Bookworm

Chapter Four - The Corridor

We spent the night sleeping on the floor of an upstairs office space. The library also doubled up as offices for some of the people on the local council but due to the renovations the office workers had been moved into the town hall half a mile away. Lux and Scott had wanted to go and find some cushions for us to sleep on top of but I warned them against it after telling them that the only room I had remembered seeing cushions in was the room in which we had found Ella’s head. It was also, unfortunately, the only room so far in which we’d managed to locate food. The others had been all for going back and taking the food but I resolutely refused to step foot back inside that room. We had bickered for an hour before I had announced that I was going to sleep.

I had rolled onto my side so I had my back to the others. Gabe had shuffled closer to me, wrapped his arms around me and nuzzled his face in the curve of my neck.

“You’ve no idea how amazing it is to be able to do this, Ri,” he’d mumbled, before kissing my neck several times. I turned back to face him and had fallen asleep snuggled against him. I woke up in the same position.

I tried not to move when I woke because I wasn’t sure if Gabe was awake or not, and if he was asleep I didn’t want to disturb him. Instead, I lay with my head on his chest, just feeling the slow rise and fall of his deep breathing. His scent filled my nostrils- warm and musky, familiar to me and comforting. As long as Gabe was with me I’d be all right.

I’d also made the decision just before going to sleep last night that my day today was to be spent trying to locate three things: food, weapons and an exit. Food because I now hadn’t eaten since just before my discovery in the fridge, and that had just been a cookie. Even lying down I felt a bit dizzy and I knew that if I stood up my legs would be like jelly. I also needed to try to find something to defend myself with- there was most definitely a killer in here and when the time came when he targeted me, I wasn’t going easy- I was going down fighting. And obviously, some kind of escape route would be ideal.

I had a feeling that the others’ parents would be in a state of panic- they wouldn’t be able to contact their offspring and clearly, they hadn’t come home last night, so I just had to hope they had called the police and they were out looking for us. None of our parents knew we were here though, so it would probably take quite a while for anyone to find us; after all, how many teenagers who went missing or were suspected of running away ended up being found in a library? If I was realistic, I didn’t see anyone finding us anytime soon. The only way we’d make it out of here alive was if we fought our way out, or killed the sick fucker who had set us up. It had occurred to me last night that the killer must have known we were coming in order to have hid inside the library and lock us in while we were upstairs.

Every time I thought of the ambiguous entity who was the murderer, I seethed and rage coursed through my veins. I had never felt hatred as raw and pure as this. I wanted – no I needed- to hurt him, make him feel the pain he caused me, to get my justice. Regardless of whether or not that would make me as bad as the killer, I knew that if I found him, I would not hold back. I’d die if that was what it took to bring him down.

I lay against Gabe, warm and contemplative. After about five minutes, I realised I had to pee. Now. I was positively bursting.

I tentatively sat up and glanced around. The others were all asleep. I looked over to the window. Through the slats in the blind I could see ominous grey skies and heavy, charcoal coloured clouds looming over head. No rays of sunlight at all- how horribly similar to the predicament we found ourselves in. I turned and stared down at Gabe. He was frowning in his sleep, but he still looked so adorable. I felt bad for what I was about to do.

“Gabe?” I whispered. He didn’t stir. “Gabe?” I tried again, slightly louder. Still no movement. He’d always been a deep sleeper, even at sleepovers when we were children. I sighed, and poked him in the ribs. He grunted and mumbled incoherently.