Perfect Pet

Ch. 30: Dead Men Walking

Taking a deep, calming breath and forcing the ugly thoughts away unless I wanted a mental breakdown, I slipped through the doors to the library and instantly felt safer. Unlike outside where the calmness had an eerie quality to it, in here it felt natural. Libraries were supposed to be quiet places where you could relax and focus. It was almost always empty, the books stocked more for business than pleasure. Not that the girls attracted to Rigryce were book worms, to begin with. Even with my love of reading, I found it hard to slog through some of them even as Kali finished several in a few days.

I hurried up the stairs to the floor I needed, searching the shelves until I had a decent collection of books to bring back to my room. Ms. Berg was probably one of the only professors I had ever had that read through every single essay instead of skimming them to see if we got a general idea. It was a pain because it meant I couldn't b.s my way through it and had to hope she was in a somewhat good mood when grading it. My last paper had been thoroughly marked with red from minor grammar mistakes for example.

"What is she, an English teacher?" I grouched to myself as I made my way back down, being extra careful not to topple the stack. The last thing I needed was to fall and break my leg. Been there, done that, didn't want a repeat. It did make me wonder if Gwen was familiar with setting bones, though.

Reaching the bottom floor without incident, I breathed a sigh of relief before slowly heading over to the door. I was about halfway across the room when I noticed a table in the far corner was piled with an obscene amount of books. They towered high enough to hide behind, the slightest bump ready to topple them over like a game of Jenga. It was possible a group of girls had been by earlier and used them for the same reason I was there but it was highly doubtful. Whoever kept the library tidy would have put them back by then and I could only think of a single person that would use that many in the first place.

Kali.

Dropping my books on a nearby table, absently rubbing at the ache in my arms from their weight, I made my way to where I was fairly sure she still was, so caught up in her studies that she lost track of time. I almost got the impression that she was looking for something among all this writing. Something you couldn't find anywhere else. Something that wasn't only her trying to figure out Pets. Why else would she spend almost all of her free time going from shelf to shelf, reading tomb after tomb? I hadn't bothered to ask yet. While more open than Claire, Kali still shut down when certain topics were brought up and I just knew this would be one of them.

Every time I thought I had her figured out, she threw in a new wrench.

"Kali?" I called out, my voice echoing around the empty room even at a normal volume. I flinched out of habit, half expecting a librarian to appear out of nowhere and shush me. Big surprise when no one answered me. She was still mad and probably didn't want to deal with me at the moment. If that was the case, I'd leave her be and grab my things and go. My flats clopped on the smooth stone floor, announcing my presence long before I rounded the stacks.

She was there alright, only instead of dutifully ignoring me to concentrate on a book, her face was smashed against the pages as she softly snored, glasses tilted at an odd angle. She was fast asleep. I watched for a minute with a mix of amusement and amazement as her chest rose with her breathing and she shifted slightly, her hand twitching on the table. At least she wasn't mad.

"Kali," I whispered, nudging her shoulder. Of course, she didn't react. The girl could sleep through a marching band of elephants or a twister tearing through her room. Knowing it was the only thing guaranteed to work, I pinched her arm. "Kali!"

I barely managed to jerk back in time before her head whipped up. A moment later and I'd be nursing a broken nose. "Wha...?" She gasped out in surprise, glancing around in confusion before landing her eyes on me. "Eden?"