Bella had told her to walk away from any human who approached her, but the librarian was old and nice and she gave her a book of stickers and a bookmark with a worm reading on the front. Nessie couldn’t say no to either of those things so she found herself accepting them and smiling up at the woman who offered them to her. She flipped through the pages, found a sticker that was shaped like a pink dog, peeled it away from the paper and stuck it to her hand.
The librarian grinned, happy that she wasn’t crying and throwing a fit on the floor like so many other children might have done in her situation. “You sit tight, sweetie. I’ll watch you from over there,” she said, pointing off at the desk and departing after a pat on the shoulder. Nessie sat back in the chair and looked around, noticing that the man who had taken her into the Library in the first place had gone up the stairs and onto the second floor. She didn’t know if she was relieved or sad that he had left her. She was wary of him but he had taken her somewhere safe and that had to count for something, right?
Maybe.
Standing only for a second, she moved her chair over to an empty space next to the computer and stared at the stuffed wolf that had had been placed there. It’s dark eyes stared right back at her and Nessie reached for it impulsively. It settled under her arm and she started to turn the pages of the book again. Nessie wasn’t an impatient child, but alone in a strange city, she was eager to turn her head and see Bella and Edward.
They were the safety that she would surely take notice of very soon.