She Blinded Me With Library Science Novels & Stories

I once locked hope away- I can not lose it again. I need it now, more than ever. Before I give myself away and truly lose it all. I open my eyes staring down at the book. Before I can do anything, I feel her. Shade. She's just walked into the Library. I curse myself as I feel Catherine's aura walk farther away from the red door. They had been near for a while. I was too engrossed to notice and Shades scent that had made my sanctuary its home had dulled her aura from alerting me.

In the Meath library, Kaida closed the last journal and stared at it on the table. All week she'd been reading through the passages, and it had been harder than she'd anticipated. She'd attempted to look at them with a professional, objective eye, tried to distance herself from the human element and view them as research, but that was impossible.

The big old library was my sanctuary, my escape from the world outside. I loved the quiet, the solitude, the way the scent of old paper and dusty shelves filled me with a sense of comfort and belonging. I was Emma Hart, the quiet librarian, with the nerdy glasses and books in hand everytime. I preferred my books to people, and my imaginations to reality.

37 Jacob’s POV The ancient library’s dim light barely illuminated the scattered scrolls and tomes in front of me. The words blurred together, and the intricate symbols seemed to mock my attempts to understand them. I leaned back in the leather chair, closing my eyes for a moment, trying to block out the overwhelming sense of responsibility that weighed on me.

MAYA'S POV Libraries had always been sanctuaries. The hush, the smell of paper and dust, the sense of ordered knowledge. Today, the branch felt like a bunker. We chose a study carrel in the farthest corner of the reference section, surrounded by towering shelves of forgotten statutes and geological surveys. James had swept it for devices. Liam watched the main floor, a silent sentinel. I sat with my hands folded on the scarred wooden table, the rings on my finger feeling less like jewelry and more like armor I’d reluctantly donned.

I also followed him and showed him the books I liked. This mansion had this huge library that contained almost all of the books in this world. He looked like a five-year-old kid and I looked no different. “How about this?” He gave me the second book of a series. I took it. “Is this–” My head spun rapidly. I gripped the stack of books beside me. “Hey, Hey, hey.” All the books in his hand fell as he held me in place. I could not stand any longer. I tried to collect my vision but failed. Everything was blurry. Haze and fog blurred my vision. I tried to focus. I held him tight when I could not take it anymore. Darkness engulfed me.

Not quickly enough. “She’s the one who—” “Her father—” “I heard she didn’t even blink to do it.” I didn’t bother to correct them. Because they weren’t wrong. I didn’t blink. I returned to the library for day four. I sat in the back, behind the oldest rune indexes, near the rear and I hoped no one would notice me. But whenever anyone passed I’d see their gaze on me. As though I should be in the shadows, not in the sunlight.

3 The library smelled like wet dust. That was the first thing I noticed, followed by the faint crackle of fluorescent lighting above me, flickering lightly. Which was fair, honestly. I hadn’t stepped foot in a university library since I dropped out of grad school, and back then I wasn’t exactly the occult section’s most loyal visitor.

I couldn’t. Instead, I sipped my milk slowly and kept my eyes on the napkin holder. My heart beat loud in my ears. No one’s watching. You’re just anxious. Stop being stupid. Still, my ears flattened without asking me. After a few more minutes, the pressure faded. But it left something behind—like a scent I couldn’t shake, something cloying and heavy and wrong. --- I stayed in the library after breakfast. There were less people, and I could bury myself between the shelves like I used to back home. I read part of a book about hybrid species history, but none of the words stuck.

I can't hear anything aside from the deafening silence. I just continue walking into the unknown until I saw familiar high mahogany doors. The Solveig's Library, perhaps. I turn the knob and again, eternal darkness consumes me. I open my eyes and the high shelves that almost reach the ceiling surround me. But this part of the library is new to me. I look around and I saw a book enclosed with glass cover near me. I come closer to see it. I touch its glass cover and to my surprise, it vanishes in just a snap.