~Books are the plane, and the train, and the road. They are the destination, and the journey. They are home.~
-Anna Quindlen-

The night was filled with sheer serenity as the cab traveled all the way down the narrow road from the station to drop us two to the center of the Earth; our universe. The air carried a faded scent of the forest as it rushed in through the rolled down windows. Once over with our silent journey, I paid the driver and led the foreign girl towards the familiar building. With quiet steps, I entered inside and then stretched my arms after putting the heavy carton on one of the tables by the main entrance of the library. An overhead bulb shone dimly in the darkness of the night for the convenience of my tired eyes.

"Don't tell me this is your home!" I heard excitement drooling in her voice as she ran ahead of me between the high bookshelves, her hands lingering over the books which were neatly displayed in rows and columns all around us. I felt myself getting envious of her bubbling energy after such a long journey.

"Well, it is." A light smile colored my lips as I saw her little silhouette spring here and there between the floor-to-ceiling wooden racks. Taking out an old copy of Wuthering Heights, she inhaled the nostalgic scent of the paper that I had grown to adore a lot over time.

"Unbelievable." She turned around and whispered. I noticed that her eyes were wide like a little kid's who saw a shooting star for the first time in his life. She held the book close to her heart as if hugging it dearly.

"You like it?" My hopes perked up a slight notch.

A cute smile spread on her face as I saw her ocean eyes go wider and blink so many times before she opened her mouth to answer. Bemusedly, I took in her bright features surrounded by her silver hair that perked out in every direction possible. She seemed to be evaluating her words before letting them out of her rosy lips.

"You know, there are stages of this. When we say we like something, we mean to say that we are fond of that thing but then there's this word love that transforms that fondness to something called obsession. It's complicated. Yeah? So..well, I neither like it nor do I love it. I guess I would just say that I'm on a journey around the world and I'm excited as hell to make the most of it! Umm..that's my answer..yeah." She raised a finger to seal her words and turned around to place Wuthering Heights back while balancing herself adroitly on tiptoes. I wondered that without her boots, she won't be able to take it out again. Maybe I'd place it somewhere lower since it was the first book she took out and might want to give it a read.

"Don't worry, I have my ways." The right corner of her lip lifted up slightly as she noticed my eyes scanning her boots. By now, I had understood that she was quite observant and could perceive mere expressions as whole sentences. "By the way, I don't reread books." She shook off her hand dismissively and turned the corner to walk into another alley full of books.

I frowned and followed her. "Why don't you reread?" I felt stupid for asking this question but I needed to know if she had a theory behind it too. By now, she was sitting on the floor, balancing her weight on one of her bent knees and the other on her boot. I could see her midnight eyes searching the lower cases as an almost-invisible-to-be-noticed crease sketched itself on her forehead.

"You want the long answer or the short one?" Her casual voice floated towards me over the homey scent of old books as she dug in further into the lower shelf.

"The long one." An amused smile appeared on my face as I went to take a seat by her on the floor, my back resting against the book case. My reply was a bit odd, provided the amount of travelling I had done, but all I wanted was to hear her tonight.

"Hmm." She twisted one of her delicate earlobes between her thumb and forefinger as she sat down on the floor and crossed her legs. I could see a copy of The Notebook resting in her lap as she started speaking calmly in a low voice.

"Okay, so here it is. Personally, I have found myself wondering this often that life is too short for this and life is too short for that." She rolled her sparkling eyes vaguely before continuing.

"There was this time when I used to reread my favourite books and gain pleasure but eventually, I developed this feeling that this world is full of so many unread books and my life is too short to read them all before I die. So..in this context, if you observe, rereading a book is a wastage of those moments which you can spend reading a new book and learning something new. All those moments that you spend rereading, you are missing a new adventure out there waiting for you." Her deep blue eyes were lit with a bright emotion as her words set in my heart slowly and wholly.

