Abigail danced out the doors of Greenfield High School, her particular jail of learning. She skipped down the cement steps and, at the bottom, did a twirl that made her dress flare out in a manner most enjoyable.
“Hey Abi! Wait up!” A voice shouted from just inside the double doors.
Abigail turned and waited for her friend to catch up. When they had, she gave in to the requested hug.
“Hey Sky, what’s up?” Abigail managed to get out after her friend tried to crush her with their hug.
“I just wanted to remind you that I’m gonna be out of town with my family over the weekend, since I’m pretty sure you forgot.”
Abigail blushed at the accusation, but didn’t protest. She had forgotten, as she was wont to do.
“Just make sure to eat and sleep, ok?” Her friend chided her.
“I’ll try. But you know how I get lost reading sometimes. That app you suggested doesn’t work very well.”
“The app is fine. It’s because you keep your phone on silent all the time that you don’t hear the notifications.”
“Yeah. I just forget to turn it back on when I leave the library.”
Sky got a thoughtful and mischievous expression on their face.
“Maybe if you keep your phone in your underwear you’d notice the alarms more.”
Abigail’s hand flew up to her mouth.
“I’m shocked you would suggest such a thing.” She gasped in fake offence.
“You’re one to talk Miss I-once-wore-vibrating-panties-to-the-library.”
Abigail blushed a deep crimson.
“Sky! You promised you wouldn’t talk about that! Not in public!” She hissed at her friend.
Abigail’s expression shifted to one of contemplation. She brought her hand to her chin and mused:
“Although I suppose having my phone right against my clit would certainly make the naughty parts more fun.”
Sky could take no more and burst out in laughter, followed quickly by Abigail. Once they finally regained enough composure to do so, they said their farewells:
“See you Tuesday Sky.”
“Later Abi.”
As Abigail started her walk to their local library, Sky also began walking home.
‘Thank goodness that there isn’t a 24-hour library within a hundred miles. Abi would probably die of hunger or thirst then.’ Sky mused.
Sky’s fears were not unfounded, as Abigail had once gotten so into bingeing a series she’d found that she had neglected eating and sleeping to the point that she had been hospitalised.
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Abigail settled down in her favorite chair. It was quite comfortable and tucked into a quiet corner, one secluded enough to keep other library patrons from disturbing her.
The small table next to her held a stack of books, a well acclaimed web novel that had made the jump onto the written page. While it was true that she could’ve read the original version online for free, she had always preferred to have real paper in her hands. While this particular series was a Lit-RPG, a genre she normally avoided, Sky had finally managed to bug her into reading it, now that it was all in physical form. The fact that the library had the series was unusual, although Abigail was pretty sure that Sky had been the one to purchase and donate them.
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| Abi-Wabi: Ok, you’re right. This story is hilarious.
It’s totally ‘lucky MC’ done right. Just enough luck to get the thing in trouble.
And the demon? Priceless! A succubus reduced to nothing more than a chew toy!
| Sky: Told you.
Let me know when you get something to eat, ok? Don’t make me call Samuel to kick you out.
Abigail grimaced as she read Sky’s message. Samuel was one of the librarians, and would absolutely kick her out should she be neglecting herself.
Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.
| Abigail: Ok, I’ll let you know. <3
| Sky: <3
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The phone rang softly. The office it was in was part of the library, after all. The well dressed man in the office looked up from his work and sighed when he recognized the number.
“Greenfield public library, Samuel speaking.” His smooth curt voice filled the room.
“Hey Samuel, it’s Sky. Abigail’s being naughty again. Can I trouble you to go make her eat something?”
“She’s not responding to your messages?”
“Nope.”
“Alright. I’ll go see if I can find her. I’ll make sure she sends you a message too.”
“Thanks Samuel. Goodbye.”
“Goodbye Skylar.”
Samuel hung up. He took a moment to glance over his work. None of it was time sensitive. He stood up and stretched. He donned his suit jacket as he passed by the door, shutting it tightly behind him.
He made his way through the spralling shelves until he finally approached the nook where Abigail liked to sit. He rapped on a shelf and announced himself, preferring not to startle the young woman if possible.
