Page 24 of As They Are
The opposite of haunted.
Eventually, the shelves ended, leaving an open space that looked down onto the first floor.
“What are the odds that I fall if I get close to that?” she asked.
“It’s an overhang that was abandoned for ten years.”
“I’m willing to risk it.” She walked forward. My gaze followed the old wood and saw the way it leaned. Even the stairs buckled.
I grabbed her arm and pulled her back to me before I could stop myself. “Bad idea. That can’t support you.”
She was silent, and I regretted how firm I’d been. “I think you’re right. I should’ve caught that. I’m too distracted by everything in here.”
Wren walked off and I shook my hand. It tingled from where I’d touched her.
I didn’t do this. I didn’t touch women without their permission. I didn’t tell them what to do.
Then again, I didn’t break into abandoned buildings either.
Still.It needed to be a fluke. A single mistake.
“There has to be another way down, right? A back staircase?”
“You’re asking the wrong guy,” I said. She headed back to where we came from and I followed her.
“I’m gonna hunt for it.”
“I’ll go with you.”
The surprise from me following her must have faded, because she turned with a smile. “That’s what I was hoping for.”
We came to another clearing where there was a wooden desk taking up a corner.
“Cool,” she said. “I wonder if anything was left behind.”
We walked around it. Nothing physical remained, but there were markings in the wood.
“M and H,” I said to myself. “Marjorie and Henrietta.”
“What?” Wren asked.
“Two of the ladies that live here. They used to run the library. Marjorie and Henrietta. They left a mark.”
I could practicallyseethem here. Marjorie would have been the one to do it while Henrietta scolded her.
“Wow,” she said. “I’ve seen a lot of things like this, but I never get to hear about the people who did it. What’s left behind is usually a mystery.”
“It’s still here.” I looked out over the empty space. “I wish more was.”
Wren took everything in and an eerie silence settled over both of us. “We haven’t seen it all yet. Come on, there has to be another staircase somewhere.”
It took a bit of exploring to find another way down. The stairs were tucked into a corner that was darker than everything else. Dust specks drifted in the air as we slowly headed toward them.
Most everything was in good shape, but these steps were wobbly at best. They appeared to be wood underneath the old carpet, and time hadn’t been kind to them.
Wren was quiet as we moved, but I kept an eye on her. She had started descending in front of me, and I assumed she was taking it all in.
Then, a step collapsed underneath her.
