Bound: A Short Story Read Free Page B

air. “Smoke.”
    He nods and darts between the stacks.
    I follow, tentatively. The books gaze down at me,
threatening to topple, to fall over and bury me, break all my bones. Soldiers
waiting for the right time to brandish their knives. Razor-sharp edges of
paper.
    Sean turns a corner, disappearing, and I run to catch up,
not wanting to be alone. I breathe easier once I emerge from the stacks, but
not for long. The smoke stings my nostrils.
    Before us, the girl from last night kneels next to a pile of
burning books, a box of matches in her hand. She whirls around to face us. “I
have to. I have to do this. Please don’t stop me.” She trembles, dropping a
match.
    I snatch the box from her. “I won’t.” My hand is steady now,
and I dig out a match and strike it. “I’ll help.”
    Sean grabs a match as well, ducks into the bathroom, and
emerges with some paper towels. “This’ll make things go quicker.”
    I take the makeshift torch and hesitate a moment, amazed at
how one minute I’d never imagined I’d harm a book, and the next feeling the
compulsion to burn them all. Goodbye, friends. I run down the stacks,
lighting any book I can. The soldiers cower now, knowing their enemy has a
weapon they can’t defend against. Their heartbeats quicken.
    This may not work, though, unless the entire library burns
down, or the sprinkler system kicks in and soaks every book here. I light up
the curtains, then find Sean and the girl, and tug both of them into the
stairwell.
    The fire alarm comes to life, the loud piercing squeal
digging into my brain. Better than the books draining my soul.
    Won’t stop what I started. I head down the stairs. “The
basement, quickly. The journals will go up fast.”
    They follow. The basement is empty. We light up as many
newspapers and journals as we can before the smoke becomes overpowering.
    I double over coughing, knowing there isn’t much else I can
do. We abandon the matches to the blaze. All three of us reach the emergency
exit and push our way out.
    “We should head to the front of the library, make sure we’re
with everyone else.” Sean tugs at my sleeve.
    The girl trundles behind us, unresponsive.
    Fran sees us coming and rushes up to me. “Are you okay?”
    I nod. Yes, now I am, the smell of the burning books a
healing balm.
    “I don’t know what happened, how this could have started.”
Her voice sounds distant, far away, coming from another world. “And for some
reason the sprinkler system hasn’t kicked in. Someone must have disabled it.”
The corner of her mouth twitches, and she lets out a long breath, her entire
body relaxing, as if a grip that holds her finally releases.
    The girl sits down on the lawn, wraps her arms around her
knees, and rocks back and forth. Her eyes remain fixed on the blaze now
consuming the library.
    Sean bends toward my ear. “Do you hear that? I think they’re
screaming.”
    Screams, yes, screams. They beg to be saved and curse their
killers. The wails touch my ears, then disappear from my mind mere moments
after I hear them.
    Like in my dream, but thankfully, I’m not burning with them.
    I wrap my arms around Sean’s waist and rest my head on his
chest. “I think I’m ready to give you that chance.”
    After all, Jane Eyre managed to find love after Rochester’s house burned to the ground.
    ~~~~~

About the Author
    Alexa Grave loves to tell stories – it just so happens her
characters occasionally take her on an unexpected ride. Most of what she writes
is dark fantasy, but she enjoys her attempts at the humorous side of things.
It’s not odd to find romance in her fantasy as well.
    She has an M.F.A. in Writing Popular Fiction, and she is a
member of Broad Universe.
    Alexa’s life isn’t filled with writing alone. In her spare
time, she enjoys gaming. And she has a supportive husband just as addicted to
gaming as she is. Reading and thinking up large, impossible projects to work on
top her list of fun things to do as well.
    Most