Linna Gaustad's story basically began in the basement of an old antique shop, where the proprietor ran his side business, the man being a collector and purveyor of rare books. An American with distinctly European looks, Linna was employed by night to take care of the small library, working from dusk till dawn to serve whatever few customers came in now and then.<br/><br/>The waxing gibbous moon was concealed this night, behind a front of storm clouds, and so thus was her own turmoiled soul hidden behind a rebellious, gothic front of clothing style that she favoured. Her short black hair spiked, hard eyes draped with eyeshadow, cheeks heavy with blush, and with a little pair of slim metal rings each piercing her earlobes and eyebrows, and even one upon the tip of her tongue.<br/><br/>Her entire outfit screams goth as well, the girl clad in black cloth and leather from head to toe. A short baby-doll cloth shirt adorns her torso, the words, "I'm a Bad Girl - Love Me" scrawled upon the front in a pink font that tries to emulate dripping blood. Her skirt is a pleated leather mini, stretching halfway down her thighs before ending off, set low on her hips several inches below the shirt, and with a belt of studded metal wrapped loosely around her waist. She wears no bra, so one might be able to see the faint shape of nipple rings pressing against her shirt in good light. Her feet have been seduced by a black pair of open-heeled clogs, not much more protective than flip-flops at all. Around her neck is a thin, black leather collar, several bright studs and four D-rings stuck into it at intervals.<br/><br/><br/>The place was not very well known except to collectors and mysterious garbed people, both of whom she would help when requested, but would never associate much with, instead sitting by her desk to read a randomly-chosen book from among the historical and hobby books there - they had everything from history books to occult and the paranormal to medicine and science. Tonight, however, there were no customers, and that was strange in itself, since even on slow nights there would usually be one or two lonely customers that would huddle in a corner to read.<br/><br/>Still, she wasn't sure, queer as those people were, that they would brave a storm just to come down here to read. Or maybe they thought the place was closed, for even the two dim lights set on opposite ends of the small library had both blown out after the lightning had brought down some lines nearby. Leaving her alone in the near darkness, a single woman struggling to get along with life.<br/><br/>Not that that was such a bad thing, Linna thought to herself - for she wasn't sure of the sanity of some of the patrons that frequented the store. She still remembered the bearded man last month who had asked her to climb a ladder to retrieve a book for him which had inexplicably got stuck on top of a bookshelf. When she had grabbed hold of the book, he seemed to slip and bump the ladder from under her legs, causing her to shriek and fall amidst a pile of books before he caught her and apologised profusely. He must have done that on purpose just to see her legs and cop a feel!<br/><br/>And the funniest thing was, though she had a multitude of little scrapes and bruises in the fall, she also suffered a strange wound just above her right ankle, a weirdly-shaped puncture mark, as though from some sort of small, sharp object or canine teeth. Though she had searched after and not found the source of that wound.. but at least it didn't turn out to be anything serious.<br/><br/>But she shook those thoughts out of her head. Trying to calm the frustration in her heart that she felt toward most of the creepy patrons of the little library, the little lecher of a boss she had, and life in general. Letting it simmer, but not get out of hand, as she tried to staple her eyes to the book. It just so happened that the first book she had picked up after the power had gone out was a scouts' handbook on ropework, and her eyes blurred a little from all the diagrams as she gazed upon hitch knots and butterfly knots and sailor knots and what not! So that didn't help her lose herself in reading.<br/><br/>But she didn't stand to change her book. Honestly, Linna was a little spooked.. just waiting for something to happen, palpable in the thickness of the air in the room, or so she felt. For the past few weeks inexplicable things had been happening.. chairs moving about seemingly of their own volition, when her back was turned.. books mysteriously disappearing and reappearing somewhere else, or falling to the ground when no one was near them.. never in front of htem, but always registering in her consciousness immediately after.<br/><br/>She tried to convince herself that that was just some of the other patrons playing tricks on her, whether on purpose or otherwise. It couldn't be a poltergeist, despite the occult books she had read, there surely was no such thing! Plus, it had only really started in the last month or so. Still, she knew that there was no one else in the library this night. And huddling by the guttering candle by her desk, shadows loomed dark and forboding in the bookshelves, piles of unevenly-stacked books casting strange shapes across the floor everytime she glanced up. Lurking, waiting for the perfect moment..<br/><br/>Her hands tightened on her book as she willed her eyes down again.. too much imagination was a bad thing sometimes.