Where Fires Dare to Burn

Chapter 13 - Thunder Bay

Luke couldn't help feeling that the campus was a little too quiet tonight.

He walked quickly in the nighttime chill, a reluctant Kenny trailing sullenly in his wake. The light, warmth and life of the Growler was a distant dream, taunting them with a faint echo of noise from across campus. The gnawing anxiousness had building inside him ever since they'd stumbled across Gore and DeVergne, a sense that he had one foot planted firmly into something bigger and stranger than he could imagine.

As he traversed the evening paths he couldn't help looking around, checking the shadows between the buildings, searching for those blazing eyes, or the ethereal glow. Or maybe even DeVergne? He wasn't totally sure what he expected to see.

In the end, he didn't find anything lurking in the night. The pair trudged along, the glass-walled exterior of the ELU library rising into prominence beyond the residence blocks. Open twenty four hours for the dedicated student (or the student who'd left their deadlines to the last second), it spilled light from all sides. Behind him Kenny blew into his hands, rubbing them together to ward off the chill. Despite his displeasure at heading to the library in the cold and the dark, in reality Luke's room mate hadn't taken much convincing to join their investigations.

"Gotta tell you," Kenny muttered. "This is not exactly how I thought our first semester was going to roll out."

Luke snorted derisively. "You and me both."

"That's the last time I'll take that shortcut, that's for damn sure."

As they approached the library he spotted Gabi pacing back and forth just outside the entrance, thumbs hooked through the straps of her backpack. When she spotted them she twisted to a halt, forcing a dubious smile onto her face.

"Hey," she said quietly as they met at the top of the stairs, the bright lights of the library glaring down on them from behind. A couple of other students wandered in and out, some clutching late-night coffees in weary hands.

"You all set?" Luke asked.

"Well, I think I'm as awake as I'm going to get." She flicked her head towards the doors behind her. "Shall we?"

"You sure you want to get in the middle of all this, Gabs?" Kenny asked, his face a picture of unease.

"I wouldn't be in the middle of it if you hadn't told me everything," Gabi retorted. "But you did tell me so, sorry boys, I'm afraid you're stuck with me. Now come on."

Luke exchanged a look with Kenny, shrugged, and followed her inside. With Gabi leading the way they showed their student IDs to the library guard, and passed through the secondary set of automatic glass doors. The library's main atrium sprawled out in front of them in a collage of cream-coloured walls, stark white shelving units and navy blue carpet.

They proceeded into the domain of the written word, with meticulously organised bookcases staring down on them as they walked. A few other nocturnal students were scattered around, at computers or stuffed onto couches with their laptops, most of them with headphones firmly jammed in place to lock out the rest of the world.

Luke beckoned the others to follow him, feeling decidedly furtive about what they were doing. He felt somehow underhanded, going behind Oaklynn's back to dig up information that might confirm his suspicions, rather than just speaking to her face to face. He looked from left to right as he walked, half-expecting her and Kasper to appear from behind the shelves.

To his relief, they remained unsurprised as he led the way up the second level, to one of the private pods designed for group projects. He supposed this qualified. Sort of. It was all primary colours and achingly white desks, with a quartet of university computers positioned in an outward-facing square. The trio slipped inside and Luke gratefully slumped down into one of the soft-backed chairs.