Sam came awake with a start. Where was he? Oh, yeah, they had hidden in the storage room of a library. Now he remembered. Sam was sitting upright, leaning back against some boxes, with Koji clinging to him. This was getting to be a habit. Sam started to feel a little like a large stuffed animal. On the other hand, it wasn’t exactly uncomfortable to sleep sitting up. In fact, it felt almost familiar.

He wondered what time it was. The room was still pretty dark, but there weren’t any windows big enough to give decent light. Sam could just see a small window near the ceiling. It looked still dark outside. Maybe it was early morning, but not yet dawn.

Koji shifted in his sleep. There was no reason to wake him. Sam decided to let him sleep.

Instead, he thought about the dream he just had. This was the first one in a long time to include other people. Had it happened because they were in a library? Maybe, but he didn’t remember ever actually being in a library. The lady in the dream had thought he…or the winged man…was an Angel. Oh, who was Sam kidding? He thought the guy in the dream was him. So, what? Another memory? Dr Brown would have a field day with it. So think about it as logically as he could. Right. It felt just as real as any other dream. Which meant now that he thought about it, he thought it was a memory.

Sam sighed. Even he knew that sounded crazy. Had he been a demon? Or angel? Or…whatever? Well, if he had, then he still was. It was obvious just by looking at him that he was not the guy from the dream. Wings weren’t the only thing separating him from his dream self. After all, in the dream, he was, well, fairly well muscled, broad shouldered. He had to be to support two functional wings. He also had very black skin, and white hair. Sam was under no illusions that he was not in good shape. He knew how thin he was. Broad shouldered he was not. His skin was pale, his hair blond. In fact, he was pretty much the physical opposite of his dream self. Which would make some sense. If he was going to dream about an ideal self, it wouldn’t be the self he had to live with.

Sam sighed again. This time when he did, he was aware that his back muscles did a strange twitching motion. What was that about? He reasoned it was probably from sitting in one position for so long. Yeah, that had to be it.

He didn’t really want to be alone with his thoughts, but at the moment, he didn’t seem to have much choice. Even though Sam had decided not to wake Koji, he did hope the guy would wake up soon.

Light was coming in through the small square window when Koji finally woke up. He stretched, working out the kinks.

“Sleep okay?” Sam asked, trying to stretch his own back. For some reason, his shoulders felt awfully stiff.

“Actually, yeah, I did. You make a really good pillow, you know that?” Koji grinned.

“Gee, thanks.”

“But you don’t look like you got much sleep.”

“I’m fine.”

“Really?”

“Honest. I…I had a dream, but no big deal.”

Koji looked worried. “I guess we can’t escape that stuff. Was it bad?”

“No.”

Koji glanced around the storage room. “Don’t suppose we could find some food in here.”

“Heh, probably not. Y’ hungry?”

“I can wait. You think the library’s open yet?”

“Don’t know. Haven’t heard anything, but there’s light comin’ in from that window.” Sam pointed in the direction of the light. “So it’s at least mornin’.”

“I bet they have a lunchroom, like the orderlies had at Wellhaven. I mean, Max and them didn’t eat our food.”

“Yeah, lucky bastards,” Sam scoffed.

“So, maybe there’s a fridge. It’s still stealing, but it wouldn’t be exactly the same.”

Sam gave Koji a wry smile. Obviously his friend was going to do all he could to keep from stealing. Sam understood, he didn’t like it either.

“Okay, let’s go this way.”

Together they made their way in the opposite direction they had come the night before. Sam figured the doors that led inside would probably be somewhat opposite of the doors that led into to the building. It took a little searching, but finally they found a stairway that led them up into the main part of the library. Sam opened the door a little first, looking out into the room.

The library was bathed with a cold grey light. Dust sparkled in the sunbeams, making it strangely beautiful. Either it was too early to open, or it was a day the library was closed. Either way, it looked like the coast was clear.

“C’me on,” Sam led the way out into the open.

“Now where?” Koji asked, looking around.

“That sign says th’ offices are over there. Y’ think the lunchroom f’ the workers would be near the offices?”

“Good place to start as any.”

So they headed in the direction the sign pointed. A large double door blocked the way, but it wasn’t locked. Once through the door, they were cut off from windows. It was darker here, but their eyes adjusted fairly quickly. The hallway stretched for a few feet. One by one, they checked the doors until they finally came to what they decided was the lunchroom.

It was set up like a kitchenette, with cupboards, a fridge, microwave, and even a small table. Koji went to the fridge while Sam looked through the cupboards, curious.

“Find anythin’?” Sam asked.

“There’s milk that smells okay. And uh…applesauce? I think. Yeah, applesauce. You?”

“Bag o’ chips. Some cookies. And I got spoons and stuff.”

“Then I think we have breakfast.” Koji grinned.

After a while, it became pretty clear that the library was going to remain empty. They could see a clock on the wall. Somehow, Sam had an idea that most libraries would be open by ten on a normal morning.

“Y’ know,” Sam said, as they cleaned up the mess as best as they could. “We could probably take a bag o’ the chips ‘r somethin’ with us for later. Wouldn’t have t’ worry about food that way.”

Koji looked down at the bag in his hands. “Yeah, you have a point. They probably won’t even miss it.”

“Okay, so th’ chips and cookies. Not th’ milk.”

“I think we finished that off anyway.”

“Don’t want t’ take anythin’ that’d go bad on us durin’ th’ day.”

“Speaking of the day.” Koji found a large plastic bag to shove the food they were going to take with them. “What are we doing today?”

“Yeah, that’s a good question.” Sam returned the spoons to the cupboard where he’d found them.

“We could stay hidden in here,” Koji suggested. “It doesn’t seem like anyone will be here today. There’s books to read, and places to hide.”

Sam thought about it. Koji had a point. There were worse places to hide out. Of course, who ever had been after them the night before had seen them go down the street. That person might figure out they went into the library. Even if the person didn’t, there was one other thing. The two of them had just escaped from a hospital. Okay, so a library wasn’t the same as a hospital, but it was still an enclosed building. Ever since they had ducked inside the night before, Sam had felt restless. He wanted to be outside. And after the dream, he needed to be outside. It was hard to explain. Claustrophobia hadn’t been one of the many things they’d been allegedly treating him for, but he sure felt it now.

“We could,” Sam said slowly.

“But you don’t want to.” Koji said. It wasn’t a question. Apparently he could read it in Sam’s face.

“We’d be safe, but…can’t explain it, I just feel better when I’m outside.”

“That’s good enough for me.”

“I guess th’ best idea is t’ just keep movin’. Maybe scout someplace we can stay tonight.”

Sam looked around the small room. Everything was back where they’d found it. They had cleaned the bowls and spoons and even wiped off the table.

“What d’ y’ think?” Sam asked. “Doesn’t look like we were even here, yeah?”

Koji looked around too. “Yeah, I think we’re good.”

“Let’s go then.”

Together, they headed out the way they came. It was a little creepy walking through the silent building. With every step, Sam was half afraid that someone would pop out of the stacks of books. Fortunately, they made it back to the storage room without incident. Then, through the storage room, and back through the door they had broken the night before and they were outside again. It was brighter than the day before. Sam took a grateful breath. Then, together, they walked away from the library.