The Library
Amity set the briefcase in the middle of a clearing, deep inside the forest.
She was fairly sure by now that, when the portal folded into a briefcase on one end, the other end of the portal disappeared. After all - surely at least one human would’ve found the portal if it was just left in that alley the whole time.
So, as long as she closed the portal on the human side pretty quickly - nobody should even have a chance to see her.
(She ignored the wriggling thought in the back of her head, that this was a gamble. If a small one.
Blights don’t take chances.)
The leaves were a shade of red that made them look like liquid in the light. It roofed over the forest, and gave Amity a feeling like she was below an ocean. All the sunlight was dimmed. All in all, it made the single clearing feel… cavernous. Too bright and too lively. All the grass was taller than it was in the rest of the woods. The trees curved inward, trying to soak up the sun. Yearning branches shaking in the slight, biting wind.
Amity drew her jacket closer.
She was unable to shake the feeling that she was being watched.
After a moment - she whipped around.
The shadows danced below the bloody, quivering lake of leaves.
She dared not speak.
A beat.
She turned back to the portal, and took a deep breath.
Her hand found its way around the key. It was hanging from her neck, just below her uniform. Just below her jacket. Beating against her skin.
Her thumb jabbed into its eye.
The door clattered as it unfolded. Like an empty can of spray paint when shook.
Amity’s hand found its way around the handle. She didn’t try glancing around again - maybe she was afraid of what she might see.
Like the tiny, pale hand curled around the trunk of one of the trees, and a pair of glittering green eyes watching her vanish into the light.
Amity blinked.
...Huh.
Apparently, the human world had a sun.
She’d thought as much, but it was still good to know for sure.
Everything looked different in the day. Well. If the humans called it ‘day’. All the washed-out shades of concrete and stone glittered and shone with speckles of light. The cracks in the pavement were less noticeable, and the windows glowed like gateways to pools of pure light. She heard pounding footsteps outside of the alley, and the near-silent laughter of distant voices.
For the first time, she felt this was a place she could happily live in.
She fumbled for her watch - and set an alarm again. This time, for when she’d have to start rushing home.
She gave herself an hour.
Library. She had to get to that library.
Left side of the lane, that person in the ‘bar’ had said. Third turn.
Shouldn’t be far.
She jabbed the eye of the key quickly, and kicked the briefcase under the massive green bin in the alleyway - before starting off for the library.
It wasn’t far.
Thank Titan.
It wasn’t an incredibly impressive building - but, notably, it was more interesting than most of the things around it. It was made of a white stone of some kind, with an awning in front of the entrance. Well, entrances, more like - there were three double-doors on the face of perfectly cut white stone, peering out at her like eyes.
On the boiling isles, it wasn’t uncommon to find houses that were literally alive. Hence - face of the building.
That particular vernacular always bothered Amity - because it implied that the interior of the building was its mouth. That every moment she was inside, she was at the mercy of the building’s every whim; and that all it would need to do to be rid of her, was bite down.
And that would make the doors… the building’s jaw.
Or perhaps its teeth.
Of course, you could also dissect the building by room. Giving each room the title of an organ.
She wondered if buildings in the human realm were alive. Maybe one of those books could tell her.
Her hand closed around the ice-cold door handle.
The mouth of the library reminded Amity of the cavern of some beast. She felt like, at any moment, some horrible creature would pounce from around one of the bookshelves, and go straight for her throat.
That didn’t happen, of course. But she still felt some light, stirring dread, that she couldn’t quite manage to convince herself was irrational.
She glanced around.
Her eyes latched onto the check out counter - and she sneered slightly, at the sight of an intern instead of a librarian.
She seemed to be about Amity’s age. Probably a librarian-in-training; maybe a fledgling writer. Her skin was sun-kissed and caramel, and she had a small head of dark brown hair in a pixie cut.
Amity approached the counter with some reluctance, and waited for the girl to notice her.
She was busy at… uhm… something. Amity couldn’t quite tell what. She was clacking away at what looked like a larger version of the keyboard on a penstagram scroll, and staring at a thick, black-backed board of some kind, that lit her face with a harsh white light.
After just a few moments, though, she glanced over - and startled slightly when she noticed Amity standing there.
And, suddenly, the girl grinned at her; like seeing Amity just absolutely made her day.
