"Adam, may I have word with you?"
Stopping in his tracks, he spun in motion to see no to other than Taylor herself; the cross dressing person who is one of the many librarians working in Patrimony Library was standing right in front of him with a serious expression on her face. The two of them stood in silence as they stared at one another for what seemed like forever.
"Yeah?" He raised his eyebrow slightly at the odd request, wondering what kind of important matter would warrant such a need, "what is it, Taylor?" Calling out her name directly to get straight to the point as he has other things to do.
"My..." she carefully thought over what she was about to say, before continuing, "my manager wants to speak with you," her voice remained calm and steady, "he has an important matter he wishes to discuss with you," the librarian finished with her eyes locked on his.
A sigh escaped his lips, "oh great, more people to converse with," groaning in exasperation as this has been happening ever since he came to this city, wanting to just be left alone and have others leave him be for once, "okay, fine. Take me to your boss then," giving up on trying to refuse her offer.
It was strange that he agreed in this; usually he would deny an request, especially someone he doesn't know but unknown force compels him to accept Taylor's words as they have importance to be taken seriously, causing her to nod her head once, "follow me please," turning around and walked ahead, expecting him to follow her lead without question.
Walking at her side, the silence between them was starting to get uncomfortable and awkward for both sides; neither party having anything to say to each other in order to pass time during their short journey, the only sounds emitting throughout this spacious lobby is children and parents speaking amongst themselves.
The little girl he spoke with appears to have some eerily resemblance of Taylor herself, the similar facial features, eyes, hair style and the way she speaks in tone. In addition to how the two interact with one another, it has him thinking if they are indeed related or not in some way.
"Do you have siblings by any chance?" Adam asked the question out of nowhere, causing the both of them to stop as he patiently watched her turned around, frowning from this unexpected inquiry, causing her to respond in a cold tone.
"No. Why do you ask?"
"Because I met a girl who goes by the name Emily and she—" He couldn't finish his sentence when her expression changed into pure horror, making him take a step back from such sudden change in character, "uh, are you okay?"
"T-that can't be..." Her eyes were wide as saucers, "can you describe her appearance to me?" She demanded with urgency as though she needs to be absolutely certain that it was really her. Because the only one person she knows by that name is her dead younger sister.
"Well..." Adam paused briefly to collect his thoughts, "she has the same face as you, similar hair, brown eyes, around 11 years old and wears long dress with stuffed toy, Emily carries everywhere," the answer was what she needed to hear as Taylor quickly grabbed him by his shirt, firmly clenching the material with such strength that the fabric could easily tear under her grip if she wasn't careful.
"Where did you see her?" Her voice grew louder and louder, attracting attention from nearby pedestrians, "I need to know!" Shaking him violently in such extent that Adam begin to feel dizzy by the moment, wanting to escape her grasp from this uncomfortable position he has found himself in.
"Calm down! I'm trying to think here!" He yelled, snapping the woman out of her frenzied state as she let go of her hold on him, stepping away slowly, "thanks," clearing his throat awkwardly, "anyway, are you perhaps her sibling?"
Taylor briefly scan her surroundings around, noticing the growing crowd of people staring at them from making huge scene, "we need to speak somewhere private," she turned and motioned her finger, signaling for him to follow her direction, "come, my manager's room is close," walking forward without looking back to make sure he was following her lead.
Sighing quietly to himself, Adam reluctantly went along with it; not understanding what the whole fuss is about as they made their way toward the end of this long hall and into an restricted elevator meant for staff only, heading up to the second floor of this large building.
Once inside, a few seconds passed by before reaching the destination level, making the two of them have short moment of peace between them in this shaft; allowing him to finally get the bottom of this, "can you give me an explanation to this?" He inquired bluntly for this issue was becoming increasingly strange, "I don't have all day."
"Emily is my younger sister who I believed to be dead," Taylor calmly explained as they stare each other, keeping her composure steady despite having tense conversation, "a sibling I wish to have killed the moment she was born," her confession caught him off guard, causing the young man to stop in his tracks.
"Is it because she killed your parents or something?" Confirming if his hypothesis is correct to which he was unfortunately by the mere observation of her body language, "wow," shaking his head in disbelief of this unbelievable fact.
"My younger sister is natural born sociopath," she elaborated with a neutral tone in her voice, "someone who can't understand or relate with anyone else around her, only living for own enjoyment and taking pleasure in hurting others for her own amusement," angrily clenching her fists tightly, "she burnt our whole house down, trapping me and my parents in there."
He couldn't believe what he was hearing, "are you serious? And here I thought I was messed up in life," muttering to himself softly, "so you survived," answering the obvious question, "what happened then?" Adam wondered how she somehow manage to escape before the whole place burnt to ashes.
