The Magic Book

by Fredric Shernoff

  “That room back behind that door?” Nathaniel asked.

  “Yeah. Why do you…wait!”

  Nathaniel marched to a solid metal door. He braced himself, then kicked. The door slammed open, falling halfway off its hinges.

  “Wait! Get the fuck back here!”

  Nathaniel ignored the man at the counter. Behind the door was a hallway lined with four more doors. These were metal like the one he’d just broken, but these all had a reinforced glass panel in the top.

  As if on cue, all four doors burst open. A total of seven men poured into the hall, wearing massive amounts of protective armor. They held black weapons that looked to Nathaniel very much like the Authority’s energy weapons.

  “We’ve got a break-in at the station,” one of the men said. “Engaging hostile now.”

  Nathaniel grabbed the first two men, slammed them together, then pounded both into one wall and finally into the other. He shoved them backward down the hall, tripping the next round of soldiers. The final few had positions at the rear of the room and their weapons were aimed.

  Nathaniel ran into one of the stumbling men and pushed forward, using the man as a shield.

  “Hold your fire!” someone called.

  Nathaniel drove the man he was pushing into two other guards, crushing them in the corner. He grabbed one of the weapons as it fell, spun and fired. The trigger mechanism was like the weapons he’d seen throughout his life, but what came out was more akin to a brief roar of fire than a blast of energy.

  The remaining guard slammed backwards as the projectiles hit. Nathaniel turned around and saw one of the guards crawling toward him. He kicked the man in the head, the thick helmet bouncing off the wall.

  Several of the men were motionless, and the others squirmed in pain on the ground. There wouldn’t be much time to act. Nathaniel darted into each of the rooms. The first was empty. The second contained a woman with long, scraggly silver hair, and vacant eyes staring in fright at the ceiling from her chair. He couldn’t say for sure how long the woman had been dead, but he thought it had been at least a few hours.

  In the third room, he saw a man sitting in a chair at a metal table. The man’s head rested in his hands. His hair hung down and was caked with blood, as were the man’s clothes. His short sleeves revealed constellations of bruises on each arm.

  “Grant Sullivan?” Nathaniel called. The man didn’t stir. “Goldman?”

  Now, the man raised his head. There were deep bruises around both weary eyes.

  Nathaniel was stunned. Despite the many bruises and wounds, there could be no mistake: the man before him was the man who had spoken to him in the vision when he held the book.

  “Who…who are you?” the man asked. His voice was scarcely more than a hoarse whisper.

  “You’re Ben the Goldman, aren’t you,” Nathaniel said.

  He saw both acknowledgment and confusion in the man’s face. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “I’m not with the Loyalty Guard,” Nathaniel said. “They’ve been subdued, but I don’t know for how long. We need to go.”

  “Why should I believe you?” the man asked. “You people…you’ll fuckin’ try anything.”

  “I came for you,” Nathaniel said, “because the Goldman sent the books that brought me here. I saw you in a vision.”

  The man put his head in his hands. “What the fuck does that even mean?”

  “No time for that now. We need to get out of here. Can you walk?”

  “I’m not fucking going anywhere with you. I don’t understand any of this, so why don’t you—hey!”

  Nathaniel darted down and scooped the man, who he knew must be the Goldman, over his shoulder. The man rained feeble blows across Nathaniel’s back.

  “Put me down, motherfucker! Stop it!”

  “I need to get you to safety. This will only take a second.”

  The man continued to struggle as they reentered the hallway. Then, his punches halted. “Holy shit,” he said. “What the fuck did you do to them?”

  “They were victims of what my friend Achmis would call misdirected anger. I’ve been wanting to hit the guards who wronged me, so I hit these guards instead. Yet I think they deserved it, don’t you?”

  The Goldman was silent.

  “I will get you to a safe space, and then we will talk. You have information I need, Ben the Goldman, and I would have all of it, and protect you while I’m at—”

  A woman wearing a thin white top and the blue pants that were so common on this new world stood at the end of the hall, finely detailed muscles tensed.

