Chapter 2
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The backdoor to the annex swung open with a warm glow. Jenkins was sat at the large table with a steaming cup of tea and a plate of tiny sandwiches as the rest of the team fell through the door.
"Any luck finding the disturbance?" The caretaker inquired but didn't need to by the looks on their faces.
"No. But I think we felt it." Baird commented before slumping into her desk chair. "We came back here in order to come up with a new plan."
Cassandra and Jones both rushed off to work on their own version of research, leaving Stone to amble in slowly. He still looked a little dazed, his eyes wandering as if something was missing. Jenkins watched the historian for a few moments, trying to gauge the problem.
"Mr Stone, are you feeling alright?" He asked with his eyebrows drawn tightly into the centre of his forehead. "You look a little lost."
Jake sighed before responding to the query, "everything seems wrong for some reason like I don't recognise it even though I do."
The caretaker snapped his finger and then pointed, "jamais vu." He smiled at his own show of intelligence.
"Exactly." The librarian exclaimed with wide eyes that lacked their usual sparkle. Whatever was causing his confusion was putting a real dampener on his mood. "But I don't know why and it's really starting to put me on edge."
He was about to head upstairs to start on his own reading when a sudden wave of dizziness sent him stumbling towards a nearby desk. His hand managed to grasp blindly onto the table's corner just in time. The impact of his palm catching the wood sent a wave of shock up through his arm and bouncing around his head. He continued to lean his full weight there for a brief moment whilst his vision steadied. Before he could get himself standing upright, Eve and Jenkins came running to his aid.
"Mr Stone?" And, "Jake, are you ok?" Were both called simultaneously.
Jake mumbled something along the lines of 'I'm fine," but it wasn't taken too seriously when paired with his struggle to stay upright. He attempted a step forward but instead ended up falling back.
Jenkins gripped the younger man's arm as he rolled over his heels. A heavyweight landing on his chest caused him to lose his balance momentarily. "Did you hit your head at all?" He spoke softly suspecting that his friend may be suffering from a severe headache as well.
"No... Well, yeah. But no' hard." Stone stumbled on his words as his speech slurred a little.
"Come take a seat Mr Stone while I give you a quick once over." He pulled Jacob over to the sofa in order to make him more comfortable. Sitting next to his patient, he pushed the librarian's head forward so he could examine the location pointed out to him. Luckily, Jake was pretty short making it easier for the caretaker to look over him. After that, there was some other basic first aid provided. "Your pupils are reactive; you have a small bump on the back of your head but it doesn't look too bad."
"How did this happen?" The guardian huffed, clearly annoyed that it hadn't been mentioned earlier.
"I think a tripped when walking through the forest." He admitted, though his voice came across as unsure.
"You think?"
"Yeah, Jones said he heard me fall then found me unconscious." Stone was starting to feel a little drowsy by this point, his eyes fighting a losing battle to stay open.
"Do you know how long you were out for, Mr Stone?" Jenkins was anxious to get all the information before letting the man rest.
"Not long," he slurred lazily, his voice growing weaker. "Under a minute." His head lolled to the side, resting on the caretaker's shoulder. He was placed down slowly and then covered with a blanket by Eve before she dragged Jenkins away for a private conversation. They had only taken a couple of steps when they heard Jake snoring.
"Is he ok? Should we take him to the hospital?" She whispered sharply, still trying to keep a calm and level head.
"I think he should be fine, but I'll keep an eye on him and take him to the emergency room should anything change." He let the guardian have a moment to breathe. "In the meantime, I think you need to take the others and finish this mission."
As if waiting for a cue, the clippings book started to shake.
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"What's it saying? We got a second case or something?" Jones called from the top of the staircase. Cassandra was already making her way down with a pile of books, and Baird was standing with Jenkins looking at the new entry.
Eve responded, "same case, new info." She was looking at a few very old newspaper clippings that hadn't been there earlier. There were three in total, and they all mentioned some kind of creature in the lake.
The thief, who had now joined them at the table, grinned as he read the headlines. "Oh, it's like swamp thing." The others simply glared at him, completely unaware of what he was talking about. "From the comics." Their expressions remained unchanged. "What I'm trying to say is, whatever made that racket earlier is probably this lake monster that all these people spotted. I wonder why the book only showed us this stuff now?"
"No idea... Right, Jones and I will re-examine the lake now we know what we're looking for. Cassandra, why don't you speak to some of the kids from the articles, they should be in their 50s by now."
The librarians accepted their tasks, but both were a little confused by who was giving them. It wasn't unusual for the guardian to take charge in the field, but that was only when the head librarian wasn't around to lead them. The last they knew, Jake was still here in the library, so why wasn't he helping them plan, or going with Cas to interview people.
"What's the boss man doing while we work on this?"
"Stone is staying behind for today," she slapped the Australian on the arm. "It seems someone forgot to mention a little accident in the woods."
His only reply was a guilty "oops," before skulking off to get ready.
"What accident? Is Jake ok?" Casandra asked, her voice was soft and full of worry.
Jenkins offered his input before the guardian could announce her own concerns. "Were keeping a close eye on him, Miss Cillian. It's most likely just a small concussion that's been made a little worse by his own tiredness. You know how he gets, always starting new projects as soon as he's finished the last." He sighed thinking about all the sleepless nights surround by empty coffee cups. "A bit of rest will do him a world of good."
She nodded and soon was off to the archive room where every newspaper article that ever existed could be found.
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Jenkins had just watched the others skip through the backdoor, leaving him to watch over the sleeping historian.
Jake was passed out on the couch, his legs tangled in the blanket Eve had left covering him. His slumber was a restless one, as his body kept on moving and his voice started mumbling. The caretaker tried to settle him, replacing the blanket and stroking his scrunched-up forehead, but nothing managed to calm the librarian down. Still, despite his agitation, Stone remained unconscious.
"I'm not sure what you're dreaming of, but it appears to be doing a right number on that brain of yours." He tucked the edges of the blanket under Jake's body in an attempt to quell any further movement. "I hope I'm right, that this is just a minor head injury because I'm not sure how the others will cope without you." He stepped back; the comment Stone made before repeated in his mind. He said everything felt wrong, and he kept looking around as if something was missing. It could be nothing, but... Jenkins thought it best to check some things out.
