Felicia Henley was helping a woman at the front desk.

“Ma’am, I’m sorry you feel personally attacked by this book, but there’s nothing I can do about that.”

The woman was in her 40s. She dragged a 15 year old boy with her. He tried to scrunch his face into the collar of his jacket while his mother made a scene in the library. His mother stated, “ This book makes us Americans look like the bad guys!”

“Ma’am, all I can do for you is to accept the book return.”

“I don’t have the book! I threw it in the fire place when it said we murdered all the indians. Everyone knows Christopher Columbus brought civilization to the indians!”

“Native Americans. Look, if you’ve damaged the book, I’ll have to charge your account the price of the book and the processing fee.”

“This is ridiculous!” the woman screeched. “I’m being punished for taking a stand for American values?” She looked around her, trying to see if others would back her up. Many were just shaking their heads at her ignorance.

One of Felicia's regulars, a world war 2 veteran named Tom, rolled his eyes at the woman. He gave Felicia a sympathetic smile.

“Ma’am you’re being charged for damaging the library's property. The same thing would happen if you deliberately punctured a tire on a car you rented.”

The woman went red in the face. “I want to speak to the manager!”

“They’re not here today.” They were actually. In fact, Morty was hiding in the back office not wanting to deal with the situation. “You’ll have to either come back another day or call his number. It's on that wall over there.”

“Fine! Let’s go Bobby.” She yanked the poor teenager with her as she stomped away. The kid was still trying to turtle into himself. Poor kid.

Felicia didn’t know why she thought being a librarian would be a nice easy job. Well, it was pretty pleasant most days. Then those kind of people came in and it made a nice day feel like a rainy week.

Felicia sighed to herself as the woman finally left. The next person in line came up. A smile returned to Felicia’s face as her favorite customer stepped up to the counter.

A little girl around 11 years old with glasses and bangs. Her name was Kimmy and her mom worked at a nearby grocery store. Sometimes her mom couldn’t afford a sitter, so she’d let Kimmy hang out in the library. Felicia always kept an eye out for the girl whenever she’d come in.

“Hey there Kimmy. What did you wanna check out today?”

“Magic Tree House!”

“Oooo.” Felicia took the book in hand. The cover featured two kids climbing into a tree house with a dinosaur on their trail. “I remember reading this one when I was a kid.”

Kimmy placed her library card on the table. Felicia took the card and helped the girl check out her book. She handed the novel back and snuck a piece of candy in the pages.

“Don’t tell your mom I gave you that.” Felicia whispered. The little girl nodded, giving her a grin. She ran off to the little cubby she liked to hang around. Felicia sighed. If only her own kids were as easy to handle as Kimmy.

They’d been angry at her ever since she’d left her husband last year. She didn't blame them. They only ever saw his good side. They didn’t understand the physical and emotional abuse he’d put her through.

When she started seeing someone else, they firmly entombed her as the evil mom who wanted to break apart the family. It wasn’t true. She wanted to be with them more than anything. They were too young to understand why she left and she didn't want to. How did you explain to your children that their father was a monster? The same way her husband had slandered her to their children she guessed.

Felicia had moved away. It only made her children even angrier at her, but it had to be done. She felt safe with her new boyfriend Dale. He understood how difficult this time in her life was and he had infinite patience. He truly tried to be with her even when she needed to talk about all of her issues. It’d been so long since she’d felt safe with anyone. She chased the murky thoughts away and went back to her duties.

Felicia Henley finished working at the library for the day. She read the time, 9:00 PM. It was time for her to clock out. In fact, it’d been time for her to clock out for an hour now, but her favorite customer was still here. Felicia looked over to Kimmy still sleeping on a bean bag chair.

Her manager went home early at 5 o'clock, like always. The rest of the employees left at around 8. She’d volunteered to stay so she could look after Kimmy. Her mom was unusually late today. Mrs. Kimura always picked Kimmy up by 7. Something must’ve happened. At 9:15, a woman finally rushed into the library.

The woman wore a blue vest, indicating her workplace. She ran in, huffing and puffing. She looked around desperately until her eyes spotted Kimmy napping away. She sighed in relief.

