The city of Destiny was a small metropolis. The downtown district was nestled along the waterfront and boasted a few buildings that were too small to be called skyscrapers, but big enough to feel important. We lived on the outskirts of the city in an area known as Destiny Hills. We had lots of rain in the winter, but in the summer it was the perfect place to live, well…almost. Our neighborhood wasn’t what you would call the safest, but with only one parent to pay the rent, our house was all Mom could afford.
The street lamps over King Street were dimly lit, flickering a sickening hue of orange over the road. Skating six blocks down and two blocks over to McKinley Avenue, I crossed the intersection and slipped into the alleyway behind Skeeter’s Bar and Grill. Uncle Jim owned the building and the restaurant. During spring break he had allowed us to renovate the vacant apartment above the restaurant into a make-shift video production studio.
I liked Uncle Jim. Ever since my father left us, my uncle had made a considerable effort to get to know my friends and me better. Of course, his interest was most likely Mom’s doing. She had started worrying about the lack of a father figure in my life and shortly thereafter, Uncle Jim and I had met and struck an agreement. I could use apartment 12B as a video studio, if we promised to paint the apartment over the summer and run some errands for him now and then. I was excited about the offer, especially since he included some used video equipment in the deal, and Mom was relieved that I was staying out of trouble. That’s how Studio12B was born.
When I arrived at the alley entrance the lights were already on upstairs. I hid my skateboard behind a stack of empty boxes and leaped up the staircase, skipping every other step. The door was securely locked as expected. My knocking four times, pausing for two beats then knocking twice more prompted a voice from inside to ask a question.
“What’s the password?” Stretch tried his best to make his voice sound deep and mysterious but I detected a hint of a smile.
“Snakeheads,” I said boldly, a subtle stab at Cranton’s gang.
“No, that was last week,” came the reply with a chuckle.
“Oh right, I forgot!”
Every Friday we changed the password, a scheme we had developed on the off-chance that someone we didn’t know might try to gain access to the studio. Of course, no one had ever been interested in breaking into our place, but somehow just having a secret password that changed every week seemed cool, so we adopted the policy and did our best to enforce it.
“Let’s see.” I paused for a while. We had talked about the new password only yesterday but at the moment I couldn’t remember it. Last week was S and this week would be something that started with T. “Tomahawk?” I half asked, half said.
“No that was Stubbs’s idea.” Stretch was enjoying this. “We decided on using mine instead.”
“You mean you decided,” Stubbs groaned from behind the door, still bitter about having his password rejected once again. We were already twenty letters into the alphabet and he had only named three passwords to-date.
“C’mon guys, it’s me, Hunter; just let me in already.”
“Hey, rules are rules. You gotta know the password or you can’t get in.” They were taking this way too seriously.
“Fine!” This was frustrating. “Uh, Titanic… Twinkies... No wait... Time warp! That’s it, time warp!” With the correct answer the door swung open at last, granting me access to my own studio and the meeting I had invited them to.
Stubbs looked up as I entered and set my backpack down in the chair beside him. He looked a bit put-out at having been called to our studio so late. It was only ten-thirty, but Stubbs was an “early-to-bed” kind of guy and this wasn’t fitting into his plan.
“So what’s going on? How do you know the book is magic?” He cut right to the point.
Feeling safer in the apartment, I recapped everything that had happened that evening. Stretch and Stubbs leaned forward with interest as I told them of the glowing book, the mysterious symbols, the humming key and the strange voices. Their eyes widened when I told them how I entered the book—about the garden, the tree and the boy. I explained that I had seen them as well, with darkened faces, being consumed by a monstrous snake. They looked understandably frightened, but when I told them about the bathroom mirror incident, their jaws dropped to the floor.
“Okay, I’m officially freaked out now,” Stretch was worried. “What are we going to do? I don’t want to be snake chow.”
Stubbs wasn’t easily convinced, “Oh come on! Are you suggesting the book is predicting some bizarre future where we all turn into black-eyed zombies and get eaten? ’Cause if you think I’m going to fall for that then you’re crazy.”
“I don’t know what to think, Stubbs, I’m just telling you exactly what I saw.”
“Still that doesn’t mean what you saw will actually come true, does it?”
“Well no, I guess not.” It hadn’t occurred to me that the guys would question what I had seen.
