The Book of Sight (20 page)

This time the bellow was almost deafening. Something about the sound drained all the adrenalin from Logan’s body. He was overcome with the awful ugliness of what he had just done. He thought he might be sick right then and there.

But it was done. The creature had released Dominic and was thrashing around on the ground, inky blood streaming from its wound. Writhing and convulsing, it backed away from where they all were grouped, its bellows fading slowly into gurgles. It stopped a short way away, shuddering and shaking. It seemed to be gathering its strength for one final attack. Logan saw Dominic pulling himself over to where the sword was lying.

Whatever he was planning was unnecessary. With a tremendous heave, their enemy lifted a tentacle and brought it down with a shattering crunch. Its final act had been to crush the flashlight, leaving them all in blackness once more.

A
lex was remembering something her dad always used to say when he took her camping. Walking in the dark is often easier when you have no light at all. A little light just makes the darkness all around seem like an enemy, but without light, you are forced to make your peace with the dark, and it can even be a friend.

Alex thought she might have some arguments with that theory. She’d been trying pretty hard to make her peace with this dark, but shuffling slowly through a small passageway without any help from her eyes or any way to see how far they still had to go was not something she found very friendly.

They had started the return journey as soon as Eve and Dominic had fully regained their breath. No one had wanted to wait in the pitch black cavern with a dead monster only a few yards away. An
apparently
dead monster. They already had a few copies of the book in the backpack, so they grabbed hands and felt their way to the exit passage as quickly as possible.

No one was talking much, and Alex wondered if, like her, they were all thinking about the cold, dark river to be crossed ahead. She hoped her hand on Eve’s shoulder ahead of her felt as reassuring as Dominic’s hand on her own shoulder. You might not be able to see me, that hand said, but I’m right here with you. In light of all they had just accomplished together, that was a very good feeling.

Because they had done it. Even with the dark all around and the obstacles ahead, Alex felt a sense of triumph slowly growing in her heart. They had won. They had survived all the dangers. They had defeated the black thief. They had found their stolen books.

Just the thought of the book made the triumphant feeling grow.

“Gendel sea,” she whispered to herself.

Dominic squeezed her shoulder.

Fortunately, crossing the river again wasn’t very difficult. Cold and wet, but not difficult. Alex had worried that they might not be able to find their rope in the dark, but they stumbled on it almost immediately.

Adam volunteered to swim across first, with the rope clutched tightly in his hand, of course. Alex held her breath as they waited, sightless, for him to call out that he had found sure footing. Soon he did, and it was only a matter of moments after that before they were all struggling through the shallow water and up the far bank, Logan coming last and holding the backpack of books above his head.

The trip through the second tunnel was much better than the first, partially because the obstacle of the river was past and partially because halfway through there began to be a little light ahead. Alex had never loved the light as much as she did now. She thought of a few things she would like to say to her dad about his theories on darkness.

As soon as they saw the light, everyone started moving faster. By the end, they were tripping over each other as they burst, laughing and blinking, into the warm sunshine.

The next thing Alex knew, she was being tightly hugged by Eve. Then Adam and Logan and even Dominic were all joining in, piled together in a big group. As her eyes finally adjusted, Alex saw tears on Eve’s face, though she was smiling.

“I can’t believe we made it,” she said. “We actually made it.”

They broke apart and sank to the ground on the dry pebbles of the creek bed. Logan stretched out, his face turned to the sun in bliss. Dominic was examining the cuts on his arm. Eve began to open the backpack, but Adam cut in.

“Before we get the books out, there’s really something I should say.” He paused, not looking at anyone. “I’m sorry. I totally put you all in danger back there at the river. I was stupid and impatient and…well, I wanted to prove something. I’m sorry. I could have gotten someone killed.”

For a minute no one said anything. Alex wondered what the right thing would be to say. She didn’t hold anything against Adam, but she wished that she could be like Logan and know just by looking at Adam what he needed to hear. She was a little surprised when it was Eve who spoke up.

“We’re all stupid sometimes, Adam. Forget about it. I’d trust you with my life anytime.”

Alex could see the tears in Adam’s eyes, just before he turned away. “Thanks,” he said in a low voice.

“Now let’s check these out,” said Eve. She turned over the backpack, and four beat up books and several torn covers and loose pages fell out.

Alex was just starting to open hers, when Eve said, “Hey! Look at this, guys!”

She was holding up the remains of the green book that Logan had found. Most of the pages were illegible, either from burn marks or water smudges. Still, they all huddled around while Eve carefully flipped through it. Finally she found something that caught all of their attention.

“…can’t see…don’t want anyone to read…so beautiful…would want to hide the book…”

“This is it,” said Adam excitedly. “Someone else who has read the book!”

But nothing else on that page or the next several pages was legible. Finally, just three pages from the end, Eve found a paragraph that was almost intact.

“We succeeded in destroying Stafa’s lair, but the shadow stalker himself was not there. We found very few books still in a condition to be reclaimed, but those we have we will guard carefully. The other treasures were brought into the light. He will not be returning there. There is little doubt that he will find a new lair soon. We must be on the lookout. …hinting that there are many about even more dangerous than the pilpi, but when we question them, they just give you that mysterious smile. Sometimes I wonder whose side they’re on. Of course, to know that, I’d have to know whose side
we’re
on. Still, there’s something about them I don’t quite trust. That feeling is getting pretty common these days. But I know what I do trust. I trust the book. And I trust the other readers. All but…”

“That’s it,” said Eve, examining the last few pages. “All the rest is completely stained.”

“Not much to go on,” said Alex.

“But more than we had before,” Adam said. “I think we can safely say that creature we just killed was named Stafa.”

“What was that about ‘many about even more dangerous’?” asked Eve.

“That sounds like a problem for another day,” said Dominic.

