Unspeakable

UNSPEAKABLE

    It was startling, yet not to the point where they sprang from the bed. They remained, gazing all around and at each other. Harmony hadn't heard it yet, or at least she did a good job ignoring it, incorporating it into her dreams. It sounded like a buzz or hum, which at first seemed distant, but was steadily increasing in volume. Finally, and at the same time, the epiphany dawned on them.

     "Is that a...!?"

     "A helicopter!"

     Then, they literally leapt from the bed, and, in the process, Harmony did awaken.

     "Come on," Elizabeth exclaimed, grabbing Harmony by the hand with such exuberance that she, too, went flying from her bed.

     The three of them rushed outside as quickly as their feet could carry them, foregoing coats and shoes. As the door opened, gusts of wind stung their faces but they pursued their course until they were standing in the middle of the road. Up ahead, a helicopter was making a sweep of the town in the direction away from them, but it circled around and was approaching the hotel. Greg and Elizabeth began to wave their arms and shout, and shortly thereafter, Harmony followed suit, joining in on the excitement. Just as the helicopter began to slow down in recognition of the family, there was a burst of flame, sending it swerving off track. The Urbanics' jumps of excitement turned to gasps of horror as they watched a trail of smoke and fire sail off into the forest. Seconds later, there was a huge explosion which sent a plume of black clouds and flame soaring into the air.

     Elizabeth collapsed into Greg's arms and she cried. He held her as he gazed toward the forest, as curious as he was frightened. Harmony did not know what to make of the turn of events, though she could sense it was not a good thing. She remained silent and still. But, the bitter cold all around them cut though their thin bed attire and Harmony began to shiver. Greg noticed and he gathered his family back into the warmth and shelter of Wanderer's Retreat.

~~~~~

     It was a somber morning; they remained rather quiet and sat around as if waiting for something to happen. Greg kept his eyes and ears pinned to the sky, hoping against hope that another helicopter was on its way to investigate the crash of the previous. It was all very puzzling and it vexed them terribly, especially Elizabeth, whose mind was spinning around in delusion. She really began to fear for their lives, thinking this town was out to get them. She spoke of it once to her husband, and he comforted her as well as he could, but he knew she was staring to lose it. He believed in coincidence and already filed all of his strange occurrenes as paranoia. He had to remain logical for the sake of his family. He would get them out of there.

     There came a moment when Greg was wandering the upstairs by himself while Elizabeth and Harmony were drawing up baths. He was staring out a window at the far end of the hall when he heard a noise. It sounded as if something shattered. He turned and walked toward the direction, as best as he could guess, of the noise. Soon, he came to Room 208. Standing stoutly, he pushed on the door softly, and it opened with a long, exaggerated creak. The room was no longer dark, for the sun gleamed in valiantly, illuminating dust particles everywhere. There was a very still and nostalgic aura in the air; it was not threatening. Peering around the room, Greg discovered the apparent cause for the alert of his attention. Assumingly, a vase had fallen off of the night-stand by the bed and broke upon the floor. In the debris of glass there was a shredded piece of paper. Collecting the pieces, he could tell something was scrawled upon it, though it would have to be reassembled in order to read it.

     Using the bed as a table, though as uneven as the comforter was, Greg layed the pieces out and began to move them about, trying to read the message correctly. It did not take him long to solve it, however, for the words were few and rather largely written. It read, "Would you do dare what Jesus did? Lawrence." He studied it a while, though he could not make sense of it, but he committed it to memory and headed back downstairs to take a shower himself.

~~~~~

     Despite the promise she had him make, she had no inclination whatsoever to go with him this time; she felt like sulking in the warm hotel, too emotinally drained to go adventuing. She refused to let Harmony accompany her father, much to the girl's displeasure, and let Greg go about on another one of his unusual ponderings. It had finally connected together when he recalled where he had heard the name "Lawrence" from. Unfolding his map, he located Lawrence Avenue and thought about the rest of the message from Room 208. Seeing that there was a pond in Vagrant's Hideaway, it clicked. Whenever he thought of Jesus, he thought of two things: crucification and walking on water. So, off to the pond, he went.

