XXXIX

The library was the one place that Kimi had never envisioned himself doing one act: reading. Even if he hated the mere sight of clustering words, he still forced his body to move into the still library; he forced his legs to carry him to the section he was looking for. In the end, when he got the books he needed, he still had to force his mind to grasp whatever concept the book was trying hard to explain. This made a headache to take over his brain and he just beard it, struggling to cram every single word in the book.

Kimi paid little attention to the world around him and did not know when the bell rang, signifying the end of the day. People began to leave and soon he was the only one left in the library. Jianbing, being the library perfect, was moving around the library—putting books back into their rightful places—when she stumbled upon his dying figure that was sat in the most secluded part of the library, hunched over a book.

Jianbing walked to him, her gait slow and steady. As she stood over him, she hugged the books in her arms to her chest and cleared her throat.

Kimi’s head sharply popped up. He gazed over a shoulder at her hands before they slid up and met her eyes. “Mmm?”

“The l-library has closed for the d-day and school has alr-ready dismissed. You’re the only one remaining.”

“Really?” Kimi turned his head and picked up his phone. “Oh shit,” he hissed lightly as he saw the time. He turned back to her. “Uh... Can I still stay here for a few more minutes? I’m trying to catch up on a few things.”

Jianbing slowly tilted her head to the side, a thoughtful look on her face. “I don’t know,” she said in a confused tone. “B-but I can’t say b-because the librarian isn’t here at the m-moment. If you want to...” She gently shrugged.

Kimi watched as her features suddenly became tensed.

Jianbing spun on her feet, her shoulders bunched up. “B-but be gone by the time she r-returns.” She said no more and rushed away from the corner.

Kimi exhaled softly. He turned back to the book and felt queasy at the sight of foreign words mashing together. He closed his eyes and lightly rubbed his temples with the tips of his fingers.

Kimi beard the headache he was having and continued his studying. Kimi read for a few more minutes before he heard the sound of the library door whirr as it was opened. This made Kimi flinch and he jumped to his feet.

Shit! he thought, rushing to pack the books before him and separate the one that was his from the one that was meant for the library.

“I’ll be freaking gone before you know it so don’t complain,” Kimi said, throwing his bag over his shoulder.

He dumped all the books that weighed more than himself in his arms and groaned. Kimi dashed to the shelves and started searching through the catalogues, looking for where he had picked out each and every book. When he found them, he began to push the heavy books into their rightful positions.

As Kimi did that, the sound of even footsteps filled the library. He quickened his pace as the sound of the footsteps drew closer. When Kimi drove the final book into place, the sound stopped abruptly. Kimi frowned and quirked a brow.

“Mrs. Grant?” he asked, moving out from between the shelves.

Kimi held onto the straps of his bag, searching the empty library. His brow stayed lifted as he peeped in between various shelves and saw nobody.

“Mrs. Grant?” he called out, stepping to the door.

Kimi walked to the door and gripped its handle. He hadn’t even kept a firm grip on the handle when a gloved hand flew over his mouth.

He shuddered in shock. He screamed into the hand, reaching out his own to the door he was slowly getting pulled away from. He tried to kick at the door but his short legs weren’t able to reach it.

Kimi reached out with his hands and tried to keep a grip on the person’s cloth item. He was thrashing in the person’s hold, making to leap off his feet and and fall so that he could drag the person down with him. The person moved to the left and right, trying to keep Kimi from jumping out of his grip.

The person dragged Kimi to a corner in the library and softly thudded his head against the shelf. Kimi’s actions seized up and he placed a hand on the side of his head that started bleeding, light blood surfacing over the side of his head. All of a sudden the person unhanded him and he dropped on the floor.

The door blurred and seemed faraway as Kimi winced, groaning in pain. His vision was blocked as the person rushed in an awkward, hysteric manner to block his view. He narrowed his eyes at their masked face.

Who the freak is this? he thought, slowly going on his knees. I need to get out.

Kimi waited for the right moment to strike. He waited as the masked person leaned closer to him and then he struck, jamming his head into where he knew was their nose. The person threw their head back, their hands flying to their nose.

Kimi quickly got to his feet. The person blew his leg and he fell in his side. The person leapt at him and he raised his hands up.

Kimi gritted his teeth as he fought to keep the person’s weight off himself, his arms raised.

“Help! Is anybody the—?!” Kimi’s breath jumped out of his throat as the person harshly pounded their feet into his stomach.

They dropped on their knees and straddled him. Kimi tried to sit up but the person punched his head and it got tossed to the side. He grunted sharply as the person pressed their knee into his aching stomach. He tried to get up again and this time the person fished out a knife from their back pocket and swiped it at his cheeks.

Kimi hissed and turned his head to the side. The door was still there yet he couldn’t escape.

“You piece of shit! Help m—!” The person punched his head to the side again.

He watched as the person held the hand they had used to punch him, as if the hand was aching. They clenched and unclenched the hand before they fisted it tightly and punched him. They threw series of blows at him and his lips split. Blood was sliding down his cheek and wounded lip. Kimi wasn’t ready to give up and turned his head back. He spotted heavy books and reached out for one. As he held it up, the person slapped his hand away and the book flew out of his hands.

Who the fuck is this?!

Kimi stared at the door and tried again to yell. “Help! Someone fucking help! Help! Help! HEL—”

Kimi froze as a needle was dug in his throat. His hands flew up but the person threw it down and pressed their knees into his arms. As he tried to raise a hand, the person was already pressing down on the syringe.

Kimi’s throat burned as whatever liquid that was in the syringe got flushed into his bloodstream. By the time the person forcefully yanked the syringe out of his throat, his insides was already burning. He watched the person stumble off of him and onto their bottom.

Tears filled Kimi’s eyes and his hands flew up to grip his throat that was scorching. His tongue rolled out of his mouth and he heaved as the liquid took effect.

Kimi jerked on the spot, his legs quivering. The jerking became severe and he started quaking on the spot. His legs tumbled and made loud, pounding noises. The person tried to hold his legs together in order to stop the noise but Kimi’s ultra seizures made it impossible.

Kimi vibrated and his ears screeched like someone was annoyingly dragging a fork down a ceramic plate.

Then all of a sudden, Kimi’s chest shot up then he dropped to his back. His head dropped to the side and his hands fell limply from his neck. Blood trickled down the side of his face. Tears slid down his face.

The world before Kimi’s eyes stilled. The ringing in his ears subsided and he could hear the person breathe noisily in a panicked manner. A hand came into view and the person’s finger pressed under his nostrils.

Out of nowhere, adrenaline from some unknown source bolted through Kimi and his hands flew up. He held onto the person’s wrist as they tried to move away from him. Kimi growled loudly and flung the the person by their wrist over his body. The person slammed into the shelf and dropped down on the hard floor with a loud groan. Kimi’s eyes burned as he struggled to his feet.

“Fuck... you,” Kimi croaked in between his heavy inhales.

He rushed towards the door. As he passed the person, they held the edge of his trousers and he kicked their hand off.

Kimi rushed to the door and pulled it open.

The hallways were dry and he ran to the exit. The closer Kimi got to the exit, the slower he got, the less his eyes burned. When he was only a few feet from it, he stumbled onto his knees and fell on his chest.

Kimi’s vision became hazy, his limp hand raised up, reaching to the exit. And then it fell and his vision went blank.

But before he totally lost consciousness, he heard the sound of rushing footsteps.

Author’s Note: Yikes. Nobody saw that one coming. Another yikes. :) Please vote and comment. What will happen to my grunt-muffin. :’(