Caitlin gave her a somewhat troubled smile. “Well, thanks, London...I would, but my ride is coming back to pick me up...” She looked at her backpack, then took her phone out of it. “I guess I could text them where we're going and have them pick me up there...Where did you want to eat?”

London felt a sting of anxiety. Her eyes flew to the phone like it was a bomb. Caitlin could not let anyone know London was with her. When Caitlin disappeared, that would create problems. “Oh, nah, I don't want you to mess up your plans because of me,” said London casually. “We'll do it another day.”

With a nod, Caitlin put her phone away. “Alright. That's probably for the best. Sorry, London. Today is not that good for me, there's a lot going on.”

London could be sure that was true.

If she couldn't make Caitlin come with her willingly, what could she do? Well...it didn't leave many options. London would have to make her come unwillingly, wouldn't she?

Caitlin looked back down at her book. London felt a cold sweat on her forehead. She wiped it discreetly and pulled up a chair next to her. While she started making small talk, in her head her mind was racing.

Making Caitlin come unwillingly...that meant overpowering her somehow. London sized her up. She thought she could do it. Caitlin looked like an athletic, limber girl, but London was too, and she had a height advantage. However, she didn't see how she could fight her without drawing attention to herself. If she exposed herself here, it would defeat the entire purpose of trying to abduct Caitlin.

Usually she had the chloroform to help her, but it was in her car. Maybe she could go get it and come back? The alternative was overpowering Caitlin with brute force. Struggling with her. Caitlin might leave while London went out to her car, though. The volleyball girl didn't like the idea of letting Caitlin out of her sight until she was safe and sound in the cabin's basement. The thing was, though, even if she knocked out Caitlin with the chloroform, there was the matter of dragging her unconscious body out of the library. Evading detection doing this would be nearly as unlikely as evading detection with a brawl in the nonfiction section.

What if she backed off for now? Let Caitlin leave, get somewhere more private? No, she was too close to having the full picture. All she needed was the owner of the cabin, and that name was easy enough to obtain. Once she had it, she would go straight to her mom with it. If London let Caitlin leave this library under her own volition, London would probably never see her again, unless Caitlin decided to visit her on death row.

Was there another way to get Caitlin to step outside? London tried to think of something, and came up empty. Caitlin wouldn't venture outside for anything short of her ride coming to pick her up. The atmosphere of paranoia the volleyball girls had created ensured that.

Still, that gave her an idea.

“I'm glad I ran into you, though. I was nervous being here alone,” said London. “I know it's the freaking library...like, who's gonna try to kidnap me here? But still...you just never know. Honestly, that's the biggest reason I came over here.”

Caitlin smiled. “Yeah, I kinda thought you weren't just here to make small talk and pay your respects. I'm glad to see you too, honestly. As you probably guessed from how you startled me, I'm feeling a bit jumpy. We can stick together while we're here, if you want.”

“Yeah, that would be a big relief,” giggled London. “Just don't tell my friends what a chicken I am...”

“My friends already know I'm a chicken, so you can tell them whatever you want,” Caitlin replied.

London stood up. “On that note, I still haven't gotten the book I came here for...can you come with me down to the basement floor?”

“Sure,” said Caitlin. She sighed, closed her book, and tucked it under her arm as she stood up. “I'll put this back while I'm down there. Not quite what I'm after.”

The two girls walked to the stairs. “So, what are you trying to find?” asked Caitlin.

London wasn't a big reader. She actually didn't know the library that well, and had no clue what kinds of books the basement even held. “Well, I'm not sure exactly...” she stalled, as their shoes clanged on the metal steps. “It's not a specific book...just something about...”

At the bottom of the stairs, her eyes found the nearest sign. It read WAR. “...the Vietnam War.”

The basement was pretty devoid of people. The only person there was a lone librarian, doing some reshelving from a metal book cart. Maybe this was the place!