“Hello!” she chirped - and Amity, for a moment, had a shockingly vivid flash of a memory. Willow’s voice. Sitting in the sand out in their little hideaway, laughing and trying to ignore the pressing anxiety of disobeying Mother’s rules.
“How can I help you?” the girl said; and Amity shook off the memories like a dog after a swim.
Without their influence, Amity was able to hear just how different the girl sounded. Her voice was more cheerful - but less soft. Happier - but not necessarily kinder. And it lacked that unfitting maturity that had always surrounded Willow like a stormcloud.
Quite the opposite; this girl sounded a little immature, if anything.
“Where is the human history section?” Amity asked - glancing at the girl’s tametag as she did. Luz, it said.
“Just over there!” ‘Luz’ said, pointing around a corner and never loosing her easy, cheerful smile.
“Thank you.”
Amity walked off towards the history section, and got ready for an hour of eye strain.
Luz chewed her pen thoughtfully - peering off towards the would-be empty history section.
She glanced down at her notebook.
Theories:
-Alien? (most likely)
-Demigod
-Fae
-Demon
Mama wouldn’t be very happy with her.
She didn’t like it when Luz did this. She’d always disliked Luz’s obsession with fantasy. She’d sent her off to that awful Summer camp to try and, at least partially, rid her of it.
It hadn’t worked.
Her life had never been easy.
Everything she’d ever wanted, had been wrong. Everything she liked was dumb, or nerdy, or weird. Everything she cared about - all of her passions and ideas. All of her excitement and creativity. Her hopes and dreams.
Nobody had ever approved of them.
Not even Mama.
And Luz, oftentimes, had wished that she could just be normal.
…
But she wasn’t. So. Moot point.
Instead, she found herself wishing she was in a fantasy novel more often than not.
Hence; her theories.
Because when a weird pretty girl with a big, dusty green jacket asked for the human history section - well. How was her first thought not supposed to be ‘alien?’
You need to learn how to separate fantasy from reality, Mama whispered in her head.
Luz shook the warning off.
Luz wished that she could see the mysterious probably-alien from her counter. Maybe she could go put some books back on the shelves in the history section, and try to subtly study the girl.
She didn’t think the probably-alien was actually an alien, of course, but. It was more interesting to think about than just doing her intern work.
So. Time to investigate a little further.
Her hands found their way around the light grey ice-cold metal of the book cart. She pushed it gently towards the history section - the wheels rattled fiercely with every turn. She felt the eyes of students trying to study around her; their glares judgmental and fierce.
Nobody liked her here. Mainly because the only ones who knew her were the ones who were very annoyed by her.
The cart rolled to a stop.
She had to kneel down to get the first history book off the cart-- and, while she did, she glanced over and looked for the alien girl.
There she is.
And, since she was kneeling, Luz couldn’t help but notice the girl’s leggings for the first time.
They were a bright magenta colour - perfectly form-fitting. She had a dark grey dress on over the leggings, with a very small tear on the hem. Her boots had elevated heels and lighter-coloured cuffs.
Luz also couldn’t help but notice a small mist of some dark purple stain on her boots.
She shuffled back to her feet to put the book on the shelves - and glanced at the girl’s face again.
Glittering butterscotch-coloured pupils set inside a deadly pale face. Chin sharp and nose small. Small tufts of mint-green bangs visible from the edge of her hood.
Her hands were splayed against the page of a book. It made an interesting contrast - between the plagued pale of the girl’s skin, and the milky sheet pale of the paper. Her fingernails were painted black.
Luz quickly slotted the history book where it belonged, and took another book with her before hiding behind a shelf - outside of the girl’s site.
Notes:
Weird purple stain on her clothes. Alien blood?
Mint green hair. Dyed, or natural?
Her nails are black and I am very gay could be painted but could be natural too
Yellow/hazel eyes - is she a predator? Is this a sign of her being a fae, maybe?
Luz glanced around the shelf at the girl.
The fae - or alien - or just plain hot girl - glanced up, and Luz instantly darted back around the shelf; heart skipping several very important beats.
She continued to feel eyes prying through her for at least a dozen seconds afterwards, before it began to subside.
She checked her watch.
Great. Alien/fae girl had only been here fifteen minutes and she probably already hated Luz.