"The moon is watching you, but do not fear, it is not interested in your life, only what happens afterwards. Welcome to Night Vale...
Greetings listeners. I have just been handed a memo that says Mayor Regina Mills is giving an emergency press conference to address the librarian strike that is happening today.
It is unclear why they are striking, as nobody will approach them to find out. At the press conference the mayor was asked if the disappearance of the angels, as reported by Old Woman Josie, had anything to do with it. The Mayor responded by gripping the edges of the podium until they broke off, while grinding her teeth and saying "angels are not real" repeatedly. The reporter who asked began to vibrate and bleed from his ears.
Now listeners, many of you know, under no circumstances should you interact with a librarian. If you are approached by a librarian, do not engage with them, stay very still and hope that help is coming. I have sent down station intern Emma to investigate the situation. We'll have more on that story later."
Greyish sand crunched under Emma's feet as she approached the eerily quiet library. She passed the abandoned sides of the podium on her way up the steps and was comforted by the familiar drone of circling helicopters from vague yet menacing government agencies overhead.
She waved at Paul Birmingham, who was seated outside of his lean-to. Using the library entrance was novel and exciting for her. Usually she would awaken between two shelves, dizzy and confused as to why she was in the library, only to wake up later in her own bed, drenched in sweat with a stack of checked out books.
She couldn't see anyone inside but a sound like distant sobbing filled her ears and the air seemed to fizz. The sound of heels clipping on the blood coloured marble floor drew her attention to a corridor off to her right.
"The council is not happy about this" Emma heard a familiar voice say as she got closer "see that it is dealt with or" she didn't hear the rest of the threat as there was a deep rumble from the bowels of the building. The clipping of heels stopped. Emma opened messages to Cecil.
"'Something is happening. I'm in the library. The ground is shaking.' That's what Intern Emma's text message reads. That's weird. There isn't any government issued tectonic activity planned until next week I...oh...thank you.
I have just been handed another memo from a dull eyed, expressionless child. Let's see...all of the library doors and windows have disappeared. They...wait...are the librarians in there, or outside?..the child is not responding. Oh dear god. Ok. Nobody panic. Get home as quickly as you can. Do not stop to talk to anybody, do not stop to collect your children they will only weigh you down. I will try to get more information that may help us all through this crisis. But for now listeners, I sincerely hope I will be back after...the weather"
Darkness. Only the glowing eyes of a few scouts were visible through the murk of the library. Emma used her phone light to locate an oil lamp on the wall. She heard a slither nearby and ducked back into the shadows. Were the librarians still in there? She found a repellent dispenser but it was all out.
The oppressive, thrumming silence pressed against her eardrums. She knew the library pretty well, and could boast to have read almost every copy of Helen Hunt's biography in there. She managed to find the way to the bathroom to text Cecil again.
When she emerged, other lights had been turned on though the light stayed mainly near the oil lamps, as if it too was afraid of something. The scouts seemed to be gone or making use of their invisibility badges. Either way she was definitely not alone.
She heard slow footsteps, followed by the smell of hot metal. Something approached and her skin started to hurt. Whatever it was there was no clear escape, she would have to deal with it.
"'It is dark. Are the librarians in here? ' Intern Emma asks. I would reply to tell her that it looks like it, but my phone has started to melt. I hope she has the good sense to hide if she sees a librarian. Last I heard the library repellent dispensers were running low. It is not looking good for Intern Emma. If only there was something I could do.
But there isn't, so now, your daily shades of the sky forecast:
Monday: Cerulean
Tuesday: International Klein Blue
Wednesday: Cerulean with a chance of denim
Thursday: None
Friday: Ultramarine
Saturday: Antimarine
Sunday: Void"
As the form of what could have been a person approached her, a ringing began in Emma's ears. Her eyes scanned up from the floor, it looked like a person. Shoes, tights, dress, very long arms that may not have been arms at all, name badge (why did they need to wear name badges?, Emma wondered as doom and the librarian impended upon her, everyone knows they are all called Belle) but as she got to what should be the face a figure stepped between them and drew what looked like their coat up over their head, making themselves look much bigger than they was a guttural screech, the sound of many scuttling feet and then silence.