“Abigail? Are you here?”
What he saw when he rounded the corner turned his blood to ice.
“Abigail?! Abigail!?” He cried in alarm as he rushed up to the crumpled figure on the ground.
Abigail lay on her side, her book a foot from her hand. Most concerning was the puddle of blood under her head.
Panic gripped Samuel. He didn’t know what to do. He didn’t know what to do.
A flash went through his mind. He didn’t know what to do, but Kathrine would.
He whipped out his cellphone and scrolled to the number for the library’s PA system. He had to enter the code twice, having been too impatient the first time.
“Kathy! I need you in reference! It’s Abigail!”
Kathy was stunned for a moment. Her colleague was behaving so out-of-character that her brain had to take a moment to reboot. Samuel sounded panicked and distraught, a far cry from his usual even calm. He never used the PA system to contact her unless it was urgent. But weirdest of all, he had called her ‘Kathy’, not ‘Kathrine’ as he usually did. One of the man’s quirks was that he refused to use anything less than someone’s full name, never shortened or nicknamed versions.
Deciding that something was very wrong in reference, Kathy locked her workstation and quickly made her way over.
As she neared Abigail’s spot, she heard the voice of a woman talking to Samuel.
“-can you do that for me Sir?”
“Yes. How fast am I supposed to go?”
“Do you know ‘Stayin Alive’ by The BeeGees?”
“Yes. To the beat of ‘Stayin Alive’ then?”
“Yes Sir, very good. Just keep going as long as you can.”
Kathrine rounded the corner to find Samuel, sans jacket, bent over a lifeless Abigail, performing CPR on her while muttering what was probably the chorus to ‘Stayin Alive’. Kathrine was paralyzed for a good half minute until an update from the 911 operator broke her reviere.
“The paramedics will be with you in five minutes, Sir.”
“Sam. What do you need me to do?” Kathrine asked.
“I need you - to guide - the paramedics - in.” He forced out between breaths.
“Ok.” Kathrine replied.
She ran through the library until she reached the side door. It was closer to Abigail and no harder for the paramedics to use. She used a chair to prop the door open and moved until she could see the main driveway into the library’s parking lot.
She spent several tense minutes in worry until she finally heard the siren. The flashing lights weren’t far behind.
As the ambulance pulled into the parking lot she waved them down.
“Over here!” She cried.
The paramedics quickly grabbed a couple of bags and hurried toward Kathrine. By the time the group was entering the door more sirens were just audible in the distance.
The paramedics wasted no time in setting up their equipment. One cut away the top of Abigail’s dress while the other prepared their EKG and defibrillator. The leads were connected and when the paramedic switched the unit on it let out a continuous wail.
“Charging… Clear!”
Abigail’s form tensed as the shock passed through her body. The tone, however, didn’t change. Again and again they shocked her, but her heart refused to restart.
“I’m calling it.” The paramedic supervisor spat bitterly. “Time of death, 8:46pm.”
There was no need to close the library due to the new crime scene. An officer had already done so earlier when she had arrived, after asking Kathrine how to access the PA system.
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Two days later:
Kathrine sat on the edge of her bed, gently stroking the hair of the sobbing man next to her. Samuel had insisted that he not be alone, and thus she had brought him home. Abigail had been a regular fixture at the library. They would miss the bright young woman. Kathrine had always thought that she would’ve made a great librarian someday. A day that could never come now.
Her phone rang and she considered not answering it, until she saw the caller-id.
“Hey Dave.” She greeted Abigail’s father in an emotionless monotone.
“Hey Kathy. I just wanted to let you know that the autopsy report came back. Fatal aneurysm. The coroner said that it was quick and that she didn’t suffer.” The tired man also had little emotion left in him.
Kathrine managed nothing more than a slight nod and an ‘um-hmm’.
“We’re looking at two weeks for the funeral. I’ll keep you posted.”
When he didn’t get much of a response he continued:
“I’ll talk to you later Kathrine. Get some sleep, you sound like you need it.”
“You too Dave. Bye.”
“Bye.”