He was so close to her, that she almost forgot about his intense gaze, entranced by his warm breath on her face. It smelled of metal, with a tinge of cinnamon. Her senses seemed oddly overtaken by him. Fear flew out the window as infatuation took hold.
“What book can I help you find?” she squeaked trying to snap out of her daze. He smirked at her leaning his arm against the book case behind her, looking quizzically at her. He threw his cape hood off revealing his jet black wild hair. “I’m not here for a book, Lev, I’m here for you.” he whispered. “You’re a mage aren’t ya?” He sniffed the crook of her neck. “I can smell it on you.” He groaned. Shaking his head to rid himself of her enticing smell he closed his eyes sighing heavily “I need your help.” He pushed himself away from her and unbuckled his cloak, letting it fall to the ground with a thud. He was adorned in a dark green tunic, of a make she had never witnessed in book or on the streets. His muscles were easily visible and the fabric didn’t look strong enough to hold him in them.
Levy was light headed as she let the weight of his words roll around in her mind. “I’m sorry, a what?” She tried to scoot farther into the bookcase. “He’s crazy. He’s absolutely mad.” She thought to herself. Looking around she tried to locate the door to the stairs, she was too high up to jump from the window. “Help.” She was screaming over and over in her head. Fear was creeping back into her body, and she began to feel like she was drowning, unable to breath. He eyed her, sighing. “I guess ya are not familiar with your magic then?” He started walking off into one of the nearby isles behind one of the many bookcases on the second floor. “I’ll give you a minute to catch your breath, but Lev, we don’t have a lot of time. I’m sure they will be here shortly. We really do need to leave before ‘they’ get here.” He disappeared behind the row labeled ‘M’.
“They? They who?” she tried to call after him, but nothing came out. She tried to move her legs to go after him, but they wouldn’t budge. She fell to the floor in a disheveled mess. Tears were falling onto her yellow dress, leaving a mustard like color. “None of that.” She heard from behind the book case she was slumped up against. “I can’t handle all those, feeling things..especially the leak from your eyeballs kind.” She covered her face in her knees, speaking to the ground “I ..I don’t even know what your name is. How did you know who I am? What is going on? Please! Tell me! I can’t handle being left in the dark.”
He came around the bookcase, walking slowly towards her, hesitantly. “I’m not sure where to start.” He said quietly. “I wasn’t the one supposed to be coming for ya. We should have had more time. But,” he stared at the floor angrily. “They ruined everything. They destroyed a whole society over night.” He sighed and sat next to her. “At whatever point your powers decided to present themselves to you, someone would have been notified and you would have been assigned a mentor, a teacher, a team. Truth is.” He rubbed the back of his neck looking up at the ceiling. “I found you marked in my masters book of the sleeping, what we call the ones who haven’t had powers stir yet. I don’ even know what your power is. But I’m out numbered, and out matched. Even if all you can do is help me research, ..” He pointed to his cloak. “That was my master’s, and he has vast collection of records and junk. I can’t sort the important information from the save for archives stuff.” He looked at her fiercely. “There’s a chance I can save them, and I can’t without you.”
Before she could process his words or utter a response, the heavy hall doors flew open again. This time, the lights went out with it, and there was an eerie stillness.