     It wasn't a long walk, but the pond was located on the far side of town. He noticed that the plume of smoke fom the crash was gone. He thought it a bit strange that it was not still burning and was disheartened, for he thought the smoke would at least attract more attention. Yet, it had now vanished without a trace. God rest his soul, Greg felt for the pilot. And so, he continued on. First, he headed down Main Street, cutting through the business district, until it ended by the elementary school. Light snow was falling, but it was nothing too severe that he couldn't struggle through. Turning onto Matheson, he walked the opposite direction from when he visited the house of Theodore Lacy. This part of town was unfamiliar to him, and thus he journeyed with renewed intrigue. But, as he drew closer to his destination, it seemed as if a fog rolled right in to meet him, for it came so abruptly; and it was thick, as opaque as he had ever seen. It made everything eerie.

     Long before Matheson Street came to its end, where it merged with Lawrence Avenue, he deemed he came across the pond. Visibility was so stinted, between the clouds and snow, that he could not be too sure of anything his eyes were seeing. The houses that were lined up along the street had stopped a few paces back and he saw the landscape sort of stretch out into the distance, disappearing into a sea of white. As he treaded cautiously, the ground descended into a slight slope, heading toward something. He walked quite a distance before he came upon a horrible realization. Looking down, he brushed the snow away with a foot. There was no grass. It was ice.

     "Shit," he muttered to himself. He spun around slowly and heard a cracking sound. "Shit, shit..." He froze in his tracks and gazed around; he was no longer sure exactly which direction he had come from and what way was closest back to solid ground. Then, he saw something in the near horizon, though it was very faint at first. The vision emerged and became more clear through the haze of white. It was a person. A lady.

     Elizabeth? Harsh winter, a frozen pond, and here was this apparition again, standing in naught but a flimsy black dress, and presumably barefoot just as before. My, God, looks just like her... Greg found himself entranced, temporarily forgetting the imminent danger beneath his feet. He began to take steps toward this lady, who was standing perfectly still, gazing directly at him. Then, she reached out her arms to him, as if beckoning, but as he drew nearer, she turned and began to walk way.

     "Hey! Don't go!" He shouted. As he quickened his pace, he noticed a cracking sound and then he looked over his shoulder. The snow was shifting position as it sunk inward. The ice!

     Fear gripped him and he panicked. Instead of standing still or taking cautious steps to suppress the onslaught of doom, he took bounding leaps toward the lady. She always seemed a few steps ahead, though she merely walked; it was as if some force kept her at a distance and the gap could never be closed. And then it happened. His footing faltered as the layer of ice buckled under his person. Before he knew it, his body was stinging harshly from head to toe. The pain was horrendous, like the tiniest, sharpest needles skewering every millimeter of his flesh. Everything grew dim as he plunged deeper into the pond, away from the surface of the water, where light glowed eerily down at him. Furiously, he flailed his limbs, his hands reaching out to nothing. Then, he saw them again. Red eyes. He remembered them well from Room 208, staring from the abyss of that black shadow. Now, they stared at him from the blackness of murky water. If it were possible, he panicked even more at the sight of them, for the eyes were far scarier than the thought of drowning could ever be. The fear they conjured was so strong that he could not hold a gaze with them any longer. Greg peered up at the surface once again. There she was. Watching him. She knelt down and plunged her pale arm into the icy water and reached for him. Greg stretched for dear life and clasped with her hand and hoped against hope. Slowly, the surface came closer, but his lungs were burning, as the last bubbles of exhale were escaping. His vision began to blur and dim. All grew darker. Except the eyes. The eyes remained gleaming. They were the last thing he saw.

~~~~~

     Before his eyes opened, he only felt cold. And wet. He almost feared to open them, or even worse, that they were open and this darkness was all there was to see. But, he tried and found that, though there was a bit of light, there wasn't much, and everything was hazy. He was looking at a pile of snow. He moved his arms and brushed the snow from his face. A dim sky greeted him, the sun nearly setting. And he was lying posterior on a wooden bench. Sitting up, he saw that the fog had cleared and it was barely snowing. The pond lay before him. Checking his clothes, he realized that he was relatively dry, save some dampness from the precipitation. He held his head in hands. Was I dreaming?... When did I go to sleep?

    There was a light fixture near the center of the pond, attached to a stone fountain in the shape of a fish. It wasn't far away and he could tell there was something resting on the ledge of the fountain. Another book, he presumed. Then, he thought of the note again. Would I dare was Jesus did? The pond was rather unimpressive in size now. Whatever pond he was traipsing on before was entirely different. A semi-decorative stone wall encircled the entire pond, giving it the aura of a grand fountain. It was like an enlarged version of the M�rchenbrunnen in Berlin, with just one ugly fish in the center in place of the handful of fairy-tale statuary.

     He began to take a few steps onto the edge of the water and it seemed solid enough. The fountain was about a hundred feet from the ourskirt of land. "I must be crazy," he said aloud to himself. As briskly and lightly as he could, Greg trodded over the surface of the pond, which, due to the snowfall atop it, was barely even recognizable as a frozen body of water. At this point, he could only assume what lay beneath, which, in truth, eased his worried mind, for as long as he could not see the ice, it may as well not even be there. The book resting on the ledge of fountain held his focus, and as long as he kept a visual of it, he needn't even look down. Before long, he arrived very uneventfully, grabbed the book, and quickly and gracefully returned to the bench.

     "That wasn't so bad," he reassured himself. While he still had a tad bit of daylight left, he eagerly thumbed through the familiar cryptic pages until he found his reward for all his daring labor. It read in full, "I am the One, back from the Void. They believed I was gone for good, but as long as I am called upon, the way will be open. I have been summoned." I have been summoned... This fifth revelation was no more enlightening and he would have gladly spared himself from such a perilous walk had he only but known. Where's the next clue? And what of that dream... if it was a dream?