"Can you show me the rest room?" Said the familiar voice from earlier. The ringing in Emma's ears had ears stopped, her skin stopped hurting but the smell of metal still seemed to seethe all around them.
"Sure" she replied. Though she wasn't sure at all. The person put their hand on her shoulder as she lead. She stumbled over her feet but they stopped her falling.
"It's ok" they said. Emma turned towards the restroom but was pulled the other way.
"No, that's where they'll look for us" they said and she followed them into the gloom.
Emma didn't know where she was being lead. Presumably the smell of chlorine was coming from a nearby dunking chamber. She went through doors, around things and along corridors until they eventually stopped. The stranger was still holding Emma's arm. She didn't want them to let go and they didn't. She couldn't see a thing, which she hoped meant no thing could see her.
"Who are you?" Emma asked quietly. They hesitated. Emma panicked. Was it a librarian?
"Regina Mills" she said. Emma gasped
"The Mayor?" She asked
"Yes. Who are you?" The Mayor asked
"Emma Swan, Night Vale Community Radio Intern" she replied
"I bet you didn't think you'd end up here when you signed up" Regina said. She had let go of Emma's arm and it sounded like she was looking for somewhere to sit and had decided on the oddly scratchy floor.
"Well, they were pretty explicit about potential dangers of the job. It's just, you never think it'll happen to you, you know? Intern Jesus didn't think he would fall into the mysterious pit in the break room, and then it does happen to you and boom, you're trapped in Night Vale Public Library with Mayor Regina Mills and a handful of scouts" It was quiet for a while. Emma fidgeted. "Do you think we're going to die here?" She asked
"How do you know we ever lived here?" Regina asked. Emma's eyes filled with tears.
"I'm sorry, I can see that was the wrong thing to say. I've been a politician too long" Regina said
"How can you see anything?" Emma asked
"I've spent a long time in the darkness" she replied.
Emma silently wiped her eyes. She felt Regina's hand in hers, it pulled her to the floor. Emma sat down, her thighs brushing Regina's. Her other hand searched around her and found Regina's, or did Regina's find hers?
"I can't promise everything will be ok, but I'll stay with you" Regina said
Emma was reassured by her low, steady voice and the warmth of her hands. She was running her thumb over Emma's. A hand left hers to brush away the tears she hadn't realised had fallen. She wasn't the type to cry, but faced with her own expiration she found it happened by itself.
"How old are you?" Regina asked
"Old enough not to be crying" Emma joked.
"Emma" Regina said softly and she got goosebumps "you're too young to be stuck here"
Feeling the bumps on her skin, Regina tugged Emma towards her. They sat close together, Emma's legs across Regina's. Their hands were locked together again. Emma's head rested on Regina's shoulder. She didn't know why this level of intimacy with a complete stranger felt good but it did. She felt things could have been worse.
"The Sheriff's Secret Police have confirmed that there are probably no librarians on the loose in Night Vale, which means they must be in the library. I hope Emma is ok, though it seems doubtful. Emma Swan, we thank you for your service to community radio"
Emma shook slightly. She wasn't embarrassed to be exhibiting her fear this way. Regina had a calming effect on her. Without her she would not have lasted this long.
"Tell me about yourself" Regina said
"What?" Emma asked
"I'd like to know who I've been spending my time with" Regina said
"Why?" Emma asked
"So that when we get out of here I can say 'this is my friend Emma, she has aspirations to be a trapeze artist, for example" Regina replied. Emma almost laughed.
"I could never be a trapeze artist! I don't have the joints." Emma said "I was actually thinking about getting rid of my whole joint collection. Um" Emma couldn't think of anything about herself, only the things she would miss once she was gone, then she wondered if she would be capable of missing anything. "I like books and hot chocolate and the Mystery Meat Kebab at Big Rico's"
Regina's laugh rumbled quietly in the darkness. Emma thought she could just make out the shape of her face against her dark hair.
"I don't have a family" Emma continued "but I do have some good friends, they are my family I guess. My real parents didn't want me"
"What?" It was Regina's turn to be confused
"I was abandoned on the side of the road, with the traditional name blanket so they knew I wasn't a sacrifice baby. I guess there's something wrong with me"
"No!" Regina said slightly louder than she intended. "All children deserve to be loved unconditionally. Your parents' absentia is on them, not you, Emma. You have turned into a lovely young woman without them"
"God" Emma said "where have you been for the last 25 years?" She swore she could see Regina smile.
