When Carla and William finally left the Hub the sun had already set. The cool wind blowing off the lake made her suddenly wish she had brought jacket.
William put his arm around her shoulder.
"You know what you’re getting yourself into?" He looked down at her, concern in his eyes.
"No clue." She laughed.
She looked out, towards the lake front, then over towards the library. The place had closed down hours ago, but she was surprised to see a light still on in the stacks.
She started walking towards the library, William following her a few steps behind.
"What’s up?" He caught up with her, but seemed to have trouble keeping with her quick pace.
"Harvey left a light on." She pulled out her keys, and headed to the front door.
Once inside she was surprised to find the building very warm and humid.
This isn’t normal.
She glanced around, but nothing seemed to out of place. The main computers were shut off, and as far as she could see, Harvey had locked the place up.
William stood next to her, his hands in his pockets, rocking back and forth on his feet.
"So..."
She stopped him, placing her hand up to his mouth. She heard something, a soft whimper from the stacks.
Harvey!
She ran, grabbing William’s hand, forcing him to follow her. She heard the noise again, and she let it guide her.
The Spirit Lake Public Library wasn’t a very large building, but that night it seemed like a labyrinth. Nothing seemed familiar to her.
She stopped just at the edge of the light, her body frozen in pure shock.
Harvey was sitting on one of the reading tables, his shirt open, his head thrown back, his eyes closed. A woman, older, stood in front of him, her hands on his shoulders, moving.
The woman was gorgeous. She had long, wavy black hair the fell to her shoulders, and her figure was full. She was naked, hiding nothing from Carla and William’s view. The only thing she had on was lipstick, a shade so red it seemed to burn.
The woman leaned forward, licking the side of Harvey’s face, her hand moving to his chest. One of her long nails dug into Charlie’s skin, and Carla could see a small trickle of blood fall down his smooth torso.
William was about to take a step forward, but Carla stopped him.
Harvey grabbed the woman, kissing her, his hands grabbing her body. She yanked off his shirt and scratched him, her nails leaving little red trails on his now bare shoulders. Her fingers seemed to dance in the blood.
The woman took a step back, her hands moving to her chest, rubbing the blood along her neck, and down her front. She moaned.
Carla took a step back, her arm knocking a book off of the shelf, causing a loud thud as it hit the floor.
The woman looked towards Carla and William. Carla half expected the woman to lunge at them, to attack. Instead she just smiled.
Harvey seemed to caught up in the moment to even notice that the people watching him had suddenly made themselves known.
The woman leaned forward and whispered something in Harvey’s ear. His head snapped in Carla’s direction, his eyes wide, his face a mix of anger and fear.
Carla grabbed William’s arm, and they both ran, making their way to the front door as quickly as possible. She didn’t wait to find out if either Harvey or the woman were after them.
Once they were outside the rushed to Carla’s beat up old truck and threw themselves inside. She locked the doors.
"What the hell was that?" William was panting, his face covered with sweat.
"I... I don’t know." Her hands clutched the steering wheel so hard it hurt. "It was like I couldn’t look away."
"I know." William’s breathing was slowing down. "Was that Harvey?"
Carla nodded.
"You would think he would turn the lights off if he was planning on doing something like that."
Carla’s back tensed. He had done that on purpose. He had wanted her to see, or maybe the woman had, but that little display was just for her.
She looked at William.
"We are playing right into their hands." Her voice was low, angry.
"Whose hands?" William was using his shirt to wipe the sweat from his face.
"The Black Rose Society." She slammed her hands on the wheel. "They’re part of this town."
"I don’t think Harvey is a widower." He put his hand on her shoulder, obviously a gesture to calm her down.
"I think it’s bigger than that." She started the car. "I think we all need to start watching our backs."
William only nodded, sitting back in his seat, his hands covering his lap. Carla glanced down, and had to suppress a laugh. She could tell that Harvey’s little display had gotten to William in a very personal way.
-*-
Roy sat in Paul’s hospital room, his hand on his boyfriend’s shoulder. Paul had fallen asleep about an hour ago, but when Roy had arrived, Paul was hysterical.
He had been right about Nurse Fitch. She was a danger, and his gut told him that she was connected to everything that they had been learning as of late.
William peeked his head in the room, Carla behind him, still standing in the dark hallway.
"Shouldn’t you be at the bar?" William’s voice was a whisper.
"I’m taking him out of here tomorrow." Roy stood up, walking to the doorway. His body was rigid. He wanted to hit the doctor. William had been the one who had left Paul alone, and it could have gotten Paul killed.
"He’s not ready. He’s still in really bad shape."
They all stepped into the hallway. Roy glanced around, making sure that they were alone.
"Nurse Fitch paid him a little visit today. She even had a present for him." He got close to William’s face. "A scalpel."
William glanced at Carla, and Roy could tell that it was finally clicking in the good doctor’s mind that his problem with Nurse Fitch had little do with her not liking his relationship with the Paul.
"Alright. We can check him out tomorrow night. He’s staying with you, right?" William’s voice was a whisper.
Roy nodded.
"Good, then we’ll set him up in your place. I’ll check on him every once in a while."
"I told you." Carla finally spoke up. "It’s infected the town."
William just gave her a quick glance, but Roy wanted to know what she meant.
"What are you guys talking about?"
Carla looked at William. It seemed like they weren’t sure they wanted Roy to know their little secret.
"Tell him."
Carla nodded, and filled him in on what they had seen at the library.
Roy stood there, stunned. His world was changing so fast that he wasn’t sure could keep up. Nurses were trying to kill Paul, Carla’s assistant was having kinky blood rituals in the stacks at the library, and someone was trying to poison Julie. It was all a little much.
"It looks like all hell is about to break loose." Roy was shocked by how grave his voice sounded.
"I think this is only the start of it all." Carla crossed her arms, and looked at William.
"If this is the start, then I’m scared to think where this will all end."
They stood there in silence, but suddenly the dark hallway felt less and less safe. He couldn’t be sure that anywhere was safe anymore.
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