~~~~~

     It was rather dark as he made his way down Main Street. The moon remained hidden behind a layer of clouds; blackness prevailed. The flashlight proved most comforting, though he was rather familiar with that street by then. As he approached a small diner, The Great Plate, a scream pierced the silent air. Down at the hotel, Elizabeth burst though the heavy doors, yelling hysterically.

     "Harmony! Harmony! Where are you!?" She was running wildly, her own flashlight beam dancing through the night sky. Seeing another light beam ahead, and assuming it was her husband, she directed her flight of panic toward him. "Gregory!" They met in front of the pizzeria. "Oh, Gregory..." She fought to catch her breath.

     "What is it, Liz?"

     "Har - Harm's missing." Her mind was reeling. "I had fallen asleep and whe - and when I woke, she was gone. Just gone!"

     "Well, did you search all the rooms?" He asked, with a slightly belittling tone.

     "Yeah," she retorted, "She's nowhere, Greg!"

     He drew her in and kissed her forehead. "Don't worry. We'll find her. She couldn't have gotten too far."

     Just then, a noise attracted both of their attentions; a sound came from the toy store, and, just as they had looked in that direction, a shadow moved across the doorway. It happened so quickly that they were not sure it was Harmony, yet it certainly appeared human. They started across the road immediately, without a word to one another. Greg arrived first and let himself in, with Elizabeth just behind him. Their jaws fell agape simultaneously. This was not the same store they had visited before though it stood at the exact location.

     "Greg...," Elizabeth stared in bewilderment. She was witnessing, for the first time, what her husband had experienced at the hotel kitchen. Everything was decayed and perverted. The walls and floor were encrusted with filth. Innocent toys and crafts, once full of warmth and love, were either broken and twisted or replaced with bizarre machinations made by a warped mind. And the smell... oh what a smell! Rot and death, pungent as a withered corpse, tainted the air. It was so overpowering that Elizabeth could not hold back a spell of instant nausea, and she turned to her side and vomited. Greg was on the verge himself.

     Now he knew he was not delusional. What he had seen in the kitchen was just as real as this. He had a solid witness now. Yet, this was far worse. Where the kitchen was simply gross, here it was demented and grotesque. With the exception of the dead cats in the oven, the toy store was far more nightmarish. Greg did not even want to know the source of this more intense foul odor.

     "Just stay close, okay?" He suggested to Elizabeth, after she regained some composure. She nodded, agreeingly, for she did not need convincing. Together, they stepped around the craft store with caution. They dared not touch anything, lest the stench and decay contaminate their bodies. The strange, metal crafts that littered the shop depicted scenes of murder, self-abuse, and fornication. Those toys that were still there from before were now broken and cracked. That spooky doll that Greg had taunted Harmony with was spookier yet; a substance like blood secreted from its eyes and there was a knife sticking from its chest.

     Both were so engrossed with morbid curiousity but then suddenly recalled why they were in there to begin with. "Harmony! Are you in here?" Greg shouted.

     "Harmony!" Elizabeth echoed. There was no reply and she despaired. "Do you think she's here?"

