On Our Way Back Chapter 2

“We were hoping to check these out,” one of the students said politely.

“Mhm” echoed the other. As they blinked, the old man reappeared behind the front desk of the library. They handed him a stack of old-looking, heavy books. The librarian reached out with a bony, veined hand. He brought each book closely to his eyes and adjusted his glasses, carefully examining each binding and cover. This took a few moments, and the students shuffled their feet awkwardly. One of them gave a slight jump as a robotic beep echoed through the library, as the librarian had finally begun scanning out the books. “Anything else?” he asked the two students gruffly. They promptly shook their heads, and speed-walked to the door as quickly as possible.

There was a thud  behind them as the large door crashed shut and the students shuffled out of the library, their arms weighed down with heavy books. They briskly walked through the hallway, their footsteps echoing eerily. The lights had been shut off in the time that they had spent in the library, so walking through the hall felt almost— unsettling. There was a crash behind them; both students came to a halt. There was a pitter-patter of heavy running footsteps behind them. As the footsteps got closer, the students started hearing heavy panting, followed by a loud thump as if someone had fallen. 

The students, rooted to the spot not so much as curious, but fearful. One of the students slowly turned around, and creeped towards the noise, while the other was still frozen in fright. The second student, finally gathering up enough courage, followed at a swift pace. The second student turned the corner to find the first one frozen, rooted to the spot, staring blankly at a heap on the floor. The student slowly turned around to face their accomplice, but there was something blank and expressionless about their face. They smiled coldly, “There seems to be nothing here; I must have been imagining a noise,” they said in an unrecognizable voice. 

The second student blinked quickly, then nodded, “Well then, we must head back if there’s nothing to see.” The first student stared into space for a moment then gave a quick nod and started walking slowly down the hallway. As both people were making their way down the corridor, there was a loud crash and the lights flickered off.