Chapter Two: The Library

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by __thedynamos__

by __thedynamos__

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—Elizabeth's POV—

A cop walks over to the bed I'm laying in to ask me questions about the incident. I sound insane but I know what I saw. He held onto my shoulder...I can't just make that up, "Oh my god Eliza," Mason shouts running into the room with Katie. The cop excuses himself as they look at the bandages on my arms.

"What happened?" She asks as I let out a deep sigh trying to figure out how to explain myself to them. If the cops and doctors didn't, why would they? Their questions are rapidly fired at me as I try to keep up with their never-ending worries.

"I'm fine. It was a small accident," I assure them as a doctor walks back in, "When can I leave?" I ask as he hands me paperwork to sign. Mason takes the papers from my hands and starts filling them out for me as I lay my head back down.

"These are your discharge papers. Keep the burns clean and make sure you are getting rest," he tells me as he hands over another paper about burn wound care and how to keep them from scarring. I thank the man before he leaves as Mason tells me to sign on a dotted line. He walks out of the room after and Katie stays with me as I gather my things from the side of the room.

"Are you actually okay?" Katie asks as I turn back around shoving my phone in my back pocket. I nod my head as she stands up from the chair, "How did that even happen?" She asks with the same look of skepticism as the doctors.

"Like I said an accident," I tell her as we meet Mason in the lobby. My eyes are drawn to a door creaking open and a tall brunette man looking in my direction. His leather jacket stands out in the sea of scrubs and medical gowns. His eyes travel down to the bandages on my arms before locking back on my own. Something about him....he's too familiar.

"You coming?" Mason asks as I turn my attention back to the pair staring at me confused. I nod my head and continue walking out the front door to their car. The weather reflects the mood in the car as the pair in the front stay quiet. The rain is the only thing drowning out the silence cutting through us like a knife. When he pulls up outside of my building they offer to walk with me inside but I assure them I'll be fine. I thank them for the ride and take my key out looking at the elevator doors that are tapped off. The yellow police tape shaking from the wind blowing past the door I'm holding onto.

The door for the stairs is propped open. I start the climb to the seventh floor stopping yet again at the charred metal that sits outside the closed doors. I walk over running my finger along the soot left on the walls. I knew it was real. I knew it wasn't just in my head. I slide my phone out from my back pocket and take pictures of everything that proves I wasn't alone in that elevator. Before someone walks into the hallway I run to my room to open my laptop. I upload the pictures to make them bigger and the fire surrounds the elevator. The carpet is singed a couple inches from the initial starter point.

A notification pops up on the bottom right side of the screen. It's from my professor about the upcoming exam on Friday before the break. I close out the email to go back to looking at the pictures. I put the name of the apartment building into my search engine to find anything about this happening before. I type in the name Charlie but nothing is coming up either. This is going to take forever. I grab my sweatshirt from the closet, along with my keys before stepping outside of the apartment. I run out of the main doors and jog to the library before it closes. I push my way through and ask the librarian for the section I'm looking for. She shows me where they keep the newspapers related to the college and the surrounding town. I thank her and wait until she leaves to grab them out of the organizer. I scan through them trying to find something that relates to what I need, "Just remember we can't let those out of the library," she tells me before going back to the front desk.

I give her a small smile before taking pictures of anything that deals with hotels in the area. My fingers drag along the edge of a paper about a death of a local bellhop, "This.....this can't be possible," I whisper as the face of Charlie is enlarged on the local paper from the early 1970s. I shove the newspaper into my shirt before packing everything back into the envelope. The lights above flicker signifying the library is closing in ten minutes. I quickly shout a thank you before walking back to the apartment building. I take the newspaper out of my shirt and stare at it trying to figure out what's going on. My shoes are drugged in gray snow as I kick them off on the mat by my door. I sit in front of my computer searching for the date and the apartment name. It must have changed owners after the incident.

A knock at the door makes my body spring awake. I look in front of me seeing my computer dead as my half-drunk coffee cop sits cold beside me. The sun is peeking in through the curtains as my phone vibrates from the couch. Shit. I hide the newspaper under my computer before running to my mirror. The knocking continues just as I comb my fingers through my hair. I swing the door open and look up at the tall man in a tailored suit standing in front of me.

"Sammy?" I whisper feeling like the air is knocked out of me. The memories from another lifetime ago slamming into me as he meets my gaze, taking his eyes off his older brother.

"Lizzy?"