Caitlin reshelved her book, then they went over and looked at the war books. London spent a while there, looking through each book on Vietnam as slowly as possible. At the same time, she kept one eye on the librarian. Shelve faster, asshole! She knew time was of the essence. It wouldn't be long before she ran out of Vietnam War books, or Caitlin's ride showed up. She still didn't know exactly how long she had before the latter happened. That made the waiting all the more stressful.

“Oh, gross,” said Caitlin with interest, looking at a photo of some war crime that London was barely paying attention to. “It's astonishing, isn't it? Like, what was the point? I actually don't really know that much about Vietnam. Maybe I'll check this out if you don't.”

“Uh huh,” replied London.

She handed the book to Caitlin, then took another one down. Then another. The librarian continued to shelve. London's heart was pounding.

When Caitlin's phone buzzed, London nearly went into cardiac arrest. Caitlin took it out and looked at it. “Oh, that's my ride. Well, see ya, London. Remind me about lunch and we'll-”

Before she knew what she was doing, London clapped a hand over her mouth. She hooked her other arm around Caitlin's throat. Caitlin dropped the Vietnam book in shock and loosed a muffled scream into London's palm.

London dragged her behind a shelf, out of the librarian's line of sight. Caitlin kicked her legs, and her feet stamped noisily on the carpet.

“Stop it,” hissed London. She glanced at the librarian over a line of books. It didn't look like he noticed. “Stop it or I'll kill you right here.”

It was a bluff. London had nothing to kill Caitlin with except the arm around her throat, and she did not know how to use that effectively. She was actually already trying to choke the cheerleader into unconsciousness, but it didn't seem to be working. She could tell by the hot breaths in her hand that Caitlin was having no trouble breathing. Fuck! What was she doing wrong? What was there to know? Did she just not have enough arm strength?

Regardless, the bluff worked. Caitlin stopped kicking. Her breathing grew frenzied as she began to panic.

Minutes ticked by. MINUTES. London was surprised the people who came to pick Caitlin up hadn't come in to find her yet. London's hands were sweating. “Satan protect me,” she whispered. “Protect me please, protect your servant...let me deliver this girl to your arms. Let me deliver her. Please.” Caitlin gave a terrified murmur.

Then, the book cart was empty. The librarian filed the last book on the shelf, then turned and pushed the cart out of the room. Caitlin gave a final shout, but even in the quiet library, the sound was squelched below audibility.

London wasn't sure what to do now. She didn't have any time to think, only to act. Choking Caitlin wasn't working. Maybe a blow to the head would do the trick.

She slammed Caitlin's forehead against one of the heavy wooden bookshelves. Caitlin let out a gasp of pain, but remained standing, and the impact loosened London's hold enough for her victim to slip out.

Caitlin stumbled to her side on the floor, a hand to her head. Tears of pain and fear were streaming from her wide eyes. “London, what are...this is a joke, ri-”

She rolled over onto her back just as London charged at her. Caitlin brought up a leg and stomped her foot into London's stomach. London wheezed and dropped to her knees, curling forward, clutching her bread basket with both hands.

Caitlin turned and pushed herself up, her feet scraping the carpet in search of enough purchase for a run. She found it and took off for the stairs, shouting for help.

London forced herself up to her feet and took chase. It was a footrace. Who was the better runner, the cheerleader or the volleyball player? Who had done more laps, done more suicides on the bleachers at school?

The winner was London. She tackled Caitlin to the floor before the ponytailed girl reached the stairs.

She grabbed Caitlin by the hair to slam her head against the floor. Caitlin felt what London was doing, though, and resisted. She wouldn't let London pull her head back, and she wouldn't let her push it forward. It was an amount of strength that surprised London.

“Quit...resisting me,” London ordered her through clenched teeth as she pushed and strained. “You're not strong enough. You've never lifted anything heavier than a pom pom. You're just a weak, soft, scared little girl.”

Caitlin growled and drove her elbow up and backwards. She found London's ribs once, then twice, then thrice. London cried out, and her grip on Caitlin's hair fell away. With more room to work, Caitlin pushed herself up, then delivered a full-force elbow right to London's mouth. The volleyball player was forced backwards, where her back collided with a bookshelf. Books rained down around them.