     "I don't know. Someone sure was." Greg took the lead and probed deeper into the shop. The closer to the back they got, the stonger that nauseating smell became. It seemed to be emanating from a small office in the rear of the room. A door, partially ajar, beckoned them. Greg turned around. "Let me go in first. I'll signal you if it's safe." Elizabeth nodded in agreement. She stood, with her arms crossed, embracing herself.

     Slowly, he entered, opening the door just enough to see, at first, and then to slide in. There was a desk in the corner of the room. Something was slumped up against the wall behind it, but from his position, he could not tell what it was. As he rounded the desk, it became all too clear; a body of an elderly man, mutilated beyond recognition, was propped sitting up. His eyes were missing and small buttons rested in the sunken sockets. Metal hooks protruded from his skin on his arms and legs, attached by strings that led up to wooden platforms nailed to the ceiling. My, God... a human marionette...

     There was a message scrawled on the wall in blood. "the doll maker." And there was a smiley face. Greg was not nearly as startled by the scene as he thought he should have been. He was getting too used to these grizzly happenstances. It was still disturbing to him, though. Elizabeth let herself into the office, tired of waiting outside.

     "So? What's in here?"

     Greg rushed toward her and turned her about and led her back out. "You don't need to see this," he told her, tenaciously.

     "What is it?" She was very curious.

     "Trust me. You don't want to know. Harm's not in there. That's all you need to know, hon."

     Elizabeth felt very belittled, but in the back of her mind, she feared what was in there more than she was curious of it, so she pushed the notion from her thought. As there was no other way out of the toy store, Greg decided it was nigh time to leave that nightmare far behind. Apparently, that shadow that passed the doorway was not their daughter. Heading toward the door, they passed the model of the town. Greg noticed that there was nothing particularly perverse about it. Of everything, it was the only item untouched by this hell. But, on closer inspection, Greg found a key propped up against the tiny police station. He picked it up and noticed a piece of tape wrapped around the head of it. On it was written, "C3." He pocketed it.

~~~~~

     Once back in the middle of the street, they shined their flashlights all around, hoping some clue would present itself. Elizabeth was feeling desperate and yelled out into the cold air, "Harmony! Where are you!? Please answer, baby!" Her world was spinning out of control, and she collapsed to her knees, sobbing at Greg's feet. I'm sorry, honey... I'm so sorry," she muttered, emotionally, tears falling down her cheek that immediately began to freeze.

     Before Greg could even try to console her, a familiar voice called out to them." Mommy! Daddy!"

     Elizabeth looked up and squinted through her tears and saw a figure standing outside the door of Wanderer's Retreat. Her great despair turned to relief and she stumbled to her feet and ran towards her daughter. When she reached Harmony, she scooped her into her arms and deeply hugged her and showered her forehead with kisses. "Oh, baby, you're okay. You're okay, you're okay." She kept repeating those words.

     "'Course I'm okay. Where did you go, Mommy?" Harmony asked. "You were there and then you were gone."

     Elizabeth could not say anything. She was confused and relieved and, at that moment, it did not really matter one bit. She hugged Harmony for what seemed like an eternity to a little girl. When she had had her fill of comforting, Elizabeth ushered everyone out of the bitter cold and into the inviting heat of the hotel. They took a moment to simply relax, for there had certainly been enough adventure to last each a lifetime. Elizabeth was yet too distraught over the events to inquire about what Greg had done on his previous outing, and he was still perplexed over the occurrences himself.

~~~~~

     It was now evening and supper was on the table. Luckily for the Urbanics, food was in no short supply. They wouldn't even need to ration to hole up for a month before measures would turn drastic; and that was only considering the supply of the hotel kitchen, with hopes that that room stayed pure and did not revert to that hellish kitchen once again. There would be other buildings with freezers and cupboards full of canned goods and other non-perishables. That fact, of course, was very irrelevant, for they did not consider staying in Vagrant's Hideaway long enough to have to worry about such matters.

     In light of recent events, Greg decided to share some of the experiences he had had on his own, starting first with the tale of the kitchen, which appeased Elizabeth not at all, as she was taking a bite out of a chicken breast from that very kitchen. But, as he continued on to other tales, eventually leading up to the pond incident, her appetite slowly returned. His tellings, not superfluous in the least, left out the morbid details that Elizabeth and Harmony did not need to know. And, he curiously left out any mention of the ghostly apparition that resembled Elizabeth. He did not fully know why he didn't tell her, but it just did not seem right to do so. Certainly, he wished not to alarm her further, as informing her of her specter twin definitely would. He continued on, reading to her the rest of the message contained in the latest book. Such a wild goose-chase it was. Greg felt, however, compelled to play along, like a marionette himself. He thought it ironic and hoped not to end up like the poor doll maker.

