Legend of the Book Keeper (8 page)

Frantic, alarmed whispers and the hustling of bodies oozed from under the doors. They were panicking . . . as they should. The creature lowered its head, bracing itself for a final charge against the door. A smile formed on its grotesque mouth, fondly remembering the similar scene only hours earlier. It had waited a long time for that old fool. Its black tongue brushed over its sharp teeth, the excitement of another feeding filled it with a berserk ecstasy. It was hungry again.

With a haunting, shrieking squeal it rammed its powerful body against the door, exploding it off its hinges and rocketing the couch across the room. It looked around; the room appeared to be empty. But that was impossible; they w
ere hiding.

Calmly scanning the room for its prey, it caught sight of a foot, slightly visible from underneath the bed. Letting out another piercing cry, its large body stampeded toward the bed, its razor jaws lashing out at the leg, shredding it into two.

The pant leg was empty. Furiously the creature yanked the pants from under the bed and found itself holding an empty pair of jeans. From behind, it heard the thumping of frantic footsteps descending the stairs.

Jade’s plan had worked,
for now
, she thought. But they were far from being out of it yet. A high-pitched shriek, like fingernails on a chalkboard, made her cringe.
The creature took the bait
. Running at full speed they fumbled with the front door. Locked! They heard the large creature galloping down the upper staircase. Cody grabbed Jade and raced toward the back of the mansion. “The door is barricaded from the front, the back window is our only way out!” he shouted

They reached the window. “You first,” he commanded. Jade obliged and hurried through. Once outside she looked around; running was pointless. The creature had shown far superior speed—and now it was angry. They needed another plan—and fast.

Furious! Fooled by such a childish decoy. The creature had overestimated the children, but it never made the same error twice. Sprinting at full speed, it reached the back window. Through the glass its red eyes caught sight of the frantic Book Keeper. With a fluid motion the creature lunged toward the window, its weight propelling it through. The wall shattered against its giant mass.

It instantly perceived the girl at the bottom of the Wesley’s dug out hole. Dinner in a bowl. The pitiful girl was trying to climb out the other side, but her hands slipped on the fresh dirt, sending her tumbling back down, over and over. Hungrier than ever, the creature propelled itself through the air and landed directly in the center of the dirt hole. Its large, six-inch talons sunk into the dirt and gained traction. Taking a few slow strides toward its victim, it smiled at the pathetic face. Cowardice had a way of staining food with such a delightful flavor not found in bravery. The victim had abandoned her further attempts to climb out and now stared at it helplessly screaming for help.

Opening its mouth, gobs of saliva oozed between its immense teeth. It prepared to lunge, and this time its teeth would devour more than empty pants. It pounced . . .

Something pounded hard against its side, knocking it slightly off balance. Before it could regain its bearings the heavy weight of another collision crashed against it and all went black.

On the Run

C
ody and Jade took off in a sprint. Their husky breath fought through the deep cramps that assaulted their legs. Neither of them spoke a word. Their escape had been close—too close. The only thought on their collective minds was the need to put distance between themselves and that
thing
. They had been extremely fortunate to have made it out alive, and they were not feeling up to asking Lady Luck for a second dance.

“What happened back there?” demanded Jade, her voice hurried and shaky.

“I . . . I don’t know.” Cody closed his eyes, “I’m trying to remember . . .”

“Hurry! Hurry!” Cody tumbled out of the window; he could see Jade waving him forward, she was already several feet ahead and running fast. He pushed himself off the ground and sprinted after her, adrenaline gushing through his veins.

CRASH!

The creature had burst through the wall. Cody spun around to see the shadowed demon charging toward them. He felt something catch his foot. “Ah!” His momentum sent him crashing hard to the ground. The Book flew out of his backpack and skid across the dirt ground. “Cody! Help! Help me!”

“Jade!” Pulling himself forward from behind the large dirt pile, he panicked at the scene—Jade had fallen into the large hole. With a soft thud the creat
ure landed ten feet from her. “Please! Cody! Help!” Cody desperately looked around for a solution. “Cody, help!” The creature readied itself to pounce. Without understanding why, Cody reached out and grasped the Book in front of him. He felt a surge of energy race up his arm. Before he could stop himself he felt unfamiliar words work their way up his throat and explode out of his mouth,
“Dastanda! Byrae! Gai di gasme!”

Suddenly a giant gust of wind rolled over his back. The dirt pile behind him began to rise, swirling around the hole like a whirlwind. Growing fiercer and fiercer the swirling dirt froze before crashing down like hail and filling the hole, hurling the comatose night back into its silent trance. . . .

Cody slowly opened his eyes again. Jade shook her head disbelievingly. “So, this dirt just flew into the air all by itself . . . like magic? All because you spoke some enchanted words . . . words which, by the way, you’ve never heard before and can’t even remember? Cody, what’s going on here?”

