Ungodly Chaos Book Three of the Ungodly Series

Chapter Thirty-Two: A World Without

When the alarm went off the next morning, Emma grumbled as she shut it off and rolled out of bed for work. She had a headache and she had not slept well at all. She had a nagging feeling she was forgetting something important, which only intensified her sour mood. When her five minute warning sounded on her phone, she nearly threw the cell across the room.

“Stupid-ass useless technology! What did you ever do for me anyway?!” She yelled, then stopped, wondering why her mood was so very foul. “You'd think I got stood up or something.” Emma snorted, grabbing a donut for her on-the-go breakfast. She held it in her mouth as she locked the door, only to have the sound of a dog barking behind her make her yip and drop it. It landed with a dull thud on the ground in front of her and a furry yellow blur raced into view, greedily snatching it off the ground.

“I'm so sorry about that! Sunny! Bad dog!” A man jogged up beside her and grabbed the leash the dog was dragging behind it, and Emma felt a sudden pang of loss when she recognized the golden retriever's brilliant yellow coat. She backed up a step, feeling a hole open up in her chest. Why did the dog make her feel so sad? It looked up at her with a happy dog gin, tongue lolling out, tail wagging happily, probably expecting more donuts, and the man chuckled. “I'm really sorry. But Sunshine seems to like you. Let us replace your donut, hmm?” The man held out a hand with a couple of dollar bills in it, but Emma shook her head. The more she stared at the dog's happy and expressive face, the worse she felt.

“Excuse me. I've got to get to work.” She mumbled and fled to her car, trying to hide her tears as she climbed in and yanked on her seat-belt furiously.

“Wait!” The man yelled after her, but she sped out of her parking space and took the rest of the drive to the library, trying to figure out what was wrong with herself.

“It was just a damn dog.” She muttered to herself. “Just a damn dog!” She slammed her hands on her steering wheel, and then noticed her co-worker Ashley's car pulling into the parking lot behind her. Ashley waved and Emma groaned. “Oh lord, I do not want to play twenty questions today. 'Why do you look so upset Emma? Did you meet any nice guys yet Emma? Did you hear what so-and-so said Emma?' Ugh.” Emma mimicked Ashley and then huffed out a breath. She had to get herself under control. She was usually not this, this..

“Ridiculous!” Emma exploded at herself. She parked her car and looked herself in the eye in the mirror. “You listen here girlie-one false move out of you and I dump all the chocolate in the house in the trash.” She scolded, then heaved a sigh. “No, I wouldn't do that. That's cruel and unusual punishment.” Emma groaned and leaned her head on her hands on the steering wheel. For a moment, she just let herself pretend she didn't exist. She felt something cool brush the hair off the back of her neck and she yelped, swatting at it, afraid it was an insect. She shuddered and shimmied out of the car, shaking her clothes off to be sure she didn't have any little six-legged hitch-hiker friends.

“Ugh.” She shuddered. “Creeptastic.”

“What's wrong Emma?” Called Ashley from the doorway of the library. Emma stiffened and gritted her teeth. “By the way-do you have your keys? I think I've forgotten mine!” Emma rolled her eyes and slammed her car door before turning around with a falsely bright smile.

“Again.” She muttered under her breath as she approached the library.

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The rest of the day proceeded pretty much as normal, except Emma's temper remaining on edge. She was almost relieved when she had the opportunity to escape to 'the stash' in the basement. That is, until she made it most of the way down the stairs, and then it hit her. There was a reason everyone avoided 'the stash'. That creepy, oppressive feeling of something lurking just around the corner... With trepidation, she rounded the edge of the staircase and edged towards the cage, clutching the small stack of books to her chest. She waited to be hit with the familiar sense of foreboding, only.. she wasn't. For some reason, the cage down here in the basement felt... fine. Emma frowned.

“Probably just more poppycock.” She berated herself and unlocked the cage door. For some reason, the fact that there was no spooky feeling down here to haunt her upset her even further. Her frown deepened and she shifted the weight of the books she carried to one arm, feeling herself sinking further into her foul mood. As she stood on the stool to put away the last of the books, she felt a familiar prickling sensation, that if she just looked over the shelves at the right time, she would see... She jerked her head up, and there was nothing. “What?” She snapped at herself. “What did you expect to see?” She shook her head and slid the last book into place. There was a soft thud in the basement and Emma nearly choked.

“Hello?” She called into what she had thought was the empty basement. She was certain it was the sound of a footstep. Maybe someone had come down while she was busy. She stepped carefully off the stool, craning her head around the shelves to try to see if someone was in the outer part of the basement. “Hello? Is someone there?” Emma exited the cage, and followed what she was sure was the direction of the noise.

“Emma..” A voice whispered and something brushed her arm. Emma screamed and stumbled up the stairs as quickly as she could go, leaving the cage unlocked and her sanity somewhere behind her.

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It took forever for Ashley to get Emma calmed down again, and took both of them to go downstairs to lock up the stash. In the end, Ashley took her lunch break early so she could run to the nearest restaurant and get two steaming cups of tea in to-go cups. Emma clutched hers and stared out at the mostly empty library.

“I don't know what's wrong with me lately.” Emma murmured, turning the cup around and around in her hands.

“Hormones maybe. Have you had your hormones checked?” Ashley remarked, sipping from her tea. “I had this friend, she sorta lost it for a while, not that I'm saying you have, but turns out, her estrogen was all out of whack. All it took was a hormone pill.” Emma made a face. She had PCOS, her hormones were always screwed up.

“It's not that.” She answered softly.

“Don't be so sure! You could even be pregnant! Something like that really messes with a woman's brain.” Ashley chirped confidentially. Emma's expression soured.

“No, I couldn't.” She responded. “I can't have children.” Ashley looked stunned and sputtered, trying to backpedal swiftly, but Emma waved her off. “Don't worry about it. I don't advertise it much.” Emma commented dryly. Ashley looked properly chastised, and cast around for a new topic.

“So.. did the basement seem a little... I don't know.. different to you today? Like brighter and less.. I don't know? Less spooky?” Ashley remarked. Emma twitched.

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The rest of the day went rather smoothly and was nearly a test of Emma's patience. It was so very boring. The moment Ashley left, Emma breathed a sigh of relief, but it didn't last long. She could swear she was hearing someone move around in the library, despite it being empty. Emma bore out the rest of her work day on edge, and when the time came to lock up, she practically fled to the doors.

Pulling the doors closed and turning the key in the lock with finality, Emma latched the deadbolt of the library doors. She paced moodily to her car and, with a relieved sigh, made her way home. She sat outside her empty, foreboding home, staring glumly at it, reluctant to go back inside, but where else was she going to go? It was just so.. empty. Mentally, she shook herself.

“Ok, that's enough of this Emma! Get yourself together! What's wrong with you anyway?” She berated herself, then sighed. She seemed to be doing a lot of both of those lately. “Maybe it's time to go back and see that therapist again.” She muttered glumly, forcing herself out of the car. Emma hunched her way to the door and let herself in, mentally complaining about the same monotonous routine day after day. She kicked her shoes off by the door and dropped her purse and keys on the end table before going into the kitchen. She stared into the fridge, and then into the cabinets and decided it was a lost cause. Emma showered, brushed her teeth and went to bed.

That night, Emma dreamed of someone's arms around her. She couldn't see him clearly, but she woke up crying from the loss. She went to work the next day in perhaps an even worse mood, but luckily, there was no Ashley to contend with.