Tania Mazona and I sprinted for the main exit as the footsteps of our
pursuers thundered right behind us. Tania hit the door first and
slammed into the latching bar, but unfortunately it was locked.
“The key! They’re coming!” Tania shouted.
My
master key was already in hand and I struggled to steady my trembling
fingers enough to get the tiny sliver of metal into the locking
mechanism. I glanced over my shoulder and saw two men wearing dark suits
and shades running towards us from the opposite side of the main lobby.
I didn’t have much time. As I returned my attention to the lock I
noticed that the mechanism was already rotating… and I had yet to insert
the key! Someone was trying to enter the library from the outside. I
had no way of knowing who or what was on the other side of that door,
but it seemed far more likely that it would turn out to be a foe instead
of a friend.
“We’re trapped! Run!”
I grabbed Tania’s arm
and dragged her after me as I sprinted towards one of the side exits. I
zigged and zagged between the bookshelves to take the shortest possible
path. The library was dark, but I knew the arrangement of the shelves
well enough to run through the maze of books blindfolded. I could only
hope that my familiarity with the environment provided us with some
small advantage.
We were no longer in the line of
sight of our pursuers. Tania slowed her pace and tried to shake her arm
loose from my grip. “Ms. Kent! Let me go! We need to separate!”
“What?!?!? Are you crazy? That’s a terrible idea! Follow me and I’ll lead us out!”
Tania planted her feet and stood her ground. “Trust me! There’s something I need to do now while we’re out of sight... Just go!”
I
didn’t know what Tania was planning to do, but I couldn’t just leave
her behind. Ms. Mazona was caught in the middle of a situation that she
knew nothing about and getting her out of the library safely was my
responsibility. I was fairly certain that those men were chasing us
because I had tried to tell Tania about the
Lost Diary of Astynome. Ms. Pryor had warned me not to mention the
Lost Diary
to anyone, and now here we were being chased by goons that had full
access to the library.
That couldn’t be a coincidence. They had to be
working for her. I had no idea what the men might do with us if they
caught us, or what Ms. Pryor might do if the men took us to her… and I
certainly didn’t want to find out.
I grabbed Tania’s arm and pointed up at the vaulted ceiling three stories above our heads. “I don’t think we
are out of sight! Those cameras up there see everything!”
Tania
looked up at the dozens of black domes spaced evenly across the
ceiling. The realization that our every move was being observed and
recorded shattered her confidence and seemed to fill her with dread.
“Hera help us, they’re everywhere… my secret will be exposed if I… I... oh, no...”
I
didn’t know what she was talking about and we didn’t have time to
discuss it. “Ms. Mazon, we have to keep moving! Our only chance is to
make it to one of the side exits before they can cut us off again!”
We
dashed between the shelves as our pursuers closed in around us. I could
hear more heavy footsteps coming from at least three different
directions and I charted a path through the books that kept us moving
towards the exit while also keeping us angled away from the bad guys.
Between the empty spaces on the shelves I caught occasional glimpses of
the men in suits racing towards us. They were so close that I didn’t
know if I’d have time to unlock the side exit when we reached it.
I
heard the clacking of Tania’s heels suddenly stop and I turned back to
see if she was ok. Tania was throwing all of her weight into a nearby
bookcase. She planted her feet and she gave a tremendous and desperate
yell as Tania extended her legs and shoved the heavy case over far
enough to make it begin to topple. Tania took off running again and
waved for me to do the same as the bookcase fell over behind her. I
watched in horror as shelves started to fall like dominoes in a chain
reaction of destruction and flying books. Our pursuers were momentarily
cut off and they would have to find a new path to get to us. Tania had
bought us some time and I could only hope that it would be enough.
We
rounded a corner, ducked between another set of shelves, sprinted
across a large aisle and raced for the side exit. We were almost there,
but I could hear the footsteps of the men closing in once more. I
practically crashed into the door as I scrambled for my master key,
jammed it into the lock, twisted the mechanism and pulled open the
handle.
