Night 73: Patient Library

[redcladidealist]

[From here.]

The library was quiet and dark when Lloyd entered, barring the light from their flashlights. Lloyd let the light from his flashlight play across the books, the floor, even the ceiling for good measure. He hadn't forgotten the monster that had seemed to slither out of the darkness just a couple of nights ago.

"You guys see anything?" He kept his voice soft, barely above a whisper. If there was something in here, he didn't want to attract its attention. Not that they'd be able to avoid it once they opened that secret door, but hopefully they'd be able to get out before anything blocked their path.

Comments

[fourstonewalls]

[from here]

Landel was barking out orders as they rounded the corner into the Library, but Lana ignored him. She switched her flashlight back on to illuminate her hand, pointing at one end of the shelves. She headed to the other, and started scanning through the spines. If Ryuuzaki knew where the book was, he could ignore her and go straight for it, but otherwise she was taking the methodical approach.

[ryuuzaki]

The library seemed quiet, apart from Landel's diatribe, which soon fell silent.

L clicked the flashlight on, then did a variation on the same sweep he had perfomed at the previous door. He checked both of the closer corners, then what he could see of the room. If something was hiding, it was hiding well. Besides, even with the torches lit, it might still be possible to blind their hypothetical assailant.

"It's going to be an Oxford anthology, I think. A thick book." He had the impression that there was a shelving order, but it wasn't maintained as strictly as he would have liked.

The layout of the Institute dictated that the hidden door would have to be either on the back wall or on the wall the library shared with the game room. He went to a shelf that recommended itself mostly by being one that Lana wasn't already checking, and after a moment of scanning--

"Over here."

He focused the light on the book, examining it. It wasn't very late into the evening, although his memory of some past evenings ended even earlier than this. If someone had been through here already, they had been able to move quietly, and there probably wasn't anything waiting behind the hidden door--there would be evidence of it, a mess in the library, something to suggest that it had been handled or it had been victorious. If they were the first through the room, there was a chance they'd be attacked--but in that case, why wasn't anyone directly on their heels? Neither of them had been the first person out tonight.

The whole thing made him feel cautiously optimistic. He wasn't sure whether or not to trust the feeling, not when the greater part of his being was mostly on edge. An area they hadn't been in before, one that might eventually lead to their release, was exciting, but it also provoked anxiety. He was always in immediate danger these days in a way that he hadn't been a month earlier, not even during the Kira case.

When he was sure Lana was ready, he looked at her, gave a firm nod, and pulled on the book.

[To here.]