Felicia waved her hello. “Good evening, Mrs. Kimura.”

“Oh god. I’m so sorry Felicia. They wouldn’t let me go and -”

Felicia put up a hand. "Hey, hey. It’s ok. I understand how bosses can be. Believe me. Come on. I’ll help you wake Kimmy up.”

Felicia bid Mrs. Kimura goodbye, watching her carry Kimmy to their car. Then she put her earbuds in, listening to a musical as she closed up shop. When she finished, it was 9:45 PM. God it was so late. She texted her boyfriend Dale.

There was a smile on Felicia’s face as she texted Dale. It was so refreshing just talking to him. No recriminations about her being late. No guilt trips. No vague accusations of her cheating on him. Just a pleasant chat about dinner.

Her husband used to constantly text her throughout her workday. He needed to know where she was at all times. Sometimes he even wanted photos to prove that she was at work. It was one of his ploys to keep her under his thumb. It was suffocating.

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Felicia shooed the bad thoughts away. She stepped out of the library's exit and headed to her car. There was a bridge that connected the parking lot to the front entrance of the library. She always loved this part of the library in Maryville. She would often eat her breakfast standing on the bridge and looking out towards the Greenbelt lake.

Felicia stopped in the middle of the bridge. She wanted to take a moment before the drive home. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath of the cool night air. The cool wind pricked slightly at her arms. Then she felt something pulling on her back.

She jerked backwards and opened her eyes. Felicia turned around to see who had pulled at her.

A teenager stood there. Her clothes screamed goth and she had a bandage wrapped over an eye. The girl wore a black dress with see through lace sleeves. She eye shadow and black lipstick on. Who was she?

“Uhmm, can I help you?”

Rosa Romero replied, “Hi! I wanted to ask if the library was still open?”

“Oh. I’m sorry, we’re closed. We open tomorrow at 7.”

Rosa pouted. “Aww really? There’s this book I really need for a report”

“I’m sorry. We’ll be glad to loan you the book if we have it tomorrow. If you have a library card, you might find it in our digital library." Felicia looked past the girl's shoulder. "Are your mom or dad around?”

“Oh yeah, they’re right over there.” Rosa flung her arm out behind her, signalling her men. The sound of gunshots rang out nearby.

Rosa screamed, “AAAHHHHH!”

The young girl ducked down and clutched onto Felicia's clothes. Her body shook in fright.

Felicia bent down with Rosa. She hugged her, shielding her from potential gunfire.

“Oh god. Oh god. Is this really happening?” Felicia asked, shaking like a leaf. She looked around. The library! She had to get them both inside. There was some kind of gun fight going on. A stray bullet could hit them any time.

Felicia pulled the girl with her. They both stayed low as they ran back across the bridge. She kept the girl covered the entire time. As they reached the glass doors, Felicia pulled out her keys. She unlocked the doors, ushering the girl inside first before going in herself.

-Earlier-

Amicia watched as an Asian woman carried her daughter to their car and drove off. She’d been waiting in the parking lot for a few hours now. She’d allowed herself a coffee break in the afternoon, confident that the creature couldn’t strike in the middle of broad daylight. It was rare for variants to do that and they only did so when they were confident they could take out an entire crowd. The more who knew about them, the easier they would be to track down and kill.

As the woman and her daughter left in their minivan, Amicia got out of her car. She twisted her head to one side and the next. Her neck cracked in response. The crossbow she’d refitted was held in her hands. She stalked across the bridge, keeping the bow up. The variant should be coming in at any moment now.

Felicia Henley was still inside the library closing everything up. Amicia could see her through the glass doors. The woman had no idea she might be dying tonight. If Amicia did her job right, the librarian would never know.

There was a full moon out tonight. The sound of water flowing down the lake seemed so gentle. The library felt tranquil and serene. It was quiet enough that Amicia could hear her own heartbeat.

She hid herself behind a decorative stone pedestal and waited, watching the skies for any approaching figures. She settled in, preparing for her ambush.

Thud. What was that? Amicia flicked around at the noise. Nothing behind her. Then she looked up.

The variant was there, hanging on a window on the second floor of the building. There was a slight gap in the window and the creature was prying at it, trying to open it wider.

