It was amusing to Anna how many of the modern-day humans considered the work of Jane Austen to be insightful, meaningful, and wonderful. How did they know if Ms. Austen knew what on earth she was talking about? Had they been alive in 1800? No, not likely. Only vampires could live to be that old. And if they were not alive during that time, how did they propose to be the judges of a work of fiction about that time? Yes, it was all well and good to say she was a wonderful writer, but Anna found it amusing at how everyone seemed to take her settings and stories to be truth. If you asked any modern-day human what life was like during that time, they would most likely give a description that fit Jane Austen's perspective.

It was nonsense. Anna, having been alive during that time, understood that Ms. Austen intended her works to be taken as fiction. Yes, the overall setting was true enough, but all of the happy-ending, Cinderella-like stories gave people the wrong impression. Not everyone during that time ended up happy with the perfect man. No, Anna had seen many women during that era married off to men they despised. Yes, the rare few got lucky. Usually it was the rich ones though, which Austen's characters were not. Anna respected Ms. Austen as a fiction writer, but wished that overly dramatic teenage girls of the 21st century wouldn't swoon so much over her fairy tales.

Why was Anna so worked up? Well, it just so happened that she was reading Pride & Prejudice. She liked it well enough. It was a good read, and Anna understood the language better than most '17-year-old' girls would. She'd had some... practical use with it. But she co0uldn't be left in peace. Five minutes after she sat down at a table in the library with the book, a girl who supposed that they were of an age approached her and squealed with delight. "Oh, are you reading it too?" the girl asked with a Valley Girl accent. "I just adore Jane Austen. Sometimes I think that it would have been so much more interesting to have lived back then, you know?" she asked as she texted someone on her Blackberry at lightning speed. Anna didn't say anything, just nodded and continued reading. Hopefully the girl would get the icy vibe.

It was doubtful that anyone with that big of a cell phone dependency could have survived during Jane Austen's time.

Anna continued to ignore the ramblings of the teen, just nodding her head in supposed agreement. Her chilly attitude finally paid off when the girl gave her a disgusted look and announced that she was leaving. It was getting late, and her mother expected her home for dinner. Anna smiled at her for the first time. "Yes, it was nice meeting you."

Kids these days... They could be so presumptuous. Anna continued her reading, glad to be in peace for awhile.

Lynch shifted on the ratty chair behind the library counter and felt something jab him right in the... thigh. He sighed. The library needed chairs that weren't as odl as he was. Budget cuts. He shifted back to his previous position, deciding he'd rather his... thighs be numb than have a spring or something poking him. He didn't know the chair that well yet... Yeah, okay, bad joke, he admitted to himself, brushing at the hair that was currently falling into his eyes as he tilted his head down to look back at the book on the counter in front of him - The Complete Works of Edgar Allen Poe. It seemed the thing to read on the night shift at the big, quiet-sa-the-grave library.

There wasn't much exciting at the Ellis Winter Memorial Library, least of all Lynch himself. He'd finally shaved the black rug that had covered half of his face over the colder months, revealing features that were somewhat drawn, but mostly okay. Lynch had a dusting of black stubble over his cheeks. The word hirsute was a good adjective to describe Lynch. His five o'clock shadow usually made an appearance around two and his dark, silver shot hair was already covering his ears after he'd had it cut barely two weeks before. The slightly shaggy, raggedy look did nothing to detract from his slightly ragtag appearance, what with being in combination with the way his clothes sort of hung on him. It gave him a slightly gaunt appearance, though he had really just lost the middle-aged soccer ball he'd been carrying around.

He glanced up as he heard voices, or a voice, really. His first thought was that the girl's squealing wasn't really appropriate for a library. His second thought was that his first thought sounded like the kind of thoughts a fuddy-duddy would have. Lynch saw thta it belonged to a young giril, who was standing next to a young girl who was not squealing. Fortunately, the loud girl shut up quickly and even wandered off, not finding much complement to her annoying chorus in the second girl.

Not much of a surprise. Lynch recognized the girl who had been squealed at. Didn't know her name but she was here just about every night, had been since he'd started working the desk and doubling as a security guard. It was nice to know that some young people still read the classics and not just that fluffy vampire drivel that seemed so popular.

He went back to his book, but the mini-yelping episode had broken his concentration. Just when he'd ben at his favorite part too. For the love of God, Montressor! Looking back at the girl still sitting at the table, reading, the thought occurred to Lynch that, in addition to reading classic novels, he'd never seen the girl using the library computers or pulling out a cell phone to text away - he wasn't too old he didn't know what texting was. Because she was, at least fo the moment, more intresting than Poe, he continued watching her for a few moments.

Ah, the end of the road. Having vampiric abilities helped, yes. Anna's eyes could move faster than human eyes, and she had over three hundred years of reading to pick up comprehension speed. She'd finished the book in one sitting. All in all Anna thought that the book was alright. Yes, she'd read it before, but she was of the opinion that one learned something new every time through a good book. This time, she had garnered an appreciation for her own special experiences in the book's setting. Next time... who knew?