     After supper, Greg's attention turned back to the key he had found in the town model at the toy shop. He had nearly forgotten it until he glanced by the wall of room keys on the way to the bedroom. With only one clue to follow, he knew where to focus his attention.

~~~~~

     They ascended the flight of steps and greeted the entrance of the police station. Though they had been there before and all looked identical, the atmosphere was much more eerily pervasive. It was in the air, dense and formidable, yet unseen. Something was watching, or at least Elizabeth surmised it so in the depths of her imagination. Even Harmony felt suppressed, gripped by a slight fear - her first sense of fear upon entering this town. She kept close to her mother and peered around with wide eyes, looking for that something that just wasn't there. Greg tightend his clasp on his sword as he led his family through the hall, toward the basement of the station. Descending down to the cells, the atmosphere became even more dense; the air was almost suffocating.

     "Let's just go in and out, okay?" Elizabeth suggested. The thought of being in that desolate basement was very unsettling.

     "My thoughts exactly," replied Greg. For once, he was almost as uneasy as she.

     There were two jail cells on either side of the corridor, all of which housed no inmates, much to Greg and Elizabeth's satisfaction. They certainly were not expecting any living person at all anymore, anywhere, but it was a relief all the same. Above each cell was a corresponding sign, C1 through C4. They peered into all four, though there was naught in any except C3. In that cell, an object lay upon a bunk bed.

     "Another book," commented Greg.

     He used they key and the door unlocked. Swinging it open, they entered and approached the bed. A book indeed awaited them and Greg picked it up without hesitation and found the correct page. Elizabeth peered over his shoulder and they read along together. Greg read aloud the newest line of the enigma, "Now my vengeance shall purge this land."

     And as he finished the last word, there was a loud clang behind them. Turning around, they realized that the heavy gate to the cell had slammed shut. The fluorescent lights began to flicker and Harmony, who had remained on the other side of the cell, let out a scream and darted off up the stairwell. In the flicker of the lights, Elizabeth and Greg discerned what they thought was a shroud of shadow pass in front of the bars.

     "Greg! What is that thing!?" Elizabeth exclaimed.

     He was stupefied, briefly. He had seen that shroud before. But, where are the eyes? They were not there. He was brought out of his stupor by the frantic yelling of his wife.

     "Gregory! Gregory!" And she turned her frantics toward her now missing daughter. She reached her arms through the bars, groping at the stairwell. "Harmony! Harmony! Come back!"

     Greg approached the gate and tried opening it; it was locked. The two of them tugged and tugged to no avail.

     "Why won't it open!?" Elizabeth was hysterical.

     He felt for the key, which he had left in the lock, but it was missing. Between the disperse flashes of light, he saw that the key had fallen away from the door and lay on the floor a pace or two away. Reclining prone on the cement floor, Greg pushed his arm out of the cell and stretched to reach for the key. It was just barely in range as he fumbled about with his fingertips, when Elizabeth let out a scream.

     "Look out! It's coming!"

     He glanced up just in time to see a misty shadow pass over his arm. It was icy cold. And he remembered that cloud of darkness; twice he had seen it and now thrice was gripped with fear.   Instantly, he withdrew his arm to safety inside the cell. He stood quickly, close to Elizabeth. Together, they stared at the ominous presence which hovered before them. They were grateful for the metal bars separating them from it, but prayed to God that the mist couldn't diffuse through the gate. Two red orbs of light gazed at them menacingly. A chill ran down their spines.

     And then it left. It passed down the hall, away from stairs, toward the dead end. Greg peered out and could no longer see the shadow. The once-flickering lights resumed a normal constant illumination and the oppressive atmosphere cleared immediately. It was as if a waking nightmare rolled right on through. Elizabeth began to shout for Harmony while Greg reached again for the key. Upon retrieving it, he unlocked the cell and the two worried parents rushed upstairs to find their missing daughter.

     "Harmony!" Greg hollered.

     Just a few seconds later, a response came. "Mommy! Daddy!" Harmony peeked around the corner of the doorway connecting to the community center. She then ran to her mother and hugged her waist. "What was that?" She inquired.

     Elizabeth did not know how to answer that question, but Greg answered for her. "It was nothin, honey. Just a hick-up in the power, made the lights flicker."

     "What about that monster!?" She wailed.

     "Monster? What monster?" He played along with a little white lie, trying to distract her enough to let it go.

     "That thing, Daddy! The black cloud..."

     "Oh, it was just dancing shadows, sweetheart." He bent down to look her firmly into the eyes. "From the lights going on and off. Like when you play with a flashlight at night."

     "Oh...," Harmony sighed, relieved that there was no spooky monster.

     Elizabeth glanced at him with such a look of bewilderment. The monster had been quite real enough, yet it could not be explained. This was her first time seeing it and it shook her to the bones.