  “Ma’am,” Nathaniel said, “this is not a safe space. Perhaps you should return on a different day.”

  The woman growled, like the wild dogs at the river had done in what seemed like a different lifetime. She pounced, catching Nathaniel off guard with the force of the attack. He rolled through it, making sure to deposit the Goldman on the ground as gently as possible. Then the woman was on him again.

  He moved out of the way of one punch, and her blow cracked the white, smooth surface of the floor. He put both legs in her midsection and flipped her over him. She rotated in the air and landed on her feet with stunning grace, barely granting him the time to regain his footing before she attacked again.

  “What are you?” Nathaniel asked as he ducked the woman’s attacks. She was surprisingly powerful, but she was operating on rage rather than skill. He stepped behind her, kicked out her knees, and wrapped his arm around her throat.

  She strained against him and he fought to hang on with everything he had. He felt the creeping dizziness and knew that his healing ability was struggling against the effects of the world. He wondered how long he could keep up the fight. If he wanted to break her neck, he thought he might be able, but there was something wrong with the woman. He couldn’t kill an innocent, despite how violent she appeared to be. He cinched his hold tighter and felt the woman’s struggling lessen.

  Finally, her arms hung limply and he released her to the ground. He looked at the young man, who was staring back with fear and confusion.

  “Come,” Nathaniel said. “We have to go.”

  “What the fuck happened in there?” the man asked. “Who was that woman?”

  They had experienced no interference in the rest of their escape from the police station, and now hid in a deep grove of trees nearby. One of the flying machines had caught on to them, but Nathaniel had fired a rock directly into the unblinking eye. The machine had exploded.

  “I don’t know,” Nathaniel said. “You haven’t seen her before, Ben the Goldman?”

  “It’s Ben Goldman!” Goldman replied. “Not ‘the!’ Just Ben Goldman.” He threw his hands toward the sky. “So much for my fucking alias. And no, I don’t know her. I don’t know you! I didn’t ask for any of this shit!”

  “I’m Nathaniel of the house of Mansfield. I’m not from your world.”

  “Oh Christ. What are you, some kind of nut job?

  ”No. I am a Great One. You summoned me here through your book.”

  “Me? What book?”

  “The book you wrote about the history of this world.”

  Goldman looked stunned. “My journal? I just started writing that shit the other day. Loyalty Guard snatched it. How did you see it?”

  Nathaniel told Goldman about his world. He told him about the lies the Authority had told and about the book that had gone missing and the one he had found in another territory. He told Goldman about the magic the book contained, and how Goldman himself had appeared and granted the ability to read the book, and had restored Opellius’s sight.

  As he talked, Goldman seemed more and more intrigued. Then, suddenly, he shook his head. “Nah,” he said. “Nah. That’s some creative shit you people have come up with. Almost got me believing all this mumbo jumbo, what with the talk about the zombies and the other shit going on since Weber’s been in charge. But what you’re saying is just too much, man. So, tell me again, who are
you?”

  Nathaniel sighed. “I am who I say I am. But if it will help you, I can show you the truth.”

  Goldman laughed bitterly. “What the fuck. Can’t be in worse trouble than I’m already in.”

  They walked the few blocks to the part of town where Nathaniel had arrived. They walked in silence the whole time. Nathaniel didn’t think he had lost his determination to see the mission through, but something nagged at him. It was Goldman. He might have written the ‘Divided’ book, he might look like the man in the visions, but this was not a great wizard or a savior or a sage with all the answers. This was a scared, battered young man significantly out of his depth. Even his name…he was not a man of gold. Just a man.

  And yet, there was still something to it. Goldman’s book had brought him here. There was magic in it, even if it wasn’t in the man himself. Nathaniel looked down the road and saw the shimmering spot where he had arrived.

  “Do you see that? In the distance.” Nathaniel pointed at the portal. “That’s how I arrived here.”

