::smiles:: Aren't you happy? It's chapter two! See how fast I update? Anyways, I'll work on making the chapters longer. It's either lots of short ones or not too many longs ones… -- never mind… Hey, noticed astricts (however that's spelled) still aren't working so you'll just have to deal with whatever else I come up with in place of them!

PLEASE REVIEW!!!

Bound to the Books

Chapter 2

"What do you mean a wolf?" Cody asked thinking that Kat had finally cracked.

"I mean that I really saw a wolf in the library!" Kat exclaimed.

He laughed, "Well, whether or not you really saw one, you still have to get your report done."

Kat sighed, "I know…" She ignored whatever else Cody had to say and let her mind wander back to what had happened at the library. Her fingers were closed around the book Dark had handed her earlier. 'Who was Dark? What was he talking about back where we met? Maybe I should go back, and then at least I might be able to see him again…'   

The bell rang and Kat sighed as she walked out of her classroom and headed for her next period.

===

Kat sighed as she walked up the steps of the library. 'Was it possible that I didn't see a wolf after all? I must have been daydreaming.' She crossed the granite floors of the entrance and moved her way to the fiction section where she had last seen Dark. 'I wonder if I'll be able to see him again. He acted so strangely, almost as if he was running away from something…'

Kat threaded her way through the isles and rows passing fewer and fewer people the farther she went into the section. Eventually she began to get the feeling something was following her. Kat tried to ignore the feeling and just browsed through some book titles that caught her eyes but the more she ignored it, the more she was sure that something was following her.

'This is getting a bit creepy…' Kat's hand went to her book bag and she remembered that she still had the book Dark had handed her the day before. Her hands rummaged through the bag and eventually she could feel the designs on its ancient cover.

Completely forgetting that something was following her, Kat pulled out the book and sat down in the isle. 'I wonder what it's about. I still don't understand why he handed this to me.'  Kat flipped through the first few pages then felt something drop onto her shoulder from above her. Slowly, Kat put the book back into her bag and reached up to see what was on her shoulder.

Kat paled and withdrew her hand. A slimy strand of goop was stringing her shoulder and hand together. Kat tilted her head upwards and another drop of goop landed in her face.

"What the hell?!" Kat stood up quickly and backed away from the case she had been leaning against. A trail of goop was making its way down from the top shelf but Kat couldn't see where it was coming from.

"This is just too weird…" Kat said to herself as she wiped her face off. Her hand paused and the feeling of being watched returned again. Her pulse quickened and her stomach began to churn uncomfortably. Kat's breathing quickened and she decided to start moving to see if she could ditch the unseen stalker. Clicking sounded on the granite behind Kat and she stopped to see if it was her shoes.

::Click, click, click:: Kat's face grew chalk white and she could feel her heart in her throat. 'Oh my god, I'm gonna die!'

Her fear was beginning to turn into panic and she foolishly began to pick up her pace until she was all but running through the isles to find a way out. 'Shit! I can't remember which way is out! I'm so stupid!'

The clicking of claws against granite sounded louder and faster and Kat began to panic even more when she reached a carpet isle. The clicking stopped and this only added to her fear. 'Great, first I can't see it, now I can't even hear it!'

Kat darted around the nearest isle to catch her breath and she noticed how she felt a bit nauseous. Through the spaces between the tops of books, Kat caught something on the floor of the isle she had just come from. Her golden eyes glimmered with fear and she leaned forward to take a closer look.

"Boo…" a voice sounded right in her ear.

Every muscle in Kat's body seized up in one massive cramp before her stomach gave one final heave.

"I haven't seen someone spew like that in ages," the voice said. "Last time I saw anything nearly that bad was at drinking games."

Kat wiped her mouth with her sleeve, still hunched over, "You are an asshole."

The person crouched before her, careful to avoid what had been her lunch, and smirked, "I didn't mean to scare you so badly."

Kat saw the violet eyes and hair and her attitude took an immediate one eighty degree turn, "I'm fine. God, I thought I was going to die!"

"Die? From what? This is the border between fiction and non-fiction, the scariest thing around here is what you just chucked," he laughed.

Kat grew serious, "Were you following me?"

Dark looked her over and grew concerned, "No. Why do you ask?"

"Something was following me back there…" Kat tired to explain.

Dark looked over the isles, eyes skimming what he could see, ears straining to catch anything besides the panting of Kat trying to calm down. He ended up shrugging, "I'll take you to the next floor. We should be ok there."

Kat nodded and climbed the same stairwell she had been dragged up before. Dark stopped not too far away from the stairwell and leaned against a bookshelf. Kat sat down on the old carpeted floor and asked, "The book you handed me earlier, what is it?"

"A mistake, I thought you were from the books," Dark replied.

"What do you mean 'from the books'?" Kat asked.

"You really do know nothing do you?" he asked her giving Kat a sideways glance.

"Maybe I would if someone would tell me," she shot back.

"Maybe," he smiled cockily.

"I don't have time for this," Kat suddenly said and stood up. She made her way to the stairwell before pausing, "This is the part where you stop me."

The violet haired boy let out a loud snort, "Hate to break it to you, but this is real life not a story book."

"I never would have guessed the way you're acting," Kat bit back as she descended the stairs.

"Wench," Dark muttered.

"Uh hey…" Kat's voice drifted up sweetly from the stairs. "I just remembered, I still don't know how to get back…"

"Tough luck."

"What do you mean?! You just can't leave me here!" Kat said as she frantically climbed back up the stairs. She paused when she noticed that there was another floor below her, "What's down there?"

Dark was confused by the sudden turn in conversation. He peered over the side of the stairwell, "Horror section." 'I'm guessing whatever was after her came from there.'

::Click, click, click::

Kat paled again and looked down to see something black making it's way up the stairs one flight below her. She tried to swallow past the lump in her throat and the feeling of doom.

Dark's eyes narrowed as he spotted the black from just a few steps from behind Kat's line of vision. He rushed forward and grabbed Kat tightly. She made a surprised yelp and startled the creature below. "You really did it now," he growled.

Kat threw her arms around his neck to keep from falling off and felt something moving under his shirt by his shoulder blades. Black feathers filled her vision and they were suddenly lifted upward. Kat blinked in confusion and noticed that Dark had sprouted wings. She could hear the enraged snarling of whatever was after them and it finally scared her into loosing consciousness. 'I knew I should have gone to a different library…'  

(A/N: Chapter 3 coming soon! PLEASE REVIEW!!!)