The next town was not kind, either.

Otis huddled in an alleyway for days until he could find somewhere he could have a roof over his head. The winter still raged, and the air was crisp against his face. He didn't have a coat- only the flannel shirt he had wrapped around him and the blankets he had stolen from the apartment. He shivered violently, finally giving up and deciding to wander the town. He found a library and wandered in, earning a few suspicious looks from the patrons.

Books. He loved books. He could sit and read for hours and still hunger for more. And he did. Sitting in a warm corner of the library, he devoured page after page, novel after novel. He eventually dozed off, curling up in his blankets. When he awoke, the lights were off in the building.

The library was closed, and no one had discovered him. He was safe and warm for the night.

He curled back up again, sighing contentedly, and slept.

He awoke the next day to the lights being turned on. Blinking into them, he hoped desperately that he would still not be discovered. He heard footsteps walk past the bookcase he was hiding behind, and held his breath. They passed, and eventually he heard the normal bustle of the library in a big town. Teenagers making out behind the shelves, older women spending their time with the comfort of books, just as he was doing. He knew he should be out, looking for a job, looking for food. But he could treat himself to a day or two of rest. After all, he had traveled for miles in the freezing cold.

He sat, reading all day until a woman came up to him, coffee mug in hand.

"I was hoping you'd still be here..." She smiled softly. She was older than him by a good bit. Which didn't mean much- he was barely 18, almost everyone was older than he was. she had gray-blonde hair tucked into a neat bun and round glasses. Her kind smile was reassuring, but he was still apprehensive. "Are you all warmed up now? Your lips were blue when you first came in..." She offered him the mug of warm comfort. He swallowed heavily, leaning away.

"Who are you? What do you mean you were hoping I'd still be here? How did you know I was here?"

She knelt in front of the chair he was sitting in, resting a kind hand on his knee. He flinched, recoiling away from her. "Oh, sweetie..." She pressed the mug into his hands, willing him to take it. "I'm Katie. I'm a librarian here. I saw you come in yesterday. I went around to do the final check last night to make sure no one was here. I saw you sleeping here...I...I knew I should have kicked you out, but I saw you walk in. You looked so cold...Your...I swear your whole face was blue when you came in...And you don't have very warm clothes on to be wanderin' around here in the winter...D...Do you have a place to stay?"

"Yes." Otis answered too quickly. She knew he was lying, but could sense he was terrified, and wouldn't push the issue.

"Okay. Oh!" She noticed his eyes, how they shown a brilliant crimson in the lights of the building. Otis knew what she had seen, and looked away, at the mug in his hands. "You...You're quite special, aren't you?"

"...No..."

"Oh, dear. Well you look like it to me." She smiled at him. "Drink that up. It'll warm you to your toes." She walked away, leaving him to read once more.

Otis's stomach growled, and he cringed. God, it had been a while since he had eaten. He dug in the worn bag he had brought that had all his possessions in it, finding a box of crackers, and munching on them until the pain in his stomach had subsided.

Katie came back later in the day, a package in her hand. "Here. You look like you could use a little something to eat."

"I...I can't-"

"If it's money you're worried about, don't. I volunteer at the local homeless shelter and snagged this for you on my way out. Okay?"

"O...Okay..."

She pressed the food into his hands and left, back to her duties.

Before she left for home, she checked on him one last time.

"You can stay here another night if you need to. I hope no one sees you!" She pat his head lightly before leaving. He flinched, but she had barely touched him. He dozed off, warm and safe again for another night.

He awoke to the sounds of footsteps, but this time, it was still dark outside. He saw a flashlight pass over him, and held his breath once more.

"HEY! THE FUCK ARE YOU DOIN' HERE?!" The large man stalked over to him. Otis quickly skittered away, leaving his belongings. The man chased him around the library, until Otis was able to lose him long enough to gather his few treasures and skitter to a new hiding spot, where he was again discovered. "GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!"

Otis tried to bolt for the exit, but the doors were locked from the inside, too. He crashed against the door, grunting as he rebounded off of them.

The police officer laughed. "Scared little mouse, trying to get out."

Fury rose in Otis at the nickname his father used to mock him with. He spun, kicking the officer with as much force as he could muster, falling on top of him and throwing punch after punch to his face. He felt a hard crack against his temple, and fell to the side. The officer was wielding his flashlight as a weapon now. Otis's head spun as he tried to sit up.

"Jesus..." The officer wiped his mouth on his sleeve. He grabbed Otis by the shirt collar, dragging him back to the door. Otis was still too dazed to fight back when he was deposited on the cold sidewalk.

He lay there until his head cleared, and began to wander, finding an alleyway to shield him from the wind.