DEMONS AT CENTRAL LIBRARY: A WORLD WALKER CHRONICLE - DRAFT

The first of the World Walker Chronicles by R. Staxx

Agent Staxx thinks she has made a new friend in Molly, a Wiccan librarian, but nothing is every as it seems in the city of Confluence, where even the library is hotbed of evil.

Excerpt:

20 June 2010

It was a pleasant summer afternoon. For the Midwest in late June, this was miraculous. Normally the weather is trying to kill you. But on that fine day, when I inhaled, it didn't feel like someone had shoved a hot sponge into my lungs. It was the perfect day for sipping a cocktail at an outdoor cafe or strolling through an outdoor art show or just sitting in the park with a good book.

It was my day off, but I wasn’t doing any of those things. I was standing behind an old house in an overgrown and long ignored backyard. Many seasons of leaf mold were stirring in the breeze and entering my nostrils. There was also plenty of pollen out, and my (naturally) fire red, Pippi Longstocking braids, were getting a dusting of yellow. My skin is a ghostly white, and even in summer I tend toward long sleeve shirts and pants, or long skirts. At 45 years of age my 5’7 hourglass figure had become “ample” and I had recently taken to shopping at plus size stores. My outfit of lightweight green denim capris and green floral print blouse were also coated in mold and dust.

I was holding the gate while Molly backed a cube van in, one agonizing foot at a time. I would have had it parked before she’d put her seat belt on. She wouldn't let me drive because I wasn't on the rental ticket.

“What if something happened? I’d be responsible,” she’d said. I have a lot of rules and protocols I must follow, so I had not bothered to argue that it was just a few yards. Witches and other magickal folk are often bound by stronger standards, even for things like rental vans. I was wearing patience like a suit of armor and alternately waving and beckoning her forward, occasionally calling out things like “you're fine” and “still plenty of room.”

The spooky old library downtown where Molly worked was to be closed for several years for renovation. People were getting rid of their lamps and tea cozies, and the library had auctioned off the chairs and desks to the employees and board members and big donors. Molly had bought an old desk she didn’t need or want because she had to justify bringing the cube van. She’d had a bunch of her magickal stuff stored in the basement of the old building, without permission, for two decades.

“Artifacts, you know,” she’d told me, lowering her voice confidentially. “Like Artie’s artifacts.” She’d added, referencing a show we both watched about a warehouse filled with cursed items. Another reason I liked her; she was a fellow geek.

She hadn’t needed me to chug boxes. The only thing I’d been allowed to pack was the contents of her desk. My main task had been to stand guard and distract the non-magickal humans. Molly had also asked me to throw glamour and misdirection spells continuously. The glamour spell she'd given me had been exceptionally strong and accurate. I hadn't expected that. Even though I had correctly identified Molly as a true witch, and powerful, I had underestimated her. (I had never needed the misdirection spells. I still have them in my Memory Book, but knowing what I know now, I won’t ever use them.)

File size is approximately 12,000 words. (A Novelette.)

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Image is public domain and not part of the download. (Also not a true representation of the actual demons.)