Getting up, she replaced the book on it's shelf and browsed for awhile before settling on another classic: The Scarlet Letter. Anna had read this one a number of times before as well, but it never really taught her anything new. The setting... Anna had lived through it. The 1600s in Massachusetts... Anna had lived out her childhood in Salem during those years. She understood exactly how it felt to be under the oppression of the Puritan laws. However, she had been a good and quiet child. Never a problem, really. A perfect Puritan daughter.

She settled back at her table again and started at page one. Just as she was starting to get back into a good reading rhythm (flipping the page approximately every seven seconds), she got a peculiar feeling. Glancing around, she realized why: the middle-aged man at the library desk was watching her. Anna quickly looked back at her book, but did not continue reading. Had he noticed her reading speed? Usually people just assumed she either skim-read or was looking for something specific. No human read at her rates.

Getting a little paranoid, Anna tried to focus on her reading again. However, her heart wasn't in it anymore. She got up from her chair and took the book over to the desk where the man was sitting. "Could I check this out please?" she asked. Then, with a little blush, she realized she might need a card first. She'd never needed a card before, as she usually finished reading books at the library. "Uh, I'll need to get a card first, though. I don't have one yet." She kept her eyes down, hoping that wouldn't be another clue to the man. Calm down, Anna, she reminded herself. No need to get worked up.

Closing his own book, Lynch yawned and rubbed the backs of his hands over his eyes. Almost closing time, he thoughtt o himself, glancing around the quiet library. His eyes fell on the only thing still moving - the girl. He watched as she flipped quickly through the pages of her book, obviously scanning for something. Maybe he'd been wrong and she was readinf for school... for some reason, he didn't like that thought, liked thinking that sh e was reading just to read.

She seemed to know he was watching her. Her eyes lifted from the page and fell, unerringly, onto him. Lynch quickly looked away, a little embarrassed that he'd been staring at her and gotten caught doing so. When she approached, he offered an automatic smile. "Sure and... sure," he said, digging around for the forms she needed to fill out to get a library card. "Do you live within the city limits? There's a fee if you don't." He slid he papers towards her, trying to remember what all he was supposed to say and ask. "You can pay with cash, credit, or debit."

PUshing her a pen, he glanced outside, where it was drizzling steadily. "Nasty driving out there."

Oh no... Anna knew her own address, but would he recognize it? If she wrote down the address for the abandoned church where her coven lived, she risked exposing the secret and causing an investigation. Thinking quickly, Anna recalled the address of an apartment building she had visited the week before. Hopefully the library wouldn't send any mail to her... The woman who had needed help carrying her groceries up the stairs one evening might not be too happy to know Anna was using her address to register for a library card.

Quickly scrawling the false address, her cell phone number, and other information into the form, Anna shook her head. "No, I live in Demaitre. Smack dab in the middle of it, so there shouldn't be any problems." It was true, the apartment building was near the center of the city. It would surely help her credibility to know facts about her own supposed home. About the only thing that could go wrong was if lived in that building. That would be... detrimental.

Once the forms were completed, she dug around in her pockets for money. Out came two crumpled dollar bills and not a few quarters. "Uh, how much is it, then?" She didn't exactly have a steady flow of cash into her wallet, seeing as she couldn't keep a day job. She just got money from odd jobs she did at night. Nothing steady. However, it wasn't like she needed it. She didn't have a car, she didn't buy food... there wasn't any taxes on her living space. No electric bill, no water bill... no income tax. She didn't need money very often. Yes, if she ever felt the great need she could make a withdrawal from the bank. She had quite a bit saved up... and her interest was sky high. The account was centuries old... literally. She made deposits every once in awhile.

Driving? Yeah, if you drove. Anna didn't even have her license. She had been born long before the age of the automobile, and even after Henry Ford sold his Model T's she hadn't felt the need to get one. "Uhm, yeah I guess. I didn't drive here though, so no danger." She'd get mightily wet though. Especially since vampires proved the theory that the faster you move through rain, the wetter you get. At her lightning fast speeds, Anna caught nearly ten times the water droplets someone moving at normal speeds would. She'd get drenched.

Lynch scratched at his stubble as she filled out the form and wondered, as he did several times a day, if he shouldn't just let the stupid beard grow back in. This shaving twice a day business was hell on his raors... he tuned into the moment again as she started talking, remembering that he was supposed to be cuteous and attentive or whatever. Good library employee, Lynch reminded himself, didn't want to lose this job. Yet.

"Oh, if you live in the city limits, there's no fee," he replied as she dug around for some money. He smiled his good library emplooyee smile, then frowned a little as she mentioned she was walking. A pretty young thing like that wandering around the streets ta night in the rain in the city iwth one of the highest per capita missing persons rates in the country? Yeah, that wasn't a recipe for disaster at all.

Glancing at the clokc, the words were out of Lynch's mouth before he had time to fully think them through and he said, "The library closes in about fifteen minutes and it takes me twenty to lock up. Why don't you let me drive you home?" Hearaing his words come back to him, he nearly winced as he factored in the creepy factor of them coming from a man his age to a girl hers. Lynch tried his best to look harmless, even as part of him said that letting her go off wandering (well, not literally 'wandering', she probably knew where she was going) would be irresponsible and how would he like hearing about her disappearing on the news tomorrow?