  “I don’t see anything,” Goldman said. “I’m sorry, man, I don’t really get what’s going on here but I don’t see your portal.”

  Nathaniel took Goldman by the shoulders and oriented him toward the portal. “Look!” he said. “It’s right in front of you!”

  “Holy shit. There it is. Wait, let go of me for a second.”

  Nathaniel released Goldman’s shoulders.

  “It’s gone! Okay. Touch me again.”

  He did. “Do you see it?”

  “Yeah. Christ, yeah. I do. Can we go through it?”

  “I don’t know. The portal has taken a toll on me and I am far stronger than anyone else.”

  “Not that woman. She seemed to have your number.”

  “Aye. I haven’t forgotten.”

  “What was the deal with her?” Goldman asked. “I’ve heard about these disappearances and people who got turned into some sort of mindless shells, but that chick was amped up!”

  “She was like me,” Nathaniel said, and felt shock as his own words registered. “She was like one of the Great Ones. But savage. Uncontrolled.”

  “I want to go through the portal,” Goldman said.

  They stood just feet away from it. Through the haze, Nathaniel thought he could see the roof of Opellius’s house.

  “Didn’t you hear what I said? The portal could kill you.”

  “If I stay here, Weber’s people will kill me. Just a few days of snooping around got me on their radar and now I’m fucked. At least I could die experiencing a goddamned miracle.”

  Nathaniel considered the point. “Very well. Just…try to retreat if you start to feel pain.”

  “That’s exactly how I live my life,” Goldman said. “Do we have to hold hands and jump through together?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Well I can’t see the thing if you aren’t connected to me, so at least lend me a finger or something.”

  Nathaniel sighed and placed his hand around Goldman’s right arm. “Let’s go.”

  They stepped through the portal. Nathaniel listened for sounds of screaming, but didn’t hear anything.

  V

  The Exploration

  16

  Nathaniel felt as if he was being born into the world. There was a sensation of rising up and then down again, and he hit the floor with a thud. He took to his feet quickly. He hadn’t realized just how much the other land was draining him until now that he had made his way back where he belonged.

  “You’ve returned!” Opellius exclaimed. “I had truly started to worry you wouldn’t be back. And you’ve brought someone with you.”

  “Aye,” Nathaniel said. “Opellius, this is Ben Goldman.”

  He turned to Goldman just as the young man vomited on the floor.

  Nathaniel turned back to Opellius. “I did tell him this would probably kill him.”

  “I’m okay! I’m fine, really!” Goldman said. He wiped off his mouth and stood up. “It wasn’t painful. Just disorienting. Like half of me got here and then the other half caught up real fast. Sorry about your floor, Mister…”

  “Opellius. And no worries, the hive mind will take care of it.” Opellius whistled, and three of the hive mind entered the room a moment later with a bucket of water and rags.

  “Holy shit!” Goldman exclaimed. “What the fuck are those things?”

  “The hive mind,” Nathaniel said. “Mutants who communicate silently with their brains. They appear to be very helpful.”

  “Telepaths?” Goldman asked. “Jesus. I’ve never seen anything like them.”

  “Welcome to my home,” Opellius said. “Nathaniel, is this the man…”

  “From our visions, aye,” Nathaniel said. “Well…he is, and he isn’t. So far, he hasn’t been able to answer any of our questions, but his very existence raises a host more.”

  “Your bruises,” Opellius said to Goldman, “who did this to you?”

  “It’s nothing, really,” Goldman replied absently. He stared at the hive mind, who cleaned up his vomit while paying him no attention.

  “There’s an evil force where he comes from,” Nathaniel said. “The one he described in the book. They kidnapped him because he questioned things.”

  “The Loyalty Guard,” Goldman said. “That’s what they call it. God. I can’t believe this place exists.”

  “Young man,” Opellius said, “you know of the book we found?” He indicated the book, spread open on the floor to two of the blank pages.

  Goldman looked at it and shook his head. “I’ve never seen that before.” He moved toward it, then paused. “Can I touch it?”

