Lenora's Grimoire

Chapter Eleven

"Hey, Raven," Cherish said, clutching the receiver of her work phone tightly as she sat at the desk. "It's Cherish, from the library." She cleared her throat nervously.

She'd taken a few minutes to compose herself, and completely open the blinds, the windows, turn on all of the lights, and even propped open the front doors to let the morning air in—before she'd even thought about what to do next.

Clearly the most logical idea was to call Raven to get the whole thing sorted out. Demons, she could handle. Resurrecting plants, she could handle.

Ghosts showing up physically to threaten her? Absolutely, one hundred percent no.

"Oh, uh, hey," Raven said. He sounded surprised to hear her. "Is, uh, everything alright? We're still good for Monday night, right?"

Cherish laughed. "Uh, yeah," she replied. "No problems with Monday. Still works for me, schedule is still open, library still works."

"Great, okay," Raven replied. "Then why the call? Did you forget to mention something important last night before I left?"

She swallowed, then said, "actually, I have a . . . slight problem."

She could hear the fear in her own voice and squeezed her eyes shut momentarily, wishing she had been able to control it better. 

She thought she'd been handling the whole reaction to Lenora showing up fairly well, but her inability to hold the emotion back in her words meant she'd been more terrified than she first thought.

Ghosts in the town library were a given, considering just how ancient the building was. Lenora showing up was different, especially since it was more personal, and definitely more directed at her.

"Are you okay?" Raven's tone quickly switched to one of concern.

"Physically, yes," Cherish said.

She swept the front of the library with her eyes quickly. No one had walked in, which meant she was still alone—but she could have sworn she heard more whispering coming from the back room again. A shiver went up her spine at the thought of Lenora wandering around the library, watching her from the shadows silently.

Every second she continued to stay in the library, the more uncomfortable and in danger she felt.

"But Lenora stopped by briefly to say hi," she continued, feeling the hand holding the phone start to shake, "and I think maybe we should just . . . call the whole thing off. Call it a day. I'll buy your girlfriend a new plant. How about ten? Let's just forget about the whole thing, okay—sounds great? Fantastic—alright, bye now—"

"Wait, wait, wait," Raven interrupted, "hold on—who now?"

"Lenora," Cherish repeated, a little slower. "You know, the one who wrote the book we're using?"

Raven was silent for a moment on the other end of the phone before he said, "okay. I'm guessing you got zero sleep last night after I left. I'm driving to the library to take you home so you can get some sleep."

"I saw her," Cherish insisted, hissing the words out into the receiver of the phone, in case any of the usual patrons came in. "It doesn't matter whether or not I had any sleep—I saw her and she threatened me!"

She glanced over at the door, where a mother and her two small children were standing apprehensively. They must have caught a good bit of what she'd said to be giving her such a startled look.

She shot them a friendly smile and a small wave. "Sorry," she said, a little louder, "I'll be with you in a moment."

She turned her attention back to the call. "I just think it would be best if we went our separate ways with this. She seemed serious and I'm not about to get mixed up with things that I don't understand, and should probably be left alone."