text: Dead Silence “Oh, shit” The lights went out, my eyes growing wide. Was it that time already? I look to my watch, which has stopped at exactly 10:59 p.m. “What the...” I trail off, looking around me. I scramble in the darkness to find my phone, so I can at least see a foot in front of me. I finally fish it out of the smallest nook of my book bag, and shine it directly around me. There is no noise; not even the sound of a page turning. Sure, it was typical for the library to be silent, but not this silent. There’s nothing but stacks of books in every direction. I want to shout out, I want to know if there’s anybody else out there but I can’t seem to find my voice. What if somebody was out there? Lingering in the stacks of old books? What if this was all an elaborate ruse, to get me alone? “This is why you should watch and read happier things, and less about murderers and serial killers” I snap at myself, and I’m happy to hear the sound of my own voice. I grab my book bag and the book I was reading, “Zodiac”, and shove it in before I hastily zipper it shut and sling it over my shoulder. There had to be a way out, right? Shining my phone to my left and right, I decide heading to the right was my fastest chance at finding the entrance. Though I had been in this library a thousand times, in the dark was something I was not prepared for. I mentally mapped out the building in my head; I’d have to head down the stairs, hang a left past all my favourite books, to where I would find the counter. And where there’s the counter, about 50 feet away was bound to be the entrance. Impressed at how quickly I manage to come up with a plan, I tread carefully. I had never been in a building after hours before, it had me wondering why they didn’t come to tell me they were closing up. Candice, sweet, sweet Candice was always working. She was a sweet older lady of about sixty, who knew the library inside and out, having worked here for forty years. She knew me well, because of how often I frequented the place, and I her. But, I think to myself, she wasn’t working today. Yes, yes, now it’s all coming back to me... “Good afternoon, I was wondering if you could help me find a book?” I step up to the counter, putting my bag on my left shoulder to take some of the pain from my right side. I’m surprised when a man pops up from behind the counter, I was expecting Candice. I knew where I could find most of the books I wanted; I was in here often enough. But I did enjoy the one on one conversations with Candice, so I’d humour her by asking her to find me various books. “I was expecting Candice” I blurt out once I see it is not her. The man chuckles, and I can tell it’s not the first time he’s heard that today. The man was younger, perhaps mid to late thirties, twice my age at least. He wore glasses that vaguely looked familiar but I couldn’t point out from where. “I’ve been getting that all day” he responds with a chuckle, and I feel a little more at ease. “She’s just out sick today” he tells me, and this strikes me as odd. Never in the two years I had been coming here has she ever taken a sick day. In fact, she proudly told me she’d only missed one day of work in her forty year tenure, and that was for the birth of her son. “Sick?” I question immediately. “She’s never sick, I do hope she’s okay” I say, about to walk away when he stops me. “She’ll be fine, I’m quite sure” he assures me. “But didn’t you say you were looking for a book?” He questions me, and I turn back to face him. “Oh yes- I’m sorry” I stumble a little on my words. “I’m looking for the Zodiac book” I tell him, and he nods, gesturing for me to follow him. “A true crime buff, eh?” He asks, and I nod though his back is to me and he can’t hear me. “Yup” I say, once I realize he can’t see me nod. We don’t walk for long before he pulls it out of the shelf, turns to me and smiles. “Always nice to see a fellow true crime fan” he grins, and as much as I want to be polite and indulge him in conversation, I just grab the book from him and turn to head upstairs to read. “Yeah. Thanks” I say, gesturing to the book in my hand. He looks a little taken aback but quickly regains his composure. “If you need anything else, you know where to find me” he whispers, before disappearing back behind the counter. I let out the breath I don’t realize I’m holding, and close my eyes for a moment. That was weird . Did this have something to do with Candice not working? Did the man forget to do his rounds before locking up? I had never seen him before today; maybe he wasn’t aware of the proper procedure. My mind was racing by the time I reached the stairs. Maybe it was all the books I read that was allowing my imagination to run wild. Or maybe it was because I found myself in what I perceived as a dangerous situation. I stepped slowly down the stairs, the only sound was my shallow breathing. It was eerie, being in this silence. There was no sounds of a computer starting up or shutting down, no shuffling of papers or chairs, and no hasty whispers. Everything was as it was when I passed it what felt like ages ago, but was only a few hours. Finally, after reaching the bottom of the stairs, I see the familiar courtesy desk and breathe a sigh of relief, but that relief was temporary. I looked to the doors, shining my phone towards the exit, hoping to make a hasty escape. “What the...” I mumble to myself, as I slowly approach the door I notice a shining light right back at me. My eyes go wide and my heart begins to beat rapidly in my chest. Who was on the other side of the door? Was it someone coming to help? I approached the door with extreme caution, the light still shining back at me. As I get to the door it hits me; of course there’s a light shining on you, you moron; it’s your reflection. I scoff at myself, feeling overly paranoid. I reach for the door handle but before I get a chance to turn it, a hand slaps the window so hard I nearly jump out of my skin. “Shit!” I scream, jumping back and tripping over myself. My phone lands with a loud thud, the flashlight on it turning off. I look back up to the window and I can hear the rattling of the door; someone was trying to get in. I pick myself up from the ground and scramble away from the door, trying to hide from whoever is trying to come inside. I scurried from the doorway, finding the closest room I could find. It was a room behind the courtesy desk; one I hadn’t been in before. I run in and close the door behind me, breathing heavily as I try to listen for the sounds of someone inside. I feel sweat bead on my forehead, and my heart won’t slow down. I was in such a rush to get away from the door I forgot my phone in the other room; there goes my flashlight. I fumble around in the total darkness, before feeling up the wall to my right. There was thankfully a light switch. Not thinking I flicked in on, and in that moment I knew I was screwed. “Oh, my god!” I gasp, bringing my hand up to my mouth in horror. “Candice” I gasp, looking at the librarian who lay dead on the floor before me. There’s no blood; he clearly strangled her, the rope was just to the side of her body. “Candice...” I trail off, instinctively reaching for my phone. I curse myself when I realize it isn’t there. I quickly turn around, looking to find either my phone or any phone at that; I had to call the police. This was a crime scene; I couldn’t disturb it. Though my mind was in full panic mode, there were still some rational thoughts that managed to swirl through. I open the door and I’m surprised to see a man standing before me; the same man that replaced Candice earlier that day. “Oh, thank god” I breathe a sigh of relief. “You have to help! I think- I think Candice is dead” I manage to squeak out, but he doesn’t seem at all fazed. “Thank god you came back!” I add, beginning to calm down for a moment. “Oh, I’m not here for you” he smiles, and my relief is gone. I can see it now, in his eyes. I don’t have time to move; not that I could have, I was frozen in place. Before I knew it the man launched himself towards me, a rope in his hands. It’s in that moment I realize why I recognized the glasses earlier. It was in that moment I realized; I was going to die. How did he go undetected all day? How was he getting away with this? A million things ran through my brain, as he took the rope and wrapped it around my neck. I struggled, but only for a moment. “Please...” I managed to whisper, my hands trying to pry the rope away from my neck but to no avail; he’s too strong for me. “I didn’t.. want to.. have to... do this” he spits out, his focus being on something other than idle conversation. “You just were in the wrong place, at the wrong time” he says, as my eyes begin to flutter shut. He sets me down on the ground, as I take my last breath. “I’m sorry” he whispers, and it’s the last thing I hear before the deafening sound of dead silence.