~~~~~

     All three were more than pleased to be back at the hotel. Everything seemed peaceful, from the atmosphere to the weather. The snow had ceased, though the pile-up was as tremendous as ever. If it continued much further, they could very well be snowed in, trapped inside the hotel, for it was only possible to trudge though so high of a drift. Another load of laundry was started as well as more warm baths drawn up. They watched television in the comfort of Room 101. Neither wanted to speak of what had happened. What could be said that wasn't already felt? For now, they needed anything to take their minds off of things.

     As they sat, blindly contented for the time being, Greg flipped through the recently acquired book. This was the sixth volume in the series, all of which seemed a major waste. Each book contained the same pages, with the one page of English being the only difference amongst them. And, each new book obtained just revealed one more line to a paragraph of the cryptic message. Whoever left these dusty tomes behind certainly had a lot of time on his hands. Though, the page of English did appear as if it may have been written by another hand than that of the glyphs. The ink was not remotely similiar and the style of handwriting differed quite a bit.

     The last line in the sixth book was disturbing. Given the bizarre occurrences now shared by everyone, the words left him quite unsettled. Now my vengeance shall purge this land... Is that why everyone disappeared? And that shadow... did he write this? He closed the book, crossed the room, and sat it upon the stack of others that had been placed on the desk in the room. He paused and looked over at Elizabeth. She was sitting on the floor, Harmony in her lap, watching an evening sitcom. She returned a look, smiling, though she was far from relaxed and happy. Yet, presently, all was well.

~~~~~

     It was a 9:46 and Greg was searching for clues. He had gathered all the room keys to the hotel and began to look into each one. There was nothing out of the ordinary in any of the first-floor rooms and no one else seemed to have been occupying the hotel at the time of the disappearance. Greg continued his search on the upper level. With the exception of Room 202, 204 and mysterious Room 208, all the other rooms were apparently taken. The doors were all locked and Greg returned to the front desk to see if there was a master key. Fishing around in the drawers, he did find a key ring with three unmarked keys and a Honda car key. There was a Honda parked off to the side of the building, now buried beneath a mound of snow, so Greg assumed that the key set must belong to the owner or a worker of Wanderer's Retreat.

     Returning to the second floor, Greg approached 201 and tried a key. Nothing. He tried the second key and the lock turned. Bingo! Flipping the light on, he saw the room looked nearly identical to 101, with the exception of different bed linens. There was a suitcase at the foot of the bed. Greg hoisted it up upon the bed. "Let's have a look, shall we?" He spoke aloud to himself. Flipping the luggage's latches, the top sprang open. He pushed aside some sweaters, jeans, and boxers, but found nothing out of the usual. A side compartment housed some hygiene supplies and a pack of gum. Useless...

    He continued on in the same manner, using the master key to search the other rooms. No surprises, except in room 205, where in one suitcase, he found a sex toy and a July issue of a pornographic magazine of hairy nude males Oookkaaayy... sorry I looked. Room 209, also occupied, contained only a backpack resting underneath a bed. Now, what's this? From a compartment in the sack, he pulled out a book that looked strangely familiar, with its crinkled, leather-bound cover. Just like the others. Opening it up, he passed many pages of the exact same runes. It took him a while, and he even went through it twice, but he concluded that there was no page of English in this book.

     Going through more contents of the backpack, Greg found a wallet and a notebook. He looked at the wallet first and inside he found a drivers license of one Alan James. Then, he noticed the address: 249 Forest Edge, Vagrant's Hideaway. A resident staying here at the hotel? Putting the wallet aside, he opened the notebook. The first page seemed like a title page. The words written made his eyes go wide. "The One." Underneath, scrawled by the same hand, but in parentheses, read, "(translation...)" The next page contained a list of all the glyphs found in the other books and corresponding English letters written next to them. Ah, a secret language. Following was page after page of the translated text, until three-quarters of the way through the notebook, the translation briefly ended in the middle of a sentence. In progress...

    Just then, Elizabeth and Harmony stuck their heads into the doorway and greeted him. "Hey, we're gonna turn in. Just figured I'd let you know."

     Greg stood up and slid the wallet into his pocket and took the two books along with him. "Oh, I'm coming down. Just found some... uh... reading material." After turning the light off, he shut the door and walked downstairs. Upon reaching the lobby, he spoke to Elizabeth, "I'll just stay up a bit more. I'll join you soon." He kissed her and picked up Harmony and gave her a big hug and walked them to the room. After Harmony was tucked in, Greg said good night and shut the light off. Closing the door quietly, he left and took up a seat in the lobby. He turned to the first page of the translation in the notebook and began reading with interest.

