33 Pick Your Poison
Arriving at the library, the two entered, scouting the place, looking for the one person that might have the answers to why Lily was unconscious.
As expected, she was surrounded with what she loved most in the world. Books, books, and more books.
She categorised books into their certain categories as she jotted down each of the book's unique ISBN codes, not expecting any visitors around the time a student was found unconscious there.
"Ms Faust? Ma'am?" Emma asked politely.
Her head shot up from the books she surrounded herself with.
"Yes?" She asked.
As if programmed to ask all students about her favorite thing, she continued to ask.
"Are you here for your books? Or is it another punishment?" She inquired.
Emma, while not offended, looked at James.
He looked like he had been slapped in the face. To him, he was a Carrington. And Carringtons were NOT known for being punished. They were known for their excellent reputations, and their academic achievements. It was why he was pressured to top his class with the best grades. Heck, he still wondered why he hadn't made a bigger fuss about getting punished. He took it much better than he himself expected.
As James opened his mouth, ready to defend himself and make it crystal clear why they were actually here, Emma looked at him sternly. Her blue orbs looked into his cloudy grey ones.
Though she remained silent, and didn't say anything, he got her message clearly.
'I'll do the talking here. James, calm down. We'll worry about lasting impressions later.'
He narrowed his eyes.
'But-
He was cut off by Emma's glare.
'My best friend is in the clinic. Lying unconscious because she was POISONED. We will fix that problem of yours LATER,' she told him silently, her eyes speaking for her as she glared at him.
It seemed to have work, as James kept quiet.
Emma turned to face Evelyn Faust.
"Ms Faust, we're here to ask you some questions regarding the incident that took place here, and also to investigate the area where she was found for any pieces of evidence," Emma started, not knowing what else to say.
At this, Evelyn felt a pang of guilt. It had all happened in her library. If only she was more careful, or if she had been more strict about the rules, maybe this wouldn't have happened.
She felt guilty, that being what fueled her to help Emma and James with all she could, and with whatever she knew.
"Right. Right this way then," she said, leading them to the very same place Lily was found.
The area had remained untouched. Investigations had started, but except for the investigators, only a few others were allowed near the area, one of the few being Emma and James, since anyone in the library had a possibility of being the perpetrator.
"Let's search around the area for any pieces of evidence," Emma suggested as she and James went their separate ways, looking for anything that might've led them to more clues.
As Emma neared the spot she found Lily lying unconscious there, she couldn't help but have a very brief flashback.
Because of the flashback, she had suddenly remembered the odd, pungent smell of something in the library, even though she brushed it off, thinking it was the musty old smell of the books and scrolls here in the library that caused the smell.
Near that same area was the cabinet Lily had previously been cleaning.
The trophies cabinet was locked, and as Emma took a closer look there, she saw the previous winners of competitions held in ZALE, those who had managed to top their classes, also managing to see pictures of other Carringtons holding a shiny gold trophy while looking at the camera with a smile plastered on their faces.
She read the names of the cabinet.
"Carina Crystabel Carrington," she read out.
The face she stared at looked similar to James, and it didn't take her too much to find out that this was a close relative of James.
'Probably his sister,' she reasoned to herself.
The woman in the picture looked beautiful. She had hair the same color as James, and the same grey eyes James possessed.
She looked at other past ZALE alumnis who had topped their classes with the highest grades, stumbling upon a much younger looking picture of a familiar stern face she had already gotten used to seeing.
She didn't seem to notice, as she continued skimming through the names on the large cabinet that was larger than her closet back at her old maid's quarters by tenfold.
As her eyes reached the very end of the cabinet, out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a shining bottle.
Curiosity overtook her, and in a blink of an eye, her hand was slowly reaching out to the bottle.
"What's this?" She asked as she took the medium-sized bottle filled with a yellowish transparent liquid.
She sloshed the contents inside it, as the familiar hint of a smell she had known all too well made its way to her nostrils.
While the previous smell of this substance she was smelling was slight, this scent smelled particularly pungent and had a chemical-like smell. She read the label on the container she was holding.
"Trophy Polishing and Shine Metal Polish," she read as she turned the bottle around.
The odor got stronger and stronger as the scent of it wafted in the air.
In an attempt of wanting to know where it came from, Emma opened the bottle, when the smell of rotten eggs immediately hit her unwelcomingly.
She instinctively moved backwards, and let go of the bottle, causing it to drop.
The bottle landed on the carpeted floor. The carpet muffled it's sound as the glass bottle shattered, but the liquid oozed on the ground as small pieces and fragments of glass were scattered everywhere.
The odor that had hit her was stronger than ever, and she had already begun feeling lightheaded and nauseous.
She had to get out of there.
With her remaining strength, she ran, dragging her body to find James.
James, who, at that time, was nearby a group of books and had fallen victim to his nerdy urge of studying during the time he was supposed to be looking for any evidence, didn't notice a speedy Emma hurtling straight for him.
The two bumped into each other, and James dropped his book, catching Emma in his arms as she was half-conscious.
Before he said anything, he sniffed the air around him.
"Why do you smell of rotten eggs?" He asked curiously, confused at her sudden change of smell. He had noted that she usually smelt of vanilla beans, so this sudden change startled him, that was, until he realized what this scent smelt of.
His eyes widened. That was the very same scent of ammonia, out of all things it could've been.
She had been poisoned.
"We have to get you to the clinic, Emma!"
Before Emma could protest, her legs gave weight, and she slumped down, her chest heaving up and down as Emma tried to breathe.
She barely managed to squeak out.
"No, I'll be fine. I just need some time," she said, very well close to fainting.
James stared at the woman below him.
She was not like the other girls. While they would've unhesitantly gone to the clinic just to make sure they were okay, she prioritized finding what had poisoned her best friend rather than prioritize her own life.
