Chapter 6: Hidden Power

Solomon turned slowly to face Pat. Conlan was standing next to him. He was always standing next to him!

"How's your mom, dude? We heard what happened. She' alright?" Conlan asked.

"His name is Solomon," Felicity said with her arms crossed.

"Is she alright?" Conlan asked. He seemed genuinely curious.

"Honestly I don't know." Solomon's eyes looked to the ground. "Her legs are really messed up. They aren't sure if she will be able to walk again."

"F*ck. That really blows. Sorry, Sol." Pat said.

The words sort of tumbled out awkwardly. At first, Solomon wondered if it was the first time Pat had ever actually tried to console someone. Was he being... genuine? To Solomon? 'Sol' actually had a nice ring to it.

"Hey, you guys, like, hang out at the library, right? We're headed there now," Conland pointed out.

"Alright, cool." Peppi was already popping gum in her mouth. Her tone had changed completely. She was always ready to make new friends. 'Sol' still wasn't sure what to think about any of it. He lagged behind for a moment, until Peppi turned back to him. "You coming, Sol?" She said with a smirk.

"Don't." Solomon replied flatly. "I know what you're doing."

Felicity and Conlan chatted back and forth about a Chemistry class they shared together, while Peppi cracked an occasional joke. Pat and Sol walked next to each other, while Sol tried to figure out if this was any more strange than anything else that had happened that week.

He had never been sure why Pat had started picking on him. Pat was... perfect to Sol's eyes. He looked like a red-haired Viking time-traveling in the modern world. A head taller than the other students and twice as athletic in almost every way, Pat had dated just about anybody he wanted to - but he never went on second dates. Even Mandy had only finagled one out of him.

He did everything he could not to check Pat out as he was walking. His legs, the perfect square of his shoulders, or his enormous... Pat definitely caught him looking that time.

F*ck. F*ck. Oh f*ck. His eyes went back to the pavement in front of him, but Pat didn't say anything. Were jock straps padded or something? That didn't seem fair ...

"That's odd. Do you notice some of the street lamps are off?" Felicity asked while pointing to either side. Indeed, they were.

"I'm sure it's just from the explosions last week," Conlan said. "We just stick together either way," he added to sooth her.

"They would have fixed them by now," Felicity said. "They fix those first."

Another one went off with them beneath it. Followed by two more on the other side.

"Ok. That's creepy." Peppi said as they all came to a stop.

"It's only two blocks away. Should we just run for it?" Sol asked calmly. He was anything but calm, but he wasn't going to show any fear in front of the ginger giant standing next to him."

Conlan flashed his phone light on, and they all met eyes.

A spark flew out overhead from the lamp that had just burned out. "Run for it," Pat said.

And they sprinted off in a line, with Pat bringing up the rear.

It was only then that the sounds of laughter – cackling really – started to close in behind them. At first it sounded like maybe car tires screeching, or an owl. Yet as the noise closed in so quickly, they heard human voices mocking them.

"Uhoh, they're scared. Poor little things." The female voice was soft in tone, but loud as a megaphone. Sol stopped to see if someone was behind him, but Pat picked him and tossed him over his shoulder as they sprinted inside the library.

Felicity and Peppi closed the large metal doors shut as Conlan grabbed a metal flag pole to shove into the handle. They were sealed in for a moment. Sol found himself hanging on to Pat's shoulder for just a second too long. He dismounted as they all gathered round to figure out what to do.

"Ok. We're safe here, right?" Felicity said out of breath.

Two more students ran to join their group. Vivekin and Cassiel were on the robotics team and close friends of Solomon's. It was no surprise to see them here this late.

"What the hell is going on?" Viv asked them all.

"We were chased. Light's going out - freaky shit again!" Peppi shouted.

"Oh now it's freaky?!" Sol asked in bewilderment. "You sure this isn't mass hypnosis or something?"

She shot him a sour look, before the Librarian marched up.

"Solomon, what is going on in here?!" Her white hair and flowery blouse looked like she was about fifty years out of style, but Sol had immense respect for her.

"Mrs. Dunn, we need to call the police. The building is being attacked," he replied respectfully, but firmly.

"Oh heavens, not now! We're rebinding half the collection in the base..." but as she spoke an explosion rocked the building.

They gathered at the window to discover members of the tracksuit gang outside. All in a line. One extended her hand and it caught fire. Or rather was engulfed in fire. The fire snaked around her hand and formed into a perfect ball. They were only twenty feet away with just a wall of glass in between them.With a flick of her wrist, she flung the fireball at the window. The fire sintered, instead of exploding, as though the building itself were repelling the attack.

"Ok. That's good. The weird fireball things don't go through the glass. Awesome!" Peppi said while panting nervously. Three more fireballs followed. The building shook more fiercely each time, and strange symbols began to glow in pale violet along the ancient frame of the library door. To their complete horror, the woman outside pulled out a gun, blew them a kiss, and pulled the trigger. Mrs. Dunn collapsed in a heap as the rest of them ducked around the pillar, their ears filled with the sound of crashing glass.

"Follow me, to the back!" Solomon shouted over the noise. He looked around only briefly to see that he was being followed before he took them through the winding stacks of books to a staircase in the back. As they filed in behind him, he slammed the vault shut and pulled a lever. "This way, we can hide in the very bottom till the police arrive," he continued.

They all backed into the corner while they regained their senses.

"Where does this door lead?" Asked Pat suddenly.

"There weren't any doors down here," Sol said. "I've worked here for years."

As he turned around, his eyes caught something completely unfamiliar. A stone archway covered in the same, glowing violet runes that had been on the front door. It didn't look natural to any of their eyes, and a feeling of trepidation that matched the explosions inside warred in their chest.

"We have to go in," Felicity said, "I don't know why. We just have to."

"Out of the frying pan, and into the fire," Peppi said casually.