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Down the same aisle as the student with curly black hair, Harper was busy examining the list on the opposite end. She sat on the linoleum floor, daintily aware of her skirt folds, though in a manner that came as an unconscious second nature than conscious concern -- for she was, after all, on the dirty floor. Next to her was a short stack of two books. There were three titles scribbled on the list. She mouthed the numbers and letters of the call number until they were quickly memorized, freeing her of the awkward up and down bobbing motion that generally makes patrons look like chickens in a yard. Not that it was all bad -- she liked chickens -- but it would eventually give her a headache. Besides, in her two years at Crystal Academy so far, she had become rather familiar with this section of the library and was getting an idea of where the call numbers usually ended up on the shelf.

Gathering up her two books, Harper trawled down the aisle, eventually becoming rather close to the other student who was now examining a book of her own. Harper didn't begrudge her for the act, but she was also on the hunt.

"Excuse me," she interrupted softly, standing up, "could I search through here?"

Harper nodded her thanks when the other girl yielded the space, and browsed the area for the book... which should have been there, between PS 3552.O873 and PS 4008.A327. Confusion brought a small scowl to her face, as she had checked the availability on one of the library computers before beginning her search. Not one to give up so easily, she began checking books to the left and right, one shelf above and below.

A sharp shuffling of feet nearby snapped her attention away. The other girl had tripped over some books piled carelessly in the aisle when she had moved to make room. (Hopefully not the girl's own pile, because... how clumsy is that?) Once it set in what was happening, Harper reached out to try and help -- more of a large twitch in that direction, really, since she was so late to realize. Luckily, it turned out to only be a small gravitational fumble and the dark haired student seemed to recover quickly.

"Whoa, are you okay?" Harper asked in a forced whisper, keeping her arm extended as a safety net in case there was another tumble in store.

Harper nodded in a friendly manner and drew back her arm. "Good," she thought, "this girl's not a total klutz then." Finals took their toll on everything, even the library. Harper herself probably would have at least scooted over the small pile, too, while looking for her book. Ah, the book!

Standing to meet the dark haired girl before she could get away, Harper intercepted with a hand darting out to the book pile. It wasn't meant as a heavy touch, but one just meant as an unadulterated motion for attention. She valued being polite, though just as important was being direct.

"Just a moment! Could I have a look at these? I'm looking for one that should have been around here according to the call number, but I can't find it." There was still one more chance before she felt like she could respectfully drag a librarian into the mess.

"Thanks!" Harper said gratefully, though still keeping herself to the library whisper. The other girl could have just dumped them on her, so this was a surprisingly nice gesture. She ran her index finger over the now-exposed spines and their call numbers, from bottom to top, checking them against her mental note. "Don't you hate it when things aren't there when they should be like that? I checked before I started looking, so--" she cut herself short upon reaching the uppermost book. Unfortunately, it seems as though her book had already been claimed. At least she didn't need it for class, but it was aggravating to have been so close and so far. It's not like she was going to have a throw-down over a book. Harper sighed.

"Looks like we were on the same track today," she said, the annoyance dissolving away into a more good-natured acknowledgement of the other girl's victory. "Maybe you can let me know if it's any good?"

Giving up the prize? Could it be assumed it's not for the other student's finals, either, then? Harper blinked, momentarily thrown by a proposition she hadn't expected, entertaining the idea of taking the dark haired girl up on the offer. However, in the end, with the other books still weighing down her arms, she couldn't in good conscious take someone else's only book. Even if that someone else was a total pushover and deserved it. On the outside, she only dropped a beat.

"No, no don't worry about it," she assured, "I've got these other two to read for now." To emphasize the point, Harper clasped them to her chest with a smile. "And it's just for fun, after all," she added mentally. Just because someone was looking down the supernatural aisle to supplement a novel didn't necessarily mean that they were all that into the supernatural. Harper's family had ground it into her that it was a frivolous hobby, and she felt guilty enough indulging it in private. "I'll just look for it again next semester."

Well, if she insisted, Harper was not going to be the one to disappoint. It would be next semester by the time the other girl got to read it, too, but there was no need to point that out. To go back and forth about this much more was going to get silly, and, if she allowed herself to admit it, she did really want that book. Something about the eccentric wife who built a house to keep ghosts confused and at bay was really fascinating; that one could open a door, expecting a room, and get a brick wall. It was logically illogical.

"Okay then, if it's not a bother. Thanks aga--" Harper was cut off this time by the shock of the library losing power, drenching them in a semidarkness broken up by the filtered afternoon sun. The book in the other student's hand, obvious a moment ago, was now lost in the haze of her eyes adjusting. "Oh no, really, a blackout?"

The sound of thunder rolled through the library, causing Harper to pause. Sighing, she ran a hand through her hair in frustration.

"Yeah, it sounded like thunder, right?" Terrible weather sounded like it was looming on the front side of the building. Of course, weather was usually the cause of blackouts, but now everyone would be shoo'd out into the storm, and her without even a book to show for it. The sunlight still floating through the nearby window put on quite a mocking show. At least it meant the barn would be cool when she went to work, though. "C'mon, we may as well leave now."

Harper lead the way to the center aisle, albeit carefully in case there were any other stray books that hadn't been noticed. Her eyes had adjusted to the new darkness, yet there were still the darker shadows clinging to the shelves that could not be banished. Turning the corner, the center aisle was not much better, but it was at least large and free of stray books. Another clap of thunder, growling angrily. She peered ahead.

There were many natural phenomenons that Harper was willing to attribute to thunder without rainclouds. Maybe nature even invented heat-thunder, like it had heat-lightning. But what growled -- literally growled -- at the entrance to the building was not among any of that. It's appearance was only somewhat human, with its body made up of churning storm clouds, wings of impossibly falling rain, and claws that crackled with lighting. The only thing she could attribute it to was a true monster. She gasped as the realization hit her, which also awoke her other senses, and she quickly spun to hide behind the aisle.