I realized that my jaw had dropped open as I knocked out of the mesmerism she had created with her voice. I noticed that she was standing upright looking down over me. The Notebook was nowhere to be seen. I scowled at her as she lent her feeble hand to me.

"Don't loose yourself often like that. You might miss a lot of adventures in the process." She smirked as I took her hand and stood up.

"That was a pretty good theory and uh..I think I'm not gonna reread a book again in my life." I rubbed my free palm over the back of my neck.

"That was MY theory, Aaron. It applies on me. I am not universal so isn't my theory. You've got to explore your own one to apply it to your life. Mine won't work for you." Her silver hair ruffled smoothly as she turned around and spoke to me secretively, her features molded into a soft expression. I realized she was still holding my hand. My heart picked up pace as I absorbed the fact that in this alley filled with hundreds of mysteries, surrounded by the night air, she had called my name for the first time.

"Get acquainted to it. I'm gonna use it a lot." Her soft chuckle echoed all the way down my heart as she trotted ahead and disappeared behind another rack of books. It was then that I started doubting that maybe she could read minds and had a super talent of hypnotizing people as she talked off her complex thoughts. She created this maze around you as she started talking and by the time she reached the end, you were already lost in that labyrinth, feeling stupid and drunk.

I hurried after her only to find her handling her luggage in both of her hands. "So, where do I sleep?" She tilted her head to one side and raised an eyebrow as she saw me approaching her. I wondered if her eyes always glittered like this or was it an illusion in the dark? I decided to wait for the morning before reaching a conclusion about it.

I searched for an answer to her question and panicked suddenly. Where would she sleep? This was a library and I had no bedroom for her. I used to sleep in a reading nook between the bookshelves and my luggage was placed in a small cabin at the back side which was used by Rob.

Thinking of Rob, I wondered where he was. He always stayed up till I arrived home safely and he was nowhere to be seen up til now which was a rare sight.

"Did you seriously offer me to stay at your place without having a sleeping corner for me??" I knocked out of my reverie as she waved her hand in front of my eyes. "You shouldn't offer people such treats if you are empty-handed yourself." Rolling her eyes, she set the luggage down.

"Who said it's a treat?" I raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?" A look of horror crossed her face.

"Not as bad as you think. You're going to work here." I smiled.

"Listen to me, Aaron Troy!" She raised a pointed finger to my nose, her eyes firing out a spark of anger. "You don't add up things to a commitment once it's decided. Moreover, you don't do it after midnight especially because one needs to sleep and I tell you something tonight, remember it for life, sleep is something over which I don't compromise! So tell me where I'm going to sleep or else I'm gonna throw this luggage on your floor, find your bed and dose off before you even know!" Shoving me in the shoulder with a fist, she snapped at me. She had taken me back for sure once again.

"I know where you're sleeping, follow me." I raised my hands in defense and turned around before she could slap me in her outrage. This girl was a whole lot of firework!

Walking down the rows of bookshelves, I reached at the back of the building and opened the door to my study. It wasn't a study in a true sense because I had a mattress laid down on the floor so that I could lie down and read after an exhaustive day. It was a place I loved but I had no choice than to sacrifice it for this wild girl who carried trouble on her sleeves because I couldn't just let her sleep into a reading nook which was open to all in the daytime.

"Don't worry, I'll work here." I turned around to see her awe-struck face. She might have guessed what a big sacrifice I was giving for her to take this decision.

"I'll be glad to have you here." I spoke lightly, my voice barely audible, as I saw her silver hair all messed up around her face and thought how cute she was. Very few people could carry this messy hairstyle with such grace.

"Don't look at me like you've never seen anyone with silver hair before." She turned her face upwards as I looked down on her. She was short and crossed my shoulder barely.

"Actually, I've not." I chuckled.

"Well, that's a shame. Silver is magic, don't you know?" Her eyes shone brilliantly as moonlight reflected from the window in their crystal blue pearls. I could feel light air caressing the back of my neck and playing with her hair which were sparkling to the verge of silver glitter in the glow of the moon. I was about to reply when her sight wavered and landed on something behind me. A gasp escaped her lips as her eyes sparkled impossibly. It felt as if the whole moonlight had melted and poured itself in the deep ocean of her eyes. My breath hitched.