     THE ONE

     Before Time was Time, in the emptiness of all things, there were the Three. There, in the darkness, in the still, the Three lived, as equals. Equal, for They shared everything, for They shared nothing, for there was nothing. All about Them was the great Void - black cold space, stretching for eternity. The Three would speak to one another, in the darkness, and They would go out searching the Void, looking for something beyond the darkness, for They could only imagine that there must be more than just Themselves. But the journeys were tiresome and so They gave up all search and remained still, huddled close for company. And there They stayed for countless aeons.

     Growing ever tired of the ceaseless nothingness, They tried with all Their might to create something. They knew naught of what They wanted to create. Yet all Their will was bent on it. And so, with much exertion, the first light appeared in that long dark. And They marvelled. More and more light They created in those early days. Then They realized that They could finally see Themselves.   Like swirls of light They were, colored clouds.

     The translation ended abruptly and seemed to skip ahead to a later section.

     And so the Three created Earth, a place to house all Their thoughts and desires. A place outside of the Void, away from darkness, for the darkness they no longer wanted. All Their will was bent upon building Earth and creating beautiful things. Always thirsty for more images. More colors.

     Yet ever thirsty even more, lonely were the Three, in such a big house as Earth. Too immense for only three. And so came to Their thought to create others in the likeness of Themselves. At first it did not succeed. Empty swirls filled the skies, but they were empty of Life. They did not move, did not think, did not talk. And so They tried harder.

     There was yet another shift in the translation, and Greg read on.

     And one of the Three grew bored of Man. Where at first They ever lived amongst Their own creation, He deemed Man not worthy to ever be in Their presence. The other Two were confused. When He left and sat in the Void, They at first refused to go. For Man were Their will, Their love and labor. Earth was home. And the Two still loathed the darkness. They would not go.

     And so came the first dissension. The One ruled the Void, all to His own, and fathomed a will of His own. He began to think He was mightier than the Two, and even fathomed He should rule Earth of His own accord.

     Another shift in the notebook. Gred continued.

     In the chaos of all the destruction, the Two finally succumbed to the One and left Earth. There They created a house aside from Earth, aside from the Void. A place of Their own, to watch all. Close, though, They remained, for They did not desire to stay apart from Man forever. But, They realized Their creation would never know peace again if They stayed. The One would always rage war. For now, He had won.

     Man rebuilt their homes during the Calm. But during this time, they began to hate the One as well as the Two. For the wrath of the One was so great, and they felt abandoned by the Two. They cursed the Two for leaving them and ever feared the One. And the One laughed, echoing from the Void, filling Earth with terrible sounds.

     Soon, the One grew bored of the Void, for He did not stay with the Two, but chose to live in a dark place of shadows. He desired to go once again to Earth, but His intent was not the same. He wished to pervert and distort all Life. Seeing His new havoc upon Earth, the Two descended quickly to confront the One. They would not see Their hard labor lay to waste. A battle ensued.

     Greg flipped the page to the next section.

     With Their remaining strength, the Two sealed the One into the depths of the Void. There would He stay, for as long as Man desired it so. The Two would stand guard on the outer reaches of Earth, watching over Their creation, but never coming any closer, for it took all Their power to keep the seal.

     And in that darkness, the One did wait. Wait He would, wait until the day that Man would call to Him. When Man would spite the Two until the seal was weakened. Wait until He could unleash Hell upon the Earth.

     There the narration ended. Greg pondered the words, troubled by thoughts of the One, yet doubt clouded his mind. He never considered himself religious, but this contradicted anything he did believe. Yet, something was going on in this town - something logic could not explain. He was determined to find out.

     Too wound up to join Elizabeth and Harmony in sleep, Greg peeked in on them before locking the door; he just wanted them to be safe from any dangers that may lurk beyond the confines of Room 101. Bundling up, he grabbed his sword, a flashlight, the town map, and he headed off to find the house of Mr. Alan James. He was sure more answers awaited him there. With a gust, the harsh wind greeted him as he opened the door. The walk would not be fun.

