Chapter 4 The Library Door

Amara Blake had never looked at a library the same way again.

Her heels clicked sharply against the silent corridor as the final bell of the day rang, its echo still hanging in the air. The throngs of students poured out of the classrooms, laughing, calling to one another, their voices a blur of noise as they brushed past her. In that moment, it felt as though the world was moving in fast forward while she was suspended in stillness. But what truly stood out was the strange sense of being watched.

Not by them-her classmates, her peers,But by him.

Liam Carter. She hadn't seen him all day. Not during lunch, not in the hallways, and certainly not at the locker as she had secretly hoped. Not a glimpse of his infuriatingly smug expression that always seemed to have a smirk dancing at the edges of his lips, like he knew something she didn't. But there it was a note. Tucked inside her Macbeth textbook. And it gnawed at her, as if it had been carved into her skin, its message burrowing deep into her mind:

OPEN THE LIBRARY DOOR TOMORROW 5PM ALONE IF YOU DARE

Her fingers still tingled from touching the paper. The ink was smudged in places, as if it had been written in a rush a flurry of emotion that only made her pulse quicken.

She had no idea what to expect. Part of her screamed to burn the note, pretend it never existed, and run straight to the school board. This wasn't a game, it wasn't a dare it was dangerous. But then there was that other voice quieter, almost tempting that whispered deep within her: Go. Just go once.

So she did.

At exactly 5:00 PM, Amara stood in front of the library door. The hallway was completely empty. The school, which usually thrummed with the hum of activity, felt eerily still. The air was thick with something else, something she couldn't put her finger on something unwritten. It was the kind of quiet that seemed to hold its breath, waiting for something to happen. Something dangerous.

Her heart thudded against her chest as she paused before the door, her hand hovering over the cold metal handle.

It was locked.

For a fleeting moment, relief washed over her. Maybe he had changed his mind. Maybe this whole thing was just a mistake. But then, without warning

Click.

The door unlocked from the inside.

Her breath caught. And before she could react, it creaked open.

There he was.

Liam Carter stood in the doorway, dressed entirely in black, sleeves rolled up, his usual school ID nowhere in sight. The transformation was immediate. He didn't look like a student. He looked like someone who belonged somewhere else. Somewhere dangerous. Trouble.

"You came," he said, his voice low, almost a challenge. He stepped aside to let her pass.

Amara hesitated, her pulse quickening.

"This is crazy," she whispered, but even to her own ears, it sounded like a lie.

"So leave," he said casually, his eyes never leaving hers.

She didn't move.

The library was nearly pitch black, save for the single desk lamp in the far corner casting long shadows across the rows of books. The silence was suffocating. It felt as if the walls themselves were watching, waiting.

He led her between the aisles, his presence like a shadow at her back. He didn't say a word, and neither did she. They moved in tandem, an unspoken understanding hanging between them like a heavy fog.

Finally, they reached the back of the library, tucked away from view. There, hidden in the furthest corner, was a row of books, tall and imposing. A place where no one would dare to look. It was as if they were the only two people left in the world.

"I shouldn't be here," Amara whispered, her voice barely a breath.

"Then go," he replied, his tone almost too calm, too controlled.

She didn't move Not yet.

"Stop saying that," she muttered, frustration bubbling to the surface.

"Why?" His voice was softer now, but with a dangerous edge. "You think I don't see it? Every time I walk into your classroom, you stop breathing. Your eyes always land on my mouth like it's forbidden. Like it's something you can't have."

"It is forbidden," she said, her voice cracking as the weight of his words settled on her.

He stepped closer Too close.

She could feel the heat of his body pressing against her, his presence swallowing her whole. Her heart thudded painfully in her chest.

"Do you really think I care about the rules?" he asked, his lips barely an inch from her ear "I care about you."

Her mind screamed at her to push him away To step back. But something in his words something in his voice rooted her to the spot.

"That's a lie," she breathed, the words tumbling from her mouth like they didn't belong to her.

"Is it?" he murmured, eyes intense, almost searching "Because I've been counting down the hours just to be near you again Just to look at you without a classroom full of eyes between us."

Her breath hitched His words stirred something inside her-a mixture of fear and desire, pulling her in different directions, leaving her dizzy.

His hand brushed against her wrist, slow and deliberate, like a test A question.

Amara didn't pull away.

"I dream about you," he admitted softly, his voice raw, vulnerable in a way she hadn't expected "Not in some teenage fantasy way But real, Slow and Needing . You have no idea what you do to me."

"Liam" Her voice trembled, and she hated how weak it sounded.

"I'm not a boy, Amara," he said, stepping even closer, his breath hot against her skin. And when she didn't push him away, when she didn't reject him, something between them snapped Something unbreakable.

She turned her face away, her mind racing as panic clawed at her chest This could destroy me.

"No," he said, his voice low and filled with certainty "It'll free you."

His breath brushed the back of her neck, sending a shiver down her spine She was drowning in his presence Drowning in the chaos he had brought into her world.

"I could kiss you right now and no one would ever know," he whispered "No cameras, No noise, Just this moment Yours and mine."

The words lingered in the air-a promise, a threat.

She gripped the edge of the bookshelf, her knuckles white, her whole body trembling. "You wouldn't dare," she whispered, her voice shaking with a strange mix of fear and anticipation.

He leaned closer, his lips almost touching her ear. "I don't need to kiss you," he said softly "Not yet."

"Why not?"

"Because the wanting is stronger than the touch," he murmured "And I want you to feel that. I want you to walk out of here tonight burning."

Amara turned to face him, her eyes wide, her heart pounding so hard she could hear it in her ears.

"You're playing a dangerous game," she said, the words thick with the weight of her own hesitation.

"I'm done playing," he said, his voice a quiet, deadly promise.

In a flash, she grabbed the collar of his shirt, yanking him toward her, their lips just an inch apart Her breath was shallow, wild, as if she was standing on the edge of something irreversible.

"You want to burn?" she whispered fiercely "Fine. But don't say I didn't warn you."

And then their lips met

It wasn't soft It wasn't innocent.

It was reckless and Wild A collision of need, desire, and something darker that neither of them could name Hands roamed, breath hitched, and all she could feel was him, The taste of him , The fire he had ignited in her.

When they finally broke apart, both of them gasping for air, Amara's heart was racing, her body trembling with the aftermath.

"Never again," she said, though even to her it sounded like a lie.

Liam stepped back, his breath ragged, a devilish smile playing at the corners of his lips.

"I'll see you tomorrow," he said, his voice thick with something dangerous.

But before she could respond, the library door swung open, startling them both.

"Amara?"

Her heart stopped Mr. Daniels.

Liam's eyes locked onto hers for a heartbeat, and then-

He disappeared, vanishing behind a nearby shelf as though he had never been there at all.

Daniels appeared in the aisle, his eyes scanning the darkened space.

"There you are," he said, his voice casual "Thought I saw movement You okay?"

Amara forced a smile, her hands shaking.

"Yes I was looking for a book I recommended to a student."

Daniels looked around, frowning slightly, but then nodded.

"Well, just be careful I've got to lock up soon Wouldn't want anyone getting trapped overnight."

She smiled again, though it felt more like a mask than anything else.

As she walked out of the library, her heart still hammering in her chest, something caught her eye.

Tucked into the edge of a shelf, hidden just for her-

Another note

Tomorrow Room 207 After school Door unlocked.

Her pulse quickened, the world around her blurring as the words on the paper burned into her mind.

It wasn't over

It had just begun.