Amicia stood up. She leveled her crossbow at eye level and put the creature in her sights. She took in a breath and held it. With the gentlest squeeze of her trigger, an ash blessed bolt launched towards the creature’s chest. It pierced straight through, hitting just slightly below the shoulder blade of the variant.

The creature hissed in pain and turned towards her. It pushed itself away from the building, flying above Amicia. She cranked back on the mechanism to reload her crossbow. The creature dived headfirst towards her as she lined up another shot. Amicia fired another bolt at the variant as it was coming down, aiming for its head.

The creature saw the bolt coming and twisted in the air. The bolt sailed past the monster as it came towards Amicia.

The variant reached down towards her with its hands as it dropped like an anchor. Amicia ducked down and rolled forwards. She could feel the creature’s claws just slice above her head she dodged. There was a slight boom as the variant landed on the cement floor. The concrete cracked in a spider web pattern from the point of impact.

Amicia bounced back to her feet and charged towards the variant as it recovered from its flying tackle. The creature turned towards her with murder in its eyes. It jumped towards her with its legs splayed, hoping to catch her and rip her face from her skull. As it got near, Amicia swung up with her crossbow. She smashed it into the monster’s jaw from underneath and heard a satisfying crunch.

The creature fell backwards from her strike. The blow had caught it while its guard was down.

The monster shook its head as it staggered away from Amicia. She could see red and black blood flowing out from where she’d shot it.

The creature moved towards the railing overlooking the river. Amicia reloaded her crossbow again. Before she could put another bolt into the monster, it leapt over the railing and down into the river.

Shit! Amicia rushed over to the railing. When she looked down to the rushing water below, the variant surged back up to grab her by the shoulders. The creature yanked at her. It wanted to drag her over the railing so that she’d plunge to her death below.

Amicia dropped her crossbow, surprised at its sudden reappearance. She clutched the railing to keep herself from falling over. She struggled against the monster's strength. The scent of rotten meat came off its flesh. She felt her stomach churn in revulsion even as she fought against it.

Suddenly, the variant lurched forwards with its head, chomping towards her neck. Amicia let go of the railing so she could push the monster’s neck, keeping it back. As she did so, she lost leverage in their tug of war. She adjusted by dropping down into a squat and pushing her knees against the railing.

Amicia felt a shudder run through her as the variant opened its mouth. Its unnaturally long tongue reached down to lick her at the wrist. She could feel a cold slimy sensation wherever it slobbered over. The variant pulled itself towards her harder and slowly but surely, its mouth was nearing her neck.

In one motion, Amicia placed one foot against the railing and kicked herself away from the edge. While falling backwards, she reached a hand down to retrieve her knife from its sheath. The monster lunged towards her as they fell in tandem. As it bit towards her face, she jammed her knife into its cheek. Immediately, a sizzling noise sounded out as the knife’s blade burned the creature.

Together, the two of them fell on the concrete floor. Amicia grimaced in pain as her head hit the concrete pavement. The creature recoiled back, shrieking in pain. It desperately clawed at her knife, still stuck in its cheek. The monster was even willing to shred its own flesh away until her knife dropped to the ground. Quick as a cat, Amicia swept up the knife and stabbed the creature in its stomach.

It roared in agony again. The variant backhanded Amicia away. Her knife, still tightly gripped, ripped out more of the creature’s entrails as Amicia fell back.

Ears ringing, she turned back around towards the variant, only to see it lumbering away. In tortured motions, it jumped towards the air, flapping its wings to take to the sky.

Amicia pushed herself up to her feet. She stumbled towards her crossbow as she watched the variant fly downriver. She snatched it from the ground and hurried back to the bridge. She loaded another ash blessed bolt into the chamber. She raised it, hoping to fire off another good shot.

Before she could, the creature nose-dived into the lake. She thought it was trying to evade her shot, but then it plunged into the water. Holy shit. Was it dead? As Amicia watched the body float down the lake, she realized she needed to make sure it was dead. That meant she needed to be chasing after it instead of just staring with her jaw dropped. Crap!

She ran to her car, tossing her crossbow into the passenger seat. She revved the engine, backed out, and ripped down the road.