“And you said yourself you thought it was a dream, right?” Stubbs was really starting to annoy me.
“Then how do you explain what happened to my reflection in the mirror, or how the bookshop vanished earlier today?” I challenged. “There’s something strange going on here and you know it!”
He opened his mouth as if to speak, then stopped. I was right and he knew it. This was no dream.
Stubbs tried to reason, “Okay, what we know for a fact is that this book has caused us nothing but trouble ever since we got it, right?”
“You can say that again,” Stretch pointed out, “I haven’t had such a weird day in my life.”
“So, maybe the book is cursed,” Stubbs offered enthusiastically.
“I don’t believe in curses,” I said.
“Oh yeah? I saw this documentary on TV once where some kids found a cursed idol and it kept haunting them and ruining their lives until they burned it.” He seemed pleased with his reasoning and concluded with confidence, “I think we should destroy the book.”
“Destroy the book?” I burst out. “Aren’t you curious about what gives the book its power? If we get rid of it, we’ll never know what this was all about.” I looked up at the guys again; they were listening. “Have you ever considered that maybe we’re supposed to have the book? That maybe it’s trying to warn us of something?”
“So, what are you suggesting we do?” Stubbs snapped.
As crazy as I sounded to myself, I needed my friends to see for themselves what was in the book. “I think we should read it together and see if we can find out where the book came from.”
“Oh no! Are you nuts?” Stubbs breathed in through his inhaler. “That is the worst idea you’ve had yet. The last thing I want is to end up like you. You can’t even look at yourself in the mirror anymore.”
He was right, I was afraid of my own reflection. Gazing into the mirror earlier this evening had revealed something evil hidden in me.
“Here.” Stubbs tossed me a hand mirror we had kept in the apartment for writing secret messages. The idea was to write our messages backwards and decipher them by reading them in the mirror. I had learned this clever trick while writing a research paper on Leonardo DaVinci earlier that year. Now, with mirror in hand, I began to tremble at what secrets it might reveal about me.
“Well, what are you waiting for? Go ahead, look at it!” Stretch’s voice wavered in anticipation. My hand shook as I held the mirror up to my face, eyes tightly shut. “What do you see?” he gulped.
I slowly opened one eye, then another. The blackness wasn’t there—it had disappeared.
“It’s gone...I mean, my reflection is normal again. I don’t understand. I saw the blackness in the mirror only an hour ago.” Nothing was making sense anymore.
“Maybe you imagined…” Stretch started.
“I didn’t imagine anything, okay?” I was starting to lose my patience.
“Guys, arguing won’t get us anywhere,” Stubbs tried to calm things down. “One thing seems clear, the longer we stay away from that book, the more normal everything seems to be.”
Stubbs was right. The book had already caused problems at school, at home, and now my own friends were at odds. The silly thing was, I didn’t even like books. I’d rather wait for a movie to come out any day than spend my time reading. But this book was different; it was real and it had something to do with me. My own fear of the book seemed to keep me connected to it. I couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something more to be learned and I was determined to find out what it was.
“Can’t you guys just trust me on this?” I was starting to lose faith in my own friends.
Stubbs was calm for the first time this evening. “It’s not that I don’t trust you, Hunter. I believe you; every bit of it. What I don’t trust is that book.”
“So what are you saying?” I asked.
“I’m saying you can do what you want, but I’m going home. I’m in enough trouble as it is, and the last thing I need right now is to get involved in another situation with that cursed book.” Without further discussion, Stubbs gathered his things and walked out the door. We stood there, watching him ride off on his bike into the night.
“Well, it looks like it’s just you and me again, Stretch.” I didn’t give him time to consider his options. He was more likely to go along that way. “Grab that blank tape over there, will you?”
“What for?” Stretch questioned.
“To record what happens. We’ll need proof we’re not crazy when we come back.”
“Come back?” Stretch’s voice wobbled a bit as he handed me the video tape. I loaded it into the camera. “Back from where?”
“From...uh...” I stumbled for words. I didn’t know what to say. Then a deep voice from the studio doorway answered for me.
“From beyond the Veil…” Turning in surprise, I saw a tall figure enter the room. We had forgotten to close and lock the door. As the figure stepped forward, we instantly recognized him as the “janitor” from school. Now he was dressed strangely, in a dark grey hooded cloak that added to the mystery of his presence.
