The rest of the week had passed uneventfully, and that left me with my first weekend on campus by myself. I woke up at about 10am having played video games late into the night. I grabbed the tablet that I’d put on the bed stand and looked over it, there were no available timetable for the weekend so I assume its entirely free, I click on a clubs tab and found nothing especially interesting there. I sent a message off to Erina asking if she is doing anything this weekend, while I wait to hear back I get dressed.

I pick a purple sweater and a set of dark grey jeans and pulled on a set of trainers. I check the tablet again and there is a message notification sitting there.

Erina Hartley: I’m busy today but I can drop over yours tomorrow? If you wanna hang out?

I respond quickly.

Sylvie Wade: I do! I’m in room 178! I’ll see you tomorrow!

I decide to take a look in the college library to see if there was anything interesting to read, and to also borrow a copy of the literature we’re studying in the English classes. The library was in the precise centre of the campus and as such was only a few minutes walk from the dorms. It was a large place with an upstairs dedicated to computers for student use. It was all hush hush quiet in there to be expected, with only 20 or so people about. I nod hello to the librarian thats at the front desk and wander into the maze of bookshelves.

I don’t know what else I was after, I found the material I needed near enough immediately. Then a certain door caught my eye, with a plaque on it reading DVD & Blu-Ray storage. It looked open for students so I poked my head inside and there was quite a few rows of them. I grabbed a load that looked interesting and quickly exited the room to go take them out from the front desk. I was so pleased with myself that I didn’t notice a familiar looking girl I was on a collision course with.

BOOF!

The DVD cases clattered against the hard floor, making a noise that permeated the silence of the library like a tree being felled in the woods, a few of them were still held in my now detached arms that skid along the ground, one of which disappears under a bookshelf. I had blundered my way into the girl who gave me the creeps, Cadence. And she looked mighty pissed.

“Look where you’re going you stupid zombie!” she yells, red in the cheeks having fallen on her arse. I freeze, gobsmacked. I don’t know what to do and thankfully one of the librarians quickly comes rushing over.

“Oh dear” The librarian, an elderly looking woman, surveyed the carnage. “You two ought to be more caref-” I think at this point she notices my missing arms. “What happened to you!?”

“The idiot’s arms fell off” Cadence snorted angrily. She pulls herself up off the ground, brushing off her skirt. The Librarian gingerly picks up one of my arms.

“I’ll call the nurse…” she says, looking slightly faint. I give her a nod. I sit myself down on one of the small cushions stools they have lying about between some of the bookcases and she places the arm on my lap. I don’t even bother trying to shuffle myself into a position where it’d reattach. I can still feel them and move them sort of, but its quite a weak sensation. Cadence huffs off, clearly in an even worse mood with me than whatever I caused her before. I sat there for five minutes, the index finger on my severed arm tapping the denim jeans.

It was only part way through the sixth minute that Nurse Jousset turns up, she gives me a stern look. “I hope I don’t have to come see you partially disassembled too often Sylvie. You ought to be more careful” she scolds, moving to kneel next to me. She unbuttons my jacket and slides it down around my waist and then holds the limb close to my shoulder, I don’t look at it because I’m not particularly interested in seeing what my arm looks like from the inside. I hear a flop and suddenly feeling returns to my arm and I can use it properly. The first thing I do is point underneath the bookshelf where the other arm flew. “That where your other one went?” I nod furiously.

She shuffles over and retrieves the arm from under the bookshelf and quickly reattaches it. I clap my hands together, making sure they were put on the right way around, which they thankfully where. I quickly get to typing.

“Thanks so much Nurse Jousset!”

“Be more careful next time, look before you rush about places okay. I’ll get a email sent around about procedure if you become all jumbled up like that again. Then in theory you won’t need me coming to your aid every single time” she sighs. I can only wince apologetically.

“I’m going to quickly get all these out and go find Cadence to apologise properly” I scoop all the dropped DVDs and books up.

“Yes you do that”. She gives me a little dismissive wave as I rush to the counter, tapping my foot impatiently as each one gets scanned. I place them in my bag and look around, searching for Cadence inside, which she doesn’t appear to be.

I speed walk outside and catch a glimpse of what looked like her across the centre area, but when I get closer I find its not her but some other girl, she looked up at me and is a little shocked, but quickly appears to batter those feelings down.

“Can I help you?” she asks, looking slightly perplexed.

“Have you seen Cadence? She looks a lot like you, a bit shorter though” She shakes her head apologetically.

“No sorry”

“No worries!” I give up on my search for Cadence, I’ll apologise to her in class next week, I sigh internally and trot off back towards the dormitory.

***

Back in between the pillars of the Library Building.

Cadence bit down hard on a packet of mixed nuts, grinding them between her teeth.

“That carefree bitch…” She internally pictures Sylvie’s grin as she had left the DVD storage room, moments before plowing right into her. “She should be put down for being an affront to humanity or something” her pendant bouncing up and down as her jaw and neck moves to make way for the food travelling through it. “Its monsters like her and that...other bitch that…” She chokes up, fighting back the tears she had been just about managing to keep under control back in the library. She hears a trace of the voice again, the voice she hadn’t heard actually speak in person for some time.

“Don’t worry dear…”

***

Colin looked to be eagerly awaiting my return. I found him perched on his food trough, looking outside, I hefted the little tortoise up and placed him on the balcony area outside. This was probably going to be one of the last times I could let him out, as the encroaching cold of winter wouldn’t allow for it. It also allowed me some time to think.

As we strolled slowly around the Balcony, with very few other people about. I was wondering about Leo, I still knew so little about him and as a man of very few words I doubt I could pry much out of him. He looked troubled though, his eyes kept darting about everywhere. He appeared to have his attention mostly on me and Erina. I blush slightly, remembering that the half-dragon was coming over tomorrow. It was also at that point where I notice a brown Pigeon perched on the wall, it seemed fascinated by the sight of us two. As fascinated as the gormless things could look anyway.

Keeping an eye on Colin still, I dart back to my room to grab a bit of bread to give to the creature, who when I’d gotten back had gotten a bit closer to Colin. I tear off a chunk and throw it towards the Pigeon, which stumbled over and gobbled it up. I give a bit of the lettuce to Colin who slowly chews it with the normal messy grace of a hungry tortoise.

My thoughts returned to Leo, I wonder why he was staring at the forest at the back of the college the other day, perhaps I ought to wander in there sometime. Perhaps me and Erina should explore it. I feel a tugging at my foot, the brazen pigeon was tugging at a loose thread on my jeans. The cheeky sod, I guess this one is more intelligent than the average bird. I drop another piece of bread before picking up Colin and heading back into my room to watch one of the films. The pigeon seems to want to follow but stops after a few paces and flies off clutching the bread in its beak.

I place Colin back under his heat lamp and grab the DVD pile. Lets see how this Iron-Man film pans out...