Chapter Four: An Awkward Meeting.

Everything stood still. Pages of voluminous books turned from time to time, and the soft footsteps of the librarians doing their rounds echoed throughout the shelves. Stacks of books towered high above us, papers scattered themselves across tables, and desk lamps beamed down brightly onto dull pieces of parchment. The bookshelves stretched from floor to ceiling in intricately thought out positions; ladders climbed up the shelves in an attempt to reach the very top, but stopped short.

We passed a desk masked in ebony, its surface brimmed with books and papers. At a guess, I'd say this was where one of the librarians were working. Minuscule jars of ink lay lined up neatly in a row on one end of the desk, with a single quill placed quite immaculately beside them. Each loose page and novel was placed as if for a picture to be taken.

As Marine, Strompi and I strode across the floor, our steps were almost unheard. The thickly laid carpet that covered the floor was dense enough to absorb most of the sound that attempted to fall upon it. Continuing cautiously across the carpet covered floor, all was dead silent.

A chandelier forged from glass, gems, and silver hung down proudly providing lighting to the entire room. There was not a single cobweb, nor sheet of dust, to be found in any corner, or on any shelf.

Striding towards the centre of the library with Marine and Strompi by my side, I approached one of the librarians. "Excuse me," I speak in the softest voice possible, "Could you give us the key for room 17? We need to stay here for the night."

"But of course." The librarian chimed. "Follow me." They said while already gliding gracefully towards a rack of keys. They slipped one of its hooks and handed it to me with a gentle touch.

"Thank you." I bow, and turn to Marine. "We should get going, it's going to be a long night. Luckily, room 17 is on the second floor, so we won't have to walk all that far."

Walking up the stairs and down the hallway brought back many childhood memories. Some were good, and some were bad. I pushed the memories to the back of my mind and kept pace with Marine.

Upon reaching the door to room 17, the atmosphere had dampened with the weight of anxiety hanging over our shoulders. Reaching down into my pocket, I felt the cool metal key fit gently between my fingers. I unlocked the door and turned the cold doorknob in my hand. The drapes match the carpets, and the furniture was donned in white and gold silk. A velvet blue armchair sat in the corner of the room, draped in golden detail.

"Hey Skye, I'm pretty tired from today's events. Would you mind if I take a nap?" Marine chimed with laziness in her eyes.

"Not at all! I'll just head to the library and catch up on some reading. There's not much else you can do around here, now is there?" I chuckled.

Closing the room door behind me, I could hear Marine toss herself roughly onto the bed. A sigh left my lips, not a sigh of irritation but rather a sigh of relief. My best friend was now safe and sound, slowly drifting off to sleep in the bed we had shared many times as children.

The library is still as silent and still as ever, pages stirred as readers devoured for plots. Making my way over to the fiction section, I couldn't help but shake the feeling that someone was following me. Whilst trying to make my way to a more occupied area of the room, I had accidentally taken a wrong turn somewhere along the way and ended up walking into a dead-end. I could sense a presence behind me, but I dared not turn around.

"Hey there, beautiful." The gravely British accent dragged itself across the carpet making my spine shiver. It was him. The person I thought I'd managed to avoid up until this very moment. The person that I dreaded ever meeting face to face ever since that fateful night.

"What's wrong? Gremlin got your tongue?" He teased. Memories of him flashed by, there was not a single conceivable thought in my mind. His words stung my mind and made my pointed ears swivel back.

I spun around, trying to keep my cool, and faced him. His deep, chocolate-brown eyes bore holes through my skull as silence fell upon our shoulders like the sky falls on Earth at night. Our eyes locked, and although neither of us spoke, a thousand words were exchanged in that quiet, daunting moment.

"What a coincidence meeting you here, Leo." I muttered as my teeth gritted against each other and I forcefully tightened the restraints on my rage. While Leo wasn't exactly the person most loathed, by myself and the majority, he definitely was not a favourite.

The candles glimmered and flickered in the shadows as the paintings watched us from above. His eyes alienated by this gloomily lit library. I don't want to give in, I can't show him that after everything he put me through, I'd still choose him. Each step he took closer to me, I felt my heart quicken. My eyes fixated on his, without a single word to say.

"Ouch." A muffled groan left my mouth as my back hit the bookshelf. Within a second of this happening his body was inches away from mine, his soft breath falling onto my shoulder. I could hear his heartbeat, or was that my own?

"You really haven't changed, have you?" He chuckled in an irresistible tone. Leo's hands had found their way around my waist and cupped my cheek. Breaking contact, the red glow of embarrassment crept its way up my cheeks. I felt his gentle fingers tilt my head upward as he closed the last gap between us.

Time stopped as our lips collided, but the butterflies in my stomach fluttered on. I'd only realized how much I missed this, how much I'd missed him, at this very moment.

Leo pulled back slightly, "I've missed you so much." he breathed an exasperated sigh.

Pulling him back for more, "So have I." I breathed.