“What are you doing here?” Stretch growled. “You were supposed to meet us back at school. You ditched us! Because of you we got detention!”
“Yes, I’m sorry about that but I’m afraid it couldn’t be avoided. Trust me!” He spoke with urgency as he gently closed the door behind him, making sure we were alone.
“Trust you! Why should we trust you?” I challenged. Even though he had saved us from the dumpster we had plenty of reasons not to trust him, the least of which was posing as a custodian. Then again, he had never actually claimed to be a janitor; we had just assumed he was.
“Who are you anyway?” I asked.
“My name is Evan, a messenger sent here to help you.” He leaned forward slightly and raised his eyebrows. “I believe you’re being hunted.”
“Hunted? Who’s after me?”
“The Shadow. They are coming for you, Hunter. You have something that belongs to them.” He spoke as if I knew what he was talking about.
“I don’t understand; what do I have that anyone could possibly want?”
“More than you know,” his voice was steady and calm. “Tell me, Hunter, have you read the book?”
“A little.”
“What did you read?”
I strained to recall the riddle that had first appeared on the opening pages of the book.
“Something about darkness, a lie, and a door through which I must die,” I replied and shuddered.
“And then?” he wanted to hear more.
For the second time that evening, I recounted my entrance into the book and what I had seen.
“When you returned,” he inquired eagerly, “what did you see when you looked in the mirror? What did it reveal?”
A terrible feeling grew in my chest. “That I...” I paused for a moment glancing over at Stretch who was looking as nervous as ever, “that I’m being watched.”
An uncomfortable silence passed.
Evan spoke evenly, allowing his next words to sink in. “Listen closely. The book has connected to you, Hunter. You have been given the opportunity to see how things really are. The Shadow are aware that you have been called and they will do anything to keep you from leaving. More than anything, they want you to forget what the book has shown you.”
I lowered my gaze, uncertain of what to say. Nothing made sense but at the same time I knew it had to be true. After all, I had seen it, and “seeing is believing”—or so I thought.
“These Shadow you keep talking about. Who are they?” I questioned.
“Parasites,” he answered, “an alliance of dark spirits from another realm who are living among you. They have been here since the dawn of time, using man as their host to survive. The world as you see it is an alteration, an illusion they have manipulated your mind into believing. Everything you see is hidden by this facade. Those of us in the Resistance know it simply as the Veil.”
“You mean these creatures are living inside Hunter, playing with his mind?” Stretch asked, his expression as bitter as if someone had just served him a pile of spinach.
“Actually,” he turned to Stretch and added, “in both of you.”
Stretch’s expression worsened. “Gross!”
“But why us?” I questioned.
“Oh, it’s not just you. Everyone in Destiny is living under the effects of the Veil. They believe life is good, and they are in control, but the reality is just the opposite. The truth is, this world is fading and the Shadow are in complete control over your lives.” Evan turned and looked directly at me, “Your father knew all too well the workings of the Shadow, which is why he left. He was looking for answers too.”
The sudden mention of my father had a strange effect on me. All at once I shared something in common with the man who had abandoned my family. He had disappeared three years ago this summer. Emily and I had heard heated arguments between our parents nearly every night leading up to his departure. Our parents were at odds over something, though we were never told exactly what it was.
“You know my father?” I asked, hoping for some information of his whereabouts, maybe even some way of getting in touch with him.
“Yes, I knew him once. I first met your father at a gathering of the Resistance. He had just discovered the secret of the Shadow and realized something was terribly wrong. At the time he didn’t understand why the Shadow existed or how they were connected to our own world. Your father and I had a difference of opinion over the matter and parted ways. I lost touch; I’m afraid I don’t know where he is now.”
“That makes two of us,” I mumbled.
“Listen boys,” he reassured us, “the important thing to remember is that this world is not what it seems; you are not what you seem. Everything you see is a lie—as long as you stay here you cannot trust your vision. This book is an exit that takes you beyond the Veil to a place where everything is real. It is a link to the truth. To a realm that is connected to our own so deeply you can see it at work even now if you try.” At this he looked around as if sensing something we could not.
Stretch’s eyes followed his gaze around the room and he squirmed at the thought of invisible beings in this world.
“How do we get rid of them?” Stretch asked, still sickened at the thought of being infected.
