Monstrous May 7. Camouflaged

Campus was quiet, Fall Break in full swing. The yards of the frat houses lousy with red cups were still. The winding road that branched throughout was slick with rain. The buildings seemed taller in the empty night, a leaf-littered wind racing between them unheeded.

When it was like this, Monica felt like the last person alive. And she loved it. While her coworkers dodged the archiving assignment, she eagerly volunteered. She walked the stacks, trailing her fingers along the books' spines. She took one down and opened it, literally stuck her nose between its pages and inhaled deeply. the smell of aged paper and ink were something akin to perfume. She sighed contentedly.

She placed the book back and ambled towards the front desk, where the computer hummed. You normally could never hear it over the sound of chatting students and the espresso bar of the coffee shop they'd installed. 

In this expansive silence, she unexpectedly heard something behind her. It was an old building and the single light in the lobby would spook anyone else. Monica kept walking at her leisurely pace.

But there it was again. She stopped this time. Yes, she was sure of it. It was a sniff. Staccato, like a dog huffing up the trail of something small, its tail wagging at the thought of crushing whatever it was.

Monica continued, not letting herself get anxious. At the desk she casually flicked her computer over to the CCTV security cameras. Most of them were grainy darkness, pixelated Rorschach blots swimming around. She saw herself on the main cam above the door. She stood still and watched. There, it was nothing, she told herself. 

A loud bang caused her to jump. She immediately grabbed her purse and dug out her taser. It crackled loudly as she urged it on. In the following quiet, she still only heard the computer's purr.

Monica carefully stepped over to the wall and turned on the lights closest to her. A book lay on the floor. She let out the breath she didn't realize she had been holding in. 

She walked back and snatched up the book. "Gave me a heart attack," she said to it. She put it back on the shelf and something occurred to her. It wasn't the book she had pulled out. It was on a completely different shelf. 

Monica rushed back to the desk. The wind was knocked out of her as she collided with something, like walking into a glass door. She fell back onto the ground. There was nothing there. 

She could see the computer monitor. The camera for the lobby was upside down, slowly turning. She looked and the camera was dangling by its wire. 

Something grabbed her by the ankle. Her skin squeaked against the green tile as she screamed out. She kicked and her shoe came loose. Immediately sitting upright, she engaged the taser and jabbed it in front of her. 

It made contact with something. Whatever it was cried out then fell to the floor with a thud. The smell of burnt hair rose up into the air. She waved a hand in front of her then along the ground. A little scream escaped her as she felt fur. 

After a few seconds, she reached out again. Her hands seemed to disappear as she felt the hair between her fingers. Tilting her head, she could see where the hairs were a perfect match for the tile, even the dark and cracked grout lines. If she looked through it to the wall, she saw the rusty bricks instead.

Monica got to her feet and hobbled to the desk. She grabbed the phone and called security. Once they answered, she wasn't sure what to say. She told them she thought someone was in the building. Once they got there she'd show them. The bored voice on the other end said they'd be there to check the place. 

As she waited, she kept the taser gripped tightly. Monica put her shoe back on, her eyes trained on the spot where her attacker lay. She went to nudge it with her foot but her shoe just kept traveling along the floor. Getting down, she felt around. Still nothing. 

Something moved out of the corner of her eye. She whipped her head around just in time to see all the lightswitches flip down, clicking all at once in the new darkness.