Yes, I know I sound crazy, but just listen to me.

I've always been a bit of a bookworm, so I spend a while reading novels of all types of genres. I've always loved using the library, because paying for books often just ends up meaning I finish the thing and then it sits in a cabinet forever.

Now, I've been going to this town library for a long time. It's a small town, the type where you see the same people walking down the street every day, and where you can go to restaurants and just order "your usual" without getting a confused look or two. There's been one lady who's been working at this one library for at least the past two decades, and she's pretty much the only person there, apart from the visitors and volunteers who help her clean up every week or so. She's always helpful, so everyone's happy to see her, and she keeps the place tidy and quiet.

Recently though, she missed a day at the job, something which I've only seen a few times, and it's usually her getting ill. I didn't think anything of it, and she ended up showing up next day, so everyone assumed she just got a cold, which made sense since she worked at a job with lots of kids. However, she started acting really strange after that. It's hard to exactly explain it, but it almost looks like someone else is mimicing what she does. I think the strangest part is the way she looks at people that come in like they're annoying her, something that makes no sense considering how much she loves her job. Her neighbours keep complaining about the noises coming from her house, and the descriptions they give just creep me out. The first one said he heard something like scratching on the walls. I thought he meant rats, but he clarified it was different. The other neighbour came in and said it sounded like there was a dog in there, clawing at the walls. The noise was apparently only able to heard when you got close to the house, being that it was too faint to hear inside.

You could explain all of this away simply, maybe she's just stressed because of a new pet? I wasn't gonna get involved, but one day while I was grabbing a book from the shelves, she stared at me and told me to come over. I walked up, and her voice was hushed. She told me to come to the backroom of the library, where they store everything that isn't on the shelves. I was creeped out, but I did volunteer sometimes, and maybe she just needed help cleaning up. I wouldn't want to say no and be rude, so I followed along. I regret that.

When we got to the storage closet, her eyes looked pale. She looked at me and told me to stop looking into it. I was confused, looking into what? She told me that she was still herself. Her voice was monotone, zero emotion. I started to feel uncomfortable, really uncomfortable.

I was going to leave, when she sprinted straight to the door and locked it, faster than I'd ever seen anyone run before. She kept repeating herself, telling me to stop looking. I started to shake, and she started to smile, before putting her finger on her mouth, as if saying to shush. Half of her teeth were gone, the rest of them in the wrong places, sharp and jagged. I jumped to the door as fast as I could, and shook the handle, but it was locked. I quickly unlocked the door from the inside as she sprinted after me. The moment I ran out of the backroom, the footsteps stopped and I rushed home, locking the door behind me.

I couldn't believe it for days, it must have been a dream, I thought. But no matter how I tried to justify what I saw, I couldn't. When I go outside now, I see her peaking from the library windows discreetly, watching me move, like a lion waiting to jump.

I don't go to the library anymore.