“I’m telling you, that’s what I saw. I think it’s the Book. There’s something special about it. It’s like the words . . . spoke
through
me somehow . . . like it was just borrowing my mouth . . .” Jade snickered, “Cody, it’s a
book
! Books don’t
speak
!”

“Don’t treat me like a child, I saw what I saw. Besides, either way, that dirt cage won’t contain the creature for long. We need to get out of here.”

Jade nodded silently—she wholeheartedly agreed.

Running through the streets, they turned the corner and came upon Jade’s house. “Cody, grab as much food from the kitchen as you can fit in your backpack. I’ll grab whatever else we might need. We’ve got to be out of here in five minutes.” The two divided and set off on their tasks.

Several minutes later the duo reconvened at the front door, both wearing full backpacks. “Ready?” Cody timidly nodded his affirmation. “Then let’s get out of here.”

“What about your mother?”

Jade looked down at her, still passed out on the sofa.
I’m sorry, Mom.

Jade shook her head slowly. “We’re in too deep now to involve anybody else. The farther away we are, the safer she’ll be. We need to leave. There’s no time for second thoughts.” Jade quickly scribbled a note on a napkin and left it on her mother’s chest. Then, without looking back, she turned and left the house.
Is this the last time I will ever see my mother?

Neither of them spoke as Jade led the way down the street. In the heat of the escape, Cody thought little about the predator. Now, in the silence of the night, he felt terror grip him.
What is that thing?

When he had first made out the grotesque shape through the window after Wesley’s murder, he had refused to accept what he had seen. But now, having stared helplessly as the Beast readied itself to devour his best friend, the reality of the situation hit Cody with full force. He did not know what it was, but he did know what it was
not
—natural. Cody had the sickening feeling that they now were involved in something much larger than either of them could imagine. A rustle in the bushes startled Cody. Jade heard it, too. “We need to keep moving. Let’s pick up the pace.”

After twenty minutes of tense speed walking, they turned a corner and Cody realized where they were heading. “The train station? Where are we going?” Jade pulled the ruby pocket watch from her coat and motioned to the short hand pointing at nine o’clock.

“West.”

They walked up the long set of stairs leading into the station. It was still early, so the large building was sparse with people, only a few officers and travelers scurried about. Jade confidently marched up to the ticket booth. “Two one-way tickets to Los Angeles please, on the next available train.” The ticket agent eyed the two travelers uneasily; the full backpacks had not gone unnoticed.

“That’s a pretty long trip kids. Whatcha’ heading there for at this hour?” Jade’s tongue went numb in her throat.

“We . . . um . . . we . . . were . . .” she stumbled. Cody jumped in front of his bumbling friend, “Sir, our mother is visiting our sick grandmother there. She has taken an unexpected turn for the worst, we just hope we manage to reach her before she . . . before she . . .” Cody paused for a moment to gather his emotions. “Before she passes onto the next life. It’s just . . . so unexpected. . . .”

The agent placed a hand tenderly on Cody’s shoulder. “I’m so sorry to hear that, son. I recently lost my grandfather. Hardest day of my life. Don’t cry, it will be all right. Here are four tickets. These two take you to Las Vegas. From there you’ll catch a connecting train with these two tickets. I wish you speed.” Wiping his watery eyes, Cody took the tickets. He attempted to thank the officer, but emotion seized him so merely nodded his thanks.

Out of earshot from the booth, Jade grabbed Cody’s arm. “Sick grandmother, eh? That was quick thinking.”

Cody grinned a boyish smile. “What can I say? Lying to get out of trouble is my specialty. I’ve had plenty of practice with Ms. Starky. Why Los Angeles?”

Jade shrugged. “Because it’s far west. I figured we could just mind the pocket watch and wait until it changes, then go from there. It’s not much, but it’s a start.”

They reached docking bay 51A. Luckily, the next train scheduled to Las Vegas was only ten minutes from departure. Punching in their tickets, they stepped aboard. Only a few other passengers were sharing the early morning train with them. Cody stepped into the first empty compartment.
“Come on, let’s take this one.” They moved in, closing the door behind them. Overhead the loud speakers crackled to life:
Ladies and gentlemen please take your seats. We will be departing for Las Vegas momentarily.
Cody leaned his head against the window preparing for departure. He released a deep sigh of relief. They had escaped.

The call of the horn signaled that the train was departing the station. The travelers onboard were busy getting comfortable for the lengthy trip. Had any of them been looking out their window toward the dock, they no doubt would have noticed, jogging alongside the train, a tall man wearing a long black jacket and a matching black fedora pulled over his eyes. With a final call of the horn, the wheels began spinning and the train chugged smoothly out of the station. The boarding dock was empty.