  “Goldman,” Nathaniel said, “I’d suggest the book is not to be fiddled with.”

  “But Nathaniel, I’m a fiddler. I fiddle.”

  “Go ahead,” Opellius said. “I doubt it will hurt you, though it’s possible you could trigger the portal again. Do not place your palm on the surface.”

  “Got it. No palming the page.” Goldman picked up the book and held it by the cover in both hands. He brushed the pages with the edge of one hand, paused at a page full of words, and frowned.

  “What is it?” Nathaniel asked.

  “It’s gibberish. You said this was supposed to be my journal? How can it be if it’s not in English?”

  “English?” Opellius questioned.

  “Yeah. The language all of us are speaking. Except yours is weird. No offense.”

  “The other version of you questioned our accents as well,” Nathaniel said.

  “The other version?” Goldman asked. “The one who appeared to you inside the book or whatever?”

  “You don’t believe?” Opellius asked.

  “Buddy, I’m apt to believe just about anything right now.” He turned to one of the hive mind, who was watching him with wide eyes, dirty rag in its hands. “I mean look at this handsome fella. His very existence seems to prove that all bets are off when it comes to belief.”

  “Dendooti,” the hive mind said,.

  “Right,” Goldman said. “And a tooty fruity to you too, bud.” He turned back to Nathaniel and Opellius. “Point is, I believe what you say. And I know you saw a version of me and I know you read my journal, though I can’t fucking understand how. Nathaniel told me enough of my own story to know it checks out.”

  “It’s magic,” Nathaniel said.

  “Right. Magic. See here’s the thing though—magic doesn’t exist. Not where I come from anyhow, unless we’re talking about dudes pulling a rabbit out of a hat. Houdini, Penn and Teller, Tan, these guys are incredible at illusions, not sorcery. So the idea that I wrote a magical book just seems a little ridiculous.”

  “I thought you’re ready to believe anything,” Nathaniel said.

  “I am…I just…shit. I don’t really know. Why can’t I read this?” He touched the page with the tips of two fingers, and his eyes rolled back in his head.

  Nathaniel waited. Just as with Opellius, the trance las
ted just a moment.

  “Jesus,” Goldman muttered. “I just spoke to myself.”

  “Aye. We did tell you about that.”

  “The book…I can read it!” He flipped back through the pages. “This…yeah…shit, wow. This is my journal, all right.”

  “It seemed incomplete,” Opellius said.

  “Well, yeah,” Goldman replied. “You know I was asking around about the zombies and whatnot. I don’t know if someone ratted me out or if the Loyalty Guard was spying. I’d guess the former, but it comes down to the same thing. They nabbed me and beat the shit out of me. Kept me captive for a day until Nathaniel here made the save.”

  Nathaniel nodded. “Aye.”

  “Buddy, you can smile. Take some credit. I’m really, really grateful.”

  “Nathaniel has lost much,” Opellius said. “Happiness is in short supply.”

  “Sounds not all that different from my world.” He frowned. “Is this a different world? Like another planet or dimension or something?”

  “I know not about ‘planets’ or ‘dimensions,’” Nathaniel said. “Until recently, I thought the land inside the walls was the entire world and outside was hellfire and damnation. Now I know there are territories. And spaces between, where we are now. What your world is and how it relates to my own is unclear.”

  “Awesome. So you two are facing some assholes here, and I’m facing assholes back home and none of us knows what the hell’s going on. That about right?”

  “You’re overlooking an important connection,” Opellius said.

  “What?” asked Goldman. “My journal? It doesn’t make any sense! The Loyalty Guard stole my journal. You’re telling me they copied it into a magic book and shot it off to another world? Sent it through another portal? Explain this to me, please, ‘cause as I’m babbling I’m really freaking myself the fuck out.”

  Opellius smiled. “Not the journal. The prophet.”

  “Weber,” said Nathaniel. “He is as much a link to all of this as the journal.”

  “The president? What’s that shithead have to do with your problems here?”