“Once you are infected, the effects are irreversible. There is nothing you can do to get rid of them,” he said with finality. Then he stepped forward, bent down and put his hand on our shoulders. “But there is someone who can. Someone who has helped others—someone who has helped me.” Until that moment I had felt as if I was already lost. His smile seemed to reassure us that we had some hope.
“Who can help us?” I asked.
Evan looked around as if someone was listening in, lowered his voice and spoke in a hushed tone, “His name is Aviad.” The lights in the studio flickered off for a moment and then back on, as if the mere mention of the name carried a power of its own. Evan looked up, “They’re here. There isn’t time to explain everything now. Quickly, follow me and do exactly as I say.”
With that he threw open the door and ran down the stairs. We grabbed up our things and hurried after him to the edge of the alley. He pulled himself tightly against the wall—we did the same. Peeking around the corner he motioned for us to follow again.
We made our way across town, ducking behind parked cars and dodging down blind alleys. In a curious game of hide-and-seek we tried to lose the invisible beings hot on our trail. Evan was moving faster than we expected. It took every ounce of effort to keep up with him.
“Where are we going?” Stretch broke the silence with his question.
“Somewhere safe,” Evan shot back, not breaking his stride. A few blocks later we arrived in an alley across the street from a small church. Crouching in the darkness we stopped to catch our breath.
“You sure move fast for an old guy,” Stretch wheezed.
Evan grinned, apparently amused at the thought of being called old.
“Where are we?” I asked.
“That church is one of the safe-houses the Shadow seldom enter. Inside we can use the book undetected.” His eyes scanned the scene, making sure we were safe and finally alone. Then something caught his eye. Evan held up his hand and pointed across the street.
“See that?” he asked. We shook our heads. “There, by the gate in front of the church. Look for the negative light.” I focused intently on the wrought iron archway that separated the sidewalk from the churchyard. At first nothing was there, and then as I stared more intently I could barely see the illusion of movement. Sucking the light out of the air ever so slightly was a vague shape pacing back and forth in front of the entrance.
“Dispirits,” Evan spat in disgust, looking concerned, “two of them. Someone must have tipped them off.”
“Wh-what is that? What does that mean?” Stretch quivered.
“It means this isn’t going to be as easy as I hoped.” He looked us over for a moment. “I’m going to see what they want. Stay here. No matter what happens you must promise to stay hidden and protect the book.” We nodded silently, not knowing what we were in for.
Evan stood up, pulling his hood over his head and stepped boldly out of the safety of the alley into the street. I watched as the hazy movement in front of the building froze. The Dispirits had noticed the cloaked stranger approaching them.
“Show yourselves!” Evan commanded, and all at once, the beings formerly cloaked in darkness appeared out of their invisible hiding places. They were skinny bug-like creatures, each with six arms, oversized antennae, and two very long legs on which they hobbled in an awkward upright position. At the end of each arm was a gruesomely clawed hand. Their faces were mostly frog-like, with bulging eyes and wide lips, but the long sharp teeth that protruded up from their bottom jaw made it obvious they were dangerous. Stretch grabbed the camera and started recording the scene. It would make great footage for our studio Web site.
As the Dispirits hobbled toward Evan, one of them opened its mouth and hissed. “Where issss the book?” Its voice was long and drawn out.
“It is safe; you cannot have it,” Evan announced with authority.
The Dispirit chuckled, wiggled its antennae and sniffed the air. “You lie, Shhhhining One. It issss near, issssn’t it?”
Evan didn’t respond. He just stood there firmly, unafraid.
“The boy issss already ourssss. Leave him alone and we will let you be.” As they spoke, black fog began to come out of their mouths. Evan stepped back to avoid the mist. The two Dispirits began circling Evan as if ready to pounce. One of them licked its eye with a long elastic-like tongue.
“The boy is no longer your concern,” Evan replied. “He has been called by a higher authority.”
“There issss no authority but our own,” spat one of the creatures. “You cannot ssssave him, he issss already dead. Your missssion is foolishhhh. He will die like the otherssss you tried to ssssave. You shhhhould not have come alone.”
Evan removed his hood and took what appeared to be the hilt of a sword from his side. “I never travel alone!”
With the hilt of the sword tightly clutched in his hand, Evan spun around and slashed through the air. The creatures leaped out of the way as, with a flash of white light, an invisible blade scorched the ground where they once stood.
