Red Drops (ON HIATUS)

Chapter 18

After the both of you got dried and changed, Bill left you at library claiming he would go home and make dinner for the both of you. You arched a brow, but nodded nonetheless.

She loved the library; it was the cozy place where she could be herself. In a way of course. So Bill left her in front of the victorian looking building. She felt rather nervous going in today, though, something inside her, probably her gut, told her to be wary. Things may actually not be what they seemed and Mrs. Dianne wasn't on desk duty on Wednesdays, which meant that today was Mr. Hanlon's turn.

"This ought to be fun" you whispered going slowly up the front steps.

Your hands turn the knob that for some reason it was cold on a hot day. The hairs behind your neck rose and your stomach tingled like something wasn't right the moment you set foot inside the library. Your heart beat inside your ears, your body felt hot and cold as you walked pass the greeting table where Mr. Hanlon. You walked faster, but couldn't stop the old man from looking in your direction, following your frantic frame with his eyes.

"Just find the book, just find the book" you muttered under your breath, your eyes scanned the rows of thousands of books, looking for the correct alphabet letter. Your body spelled tensed, your shoulders where up, your posture was rigid, but you kept walking nonetheless until you spotted it. H I J.

"Can I help you with something, Miss?" you jumped out of your skin at the request coming from behind.

Turning you saw someone familiar.

"Bill?...What are you doing here, weren't you back at home?" with no denying you tried to hide the shock of scare behind clearing your throat.

" Well, I was but decided to come at the last moment with you, is that okay?" his blue eyes and his dashing and innocent smile hypnotized you into forgetting all about the scared and some weird alarms going out in your body.

"Sure, I wouldn't mind the extra pair of hands, Mr. Denbrough" with that lowly said the two of you walked into the H I J corridor.

"So, what exactly are we looking for?" Bill asked casually while touching every book on the shelf and even pulling some out to pushed them back in.

"We're looking for anything related to the history of Derry" There was no denying you loved being surrounded by books, and that Mr. Denbrough's presence was calming, but at the moment nothing felt peaceful.

"Huh" 

"What? what's wrong?" you urged the man who seemed to be deep in thought, looking at a specific way.

"I think I saw some old records about the town inside the basement area, come on I'll show you" without hesitation you followed close behind him.

Still there was no denying the eyes looking directly at your back. Mr. Hanlon, he was processing some new arrivals into the computer but couldn't let the unease feeling that something was amiss int his literary world of his.

"There should be a light switch somewhere here, I'll go look for it, you follow three rows to the left and the third one in, second shelf there should be a box with the name written in ink, you'll see it"

"As soon as you turn the lights I will" smiling you walked int he directions he gave while he chuckled at your remark and went about his business.

The air down here was humid, it smelled like dust but worse. It just wasn't an old smell like a house closed for too long, it was like the smell of a historic tomb. Ancient dust, you called it. Giggling at the name.

Third row and in. You walked slowly and waited for the light to turn on. Right there, they did making you jump again. Skittish, that's how you felt.

"Okay, get a grip, second shelf, weird box" you muttered while reading aloud in a whispery voice the names on top of the boxes. 

That's when you noticed the one whispering wasn't you. An eerie voice seemed to be talking at the end of the corridor under the darkness of a broken light. You looked straight ahead and the voice was followed by another one, then another one and another one and they all whispered the same phrase.

"Don't go to the ceiling. Don't go to the ceiling.Don't go to the ceiling.Don't go to the ceiling."

"Don't go to the ceiling.Don't go to the ceiling.Don't go to the ceiling.Don't go to the ceiling."

"Don't go to the ceiling.Don't go to the ceiling.Don't go to the ceiling.Don't go to the ceiling."

"Don't go to the ceiling.Don't go to the ceiling.Don't go to the ceiling.Don't go to the ceiling."

Chills went down your spine like a horrible roller coaster drop, and you stepped back. Another step back wards and the lights started to flicker like a cliche horror movie scene. The more you retreated slowly, the more the darkness seemed to follow you with the same pace. You didn't wanted to turn around, that would be suicide according to horror flicks, but the temptation to sprint out of the basement was huge. 

"Don't go to the ceiling.Don't go to the ceiling..." out of nowhere a hand shot out of the left shelf and pulled you towards it making you shriek in the process "DON'T GO TO THE CEILING" at this you finally let out a scream and fell on your knees on the floor.

Eyes shut closed and your hands covered your ears as the voices seemed to intensify,  whispering with urgency the repeated message. Then, a hand laid on your shoulder. You jumped again ready to punch whoever grabbed you again, but it was Bill. You surroundings look normal and even the broken light was fixed miraculously.

"Hey, you okay? I heard you whimpering and found you here having a panic attack" huffing you hugged him with a strong grip and he after some seconds returned the hug awkwardly "It's okay, I'm here" Your body trembled in his grasp.

In the silence, the both of you heard footsteps approaching. You trembled even more but didn't dare move from Bill's grasp in case the scene would echoed itself.

"Everything alright here, I heard a commotion"

Mr. Hanlon had found his way downstairs after seeing you walk down the basement stairs closing the door behind you. He knew if something were to go missing, he would never hear the end of it from Dianne. So he followed you after seeing you didn't came back up.

"Everything's okay, Mr. Hanlon, my girlfriend here just had a small panic attack, but she's alright" Bill replied helping you stand up.

"Is this true, Miss?" Mike seemed more concern from hearing the tale from you than from the beautiful stranger.

"Yes...sir" your voice cracked and trembled with the answer as Bill helped you " We...we were looking for records on Derry history" His facial expression denoted clear confusion as he opened and closed his mouth in a silent question.

"Oh...um Miss, those are kept upstairs on the second floor, they're for the students, down here" he signaled everything "is all the outdated records"

"Are you sure?" Bill asked, not a drop of emotion in his voice.

"Pretty sure"

"Then, we best be going upstairs, the air will do her good too, down here smells like ancient dust or something" at the mention of the smell's nickname your eyes widened for a short moment, and you urged Bill to get out faster.

While the two of you went up the stairs Mr. Hanlon, fixed a boxed pulled too far out of the shelf. It must have been the box she use to hold on. The box had Derry's mysteries on it. He pushed it back and went on his way up the stairs out of the basement.

WOOOOO, I had a blast writing this one. But won't deny the next one is gonna be good too and I can't wait to post it. Hope ya'll like it, let me know in the comments, I love reading them, they make my day.