After I had cried out enough tears to drown myself, I pulled myself together. I wiped the wetness off of my face with the bottom of my pink tank top, making me realize that I was still wearing my pajama tank and my ice cream shorts. Thankfully, the small bag that I had grabbed had my scroll and my gym key. I walked to the city's workout gym that was open 24/7.
The man working there said nothing about my choice of clothing when I walked in. It wasnt his job to ask questions as long as the people coming in had a gym membership. I flashed him my key when I walked in and walked over to my locker. It wasn't a bag deal at all. The gym itself was great for staying in shape. There were coffee and snacks, and there were showers, all for a small monthly fee. I had a few memberships to local gyms. They were great for things like this. I retrieved a copy of my usual outfit from my locker and took a shower. After I changed, I took a cup of coffee and a breakfast bar and left.
As I walked down the mostly empty street I pulled out my scroll and looked through it. Wolf and the others had tried to get a hold of me multiple times. I hesitated, but called Wolf anyway. He picked up in an instant, almost as if he had been waiting for me to call every second of the few hours that I'd been gone.
His face appeared on my screen, looking tired and worn out with dark circles under his eyes.
"Neo," he said with relief. His voice was rough and exhausted. "Are you okay?" He looked like a nervous wreck because of me, and he was asking if I was okay? Guilt chocked my throat and I was only able to nod that yes I was okay.
"Should I come get you?" He asked, unsuccessfully trying to hold back a yawn. I shook my head no as I kept walking.
"Where are you going?" He asked. I was silent until he figured it out. "To see the librarian?" I didnt even need to nod yes before he was saying, "I'll be right there."
"No," I said, speaking for the first time. My voice came out much sharper than I had intended. "No," I repeated softer. "I've got this. You go get some sleep. I'll call you when Im done."
"Okay, if you say so," he replied, still sounding unsure.
"Goodbye Wolf," I told him. He said goodbye as well, and told me to be safe before I ended my call and slipped my scroll into my pocket. I looked farther down the street, admiring the sun beginning to rise. I took a deep breath to mentally ready myself.
It was time to see the Librarain. I began thinking of what I should say to him, how I could bribe him to give me the information that I needed. If I hadn't been so focused on that, maybe I could have realized that I was being followed.
From the outside, the mansion looked pretty cool, but in that sense that it was an older building. A few shingles were missing off the roof. Grim had build up on the windows and made them appear foggy, and some of the wall's stone had begun to chip off. I made my way up the steps and pulled open the glass door.
The space that I walked into was open, with three directions that I could take. The most obvious way to take would be straight ahead. There was a circular desk made of a light colored wood. The area was brightly light. This was the pubic part of the library. Here anyone could walk in and check out a book. To the left was. A small hallway leading to some nicely decorated bathrooms. No one would ever guess the kind of secrets were hidden underneath.
I took the staircase to th left. It wad rather narrow, and curved downwards into the wall. Anyone just passing through probably wouldnt notice. About four steps down, there was a large wooden door woth a 'Private Property' sign hanging on it. I twisted the black metal handle and pulled the door open before stepping inside.
When the door closed behind me, the staircase spiraling slowly downwards became poorly lit and hard to see. There were a few dim lights along the wall, but they were spaced far apart and some of them flickered as if they would go out anu second. I touched the stone wall on my right, using it for guidance as I descended. It was damp and cold, feeling even more so than a basement. My heels clicked loudly against the stone and echoed down the stairs.
I eventually reached the bottom of the stairs and paused there for a moment. In front of me was literally a maze of bookshelves, and it changed every day. I sighed and walked into it. The bookshelves were very tall and at least tripled my height. They were made of a dark wood, and we're filled with an old book smell. The area down here was about as brightly lit as the staircase. I could tell that there was a brighter light in the middle of the room and knew that would be where the Librarain was.
I only got stuck a couple of times, but I kept my cool. The Librarian wouldnt approve of a temper tantrum and I knew he was watchimg. I knew I could just jump over the book shelves, but he wouldn't have liked that either.
"So, you finally made it though," a man said in almost a board tone. I walked around the lady bookshelf and came face to face with the Librarian.