The Tenth Night
Eiko Watanabe
The library was eerily silent, save for the sound of shoes hitting wood, matching the ticking of the clock. It was deserted, with only the remnants of torn books and burned pages, bearing witness, beside the quiet girl sitting on top of the counter, to the inhumane event that happened a few minutes prior. All of the sudden, the girl hopped off the wooden counter, landing on her two feet softly. The scorched papers crunched under her shoes with each step she took, but she never cringed at the dreadful sound.
Eiko was a calm person; she didn’t mind what other people said behind her back. She never picked a fight or shouted at someone for being rude. She rarely even showed any reaction to the insults thrown at her. To put it simply, she was indifferent towards everything outside her personal bubble. So when she saw the glass door of the library broken into pieces and a pile of books in the middle of the room made into a mini-bonfire, she did nothing except stare at it; and despite the expressionless face, this was one of the very few times when Eiko felt her anger boil.
Honestly, she didn’t want to file a complaint since it would attain nothing. She wanted the culprits to suffer. Atonement for grave sins such as this needed as much suffering as possible. Frankly, Eiko didn’t care what method she could use but to desecrate her sanctuary like this, there was bound to be hell to pay.
She weaved through the wooden bookshelves with ease. Of course, the library was practically her second home; if she forgot the keys to her apartment, she slept in one of the backrooms of the library. She even had a small closet containing few of her clothes inside.
When Eiko reached the ‘M’ section, she stopped in the middle of the path. Her eyes darted from each book to another, trying to find a certain book. After a few seconds, the corner of her lips curled upwards as she fished out the worn-out copy of Machiavelli’s the Prince out of the shelf. With a sigh of relief, she let her fingers graze the leather cover of the book before she gently turned the book open, flipping the pages until she saw a small folded paper inserted between the papers.
"Sore wa sorede wanai toki ga kita?" She murmured to herself, her eyes glinting under the dim light of the room as she unfolded the paper.
Eiko was a calm person; she didn’t mind what other people said behind her back. She never picked a fight or shouted at someone for being rude. She rarely even showed any reaction to the insults thrown at her. To put it simply, she was indifferent towards everything outside her personal bubble. So when she saw the glass door of the library broken into pieces and a pile of books in the middle of the room made into a mini-bonfire, she did nothing except stare at it; and despite the expressionless face, this was one of the very few times when Eiko felt her anger boil.
Honestly, she didn’t want to file a complaint since it would attain nothing. She wanted the culprits to suffer. Atonement for grave sins such as this needed as much suffering as possible. Frankly, Eiko didn’t care what method she could use but to desecrate her sanctuary like this, there was bound to be hell to pay.
She weaved through the wooden bookshelves with ease. Of course, the library was practically her second home; if she forgot the keys to her apartment, she slept in one of the backrooms of the library. She even had a small closet containing few of her clothes inside.
When Eiko reached the ‘M’ section, she stopped in the middle of the path. Her eyes darted from each book to another, trying to find a certain book. After a few seconds, the corner of her lips curled upwards as she fished out the worn-out copy of Machiavelli’s the Prince out of the shelf. With a sigh of relief, she let her fingers graze the leather cover of the book before she gently turned the book open, flipping the pages until she saw a small folded paper inserted between the papers.
"Sore wa sorede wanai toki ga kita?" She murmured to herself, her eyes glinting under the dim light of the room as she unfolded the paper.
♠ ♠ ♠
okay, now it's kind of longer.