The light from the setting sun streamed through the
doorway and I could see the parking lot, the sky, the campus... We were
out!
“Ms. Kent! Look out!”
I had only taken three or four
steps outside when I saw a blur of motion coming towards me from my
left. A very large man in a dark suit and shades was just about to
tackle me when Tania threw herself into his path to intercept him. Both
of them went down in a tangle of rolling limbs on the grass and I had no
idea who might come out on top.
It was Tania!
Somehow
she had managed to flip the man over onto his back and she straddled his
chest. He was trying to punch her from below with one of his fists and
it took the combined strength of both of her arms to block his flailing
attacks. As the man kept Tania busy with one arm, he swiftly reached
into his pocket with his free arm, yanked out a white cotton cloth and
pressed it firmly over Tania’s mouth and nose.
“Oh, nooommmMMFFF!!!”
All
of this occurred in a matter of moments, but as soon as I saw the white
cloth appear I instinctively dove at the man’s arm. He was stronger
than Tania, but he couldn’t overcome both of us. As I plowed into his
elbow, the white cloth was knocked away from Tania’s face and I heard
her gasping for fresh air. I could smell the faint chloroform fumes
still lingering in the air, but Tania was still fighting furiously and
seemed unaffected. She struggled to control his arms while I raked my
fingernails across the man’s cheek.
“OW! You little bitches! I’m gonnaammmMMFFFFF!”
As
he cursed at us, Tania reached for the chloroform-soaked cloth and
jammed it into the man’s mouth. He went wild and began to buck his body
violently in a frantic effort to shake us both off. Tania and I used our
combined weight to keep him pinned. The smell of the fumes was getting
even stronger and I hoped that the man would pass out quickly before it
started to affect me as well. Within a matter of seconds I could tell
that his thrashing was becoming more sluggish.
“That’s it, Tania! I think we’ve got himmmMMMMFFFFF!!!!!!!”
A white rag was clamped over my face from behind me.
My
attacker grabbed me by the back of my hair and yanked me to my feet.
The pain and surprise caused me to gasp instinctively and I inhaled a
dose of the anesthetic before I could remember to hold my breath.
Our
pursuers from inside the building had finally caught up to us. One man
stood behind me with one of his arms around my waist while his other
hand held the white rag over my face. A second man grabbed my wrists to
prevent me from fighting back. I began flailing my legs like a wildcat
in an effort to knee the second man in the crotch or to stab him with my
high heels. I was slowing him down and making him angry, but I couldn’t
prevent the two men from dragging me back towards the door of the
library.
As I struggled I could see two more men converge on
Tania. One of them slapped yet another rag over her face and the other
grabbed her wrists and pulled her off the man that we had chloroformed.
The man on the ground didn’t get up. We had taken out one of them, but
Ms. Mazona and I were severely outnumbered. I watched as Tania managed
to elbow one of her assailants in the nose. He cursed and I could see a
spray of blood. Tania seemed to be trying to cross her forearms
together, perhaps in an effort to break the man’s grip on her wrists.
Whatever she was trying to do, it didn’t seem to be working. Her fight
continued, but then I found myself dragged back inside the library and I
could no longer see what was happening outside.
Lack of oxygen
was making my chest burn and I desperately wanted to take a breath. I
was fighting my own instincts as well as the two men that were trying to
keep me under control while the chloroform did its work. The fear, the
running and the fighting had already taxed my endurance and I didn’t
think I could hold my breath for much longer. Suddenly the man in front
of me released one of my wrists. I immediately tried to claw the back of
the hand of the man holding the rag over my face, hoping to get him to
drop the cloth so that I could get some air.
A sudden blow to the
stomach caught me completely by surprise. The man in front of me had
released my wrist so that he would have an arm free so that he could
punch me! What little air I had left whooshed from my lungs and when I
tried to inhale my lungs were flooded with the anesthetic.
