Sitting down on the hard floor of what used to be part of her library, China put her face in her hands and took a deep breath in. She could feel water dripping down onto her shoulder blade but she didn't care. The room smelt of burnt wood and something she couldn't quite place and it made her feel angry. Not able to look up, China closed her eyes and began to count, hoping it would help to calm her down.
Not knowing how long she had been sitting there, she looked up and saw the darkened sky out of the cracked window, the moon shining brightly as a few stars twinkled around it. Hearing a creak, she let out a sigh and ignored it, continuing to sitting there, her elbows on her knees as her hands cradled her face. The shoulder strap of her red dress was now soaked through, the water droplets still falling down on top of her from the beam that ran across the ceiling.
Feeling wetness on her hands, China wiped at her eyes and realised she was crying. The tears came hard and fast as she looked around once more. There were burnt pages of an old book near her. Reaching out she grabbed the page and held onto it tightly, her hand in a fist as the wet paper tore under the strain. Getting up, she paced back and forth, kicking at some of the debris on the floor, not caring that it marked her new shoes.
"Jesus Christ, what happened in here? China, are you okay?"
Turning on her heel, China saw the blonde woman coming towards her, worry etched into her young face. "Tanith. I'm okay, and it's a long story."
"You've been crying, are you sure you're okay?" Pushing a little more Tanith was surprised when China started to cry again. Pulling the dark haired woman close, Tanith held her in her arms and rubbed her back, hoping that soothing circles would help calm her down.
Taking a few moments to enjoy the feeling of Tanith being so close to her, China pulled herself together and wiped away the fresh tears on her face. Taking the blonde by the hand, she walked them over to the other side of her library that survived the fire and sprinklers and sat them down on the small two-seat couch.
"I was out trying to acquire a really old piece for my library and the man I was dealing with was really fussy and kept checking his watch. I was patient with him and as soon as it hit a certain time he smirked at me and said I could have the vase. I thought it was weird but I got what I wanted so I didn't care. I headed back here with my new acquisition and I knew something was off when I saw smoke coming from the building. While I was out a group of people were able to take down some of my wards without me finding out and they burnt down part of my precious library. I don't know who and I don't know why. Skulduggery and Valkyrie are looking into it as a favour. I have lost so many priceless and irreplaceable pieces; I don't know what I'm going to do." Taking a deep, shaky breath in, China closed her eyes and tried to hold it together. She was usually so good at being able to control her emotions, her face void of emotion a majority of the time, but seeing part of what she worked so hard on, what she devoted her life to, it made her feel torn up inside.
"That is a pretty shit thing they did. I noticed the graffiti over on the wall when I came in and I kind of want to hunt them down myself and let them have it." Wrapping an arm around China, Tanith placed a gentle kiss on her temple, trying her best to comfort the woman.
"What did the graffiti say? I really haven't had much of a look yet, I've been too busy feeling sad about my library."
"It just says 'hahahahaha'. Kind of looks like something a teen would tag."
"At this point I don't care, what's done is done and one day when I find out who did this, they will be at my mercy." Standing up from the couch, China paced in front of Tanith, trying to not look at the destruction.
"How about you come over to my place for the night and we can take your mind off this." Standing up, Tanith walked over to China and cupped her face in her hand, wiping a stray tear away with her thumb.
"I would like that very much." Pulling Tanith in close, China pressed a gentle kiss against Tanith's cheek and whispered into her ear before leading her out of the library, their fingers intertwined.