Chapter 1 ~Out of the Dark~

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"Mom, I'm going to the library!"

"WHAT WAS THAT?!" she yelled back over the sound of the vacuum cleaner. I swear, she was always vacuuming. But she was like that, I guess. Her life always had to be completely orderly. But I still couldn't think with it running.

"I'M GOING TO THE LIBRARY!" I shouted back

"HAVE FUN!" Yeah ok, I thought. I sighed and slung my bag over my shoulder before heading out.

"Good afternoon, Ms. Monroe." I smiled to the librarian.

"Oh, good afternoon, Charlotte! What are you looking for today?"

"Just going to read for a little. Mom's vacuuming."

"How was school?"

"Oh, you know... Same bullshit..." I laughed, but it was bitter. With her age, I knew she didn't like when I cursed, but there was no other way to put it. She grimaced.

"It's your last year, Charlotte. Try and make the most of it, honey. You should look back on it fondly." I wanted to scoff at this, but Ms. Monroe was really quite old, so I figured that she must be wiser than I. Then again, she probably had a different high school experience.

"I'm trying my best." I grumbled, wandering off. I sat down on the floor in the historical fiction section and browsed my options. "Ooh, Little Women." I'd been dying to read this.  I barely noticed another person walk in, leaving the bells by the front door jingling and I still didn't bother to look up. It was rather odd, though. No one ever came to this particular, run down library except for Marg and I, and Marg was on vacation in the Maldives. I set my book down and tiptoed back to the front desk. "Who just came in here?" I asked, glancing around.

"I don't know, dear. I barely saw him. He kept his head down and his hood up." she muttered.

"It's not polite to talk about others that way," a deep voice suddenly started, making both of us nearly jump out of our skin. Ms. Monroe looked up, terrified. I took a step in front of her, ready to act as a shield to the poor old lady. He stood there for a moment, not breaking eye contact with me. "Maybe think about that next time." He broke the intense connection and walked with heavy footsteps out of the building.

"I didn't know he was right there." she confessed once he had gone.

"Don't worry about it. It's not a big deal. On the bright side, he'll probably never come back here." I smiled, reassuringly. But I felt just as bad as she did.

"Well, I don't know what I'll do if there's gang activity around my library..." she shook her head and disappeared into the back room again. Gang activity... wasn't it kind of rude for her to assume that based on nothing but a person's looks..?

I finished the book, said goodbye to Ms.Monroe and headed home. I should have waited to finish the book until tomorrow. I've always had an annoying fear of the dark. Loud clicks of footsteps echoed behind me.  A shadow appeared against the brick wall but no one was visible in the low light cast from the street light. I held my phone in my hand, hoping to remind rapists or murderers that I had means of calling the police.  I kept walking, nearly slamming right into a group of guys, talking. A few were leaning against a brick wall, others were sat around on the curb. My heart began to race. Silently, I tried to turn around. Maybe I could get away without them noticing. As if they wouldn't notice someone who physically ran into them.

"Well, hey there." one of them started. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at him.  But of course, I was certainly terrified. I knew I wouldn't get away. This was no attempt to just scare me. I didn't say anything, and continued on my way, or at least tried to. "Hey, I'm talking to you. Are you- Are you not gonna answer me? Cliff, I don't think she's gonna answer me? Who does she think she is?"

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