~~~~~

     Locked. Both the front and back doors were inaccessible, as were all the windows on the first floor. It was a creepy looking place; dark pine trees littered the yard, hiding most of the house from view. The house itself appeared run down. The wooden siding planks were chipped and splintered and the windows were covered with what seemed like black soot. The brick chimney loomed up the side of the house, connecting to a second-floor fireplace. More pine trees were scattered about the backyard. Greg felt uneasy about the darkness toward the rear of the yard. It felt as if something was watching from beyond the trees.

     The back door was a large, sliding, all-glass pane. He tapped on it with his fist, deducing that it was rather thin by the sound that was produced. Glancing around the yard, he noticed a rather large rock that somehow managed not to be buried underneath the blanket of snow. Setting his sword and flashlight aside, he hoisted it up and waddled over to the door and gave the rock a great heave. The rock crashed through the glass, disrupting the silence of the night and sending shards flying inward. "That works."

     The glass crunched under his boots as he made his way into the home of Mr. James. Dingy white sheets were draped over the furniture, adding further to the derelict feel of the place. As Greg shined the flashlight around, he could even see complexes of spider webs in almost every corner of the room. Moving his way from the den, he passed into the kitchen. There were cups on a countertop that had certainly collected a couple years worth of dust. Apparently, Mr. James did not spend very much time in his own house, but preferred a room at the hotel. Heading then into a dining room, Greg saw two great candelabras on the dining table with strings of webs amongst the candles. The place did not feel threatening in the least, and now, more than ever, Greg truly felt alone, not fearing what was around each corner.

     Circling around to the front, there was a small greeting foyer and a staircase leading to the upper level. Around to the side of the stairs was a wall with a solitary door. Upon opening it, a stairwell to the basement was revealed. Greg took the steps down, which creaked under his weight, until he reached the cement floor of the lower level. The main room of the basement was primarily a laundry room, with the exception of a large work table in one corner. On the table were countless mason jars filled with rusty nails and bolts and other metal hardware items, as well as stacks of books and various tools. Every inch of the long table was filled with something that hadn't been touched for years.

     There was just one little room off to the side of the laundry area. A curtain hung in the doorway, which he pushed aside as he entered. Greg couldn't tell what was in the room easily, for it was very dark with no source of light. As he walked about, a chain that hung from the ceiling smacked him in the face. He grabbed at it and gave it a tug and a light bulb turned on. Squinting, it took him a while for his eyes to get focused to such bight light. As his vision came to, he still wasn't too sure of what this room was. It seemed to be almost a religious shrine of some sort. There was an altar-looking fixture that took up one whole wall. Flags with strange symbols decorated the room. One symbol, though, he recognized. It was on the main flag that hung above the altar and it was the same symbol as were on the covers of all those books he kept finding. He never paid attention to it before. The strange marking was of an equilateral triangle with a circle in the center. On the left and right points of the triangle was some kind of cross, and dominating on the top was the same cross, yet larger and more majestic looking. Upon seeing that dispaly, Greg instantly recalled the story of the Three and how they created the world and the One came to dominate all. Yet, He was sealed away until he was called back again. Here was a shrine, possibly to the One Himself. Is Mr. James the cause of all this?

     Looking closer at the altar, he saw yet another book. Well, I guess this is what I came for, he thought to himself as he picked it up. When he finally found the next part of the message, he was not at all pleased. It read, "Death and despair for all."

     "Just great..."

~~~~~

     She turned toward him and moaned something under her breath and continued on in sleep. Greg kissed her on the cheek and closed his eyes. It took him a quite a while before he slipped into his own dream world as his mind would not rest, for it was filled with daydreams of the Three and their arduous labor. Without knowing it, his daydreams slipped into a deeper sleep, as the Three continued on with Their work.

     And the night continued on uneventfully until the sun came up.