Dream Eater

Chapter 16: The Library

 "You have some bandages at the top shelf" I pointed at the cupboard.

Laszlo muttered something and head to get it. He looked like a beaten up street fighter.  His shirt, what is left from it, was damped in blood and sweat, his arm bruised and wound and now that I'm looking at it, seems he was limping too. I nervously sat on the couch, crossing my legs and then twisting it back and forth. 

"You are not going back there!" Laszlo was holding white fabric in his hands while staring at me. 

"What?" "I know you want to go back" I shrugged at his statement, who wouldn't like to go back? "What makes you say that?" play a foul, Mare! "You are molesting a couch!" Indeed, I was. 

I snorted, "So?" "So?!" his voice was absurdly high. He sat next to me and did the unexpected. He pulled me into his arms and sighed "I think we have to... somehow... talk" he awkwardly cleared his throat while I pulled myself from a deadly embrace and frowned. 

"Talk!" I barked the command out. "Remember when you said that I remind you of a friend, Laszlo?" I nod my head. Is he finally admitting? "Well I..."

 "He is Laszlo and we gotta go!" Someone snapped us up. "Kira?" she walked into the room and took a gracefully bow "At your service. Not really, but we do have to move quickly!" 

"Who's this?" Laszlo furrowed his brow. "No time for explanations nor romance, we have to teleport now. I'm warning you for the last time!" Kira sounded upset.

 Laszlo seemed not to care, but proceeded his little interrogation, "And why is that so? You know what, I think we should report this to the Council!" 

"No, just not that!" Kira begged. Of course, he wasn't listening her so I had to intervene somehow. I gave a signal to Kira for teleportation. In the unknown we trust. I grabbed fistful of Laszlo's hair and yanked him forward.

 "Mare, stop t..." he stood quiet as our lips connected. I felt a sudden shift of air as we moved trough places. His arms tightened around my waist and he was about to make a bigger move when I pushed him back. 

"We are here" I wiped my mouth, "And this never happened." 

His eyes were still dilated from excitement, but he couldn't hide the disappointment after receiving the blow. I turned around, trying to avoid Laszlo's gaze. I had to make him hush somehow and the kiss seemed to worked just fine. "Mare, I..." I waved my hand dismissively, not wanting to here some silly explanation. 

Instead I set myself a task of exploring the room. We were in gigantic library filled with the usual smell of old paper and wood polish. Surprisingly, turquoise tiles on the floor looked almost exactly like those in Council's room. 

I slowly walked toward a section of books under a label of 'fiction' and picked the first one that came into my hands. It was called 'Tightrope'. I turned around to see the summary. Something about a person who starts using drugs and meets her fate. I opened the last page. MC dies at the end. 

And then I notice her name, Marella. Why did the name sound so familiar? 

"What are they doing here?!" Charivari came from the other side of a hall.

 "I invited them over" Kira was now talking. "Are we going to die?" another voice asked. "Lets throw them out!" Someone shouted. I made a turned left and stopped in front of them. 

Just as I thought. 

"Well hello!" they all snapped their heads at my direction. "Kira, Twins, Joey and Danny, Blossom, Amadeus and Sandy, what a surprise!" I chirped nonchalantly.

 "Hey Mare" Twins replayed back while stuffing their mouth with those horrible rabbit shaped cookies. I managed not to gag on the memory of those. "Want some?" they shoved a full plate up in my face. "I think I'll pass" I removed the plate and put it on a small antique desk beside me. 

"Now that we are all here," Kira cleared her throat and proceeded, "We may start" 

Joey rose from his seat ,"Hello, my name is Joey and I'm a Pringles addict" he sat down while giving a high-five to Danny. Now Danny took his turn "My name is...." 

"How about burning their face off?" Amadeus interrupted, cracking his knuckles. "Talk about moody" Blossom whispered loudly enough for everyone to hear. They eyed each other and then flipped a bird. What grined their gear? 

"We should get on with this" Sandy spoke as she gave a half-smiled in my direction. We nod in agreement. Amadeus and Blossom left their seats and started bickering in the corner. 

"What's up with them?" I pointed. "Oh leave it, there is a reason why we chose them to be husband and wife" Danny and Joey smirked. "Get on with it, we don't really have much of time" Sandy became agitated. 

"Alright, I'm starting!" Kira lifted her hands in surrender, "Mare, listen. This may sound odd, but..." She got interrupted by Twins. They were both choking on cookies. 

"Hit them with something!" Amadeus and Blossom came back, shouting. As usual. I must say being here, with people who wanted to kill you is the oddest thing that might happened. 

But since I'm here and apparently we are running out of time for some reason, I decided to end it all, "SHUT UP!" my voice filled the room in an instant and they all stared at me. Nice acoustic! 

"Sit your asses down! Do you want me to treat you like those annoying newcomers, bawling like babies? Seven fucking years that I've served here as one of the best. Unrecognized, egotistical and somewhat crazy, but I did my best to top everything. And for what? To stuck in some street, being chased by you guys and something named Lucid." I slowly huffed and as I was about to proceed my 'motivational speech' a hand on my shoulder stopped me from doing it so, "That's enough Mare" 

Not this again.