The Psychic Next Door

Chapter 10: Investigation

Despite the disappointing results of our first attempt, we stuck around for the better half of the week, lying in wait to pounce if Luc showed up. But he didn't show the next day, or the day after that, or even the day after that. All I could assume was that he had gone somewhere to lay low, and the fact he felt the need to do so was damning. The evidence of Luc's guilt kept piling up.

While Luc looked like the likeliest suspect, there was still so much we didn't know, like what exactly that thing—the Beast, as we now referred to it—was. The threat of the Beast seemed to hang over us like an impending storm, a storm that refused to start and just filled the air with its sickening electricity. We didn't know when it would strike next, so we couldn't sit around and do nothing for any longer.

However, that was easier said than done; we had no idea where to even begin... but the library seemed like a logical place to start.

This particular branch of the city library looked depressing as we pulled into its cramped parking lot. I was used to the University's well-funded and well-kept multi-floor monstrosity, and this small, dingy building seemed to be the exact opposite of that.

"Yuck," I muttered as I climbed out Polly's BMW. It looked like it had been painted bright blue many years ago, no doubt in an effort to look cheerful and enticing, but now it was so grimy the side of the building looked like a mural of storm clouds with only a few pockets of blue sky peeking out here and there. "Why are we here, again, instead of the downtown library?"

"I thought it would be less conspicuous if we went to more a remote branch," Polly said, as she led the way, her cast clunking against the shattered sidewalk. "Much less of a chance of someone seeing us."

"I guess that's a good idea," I said, dodging the cracks. "I mean, I can't exactly waltz into the campus library when all my professors think I'm bedridden with some plague."

"Precisely." Polly pulled open the door—it wobbled precariously on its hinges—and held it open for me. "Do you do a lot of library research for school?"

I paused on the threshold. "Yeah... Why?"

"Well, it's a good idea to split our research between the internet and books," she said, and then a wicked smile drew across her face. "And since you have more experience with books, then I think you should handle those while I peruse the Internet."

My mouth fell open. Book research was fine, but it would be way more difficult than using a computer. "You sneaky little—"

"Shh!" the librarian at the front desk hissed at us.

I dropped my voice. "Come on, that's not fair. You know how to use a Goddamn book."

"Yeah, but it's been years since I've done research with them... You're still in college. You do this regularly. It'll be much easier for you. Plus, moving around with this cast is hard." She winked at me and headed, without any difficulty, to the front desk.

"Oh yeah, I can really see that," I murmured as I followed after her.

She shushed me, and then her attitude changed, shifting into the slick demeanour she used at work. She smiled wide and beckoned the librarian over with a flirty wave.

"Excuse me, do you have computers I can use for Internet research?"

The older, heavyset man just peered at us through his thick framed glasses, unaffected by Polly's charms. "Yes, we do, but you can only use them for a half hour at a time," he said in deadpan.

Polly blinked at him for a moment, like she was confused. I didn't think she was used to having her charms fail. "Only half an hour?" she asked finally, her voice extra sweet. "Couldn't I use it for a bit longer? I need to do quite a bit of research."