After 8 a.m., Charlie and Ted's house became very quiet. Both men had jobs of their own and they couldn't be expected to stay with a skittish house guest all the time. Already, they had been very kind. It wasn't their fault that the two most frightening men in the entire City were still... somewhere in the City. Dr. Crane and Edward Nigma were most decidedly not behind bars. She was certain such arrests would have made the news, and the news was damningly silent on this point.
But as the days drew themselves up and down over the horizons, the empty house that used to feel like a sanctuary was instead converting to something else in her thoughts. She'd had enough of cells for the remainder of her life. And so, it was with great personal coaxing that she finally got herself out of the house and onto the street. She needed something to do, something to keep her mind away from the dark places. Always an avid reader, she found herself climbing the library steps. She wished she felt as excited as she used to be. Now there was too much fear and force of will to concentrate on the delight.
Beauty hadn't expected to see a beautiful woman at the top of them, curled in on herself in the same way that Beauty felt. With a very quick glance around herself, as if she could determine if either of those two evil men were close, Beauty reached the top of the steps, took a few sidesteps to get to the woman, then quietly sat down beside her. The darkness in her neighbor's eyes tugged at Beauty. Here was something very not right. Despite everything, she still wanted to help.