3: The Library*
516 Words
A Hudson University Werewolf Saga*
*Hudson University, Morningside Heights. Butler Library. Wednesday, September 10th. 7:42 PM.*
Butler Library smelled like old paper, dust, and desperation during midterms.
10 floors of stone and silence. Gothic arches. Green reading lamps on every wooden table. The kind of place that made you whisper even when you were alone.
*Alex* was on the 6th floor. _Archives_. No cameras. No students. Just her, a microfiche machine, and the sound of rain hitting stained glass.
She was hunting.
Three dead in Hyd. Bobby Klein. Lisa from the library. Old man Henderson. All throats. All “animal attacks,” according to Sheriff Cal.
Bullsh_t.
She’d been here since 5 PM. Baggy black hoodie up. Locs forward. Chain cold. Knuckles still scabbed from the bell tower lock.
Her table: stack of _Hyd Gazette_ newspapers from 2019 to 2026. Yellowed. Brittle.
_June 2019: “Local Man Found Dead at Quarry. Police Suspect Bear.”_
_August 2021: “Librarian Dies in Home. Throat Trauma. Investigation Ongoing.”_
_September 2026: “High School Quarterback Killed. Town on Edge.”_
Same quarry. Same throat.
She pulled another box. _Hyd: Town Records 1990-2000_.
A book slid out. Not hers.
_Appalachian Folklore and Predator Myths_.
It was open. Page 147.
_“Rogue wolves. Those who break from the pack. Marked by amber eyes and a broken chain sigil. They kill without feeding. They kill for sport.”_
Alex froze.
Under the paragraph, someone had circled one word in red pen: _Hyd_.
She looked around. Empty.
She grabbed another book. _Missing Persons: Upstate NY 2015-2020_.
It was already open. Page 89.
_“Michelle Williams, 22. Last seen at Hyd Quarry. Body never recovered. Witness reports: ‘Large animal.’ Case cold.”_
Michelle. Her brother.
Someone had drawn a black feather in the margin.
Her chair scraped.
“Who’s there?”
Nothing. Just the hum of the green lamp.
She shoved the books in her duffel. Took the stairs two at a time.
*West Hall Basement. School Lounge. 10:13 PM.*
“Maya,” Alex said, dropping the books on the stolen rug. “Someone’s messing with me.”
*Maya Woods* sat up on the broken-spring couch. Howard hoodie, braids in a bonnet. “What now? Vanessa?”
Alex spread the books out. Opened to the marked pages. “Library. Left these out for me. Who knows about Michelle? Who knows about Hyd?”
Maya’s face went hard. “Dez.”
“Dez?”
“He was in the cafeteria when Vanessa said ‘quarry.’ He’s in your lit class. He _watches* you, Lex. All quiet and creepy with his notebooks.”
Alex picked up the feather drawing. “You think Dez is leaving feathers?”
“I think Dez is a freak who needs to get punched.”
Alex cracked her knuckles. “Bet.”
She didn’t know *Lucian Mark* was in the library after she left.
Standing in the archives. Mask on. Ice-blue eyes reading the same page she just closed.
He picked up the red pen she didn’t see.
And drew another feather.
- Writer