"Emma, you're still shaking" Regina observed
"Yeah I guess" Emma shrugged
"I'd really like it if you stopped" Regina said
"I don't really have control over it" Emma answered
"Can I help you?" Regina asked
"I guess?" Emma said, unsurely. Regina put an arm around her and held her tightly. Emma settled into it and leant against her. She felt that intimacy again. It confused her because it felt so simple and right.
"Can't you fly us out of here?" Emma asked
"I don't see a way out" Regina answered
"Can you poof us to somewhere else?" Emma tried
"No. I can disappear. Appearing again is harder" she said
"I wouldn't mind disappearing with you" Emma felt Regina turn to her.
"Can you still see me?" Emma asked
"Yes" Regina replied
"I think I can see you too" Emma said
"You're getting used to the dark?" Regina asked
"I think you want to be seen" Emma said, without answering the question. Emma could make out her lips, her dark eyes and where her hair framed her face. She was closer than she had realised. Not far away at all really. Close enough to kiss if she wanted to...
"Do you feel better?" Regina asked as she watched Emma taking in her face.
"Yeah" Emma replied in a whisper. She searched Regina's eyes.
"Can I do anything else?" Emma could swear she felt her heart rate increase
"Yeah" Emma replied before she tilted her chin up and kissed the Mayor.
"I have just received a message from Carlos. Somebody tipped him off that it is considered polite to be in touch with your boyfriend throughout the day, just to see how he is and how his day is going. This isn't really what I had in mind, but his perfectly coiffed head is always in the science!
Carlos says there is unusual echo-thermal activity around the library. He says he doesn't know what it is and will have to investigate until- uh! That's so typical. The Night Vale Scorpions take on those losers, Desert Bluffs Vulchers, tonight. Carlos isn't really into sports but said he would try to appreciate my passion, which is showing the world what a bunch of incompetent jerks Desert Bluffs are. Well. That's fine then. I guess it's time for financial news"
Emma broke away from the Mayor briefly.
"Jeez Madam Mayor, is that a bloodstone in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?" Emma quipped. She felt Regina's smile as she kissed her again.
"Lucky for you Miss Swan, it's both" Regina growled.
There was a sudden lurch beneath them and light poured into the room where they were tangled together.
There was another screech not far away and the sound of scuttling feet. The light stung Emma's eyes and she heard Regina take her breath in sharply. Emma pulled the hem of her jacket over her head to shield them from the light, as Regina had done with the librarian. Their pupils were blown to their fullest so it took some time for them both to adjust.
"Are you ok?" Regina asked, scrunching her eyes closed and forcing them open again.
"Yeah" Emma rubbed her own eyes vigorously. "I guess the windows are back" she said "should we find the exit?"
"The exits are all around us" Regina said. Emma watched her get up, straighten her jacket and dust the back of her pencil skirt. She looked down and buttoned up her shirt again, tossing Emma a playful smile over her shoulder. Emma bit her lip as she smiled back. The Mayor flung open the nearest window. They were now on the top floor of what had been a single storey building.
"It seems this is not the last day of our lives after all" Regina said "should I take you home?"
"You could take me to your home" Emma suggested
Regina smiled "why don't I take you back to the radio station?"
The smile fell from Emma's face. Their little romance had been blasted away with the darkness when the windows reappeared.
"Ok" she said, dejected. She didn't bother to brush the dust from her clothes. She met Regina at the window but couldn't look at her. She didn't want to appear as upset as she was.
"And maybe I can pick you up when your shift is over?" Regina asked. Emma's head snapped up at the suggestion.
"Or, well, only if you want" Regina added quickly, misinterpreting Emma's surprise. Emma kissed her so quickly she stumbled, but Emma held her steady.
"The show will be almost over by now" Emma said when she stopped to take a breath. She pulled out her phone and opened her NVCR app.
Regina put an arm around her waist and gently lifted them both off the ground as Cecil bade farewell to his listeners.
"...seems like there were relatively few casualties in the library today. I leave you with that good news, dear listeners! Goodnight, Night Vale, goodnight"