Page 115 of Shadow Beasts

Paige held her breath for another second before she blew it out.

“I think we’re safe,” she whispered.

“Yeah, though we should wait until at least ten thirty before we sneak out of here.”

“Agreed,” Paige said, finally unfurling her legs and letting her feet touch the floor. “Ow, my hip is killing me.”

“How do you think I feel trapped inside here, barely able to move?”

“I thought you said you had plenty of room in there?”

Dewey froze, lowering his voice. “Shh. I heard something.”

Paige stiffened, holding her breath as she sat in the darkness. With no noise after several minutes, she relaxed and rose to her feet, stretching her arms overhead. She dug into her tote bag to check the time.

“Fifteen minutes to go.” She swung the door open and paced the length of the bathroom until twenty minutes to eleven.

“Ready?” she asked Dewey as she slung her tote bag over her shoulder.

“Ah, you better leave that here and just get the Sap,” Dewey suggested.

Paige stared at him for a moment, narrowing her eyes.

“Can’t take the bag through with you,” Dewey said as he unzipped his carrier and popped out, doffing his costume inside. “Just leave the bag here. We’ll come back for it later before we leave.”

Paige wrinkled her nose, grabbing the Seepy Sap container from inside the tote and hanging the black bag from the stall’s door. Dewey snatched the container from her hands and flew toward the door, inching it open.

“We’re clear!” he hissed as he flung the door open wider. “Let’s go.”

Paige hurried after him, running to keep up with his pace as he wound around the darkened library in search of the archive door.

Tucked in a back corner, an alcove hid a keycard entry door.

“Here!” Dewey hissed. “This must be it.”

Paige studied the mechanism securing the metal barrier. Similar to their own, she assumed it provided the first layer of security for the archives.

Dewey dove to the floor and set the Seepy Sap container in the corner. “We’ll have to retrieve this when we’re finished. Don’t forget it. We’ll be in the Seepy state for about forty-five minutes only, so we’ll need to get in and out as fast as we can.”

“Wait, how will we get our stuff if we’re in this state?”

“Oh, that’ll be easy. You can flex in and out of the Seepy state at will.”

Dewey flicked open the gold container. A yellow glow filled the corner as the vial of magical atom-bending material came into view.

Dewey read the inscription on the top, murmuring aloud as he scanned it. “… drops for every twenty… Lasts approximately forty-five minutes… Affects person and objects touching the person who ingests… Yeah, okay, we’re good.”

He unscrewed the cap and lifted the eyedropper-like pipette from inside. “Okay, I’ll dose you first, then me. It takes a few minutes to take effect, so you’ll need to wait for me to catch up.”

Paige’s heart thudded against her ribs as Dewey lifted the glowing liquid toward her mouth. “You’ll need about twenty-five drops of this given your size.”

“Wait, you got my correct weight, right? Not 250 pounds?”

“Yes, Paige, I got it right this time. Five drops for every twenty pounds is twenty-five drops. Now open wide.”

Paige heaved a nervous sigh and opened her mouth, holding her tongue out.

Dewey flew closer, wielding the pipette. A sticky, sweet substance hit her taste buds.