The library was empty.

Emily’s eyes trailed down to the clock in the bottom right corner of her screen, half past one, and nobody else was around. But she couldn’t shake the feeling that she was being watched. The motion-sensing lights had dimmed, creating small pockets of shadows, and the seat creaked below her every time she moved. The bookshelves stood tall and silent, ominously blocking her view of anything beyond them, and stretching into the thick darkness. She slumped in her chair and stared at the blank document in front of her. She’d been here for three hours and hadn’t even made a dent in the amount of work she’d had to do. She had been so excited to enter the second year of her University course, but now she just wanted to quit.

Was it really worth it for a degree?

She inhaled the scent of dusty books and lingering perfume and something strange that she couldn’t quite place. There was the faint hum of her laptop fan and a boiler from somewhere, and she could hear the security guard humming to himself as he worked. The floorboards creaked under his weight, and the wind blew through the walls, making the paper pages of the books rustle and crinkle.

There was a distinct chill in the air, that had the hairs on the back of Emily’s neck standing on end. Everyone else had got up and returned to their accommodation, some hours ago. There was something creepy about being so utterly alone in the library. She could see the security guard on the ground floor, his headphones resting on his head as if he was oblivious to the fact that anyone else was there, that she was there. She had one ear peeking out from under her headphones, so she could listen for any announcements, but she could hear nothing except the silence and the sounds of an old building.

If it wasn’t for the bright lights above her, and the solitude of music playing into one ear, she wouldn’t feel entirely safe.

She needed the toilet but was unsure about dragging herself to her feet and lumbering all her stuff to the bathroom with her. She didn’t want to draw attention to herself, in case someone was out there. Emily preferred to keep herself to herself, introverted and silent; she didn’t want to risk bumping into someone and starting a conversation with them. She stared opposite herself, past the rim of the whiteboard into the shadows. In her tired, sleepy haze, shadows kept flickering. Every time the darkness jolted with an imaginary figure, her eyes blinked upwards to see nothing but still darkness.

She sang along to the music playing through her headphones. Music was a powerful tool; it could relieve stress from a situation. She certainly needed to relieve some stress from this situation. Her heart was slowly picking up pace in her chest, and she didn’t know why. She was fine; the whole thing was fine.

Wasn’t it?

The light above her flickered and clicked off. She cursed under her breath, stupid motion sensing light. She moved, but the light didn’t click back on. She pushed herself to her feet and paced a few steps. The light clicked back on, but she froze. There, standing over there in the shadows. She had seen… She was sure she’d seen something moving.

Her stomach rumbled, with hunger or fear; she wasn’t sure.

Something clanged in the darkness, and her mind raced to the worst possible scenario, picturing everything that could happen. Her stomach rumbled again, and she knew it was out of fear this time. She stayed silent, still not wanting to draw attention to herself.

She decided to risk leaving her stuff abandoned, no one was here anyway. She pulled her phone out of her pocket so she could check the list of books she had to read to help with her course. She walked to the bathroom and pushed through the white door. She needed a book on the Brooklyn Incident, because she had decided to do her coursework on it, and she needed to know more. Besides, it just interested her. She was always interested in things she shouldn’t have been, dangerous things.

The bathroom was less silent, the hum of the boiler was louder in here, and a moth clicked against the light bulb, dazed and confused. She sighed and stood up to drop the lid and stab the flusher button. She washed her hands and walked back away from the toilet, feeling somewhat lighter now. She stopped and stared into the darkened library. All the lights had gone off.

She navigated her way back to the table she’d been sitting at, and her laptop was still there thankfully. She smiled and told herself it would be okay to leave it a little longer. She walked over to the bookshelves, skimming the book spines with her index finger, silently reading the titles to herself.

Her phone pinged and she clicked on the pop-up message from the top of the screen.

Found the book you’re looking for? X

She frowned, and glanced upward, spinning around to look about herself, but she couldn’t see anything that stood out to her. Her breath started trembling, her heart picking up pace in her chest. What kind of library just left its students completely alone? To fend for themselves?

She glanced down at her phone which was icy cold in her clammy hands. She typed. 

Where are you?

A book from a different shelf clattered and fell, landing on the carpet with a soft thud. Her heart pounded against her ribcage, as she moved around the bookshelf to find the fallen book. She spotted it, and her eyes skimmed along the carpet to the brown boots standing a few inches away from the book. Her mouth fell into an open O, her eyes widening.

The figure raised a hand and waved, and then it was running. Emily spun faster than her head could cope with and took off running. Her feet pounded across the carpet, which was soft below her Converse and seemed to dip and sway under her feet. The brown boots of the monster behind her, running too. The silver glint of an axe lifted beside the figure's head, ready to strike her as soon as she stopped.

She turned the corner and pulled herself behind a bookshelf, pressing her back against the shelves and books. Wood dug into her spine, and pointy book edges stabbed her like tiny knife blades. She raised a hand to cover her mouth, to muffle the sounds of her breathing and choked sobs. She tried to think rationally, someone was trying to scare her, and that was all. But her rational mind was heavily outnumbered by the not-so-rational thoughts that consumed her. She choked down a lungful of air, struggling to breathe. She panted like a dog that had just run a marathon. Trembling with fear, beads of sweat formed on her forehead, slowly trickling down her skin.

She turned her head, and tilted her body forward, trying to peer around the edge of the wooden bookshelf without being seen.

The floorboards creaked, and she could make out the sound of slow, steady footsteps. She turned to look the other way, but again she couldn’t see anything. She glanced at the ceiling as if the figure would be crawling its way across the roof. From somewhere deep within the library, a door squeaked open.

Something moved in the corner of her eye, and she turned to see the mask appearing between the cracks in the shelf. She screamed and leapt away from the bookshelf as the axe swung through the wood, mere inches from where her head had been.

Wood splintered and cracked, flying from the shelf and tumbling to the floor, books went sprawling and Emily screamed. The axe was raised again, and Emily took off running as the figure just casually stepped through the debris of his own chaos and ruin.

She ran, her feet pounding, her heart leaping, her throat dry and scratchy with fear. Her skin tingled from the icy cold that now enveloped her. She tripped, slamming into the carpet with a thud, and something grabbed her ankle. She kicked out, but her other foot made no contact, and she could feel herself being pulled across the floor, her nails trying to dig into the threadwork of the grey carpet, her teeth clenched as her fingers burned and her nails bled. She kicked out, but her other foot made no contact, and she could feel herself growing weaker, adrenaline giving into defeated exhaustion.

She was being dragged toward her fate. She screamed.