“Whoa! How cool is that?” Stretch smiled as we watched the action from the shadowed safety of the alley.
Evan attacked again, this time removing one of the second Dispirit’s arms. The creature backed away in pain, dripping black, tar-like blood on the pavement.
The first Dispirit leaped high into the air above Evan, claws bared in a deadly downward attack. Evan swung around quickly and sliced through the middle of the beast with his invisible sword. Immediately, the Dispirit who was just inches above him disappeared in a wispy cloud of inky blackness, which flew away into the night sky. The remaining injured creature gathered itself and lunged over the top of Evan, coming down several feet behind him. “Futile!” it shouted, as its long tongue shot out immediately from its mouth and struck the back of Evan’s neck.
“Ahhhh!” Evan fell to his knees in pain, grabbing the back of his neck. A red welt appeared, stinging from the touch of the Dispirit’s poisonous tongue.
“Hopelessss!” The creature lashed out again before Evan had a chance to retaliate, this time the tongue scarring the hand that held his sword. Instinctively, Evan dropped his weapon from the searing pain, realizing too late that he had just made himself vulnerable. The creature quickly grabbed the sword with its tongue and threw it away. The sword landed under a black car parked in front of the alley, just a few feet from where we were hidden. Quietly, I crawled over to the car and reached for the hilt. It was just out of reach, my arms were too short.
“Stretch,” I whispered loudly, motioning for him to come over. “I can’t reach it!” Stretch followed my lead and made his way to the vehicle. He handed me the camera and lay down on the ground in an attempt to reach the sword.
I lifted the camera up from behind the car to see how Evan was doing. The creature continued lashing out with its tongue at Evan, who was doing his best to dodge the attacks. With each failed lashing the creature yelled out words of discouragement.
“Failure! Defeated! Foolissssh!”
“I’ve got it!” Stretch grabbed the sword and pulled it out from under the car. He passed his hand safely above the hilt, feeling for a blade that did not appear to exist. “Awesome.”
“Not now, Stretch,” I said grabbing the sword and giving back the camera. “We need to get the sword to Evan!” While the Dispirit’s back was turned to me, I took the opportunity to sneak up the sidewalk to the next parked car. Evan was another fifty feet away and saw me approaching with the sword. He moved so the creature continued to turn its back toward me. Stealing the opportunity, I darted quickly up the sidewalk and behind a delivery van that was parked near where Evan and the Dispirit stood.
“You havvvve been beaten, Shhhhining One,” the Dispirit hissed with excitement. “Now tell me where the boy issss, or he will die.”
“You cannot take him, he is wanted by another,” I heard Evan say weakly.
“Then you will ssssuffer!” the creature hissed.
I lay down and looked under the van. From where I lay, I could see Evan’s legs just past the creature. Here goes nothing. I slid the sword under the van and out the other side. Evan saw it and dove under the creature’s legs, rolling out the other side with blade in hand. I jumped out from behind the van in time to watch the creature disappear into a black mist as Evan ran it through with his mysterious sword. Once again the dark cloud swirled in the wind and flew up into the night sky.
“Thanks, that was a little too close,” Evan said, feeling the back of his neck with his hand. He took the sword and laid it on his scar, which healed almost immediately.
“Where did you get that?” I asked in amazement, eyeing the sword.
“Later. Right now we have to move quickly; more are on their way. Do you have the book?”
“Here it is!” Stretch called out as he ran back to where we had been standing, carrying my backpack with him.
“Good, there’s been a change in plans. You’ll have to leave the Veil on your own. Do you remember how to use the book?” Evan asked hurriedly.
“I think so. I just touched the words and it pulled me into the story. But I didn’t have much control over where I went, I mean—I was just watching things,” I recalled.
“That is because your connection with the book was weak. The book was simply showing you glimpses of another world. This time will be different. With the knowledge I have given you, the book will become an exit from the Veil and…” Evan stopped abruptly, holding his finger to his lips. A slow hissing murmur began to grow steadily louder.
“What—what is it?” I whispered.
Stretch’s face went white. He pointed a quivering finger over my shoulder. Turning around I saw hundreds of eyes appear on the walls of the alleyway as a fresh horde of Dispirits took form, clambering over each other.
They had found us.