M’gann flipped to next page of her book. She didn’t really notice that she wasn’t reading any of the words. By this point she’d gotten into a rhythm of flipping every minute or so. Her mind was elsewhere. It had been a week and a half since she’d been attacked by that woman and she still couldn’t stop thinking about it when things were quiet and still. Just replaying the incident over and over and over. Looking for something and nothing at the same time.
The library was holding extended summer hours for July and August, but few people were taking advantage of it. Tonight, M’gann and Lauren were holding down the fort. It finally occurred to M’gann, as she flipped another page without having taken in a single sentence, that Lauren had already closed the library and that M’gann herself had told Lauren that she’d be leaving, too, in another five minutes or so. She looked out the window with sudden gasp. It was already getting dark. She’d been sitting there, alone, for far longer than five minutes.
If she wanted to get home before curfew, she’d need to hurry. M’gann dropped the book on the desk and yanked her bag out of the bottom left desk drawer. Final checks. T’ak. She put her bag back next to the book and swept through the children’s section, lights off and display locked. Check. Then the museum. Double-locked, not that there was anything worth more than a few thousand in there. Near nonfiction she was about to flick the light off when she caught the signal. She froze.
No one was supposed to be here.
It wasn’t the scientist’s signature, but that didn’t mean it was safe. She closed her eyes. A man. Unfamiliar. Not sending out aggressive emotions. Then again, the scientist hadn’t been sending any out either. M’gann took a deep breath. “Hello?” She called out into the wide room and took a few steps towards the psychology aisle where the signal originated. “The library is closed now. We open again tomorrow at ten.” Her head tilted to the side. “Sir, are you alright?”
