Page 63 of Cruel Riches

Laurel nodded. “I think so.”

We grabbed our notebooks and pens and headed for the library. Before we went to our usual spot on the top floor, we headed for the stacks on the third floor to find a book our professor had recommended for midterm exam prep.

As we slowly trudged across the floor, my head began to spin, and the hall seemed to grow narrower. Darkness engulfed me like quicksand, and I felt myself sinking into it.

“Alexis, are you okay?” Ruby asked, grabbing my arm to stop me from falling.

“I feel really weird,” I muttered, blinking rapidly. “My head felt like it was spinning for a few seconds, and everything went all dark.”

“Sounds like you need more coffee,” she said, lifting her brows. “Too bad we aren’t allowed any food or drinks in here.”

“Are you going to be okay?” Laurel asked, peering at me.

I took a deep breath and nodded. “Yeah. Ruby’s right. I’m probably just tired. Or maybe I’m losing a ton of iron because of my period, and it made me dizzy for a second.”

“We should get burgers for lunch later,” she said. “They have iron in them, right? Because of all the meat?”

“I guess,” I muttered. The thought of food made me feel sick.

“Then we’ll do that. It’ll make you feel better.”

We stopped walking as we neared the end of the floor so that Laurel could check the exact call number for the book we needed.

A light above our head started swinging madly, like there was a strong breeze blowing through the library. Then it started turning on and off.

“Holy shit.” I took a few halting steps backward, eyes wide as the library flashed with bright light and then filled with darkness.

“What’s wrong?” Ruby asked, frowning.

“You don’t see that?” I said, gesturing at the flickering light.

“See what?”

I gaped at her. “The light keeps moving and turning on and off. It’s like there’s a poltergeist in here.”

“Um… it looks fine to me.” Her forehead creased, and she pointed above us. “You mean this light here, right?”

The floor was suddenly plunged into darkness again. I whirled around, trying to place my friends in the gloom. They’d completely disappeared.

The light flashed on again, and I found myself looking down a narrow passage between the stacks.

There was a person at the end, dressed in black. A hood covered their face, and one hand was high in the air, brandishing a glinting knife.

I screamed and collapsed to the ground in a panic, crawling backward.

“Alexis!” Laurel crouched beside me, suddenly visible again. “What’s wrong?”

“Look!” I choked out, pointing between the shelves. “You don’t see him?”

“See who?”

A librarian hurried toward us, eyes narrowed. “Excuse me!” she said sharply. “What’s all the screaming about? Are you aware that this is a library?”

“Sorry. Our friend saw something,” Ruby said.

The librarian’s face softened as she saw the state I was in. My eyes were bulging like mad, and my fingers were splayed out in a fan against my chest as I hyperventilated on the carpeted floor.

“What did you see?” she asked.

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