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I scoffed, noting the no less than two dozen fluffy, pastel eyes peering at me from the shadowed corners of bookcases and the lower arches of the vaulted ceiling. In contrast, the Heechus are everywhere I look. They could even be found in little sleeping piles all over my apartment.

In fact, yesterday morning I went for a drive in Jeepie and a handful of Heechus climbed out of my backpack without warning, making me swerve dangerously across the yellow line while they giggled. After, Huff had laughed as I recounted the story, he told me I was silly for not expecting Heechu stowaways and rolled his eye. That same day, the mischievous little fuzzball accidentally let it slip that Bane canceled all of the classes I would have missed.

I’m no fool. I know Bane asked them to watch over me.

Although this upgraded method of stalking irritated me a bit, it was also reassuring. He promised to protect me, and he was in the only way I would allow at present. I wasn't ready to talk to him, no matter what my brain told my heart.

Did I allow my emotions to control me and behave rashly as a result? Yes. Is it too late to correct my mistakes?

I shook my head, unwilling to form a response to my invasive question. Maybe this was meant to happen. Bane and I are so different. Do we even have anything in common? I don’t even know what his favorite color is. My temples throbbed from the onslaught. That was enough introspection.

Extracting my journal from my backpack, I carried it over to the clear space of carpeting between the coffee table and the wall, lying on my belly. No sooner had I settled in for a lengthy writing session when Huff winked onto the spread pages, smearing black ink with his paws.

“Oops. Sorries, Meeky,” he said, examining the smudges. He turned his lavender eye up to my face, tripping on his ears as he hurried over and sat on the back of my hand.

I smiled softly, raising a brow. “It’s alright. It wasn’t helping anyway. Everything okay?”

His tails swished over my knuckles. “Yes?”

Laughing, I tickled his side. “Is that a question or a statement.”

He huffed. “Both?” The Heechu growled and crossed his ears on the top of his head. “I don’t like this tension between you and Baney. We’re worried about both of you.”

My heart swelled. “You are?”

“Of course, we are! I swear humans and grotesques are more alike than we thought. But that’s not the only reason I’m here.” A puff of purple magic clouded around him, then he placed a folded piece of paper onto my journal.

“That better not be from whom I think it is, Huffluff.”

“Please just give him a chance to explain. He’s not handling the distance well. If things continue like this, I fear we won’t be able to retrieve him from the darkness this time.”

I flinched. “What do you mean?”

“Read the note. Please,” he said and winked away.

Hours later the near silent chime that signaled someone entering through the main library entrance sounded in my ears, drawing my attention. I straightened my spine, then pasted on the best version of a customer service smile I had, one that I've had to practice in a mirror as a non-descriptive woman walked a few paces into the building and halted. After a beat, she continued walking to the desk where I stood.

“Hello. Is there something I can help you with?” I asked politely as I could manage.

“I'm sure you can,” she stated, tapping a blunt nail on the desk. Her response was normal enough, nevertheless, there was something about this woman that tickled my lizard brain.

Silence formed awkwardly between us. I cleared my throat. “Is there a specific book you're looking for?”

The woman headed towards the aisle closest to the exit then turned on her heel, and my eyes narrowed.

What now?

I swear, a hint of malice contorted her features for less than a second. She halted, then strode back to me, a small smile tilting her thin lips. Flinching backward, I watched in gaped mouth horror as her face seemed to melt, a heavily wrinkled, papery textured one rising to the surface.

“What the fuck?”

The duck I hadn’t realized I was still holding vibrated in my palm with enough force to splay my fingers, but instead of following the normal rules of gravity, the Goth rubber duckie flew directly at this strange woman, as if it could actually fly.

This is not my area of expertise. Where the hell was Bane when I needed him?

My eyes widen as the telltale sign of a zipper rang through the library, and I gasped. At least a dozen duckies, from miniature to the normal sized rubber ones sprang from my backpack and marched to the woman.

My mind swirled through various scenarios as I stumbled around the desk, movement drawing my attention between the stacks. I took a hasty step backward, watching in fascinated horror as more toy ducks of all shapes and sizes swarmed into a uniform line and aimed directly for the intruder. She shrieked, causing me to flinch when they overtook her and she fell to a knee, the crack of bone meeting the unforgiving hardwood flooring piercing my ears.