The cluster ghost let out a terrifying shriek, worse than ever before. The high-pitched sound almost pierced his skull, and was only getting louder by the second. Then they were surrounded by a cascade of cracking noises that ended with the creature shattering like glass, becoming nothing but dust in seconds that disappeared between one blink and the next.
Taking a shuddering breath, while swaying a bit as his adrenaline crashed, he looked over at Noble and hesitated once again, unsure what he should do.
“Fuck,”Noble groaned painfully as he sagged on the ground, his chest heaving. He was starting to wonder if he’d pulled something with how much his left shoulder hurt…not to mention his right leg. He definitely needed more stitches, and had probably tugged out the ones he already had. Taking a few more gasping breaths, Noble started to push to his feet, but froze when he locked eyes with Ollie.
The hollow look that had disappeared weeks ago was now back, and the redness underneath his eyes was clearly from crying. Ollie, honestly, looked exhausted, and his clothes were torn, dirty, and soaked from rolling around in the dank, filthy alleyway.
Ollie licked his lips, staring for a moment more, before he softly asked, “How did you know?”
Taking a deep breath and slowly letting it out, he pushed to his feet, stumbling slightly as his right leg almost gave out. Noble couldn’t say he was shocked that Ollie reached for him, as if to stop him from falling. Nor was he shocked when the man quickly tried to cover up the action by winding his hands together tightly. Ollie…Ollie was too kind.
“Jahla called me.”
“Of course—ha…” Ollie said tiredly, before swallowing and rasping, “Thank you.”
Noble knew he should respond, but as they quietly stared at each other, his courage failed him. And then he lost his chance.
“Thank you,” the witch repeated. “But…I… I can’t right now. I’m… I’m not ready to deal with…it.”
He cleared his throat. “Understood. I…left your, uh, messenger bag—along with a bag of your dirty clothes and other things that you left at my house—just outside the alleyway. There are…no cameras in this alley to worry about, and I…didn’t actually hear any sound until I stepped into it. While I…can’t explain that, it does mean no one should have heard any of what just happened. But…I’m… I’ll just…go.”
With that, Noble turned and walked away. He didn't care that he was limping, he just forced himself to keep walking, even though his heart ached for him to go back. At least…he could be happy knowing he hadn’t been too late… Ollie was safe, and that had to be enough to keep him going.
Openingone of the front doors of the library and walking in, Ollie let it swing shut behind him. Despite finding Red and Jahla sitting there, holding themselves stiffly at the foot of the steps, with worry etched on their faces, he limped past them, saying nothing.
He was tired, and he just couldn’t deal with any of it right now. As angry, hurt, and drained as he was, Ollie was thankful they didn’t try to stop him.
Moving mindlessly, Ollie eventually found himself in the secret library. He laid down where Pumpkin used to, and stared blankly up at the painted night sky, before slowly closing his eyes and trying not to think. To not be hurt, for just a moment, by what he could only define as a betrayal by three very important people in his life—even if one of them was a cat.
Winnie watched Ollie pass by quietly, and the blank expression on the man’s face, which seemed to appear anytime her Boss wasn’t talking to someone, set off plenty of alarm bells in her head. Something was obviously very wrong. And she could only assume it involved Noble, since the man hadn’t shown up all day.
Winnie would have asked Jahla what the fuck happened, if she wasn’t also acting odd. What was worse, the two were in fact acting even odder around each other, making her think that the Head Librarian was somehow also involved in whatever had happened. Yet it wasn't only her, but somehow…also Ollie’s cat, Red. Because Ollie seemed to be, for some reason, avoiding his cat. It was safe to say, Winnie’s imagination was running wild.
Gnawing on her bottom lip, she glanced at the clock on the wall beside her.
Five minutes…she had five minutes before her desk would be overrun by the little demons they called children. It would be tight, but if she hurried, she could possibly make it to Percy and back in time.
Winnie hesitated for just a second more, before rushing from her chair and around her desk, taking off towards the stairs. Without paying attention to anyone or anything around her, she power-walked as fast as her legs could, because Winnie did not run. Bouncing up the steps once she reached them, she turned right when she got to the second floor. Heading down the hall, Winnie took a left through the gap in the hall divider, heading through the open doors of the largest fiction book section on that floor.
On reaching Percy’s desk, which was against the wall to the right of the door, she was about to ask if the man knew what the hell was up with Ollie, Jahla, and Red, but she hesitated when she noticed how still Percy was. Frowning, Winnie just stared, noting how he continued to peer off to the left, as if she wasn’t even there, or as if he was…frozen. He… Percy didn’t…even look like he was breathing.
Swallowing hard, Winnie glanced around the room, and her heart started to race when she saw that everyone in there was the same…frozen and unmoving…silent, with no sounds of life at all. What…was happening?
Winnie flinched and looked back at Percy when he suddenly yelped, “Holy shit, Winnie!? Where the fuck did you come from?”
The man was clutching his chest and staring at her as if she had just appeared out of thin air.
“Um…the stairs…?” she said slowly, before awkwardly clearing her throat. “Where else would I have—ha…?”
Her gaze flicked around the room once more, seeing that everyone was moving, breathing, and making sounds again, as if nothing had happened, before being drawn to the clock on the wall behind Percy’s desk. A few seconds…the clock showed that only a few seconds had passed from when she’d left her desk. Yet…that was impossible. It took far longer just to reach the stairs, let alone get to the top of them.
Winnie gave her head a shake. No, it was…nothing. What she was thinking was impossible, and quite honestly, ridiculous. The clock was obviously wrong. It being slightly off meant there was absolutely no reason for her to bother checking the digital one on her wrist to prove otherwise. She did not need to give in to any sort of paranoia.
“Ah, did you need something?” Percy asked hesitantly.
Winnie looked back at the man, and opened her mouth to ask her question once again, but floundered, and instead, she slowly said, “No…uh, it’s nothing.”
After turning abruptly, she hurried back downstairs, determined to forget and ignore whatever the fuck just happened. The sooner she was back at her desk, the sooner she could do just that. Though…maybe it would be a good idea to remove the clock from her wall?
