This is just an idea that I got on the bus while listening to Welcome to Night Vale. Hope you enjoy!
DISCLAMER! I do not own Welcome to Night Vale.
It was a Friday night at Night Vale's radio station, and all was, at least so far, progressing normally. Or at least as normal as it gets in this town.
The new intern, Cherry, sat outside the booth, making sure everything was going smoothly. Generally, interns were sent out on errands and tasks, which they mostly didn't come back from. But, so far Cherry has managed to survive three days without dying a gruesome and painful death, and luckily managed to avoid being sent on any potentially dangerous errands.
The host, Cecil Palmer, was currently reporting about the new sea food diner that appeared last night.
"Well listeners, the new diner is said to be a lovely and extravagant addition to our wonderful town, and I'm sure you all agree. It has appeared in the Night Vale Harbor and Waterfront Recreation Area, which, as everyone knows, is a shared illusion by the whole community of our little town, and definitely not a multimillion dollar municipal planning disaster by the Night Vale Business Association."
Cherry sighed and leaned back in her seat, twirling her long brown hair, which she had recently dyed the tips of in a lovely purple color to match the lavender of her eyes.
After a minute, she spun in her seat and stood, walking over to the desk on the other side of the small room, where a small jug of water and a couple of glasses stood, along with some cookies and a coffee machine no one ever uses, mostly due to the fact that the last five guys who tried mysteriously died a few minutes later.
She poured herself a glass, then turned and walked back to her seat as she slowly sipped the cool liquid. When she looked back up, she paled so much she must have blended in with the white wall and nearly choked on the water.
Cecil was swaying slightly from side to side and his form was illuminated by a faint purple glow, his words slurred as he attempted to continue with the broadcast, which was only halfway through. As Cherry stood and tried to get him to focus her by waving her arms, he slumped and fell down under the desk.
Cherry stood, frozen, for a second, then bolted into the recording booth and looked around, her lavender eyes showing way too much white. Cecil did say the show must go on. Even if the star is drooling on the floor with strange dark purple spots over his neck and face.
"Ah-um…hello listeners," she began, sitting awkwardly in the chair previously occupied by Cecil "I'm afraid our host has…passed out, so, as I am the only one here at the moment, I will be stepping in until he can continue the broadcast, even though I barely know what I'm doing…maybe I shouldn't have said that last part."
She shuffled about the desk for a second, picking up a paper with what she hoped was today's news "Alright listeners, I'm obliged to inform you that the sheriff's secret police have announced that any books mentioning cars, trees, coffee, the color yellow, chairs, clouds, televisions, sun flowers, doctors and dogs will be confiscated and the owners taken in until further notice. But hey, I'm sure they have a good reason and everything's gonna be fine." She tried to assure her audience, although she was not feeling much confidence herself.
Another intern, Jerry, walked into the booth and handed her a piece of paper, then winked at her and waked off again before she could tell him to find some damn help.
"This just in, the librarians have escaped from the library-wait, what?! Err, the sheriff's secret police asks everyone to remain indoors and to stay away from any books until all the librarians have been captured. It doesn't say how they escaped in the first place, but best of luck to them anyway."
"So far, there have been t-two reported deaths in their rampage, both near the library and by a book. If you are near any books now, and are still alive, they advise you get away from them as quickly as possible, and if you're not, you might want to go find a good place to hide anyway." She gulped and peered at the small bookcase in the corner of the booth.
She heard a strange hissing noise behind her as she switched to a pre-recorded segment.
Cherry spun around in her seat and came face to face with a librarian. The girl froze and struggled to think of what the Sheriff's secret police said she should do to come face to face with one of them.
The only thing that came to mind was to climb a tree or not to climb a tree, she wasn't sure which, but that tip was useless either way since she was in the recording booth and there were no trees in here.
She gulped and smiled nervously as she backed up a bit "Easy there, he heh. How did you get in here?" she asked quietly, not that she was expecting an answer.
Her heartrate speed up as the librarian's small dark eyes followed her movements, and it made a sound that could only be described as a cross between a growl and a banshee shriek, and prepared to jump.
Cherry, in her desperation, risked a glance at Cecil, who now seemed to be mumbling something incoherent, before looking back at the librarian. It crouched down, jumped in an oddly graceful angle, its long nailed hands ready to attack, and then Cherry smashed it in the face with a tablet. The librarian collapsed down onto the floor with a groan and a hiss, and Cherry slowly spun around, breathing hard, making sure to keep an eye on the creature in case it woke up before she could call for help
"I-ha-sorry about that. If any of the Sheriff's Secret Police are near the radio station, I would deeply appreciate if they came by as soon as possible. And now, dear listeners, the weather." She said, and then flipped a switch, and within the second today's weather began to broadcast.
Cherry leaned down under the desk and peered at Cecil, who it seemed has started to wake up, the strange blue spots now almost gone as if they were never there in the first place. She kneeled by him and shook him slightly "Cecil, wake up. C'mon, rise and shine." She said, trying to sound cheerful as he groaned and rolled over, and then slowly sat up with a confused expression on his face.
"Wha-?" he croaked, and then reached up with a hand to his throat. Cherry stood and took the water bottle from the desk above, then leaned down again and held it out to him.
The host took it gratefully and gulped down the cool liquid. The girl looked down at the floor, but it seemed the librarian had disappeared without a trace.
Cherry stood and seated herself on the chair and switched on the mike.
"Hello, radio audience. McDaniel's, you know, the dragon with the really cool political blog and five heads has just announced that he will be running for mayor against the faceless old woman that lives in your home in the upcoming election."
She leaned down, patted Cecil on the back and held a finger over her mouth, then pointed to the mike before straightening again and continuing with the broadcast
"The current mayor, Mrs. Winchell, said in a press conference this morning that there is no way McDaniel's can run against her, on the grounds that he is currently still in jail for tax fraud and that he is a five headed dragon, so it would make no sense that he would lead a community mostly consisting of humans." She made a face. She wouldn't say it out loud, but she wasn't too fond of the current mayor and wouldn't mind McDaniel's taking up the job.
"And now listeners, a word from our sponsor." She flicked a switch, then spun around in her seat and nudged Cecil lightly "Ready to get back to work boss?" she asked quietly, even though the mike was off.
Cecil nodded in response and took a final gulp of water, then stood, a little shakily and sat himself in the host's seat, shuffling around the papers a bit, then straightening up just as the pre-made sponsor add ended.
"Hello listeners, Cecil here. Sorry about the whole passing out thing, but I'm back now. Anyway, the Night Vale high school has informed me that they will be adding new blood stone circles to their school facilities, and let me tell you, they look wonderful…"
Cherry, making sure she made no sound, exited the recording booth and sat back down in her seat, shaking her head slightly. Just a normal day at Night Vale's community radio.
Big thanks to my beta and awesome friend MsWolffe, who you should totally go check out, her work is amazing.