My ears began
to ring, my eyes were watering and I could feel warmth and numbness
spreading across my face. I knew I had to hold my breath, but I couldn’t
stop myself from gasping desperately for air.
“You idiot! I can’t believe you just punched her! Do you have any idea what Ms. Pryor is going to do to you?!?!?
“Fuck, Ms. Pryor... Once this Kent bitch is out, her ass is mine.”
I
glared at the man as he slipped his hand up my thigh and under my
skirt. It was probably a waste of my strength but I put everything that I
had into a defiant kick that drove the heel of my shoe directly into
his testicles. He crumpled to the ground at my feet and I was about to
kick him again when I felt the man behind me reach around and roughly
squeeze one of my breasts. I squealed into the rag as the man on the
ground tried to wrap his arms around my ankles.
Two figures
suddenly came flying through the side door of the library and tumbled
across the hardwood floor. Tania was grappling with one of the men from
outside. The man was holding a white rag and Tania was doing her best to
keep it away from her face, but I could tell that her movements had
become slower and less coordinated. I waited for Tania’s other opponent
to come crashing through the door, but he never did. Maybe Tania had
managed to take him out. Unfortunately it didn’t look like it was going
to matter. We were still outnumbered. I was slipping under quickly and
Tania didn’t look like she could hold out much longer either. Tania had
both of her hands locked around her opponent’s wrist that held the rag,
but her enemy was overpowering her. Tania watched in horror as the rag
seemed to creep towards her face in slow motion.
“No… no… not again...”
Tania
whimpered as the white rag was shoved into her face. She was too
exhausted and winded to keep herself from gasping and breathing in the
fumes, but her body still had a bit of fight left in it. She released
her grip on the man’s wrist and went directly for his eyes. The man
screamed like an animal and I saw blood roll out from under his mirrored
shades. I couldn’t see his injury, but I suspected that he would never
forget this battle with Tania Mazona.
“MMMRRR
MMMRFF
MM
FFFRRRMMM
MMMRRF
MMRRRFFFFFFF!!!!”
Tania
was screaming into the rag as she fought desperately against the man
that had her pinned to the floor. Finally the man could take no more and
he rolled off of her. He scrambled off to the side and sobbed in pain
while covering his wounded face with his hands.
Tania was free!
It
was now two against two again. If Tania could get the man holding my
legs to let go of me, I fantasized that we might have a chance to fight
the two remaining men off.
Unfortunately my arms were now
dangling uselessly at my sides. I realized that the man who was sedating
me now had his hand under my blouse and that I should probably try to
do something about it, but my body couldn’t be bothered to respond. My
ears were ringing, my head throbbed and despite the chaos of the battle I
found that the whole situation was oddly relaxing. Every squeeze of my
breast sent a soothing wave of pleasure throughout my body that made me
feel as if I were floating.
Holding my breath no longer felt necessary
and I breathed steadily into the rag as my attacker whispered soothing
things into my ear… telling me that it was ok to relax… ok to sleep… he
was such a nice man…
Tania couldn’t stand. No one was
chloroforming her at that moment, but the repeated doses had taken their
toll. She was going out. I watched as Tania desperately used what
little strength she had left to slowly… ever so slowly… cross her
forearms in front of her chest. Her eyes closed peacefully and for a
moment I thought that she might be saying a silent prayer.
There was a moment of silence…
When
Tania finally opened her glassy eyes and looked up at me
apologetically, I could tell from her defeated expression that her
prayer had gone unanswered. The man that had been holding my legs
released me and crawled over towards Tania as he pulled a white rag from
one of his pockets.
“No use… toooo… dizzy… can’t… concennnnmmmmmfffff… mmmnnn… nn…”
This
time there was no struggle.The man placed the white rag gently over her
face and Tania was too weak to resist. She melted helplessly into his
arms as the chloroform finally put her to sleep.
She looked so peaceful like that...
I couldn’t wait to sleep too...
…
Tania Mazona is the OC of 
