Chapter 5

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The librarian saw it all unfold. The young man, desperate to be with his fiancé. The man she had let in… the man she thought was a victim…. wielding a gun at their heads. She felt sheer, icy dread wash over her as she realised she might have just signed all their death sentences.

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Charles heard Alli whimper behind him, and he wanted to turn and comfort her, but he dared not move from the spot he was glued to. Plus, he was positioned perfectly between Alli and the shooter, should anything happen.

He held up his hands in mock surrender.

'Woah, dude, I just… I just came in to be with my fiancé. I'm not with the police, or anything… I don't want to get into anything.'

He heard his words as he said them, and mentally face palmed.

'Well, considering I'm the one holding the gun, that's probably wise.' The gunman sneered. 'So you were outside this joint then… what's the situation like outside. Cops? Helicopters?' He laughed, almost to himself. 'Bet they've got every TV station on the country outside these doors right now.'

'Oh, nah, it's pretty quiet out there.' Once again, Charles wished he would think before he spoke.

The man narrowed his eyes.

'Well then. I guess I haven't made enough of a scene.' He took a step towards Charles, raising the gun towards him once more.

'We can fix that.'

'No!'

He heard Alli cry out behind him, and he put a hand out to stop her moving. But she was already at his side, clutching his sweatshirt desperately. He pulled her behind him roughly.

The man rolled his eyes. 'Oh come off it, lady. When I want to shoot you, I will.' He moved to the librarian's desk and sat on it. He gave Charles an exasperated look, and motioned to him.

'Well, sit down already!'

Charles grabbed Alli by her arm and guided her over to a set of shelves. He sat down, pulling her with him, and she fell into his arms as they rested back against the shelves.

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He could feel her trembling against him, but only a few minutes had passed (though it seemed like hours) since he had been staring into that gun, and no one had been brave enough to make a sound louder than breathing yet.

He looked down at the woman in his arms, her usually lively eyes staring blankly at the carpet as her head rested against his shoulder. He very rarely saw true fear in her (if truth be told, she was the one that undertook all the spider and roach removals in their house), and it pained him to see her so terrified. Relieved that he had made it to her, that he could protect her, he leant to kiss her forehead.

'You okay?' He whispered almost inaudibly into her ear.

Alli looked up at him, and her voice trembled as she spoke. 'I'm so mad at you' she hissed through barely open lips.

'What?' Charles mouthed, confused.

'You were safe, godammit! That was the one thing that gave me comfort, that you were away from here, safe, and when I got out of here I would see you again.'

Her whisper rose in volume, and Charles tried to motion for her to keep it down.

'C'mon, Honey. I…'

Alli shook her head. 'You don't get it! You're in danger, and I'm scared .I'm so freakin' scared of losing you, Char… her whisper dissolved into a sob, and Charles pulled her close, holding her tight in the hope of making her feel just a little safer.

'But don't you get it baby? That's exactly how I feel! I couldn't stand being out there, knowing you were in here, in danger. If something happened… I couldn't live with myself, knowing I wasn't there for you, protecting you… you're everything to me, Al.'

Alli reached up, holding the side of his face against hers. 'I know, I'm sorry. I'm just so, so scared.'

Charles leant down to kiss her again.

'It will be okay, I promise. I won't let anything happen to you.'

That's what I'm afraid of. Alli thought to herself silently.

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Across the room, Steven Wilcox was getting agitated. Severely hung over from the night before, he had only come into the library briefly to pick up a book, and was now stuck in this nightmare. Yet nothing was happened, and quite frankly this man didn't scare him all that much. He was all talk.

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Charles looked up as a male student got to his feet all of a sudden and started making his way to the doors.

'Hey man… what are you doing…' Charles asked in a low voice.

The student looked across at him. 'This is bulls**t.'

The gunman raised his gun somewhat lazily towards the student. 'Seriously? Sit down.'

The student kept walking towards the door, and the gunman stood up, his gun pointed directly towards him now. 'Sit. Down.'

The student made no move to stop, and then suddenly a gun was going off, and Charles was throwing himself on top of Alli, pinning her to the ground underneath him.

And then came the screams.

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