“London, stop!” implored Caitlin, finding her feet and turning around. “What's the matter with you? Don't do this-”

London charged at her. Caitlin jumped out of the way, sending London toward the stairs. She put her hands on the banister to stop herself, then turned around for another lunge.

Caitlin jumped again. This time, not to the side, but backwards, up at the bookshelf that London had bumped into. Caitlin landed on the fourth shelf from the bottom, then gracefully sprang up the rest of the way to land on top of the bookshelf.

London put a shoulder into the bookshelf to tip it over. Caitlin kept her balance, then jumped to the next one. London tried again with this shelf, and once again Caitlin escaped. They were making tons of noise. London might have had seconds before the librarians showed up.

Maybe Caitlin was tougher than she looked, tougher than London gave her credit for. She picked up her teammates all the time: threw them, caught them. That took some upper body strength. Plus, she had gymnastic abilities as well. She could stunt, she could jump.

But London would have made a pretty sorry captain of the volleyball team if she couldn't jump as well.

She pushed on the next bookshelf, and Caitlin jumped again. This time, though, London was ready. Positioned under Caitlin, London jumped at just the right moment. She stretched out her arm, aimed every inch of height and reach she had at Caitlin's ankle.

She found it. Her hand closed around Caitlin's ankle, tripping her up in midair.

Caitlin's forehead crashed against the top of the bookshelf she'd been trying to land on. The girl ragdolled to the floor, blood oozing from her head. London stood over her still, lifeless form, panting heavily.

She put a hand to Caitlin's chest. Her heart was still beating, she was alive. That was good. London didn't especially care whether Caitlin lived or died, but she still didn't want her death to be meaningless. If this girl had to die, it should be for Satan. She should be his.

She looked around, then spotted a high basement window. She opened it, then moved a chair underneath it. Acting as fast as she could, she grabbed the unconscious Caitlin under her arms and heaved her outside.

There was a line of bushes running along the wall of the library and immediately outside the window, shielding them from view of anyone who might be there. London peeked through the bush to get her bearings. They were right next to the parking lot! She could see her car!

But she could also see a car idling there. The engine rumbled and exhaust billowed in the cold air. This must have been Caitlin's ride.

Caitlin's phone buzzed. London fished it out of her backpack.

[Alicia]: We're here

[Alicia]: Hello?

London swallowed, then texted a quick response.

[Caitlin]: Not ready yet, come inside?

[Alicia]: k

A few seconds later, the car engine turned off. London saw Alicia and Lindsey get out of the car and enter the library.

The coast was clear. London heaved Caitlin over her shoulder and rushed to her car. She dumped Caitlin in the backseat...and received a kick in the jaw.

Caitlin had woken up.

“Help!” Caitlin screamed. “Help!”

London threw herself on Caitlin, clamped a hand over her mouth. The chloroform bottle was on the floor. She fumbled for it with her other hand, found it, scrabbled the lid off. Caitlin threw a punch at London's temple, causing London to knock the bottle over. Chloroform spilled onto the floor of her car.

London's wandering hand found her purse on the shotgun seat. She grabbed it, dipped the bottom of it into the spilled liquid, then mashed it against Caitlin's mouth and nose.

Caitlin struggled for only a moment. Then, the fight left her. Her arms fell to her sides, and London felt her whole body go limp beneath her.

London sat up, straddling her. She looked at her ruined purse, then tossed it back on the seat it came from. What she should have done was jump behind the wheel and drive away. But she did not, not immediately. After taking a few seconds to look down at the lifeless cheerleader, she laughed. It was the giddy, adrenaline-fueled, boiling tea kettle pressure release of a laugh that came with escaping a dangerous situation with her life, of defeating a dangerous opponent, of snatching victory from the jaws of defeat.

And then, a feeling of raw, undiluted power. She sat and breathed it in. She was strong. She was invincible. Because her lord was on her side.