Page 6 of The Omega Archives: Part One

I chuckled.

For some reason between the hours of eleven and one in the morning, the Prestford University student body got oddly horny to get it on in public spaces.

I adjusted my tote bag with extra work I took home the night before to stay on top of all the projects I had piling up. “Sounds like a positive direction. Have a good rest of your day.”

“You too– Oh, wait!”

Freezing, halfway towards the steps leading down to the basement level of the library, I twisted back.

This was not part of our usual morning greeting routine.

The bleached ends of my hair caught on my chin before I tucked my hair back behind my ears. “Yes?”

Jane leaned over the desk to catch me. “Mr. Wolfern requested to speak with our junior archivist.”

“Junior archivist?” I was just a library assistant, but a junior archivist? I never thought that I would ever hear my name attached to an actual librarian title. To be a librarian, you usually didn’t need just a degree, but an advanced degree.

I had neither. If I did, I couldn’t imagine the difference my life would be like.

The money. The stability.

I blinked a few times, unsure if I heard her correctly. I hadn’t had any caffeine this morning yet, so there was a possibility that I hadn’t. “Mr. Wolfern?”

“The new head librarian?” Jane raised her dark perfectly sculpted brows. “He started two weeks ago?”

Still didn’t ring a bell.

It was probably a very bad thing that it wasn’t ringing a bell.

“It’s ok. He’s only been in a few times since he started. He’s already set up in the back corner office. Same as the other Wilson before she left.”

Only the previous head librarian had never called me back into their office before.Ever.There was never a reason to.

I did my work. No one noticed me. No one had to notice me. All I was, was an extra set of hands on the payroll that looked like mere cents compared to what the other actual librarians were making.

My routine remained steady and so did I. I came in every day. I never even took a sick day, even when my cold last season had the rest of the three-person archival staff grimacing every time I sneezed. They each gave me their scratchy box of university-issued tissues and didn’t speak with me for a week, which wasn’t all that different from our average interaction when I wasn’t sick either.

That was also something I was completely fine with.

“Okay. Thank you, Jane.” My voice came out more of a whisper.

My heart beat my chest too hard for it to be any louder. With every step, I could barely contain myself.

I still didn’t get it.

What could the head librarian possibly want with me?

I knew that the university library was undergoing a lot of renovation. They included more technology, some of which were more confusing than helpful in my opinion. But that was a reference librarian's responsibility to keep everything in order alongside the many students who used the library for good as well as nefarious reasons.

Oh god, was that it? Was I obsolete? Did that mean that he was going to fire me? Was I no longer important to the running of the library?

It was common knowledge that the university was making cutbacks. I just never thought–

I paused a few steps away from the corner office that felt reclusive to the rest of the library. I swallowed, looking behind me. I could run now. I could pretend I never got the message that he wanted to see me, couldn’t I?

“Ms. Jones.”

Shit.

---