The reflection on the man's glasses was gone now. And in the place of the light were a pair of bright, inquisitive eyes. Red like the sunset. Red like the eyes of a person in a picture back in Cleo's room. Those were eyes that she knew well.
Those were her eyes.
And the eyes of a father that was no longer here.
"...Dad?" Cleo said, not believing the words coming out her mouth.
"I'm sorry," the man said, pushing his glasses up his nose bridge. "I'm afraid you've got the wrong person, dear."
Cleo blinked at him.
"I am Julius Vanderbilt Augustus. And frankly, I've never met you in my entire life."
"But you said that-"
"No, no, no, dear. You must have misheard. If you haven't entered this library, then that means we've never seen each other, understood?"
He winked at her.
Abruptly, the door to the office room burst open. On the other side was a very sweaty, out of breath, and discombobulated teacher.
"Ah, Ms. Mintz. How lovely of you to join us."
The woman looked up, noting the presence of Cleo and Mr. Augustus in the room, and straightened, attempting to rebuild the dignity that she had lost.
"Cleo," she greeted, dusting herself off. "There you are. Theo's been looking for you for ages already."
Cleo did not move. The woman, Laura Cyprus Mintz, had black hair, long enough to accidentally sit on, and brown eyes. The kindest, most loving brown eyes to ever rest on a face. And a smile, a smile that was warm enough to melt the coldest of hearts. Who was this woman, who so similarly resembled Cleo's mom? Just who exactly is Laura Cyprus Mintz?
"Now, now, dear. Off you go now."
Cleo nodded, and walked towards the door. Then she stopped.
"It was an accident. I was hit by a truck."
Ms. Mintz gasped.
Mr. Augustus sighed.
"You seemed like you wanted to know."
Cleo left the room. She knew that she was not supposed to know, but at least now, she knew that they were alive.
***
Mr. Augustus paced around the room, fidgeting with his hands.
"You know what it means if she's back," Ms. Mintz said, putting a hand on the librarian's shoulder.
"I know, Laura. Now, what are we going to do? Just let her die?"
"It's what the letter said. We should follow it. I'm sure everything will end up okay."
"Do you know who sent that letter? How can we just trust someone like that? We don't even know who wrote that! It could be some kind of demon! And you're just going to-"
"Julius!" Ms. Mintz hissed, slapping him across the face. "Don't talk about our daughter like that!"
He blinked in surprise. "W-who?"
"She's trapped. You know where."
"Then we should do something! If things continue along the same path, then she would just end up back there again!"
"We can't do anything. We barely escaped from there with our lives. We can't anger him anymore. We can't change anything. Not when the collector demands his due."
Mr. Augustus closed his eyes and took his glasses off. He massaged his temples.
"Then what do you suggest we do? If she dies, he'll just swoop in and put her in his little collection."
"She'll find a way to escape. After all, we did."
"We did it together. The top is not an easy place to break out of."
"I'm sure she's not alone either," Ms. Mintz smiled.
***
Rosa opened her eyes. She was free at last. She quickly got out of the hospital bed, and ran out into the hallway. Now she could finally reunite with her friends. But Ari was nowhere to be found. Rosa walked down the hall, past many different rooms, each labeled with a name that seemed strangely familiar to her, despite the fact that she had never met any of these people. At the end of the hallway was a room with the door open. Ari was inside, leaning on the bed, head in her arms, hands tightly holding onto the patient's hand.
"Rosa?" Ari looked up. She sniffed, wiping her tears away.
"What happened?" Rosa asked, walking further into the room. "What's wrong?"
"She's gone. She's gone."
Rosa slowly approached the bed where the patient was resting. She could see that this person's heart rate was a flat line. But beneath all of the medical equipment, she could not make out the patient's face. She could see the information on one of the monitors glowing eerily in the far corner of the room. She made her way around the bed until she stood before the screen. But it could not be possible.
"She's gone," Rosa whispered in disbelief.
"I know," Ari mumbled. Her eyes were red from crying. "I didn't think it was real."
Rosa tried to speak, but her mouth could not form words.
Ari sucked in a breath. She had been avoiding speaking the name of the patient, believing that if she did not admit the truth, then it had not happened. But no matter how much she hoped, she could not change reality.
"Cleo's gone."