Finally the commotion stopped and Hailey scanned the area, finding the overturned shelf where Giselle had been.
“Giselle?” she cried frantically. “Are you alright? Giselle…”
A low moan rose from the rubble, and Hailey held her breath.
“Giselle?” she breathed hesitantly.
A hand emerged in a loose fist, which stretched toward the ceiling. Very slowly, she raised her middle finger.
“You’re alive,” Hailey breathed. She was never so happy to be flipped off. “I’m stuck under this shelf,” she added and laughed painfully.
“I really hate libraries,” Giselle muttered flatly as she struggled out of the pile. “How did you know Cobon’s death frequency?”
“What? I didn’t.” Not for sure, anyway. Hailey blinked back the darkness. Was she makingsense?
Giselle froze. “You didn’t? You told me to wail his death frequency. It made him think he was going to die. How did you know his death frequency?”
“That was…” she breathed. “…the number of books on the shelves.”
Thank you, Mrs. Spitz!
Hailey wanted to laugh, but realizing the gravity of her injuries, thought better of it.
“Giselle,” she moaned urgently, pushing away the darkness that eclipsed her periphery. “Can you call an ambulance? I think I’m hurt.”
“You’re under a bookcase, bozo,” Giselle noted as she scrambled across the books toward Hailey. “You’re probably crushed.”
“It’s on my legs,” Hailey breathed, feeling nauseous.
Giselle pulled several books off of Hailey, tossing them this way and that until she’d uncovered her enough to assess the situation. She grabbed the bookcase and heaved, but she might as well have been trying to lift the pavement off a road. The bookcase didn’t budge.
“Hailey!” Giselle barked. “Wake up!”
“Still here,” Hailey responded, her eyes heavy.
“Shit,” she grunted. “It’s too heavy for me.” Then she rested her hand gingerly on Hailey’s back. “Do you want me to wail for you?”
“No!”Was she kidding?
“Fine. I’ve got to go and get help, then.” Giselle’s voice dripped with worry.
“Okay,” Hailey bleated, trying not to think of dying alone.
“Before I go, guess what?”
“What Giselle?!”
“I still have my soul,” she smiled. “Cobon grabbed it—you know, if I leave you, you might die alone.” She was stalling. She actually was worried, and that worried Hailey.
“Giselle!” she huffed. “Go!”
“Alright,” she said. “Just don’t die, okay?”
“Okay,” Hailey breathed, and Giselle sprinted away.
Shortly after she left, Mrs. Spitz strolled over, paused in front of Hailey with her hands on her hips, and shook her head in disgust before she continued on her way, calling over her shoulder as she strode off, “The three of you will clean this up, Hail…” Her muffled voice faded, and darkness pushed Hailey’s eyes shut.
“You’re badly wounded, my dear.” Asher’s voice pierced her mind. But it wavered, and Hailey wasn’t sure it was real.