“I just wish we could have found something that told us what this was all about, you know?” said Adam.

Eve was still absently flipping through the pages, frowning at the smudged writing.

“What was that?” asked Logan.

A little slip of paper had drifted down from the journal and landed at Alex’s feet. She picked it up, read it, and held it silently up to the others. It was written in the same hand as the journal.

If anyone out there is reading this, know that you are not alone. Concerning the Book of Sight, we have very few answers. But we believe that we have finally discovered the true questions. Not ‘where did it come from?’ Not ‘why were we chosen?’ But rather, ‘what are we meant to do now?’ And ‘who is it that will stand in our way?’

I
n a plain house on a dull street in a nondescript neighborhood in a sleepy town near the mountains lived a girl named Alex. She was, as far as most people could tell, a perfectly average teenage girl. Average grades, average talents, average pastimes, average friends.

But there were those who knew the truth.

More importantly, Alex herself knew the truth, and that was what enabled her to get up on ordinary mornings like this and lead her ordinary life with that kind of inner happiness that people like to call joy.

On this morning, the last lazy morning of summer vacation, she woke up early, hoping to reduce her mountain of laundry to a hill before lunchtime. She was absorbed in doing just that (with a heavy red book lying open on the top of the dryer) when her father stuck his head into the laundry room.

“Hard at work again, Magna?”

“Dad! I wasn’t expecting to see you today. Just getting some laundry done for school tomorrow.”

“Oh wow, that’s tomorrow already? I thought you still had another week. I guess I really have been out of it lately, huh?”

“No more than usual,” Alex smiled. “Does this surprise visit mean that you’ve finished?”

“Unfortunately, no. I have a long way to go yet, but even I can’t ignore the call of nature forever.”

Alex laughed.

“So is there anything you still need? Should we go back-to-school shopping today?”

“Nope. I took care of it. You gave me that money last Friday, remember?”

“I gave you money? I don’t remember that at all.” He raised his eyebrows in mock horror. “I’m even more dangerous than I thought. I certainly hope you don’t take advantage of me in my vulnerable state.”

“You’ll never know, will you?”

“So what else have I been missing out on?” he asked, only half-joking.

Alex took a long time to answer. “Quite a bit, actually, but it’s kind of a long story.”

Before she could say more, the doorbell rang. Alex stood looking at her dad for a moment.

“I’d better get that,” she said finally.

“Okay,” he said. “But I’ll take a rain check on that long story.”

“Deal.”

He had already disappeared back into his studio by the time Alex opened the front door. On the porch stood her friend Dominic. His face was only slightly less impassive than usual.

“Hey, Dom, what’s up?”

“I just got a letter back from my mom,” he said in his usual direct way. “We’re all meeting at the Redoubt as soon as we can. I thought I’d see if you wanted to walk with me if you’re free.”

“Sure,” said Alex. “Just let me get my book. I can’t believe she wrote back so soon.”

“Yeah,” said Dominic. “And Alex, you aren’t going to believe what she said.”

H
is hair whipped into a frenzy by the gusting wind, Dominic stood staring into the smoking pit. A hole the size of a house was surrounded by piles of dirt and twisted tree limbs. The thick smoke made it impossible to see how deep it went. What twenty minutes ago had been an overgrown creek bank was now a crater. If Dominic hadn’t been passing nearby on his bike when he felt the force of the blast and saw the earth flying through the sky, he wouldn’t have believed such a thing possible.

“Hey kid, get back from there! You shouldn’t be anywhere near here.”

The voice and the heavy hand on his shoulder jolted Dominic back into the real world. He turned to look up into the face of the firefighter.

“This area is off limits. Still very dangerous. You need to get back. We’re roping off the whole site.” When Dominic still didn’t respond, the man’s face softened a bit. “Are you okay, kid? Were you hurt in the explosion?”

Dominic shook his head and allowed himself to be led back toward the jumble of flashing lights that represented every emergency vehicle the city of Dunmore owned. Men and women with serious faces and official uniforms swarmed everywhere.

Slowly Dominic’s head cleared. The fireman who was gripping his arm had brought him to the nearest ambulance.

Dominic pulled away. “I’m not hurt.”

The fireman looked at him closely. “Your arm is cut, and you look pretty shaken up, kid. How close were you when the explosion happened?”

“Not that close. I was on the road…on my bike. When it blew up, my bike tipped over. But it’s no big deal. I’m okay. Sorry I went over there. I just wanted to see what happened.”

“Curiosity is natural, kid. No one’s going to put you in jail for that. Let the guys clean your arm up and then you get on home. But you stay away from here from now on, you hear? This site’s going to be dangerous for quite a while, and until we’ve figured out what caused the blast, no one is allowed anywhere near. This is no game, kid. You understand?”

“Yes, sir.”

“All right then. José here can take care of you.”

Dominic was silent while the EMT disinfected and bandaged the scrape on his arm. When it was finished, he said a polite thank you and went to get his bike. It was still lying where he had left it by the side of the road.

It wasn’t until he was pedaling home that he allowed himself to think about what this meant.

That explosion site was the same place where last summer he and his friends had discovered a cave that was home to a dangerous, thieving monster, called a pilpi. The pilpi had stolen something valuable from them, and when they had gone to get it back, it had attacked them, forcing them to kill it in order to escape. Of course, no one else in town knew about that. No one else in town would even believe there was such a creature as a pilpi. That was because no one else in town had ever read the Book of Sight.

The previous summer, some of Dominic’s friends had a mysterious old book delivered to their houses. After they read it, they began to see things that had always been around them but they had never noticed before. Dominic hadn’t gotten a book himself. He still wondered about that sometimes, worried that whoever sent the books hadn’t thought that he deserved one. He had been left to find things out because of an old painting in his grandparents’ house.