Page 23 of As They Are
She was gone before I could process the fact that she always had a ladder and intended on using it.
There was aclangas she launched it over the fence and then followed.
“Wait a minute,” I said as she leaned it against the brick. “How do you know it’s safe in there?”
“I don’t.”
“Wren—” Before I could talk some sense into her, she’d gotten the ladder to where she needed it and was scrambling up to the window.
Wren was an explorer.
And a danger to herself.
“There’s no shame if this is where you stop.” She peered down at me as she was halfway up. “If anyone asks, you saw nothing. And if I disappear ...” She shrugged. “Well, tell everyone I died doing what I loved.”
Correction: She was a danger tome.Just listening to her had my heart racing.
There was no way I was letting her do this alone.
That was the only logical reason I had for climbing up onto the ladder behind her. I didn’t love heights, but at least I could make sure she didn’t get hurt in there.
“Wren, slow down,” I said. “At least make sure it’s safe.”
She turned with wide eyes. “You’re coming with me?”
“You’re determined to do this. I’m determined to make sure you don’t fall through something.”
“You could call the cops to stop me, you know.”
“You’re overestimating how much the local sheriff here can do. If anything, he’d wait outside.”
“So, you’re telling me you’re braver than the sheriff?”
“I don’t know aboutthat?—”
She tilted her head to one side. “You wanna see inside of here too, don’t you?”
The second she said it, I knew she was right. I’d stared at this place since I first moved here. Instead of giving her an answer, I turned to make sure no one was walking down the sidewalks. “We need to get moving before someone catches us.”
She laughed. “You arenotwhat I expected.”
Neither was she.
Wren barely fit through the window. I had a bit more trouble, but made it inside too.
The air was musty, and the old carpeted floors were probably the culprit. Wren used her phone as a flashlight to illuminate rows of metal shelves. This was a massive space, and the shelving stretched as far as the eye could see.
I’d never been in a building that had sat empty as long as this. I thought I knew what to expect, but this was still so much darker than I assumed.
“This washuge,”she said.
“People said it was.” Still, it didn’t do it justice. How much information had been in here? What all had been lost?
“This is in incredible shape for how long it’s stood empty.” Her voice was quiet as she walked, but I could barely make out her words. She was in awe, just like I was. “It’s got good bones.”
Wren walked along the empty hallway, shining her phone’s flashlight down each pathway. I followed and pulled mine out, doing the same. This was once a bustling library. Who had walked these floors? What books were here?
It was empty. Forgotten to time.