"I had to endure excruciating pain from the smoke filling my lungs, as I crawled on the floor to try and get out of the house..." Taylor said before glancing over at him with an ice cold glare that sent a chill down his spine, "my parents, however, weren't so lucky," she finished bluntly, leaving him in complete silence for several seconds.
Nodding in sympathy of what she has been through, "but you are alive, that is the best part of all in this," his words triggered her to take an interest in him, "what?" He questioned the way she looked at him with those eyes, "did I say something bad?"
She coldly looked at him from toe to head before turning away from him, "why do you think so?" The answer secretly pissed her off, ready more than ever to punch his face for asking something like this but chose against it as there is more important matters at hand than wasting time on violence.
Adam took a step back, leaning behind him on the wall as he closed his eyes for moment before opening them, "because we still have many things left to live for, even if it means that we have to struggle a lot," he spoke with certainty of his words, "if it's not for us, then for the people that need you, or the ones that rely on us for support and guidance," Adam gave Taylor a small smile.
"We have our limbs intact, the spirit and will to continue against the odds, and most of all," pausing to add dramatic effect on his sentence, "we are alive," the moment he said that, Taylor's eyes widen in realization as though a weight has been lifted off her shoulders.
"Alive?" Almost choking out the word, she repeated that sentence while slowly realizing that what he is saying is right, "alive," she smiled, "I am alive," with newfound confidence, Taylor held her head high with pride, "is this what you mean by that?"
"Yes, exactly," he nodded and grinned, "you are alive, and I am alive. That is the most important thing to have in life," his words resonated with her, making the young woman to feel enlightened by such profound revelation, "we grieve our dead loved ones as way to learn from the mistakes we made, and that's okay."
Her expression softened at his statement, "but, don't let it stop you from moving forward and living what you wanted to be," the young man concluded, facing away from her, "perhaps that is the key to find our own form of happiness," spoken like true philosopher.
It felt like Taylor had been struck by lightning at those words. How could someone like him, someone she barely knew, manage to come up with such profound insight that is able to break through her mental barriers and change her perspective in life?
She couldn't fathom how simple person capable of being this perceptive of the world around them that there is still hope left for humanity to recover from its fallen grace, to find themselves again in their own terms, to become one with nature, and to live happily ever after.
Feeling ashamed of her own ignorance and naivety, ashamed that she didn't realize sooner what her true calling is, what she has been doing all these years, and who she really is. She realized now what she must do, "I'll think about what you said," he could hear the sound of determination in her voice.
Smile slowly grew on his lips, "that is all I needed to hear," as he said those words, the doors automatically slid open, allowing the two of them to walk out from the elevator together, resulting the doors to close behind them after walking out.
The second floor of The Patrimony Library is even larger than the first floor, with towering shelves that extend to the ceiling. However, it is noticeably darker due to the lack of windows. There is a large circular table in the center of the room where several staff member sit and talk about books. The area is lit by a series of hanging lights that provide a warm, cozy glow to the otherwise dark room.
Suffice to say, this restricted place is more quieter than before; seeing barely anyone moving around in loud voices while others are seen doing their own thing such as reading, writing or browsing. This is where her boss resides, the one who manages and own this building.
"This is where only the staff is allowed, the place that is considered as the heart of the whole library," Taylor pointed out, gesturing her hand to the nearby hallway to their left, "our destination is this way," causing him to silently followed her without a word, letting her lead the way since he had no idea where they are heading.
So many fresh books that are out for everyone to read, the young man couldn't help but be in awe of the sight that is present before him. He looked around curiously at the shelves that stretch up toward the ceiling, and the walls lined with more shelves.
This floor has more staff members than the first floor, but they seem less sociable and more quiet compared to the ones below. Respecting the needed silence of the environment, no one wanted to speak with each; let alone whisper in conversation.
He prefer these of type people, individuals who know how to be themselves and don't care for what other people thinks. As he walked alongside with Taylor, he took note that she seemed more calm than usual as though she has found her own resolve from his speech moments ago.
Once they reached their destination, stopping in front of strange door with seemingly odd appearance with complicated mechanism and details. Looking like it came from the future and the past at the same time, which is unusual for any office room.
"This is his room," Taylor spoke to him as they stood there in front of it, "my manager is expecting you," she told him before pressing her finger against the button beside the door, causing it to slowly open. Revealing a cozy office room with a single desk in the center with a chair in front of it and back, while the rest of the space is occupied with boxes filled with files and papers stacked on top of each other, along side of book shelves lined against the walls.
But what caught his attention is the elderly man sitting behind of the desk, writing something down with his pen. Wearing yellow polo shirt, grey pants and glasses with a neatly combed white hair and a beard to match it as he looked up to notice his guests.
"Come in, there is much to talk about."
