.