8. Lady Karma And The Rat Named Chaster

Trevor picked himself up on all fours, as the rat went all the way from behind the corner of the bookstand, to the middle of the pathway next to it. The animal noticed the boy too and observed him closely twisting his tiny head from side to side like it was curious about the peculiar finding.

Then it got slightly up and waved one of his tiny hands, in a summoning gesture. This surprised the kid so badly, that he had to rub his eyes to make sure he wasn't seeing things.

At the same moment, a familiar sound indicating a new message hit the boy in the ear, but the bell icon didn't appear on the edge of his vision.

„What the…", he thought to himself but didn't finish since he realized that it could be something else.

- Open missions.

The window appeared, and there was a new entry there titled 'Follow the rat', as he focused his attention on it, the display changed, showing the description of the mission goal, and also a reward.

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Title: Follow the rat.

Goal: Chase the rat to find a way out.

Reward: Way out of 'The Grand Library'

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He had read it quickly, and his attention again focused on the animal, but the rat was gone from where he was just a moment before. It was already running, a bit further the pathway.

- Wait! - shouted Trevor. - Close messages!

He jumped back on his feet and rushed after the rodent. As he passes the wooden rack, he found the rat even further away, running on its tiny legs at full speed. Trevor without thinking much started running after it.

Despite being so small, the animal was unbelievably fast and skittered from cover to cover, more or less on the straight pathway between the bookstands.

The jog made Trevor quickly realize that his skateboard was gone because he thought it would be much easier to just ride it, but he had no recollection of letting go of it.

"I must've lost it when I fell', he thought.

He peeked over his shoulder considering going back to look for it, but then he pushed out those thoughts. It was a dumb idea since he wouldn't be able to find his way there anyway. He had to follow the tiny animal and cross his fingers that it would really lead him to the exit. That was the only option.

Quite quickly he discovered that he didn't have much energy in his body, as his legs were not moving as fast as they were supposed to. He was losing strength in them much sooner than he expected, and there was no sight of anything even remotely different from the bookstands he was already used to. The rat also kept running, not slowing down even a little bit.

- Shit – escaped his mouth, as he focused everything he got on just keeping up with the tiny animal.

The jog continued and continued, making Travor completely lose any focus on anything but the little rascal in front of him. The animal started changing its route, taking turns, like it was trying to lose the boy who was chasing it. Trevor, too focused on the task, didn't notice the layout of the library changing around him.

With the blood pumping in his ears, he also couldn't hear the bookstands shifting quietly on the marble.

For him, everything around him was just a blur of colors and shapes. Completely not important, contrary to the pain in his chest, that started to grow with every step and the animal ahead.

Time kept passing on, and minutes accumulated. He started losing strength in his legs to the point, that he was about to collapse, but the distance between him and the little rascal wasn't changing. Then he suddenly emerged from between the bookstands placed on the elevation, next to Miss Vera's desk, slightly under the main floor.

He was so surprised, that he tripped, and fell on his face.

Groaning because of pain, he somehow managed to get to a sitting position, and then he noticed the librarian, sitting on the edge of her desk, observing him closely with her legs crossed, and a nasty grin on her face.

Next to her was another familiar person. The gnome, Falafel Windsbaum, whose smile was much more friendly.

- Just as I promised, I looked into your situation, and I found a solution – he stated.

Then Trevor saw something very strange. The rat, who he was chasing for so long, was standing on the edge of the stairs, leading off the elevation, up on his back legs. The animal pulled a top hat from somewhere, put it on his head, and stated:

- Job done. Where is my money?

He then turned to face the gnome and jumped down the steps, one by one. At the same time, Trevor heard the characteristic ping, announcing he got a new message, but for now, he ignored it.

- Right here, right here – said Falafel with a smile, and took a few gold coins out of his pocket, to bring them to the rat.

He had to bend to give them to the talking animal, which he did.

- It's a pleasure doing business with you mister Windsbaum - said the little rascal.

- I can say the same about you, Chester. Please give my best regards to your wife.

- I will, I will – said the rat, and just marched out of Trevor's vision after rising its hat. - Goodbye.

- Well he managed to return – said Falafel still facing the boy, but clearly not to him. - That means I won.

He turned around to look at Vera.

- This was obviously cheating. You didn't win.

- Well... We bet on him returning, didn't we? And as the matter of fact, he did – argued the gnome.

- No – she bluntly stated, and her facial expression changed slightly as the shadow of anger appeared.

This made Falafel stop the whole conversation with her, and turn back to Trevor. The boy noticed, that the tiny man got slightly paler.

- Congratulations – he said. - With this, I believe we should be square. What do you say?

- Y-yes – said the boy.

He attempted to pick himself up, but it wasn't that easy. His legs were trembling, but somehow they didn't collapse under him, so grabbing on everything he could, Trevor somehow made it down, off the elevation, and joined the two others.

- Well, I guess I should congratulate you – said miss Vera, and smiled showing off her fangs. - Good job by staying alive, but if I were you, I wouldn't do business with rats. They have interesting ideas about debts.

- W-what do you mean? - Trevor asked.

She didn't answer, which caused an awkward silence. Fortunately, the gnome came to the rescue by speaking first.

- Anyway... Time for me. I've stayed for too long. Good day to both of you – he said, nodded, and started walking to the exit.

- G-good day – Trevor responded.

- So – said the librarian so loud, that she scared the boy. - You've acquired a book, and that means there is some paperwork to be done. Show me your card.

She uncrossed her legs, got off the desk, then circled around it, and finally sat on her chair.

- Y-yes – he squeezed out as she was still on her way, and quickly started rummaging through his pockets.

The item was not there, but he found it in his backpack after taking it off. He would probably lose it if not for the fact the bag was attached to him for most of his strange journey.

Miss Vera reached over the desktop to take it from his hand, and pulled some papers from one of the drawers inside the desk, using her other hand. She then placed it all next to one another in perfect alignment, grabbed a pen, and peaking a few times at the piece of metal, slowly filled the blanks on the pages.

- What an interesting position – she said smiling at Trevor again as she finished her work. - Be careful with that one. Oh, and sign here.

She turned one of the pages, so it would be facing the boy, and placed the pen on it.

- You lose five points for shouting in the library. Another five and you are out - she smiled.

- B-but... - he mumbled while grabbing the pen. - I don't even have the book with me…

- Do you? - her eyebrows climbed up her forehead. - Are you sure about that?

Her question immediately made him think about the system. He wasn't really sure if he should confirm or deny it because of that, but fortunately for him, the vampire didn't really want the answer.

- Just sign - she said with a calm voice, but nevertheless, it sounded like a threat to the boy.

He wrote his name where he was supposed to, placed the pen on it, and pushed it towards her. She grabbed it all, and quickly scanned the page with her eyes, then placed it back on the desktop.

- Anyway, good luck – she said and pushed his card on her desktop towards him.

- Y-yes, thank you – he squeezed out and took it back.

After that he hesitated, not knowing what to do. He had so many questions but also was unsure if the librarian would give him any answers. As her eyebrows rose again in a silent question, he got his answer, gave her a fake smile, and then left, heading straight to the exit with complete chaos in his head.

He somehow became magical, but also had no idea what it all meant. Nevertheless, it still felt great, and a real smile crawled on his face as he was walking towards the door.

"Open massages", he thought after gating further from the vampire.

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Congratulations on finishing the mission!

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Stated the message, so he just closed it and continued walking.