"Dream catchers are my weakness, Aaron Troy." Her voice reached my ears in the lightest of the whispers as she shoved me gently and passed by me to the window in a trance. Reaching for the purely white dream catcher hung over it, she pulled it down carefully after setting the flowing net curtains aside. Then she did something really strange and a goofy grin spread on my face awkwardly.

Turning around, she placed the dream catcher on her head as if it were a crown and smiled. The white object blended perfectly with her short silver hair and the feathers hung around her face beautifully. She looked heavenly and I had a sudden urge to ask her if she was an ethereal creature.

"Say something, Aaron. You know, you should praise a girl when she turns around and smiles at you." She sighed and her smile wavered a bit.

"When you said silver is magic, I didn't believe it until...I turned around to see a dream catcher crowning your head, your silver hair glowing in the moonlight and your eyes all melted with happiness. You really shouldn't do that to normal people like me, Cara Evelyn,'cause it gives them an illusion that miracles do happen." The words flowed out of my mouth easily. I didn't know if it was the effect of the moonlight or this heavenly sight in front of me that I felt so much at peace. I almost felt as if I was drunk and blabbering out a facade of addictive emotions.

"You know what, you really shouldn't praise a girl after she asks you to, 'cause it doesn't feel real." She rolled her eyes and laughed. Her laugh jingled in the air and I felt as if someone had hit a wind chime somewhere in the night air.

She walked gracefully towards me and stood in front of me, white feathers caressing her cheeks and neck now and then. "Can I keep it?" An innocent look passed through her deep eyes and for a second, I thought as if she had transported somewhere in her past.

"It's yours." A genuine smile spread across my face as she extended her arms upwards to take it off. For a second, I wondered if my grandma would approve gifting her gift to someone else but then I shook off the thought.

"Thankyou." She whispered as I saw a slight hint of childhood reflecting back in the depth of her eyes somewhere. "It means a lot to me."

Turning around she went and sat down on the mattress. As she took off her shoes, I noticed that her feet were slender and beautiful. A tattooed rose peeked from under her jeans and continued on the top of her right foot. Her nails were decorated with grey nail paint and I couldn't believe that someone could be so physically flawless as her. Taking out the pistol from her long boots, she placed it under her pillow and looked up to pass me a childlike smile.

"Now if you excuse me, I really want to sleep." With that she laid down and put an arm over her eyes while crossing her legs. "Don't forget to shut the door behind you. I really don't like sleeping in the light." Her voice was coming out real slow and I guessed the tiredness of the journey was washing over her after all. I smiled slightly and turned around to exit.

"Aaron?" I was on the edge of the room when her whisper halted me. My heart stopped at how beautifully she pronounced my name, it almost sounded as some magical word of a foreign language.

"Yeah?" I turned around.

"What's that sound?" She still had her arm over her eyes and her voice barely reached me.

"What sound?" I felt my ears perk up for any extraordinary sound.

"Is that water?" Her voice felt like melting honey as she dosed off slowly.

"Oh that!" A smile lit up whole of my face.

"Yeah..that." I heard her whisper over the sound of waves crashing against the shore.

"It's the sea." I whispered back.

Author's Note

The song for this chapter is "Uncover" by Zara Larsson. This is actually the main song of this whole book. :)

Please leave your feed backs. Am I disappointing you guys? Please be honest.

This chapter was not something I planned. It just.....well, it just had to fit in somewhere. I am not satisfied with it's beginning but the end is totally like my type. :') Also, I'm not planning to add pictures anywhere in the upcoming story unless it's VERY important.

P.S if you like this story then go check out my other book "Imaginations May Go Wild ♥". You might as well enjoy that too. :)

Much Love xX
Hazel *-*