Jason almost believed the story that was written down because the pages seemed to be written with a quill pen and they were tarnished with time and weather. The problem was that the book itself couldn’t have been more than twenty years old. It simply looked like the book wasn’t well taken care of.
There wasn’t really any story to the book other than this man’s every day life. There were such details as the food that the travelers had to eat, sometimes fed to them by the indigenous tribes that populated the region. In the beginning chapter, there were even pages of financial details, detailing the money he had used to begin his journey, though the source of his funding was not exposited. Whenever he was talking about his superiors, or the people that helped him start this venture, he would refer to them as “the university”. That missing information seemed radically out of place considering there was a complete list of all the supplies that were bought, how much they cost, and which company supplied them.
It wasn’t like that was the only information missing from the pages. For all the writing about the social hierarchy, the political system, and the spiritual beliefs of the mysterious race, there was nothing to indicate the physical traits of that people.
Looking closely at the book, Jason realized that several pages were torn in key chapters throughout the book. Not again.
Jason went to the library hoping to find some answers. He wondered whether or not Tom Smith had torn the pages. If the curator was in the library, then Jason would probably confront him about that.
When he entered the library, he noticed that Tom Smith wasn’t there. Instead, he went to one of the librarians.
“I need to find another copy of this book. Mr. Smith had borrowed it from here.”
The woman took the book in her hands and immediately gave it back to him.
“This isn’t a library book. There’s no sticker with a Dewey decimal number on it.”
“I know that, but I figured the book came from here.”
“I could check the title in our database, but I doubt that will help you find where this came from.”
She checked the title of the book and sure enough, there was no entry in the library of congress.
“I can’t help you. You won’t be able to find another copy of this book in any library. I doubt this book is anything other than unique.”
Great. Now what? Jason was stuck with this incomplete book, and it was now possible that it was one of a kind. That meant that he would have to find Mr. Smith to get him to tell him what was written there.
Still, he wasn’t sure about what to do next. It was possible that the book was an actual journal being used by a real-life explorer, but this wasn’t something he could easily verify with an internet search.
He searched the library for books about archaeologists and explorers from the early 20th century, but he couldn’t find an entry on Dionysius Tselios. It looked like the man didn’t exist.
A modern-day myth. It was possible that Mr. Smith had concocted the whole thing to confuse Jason into thinking the book told someone’s real-life story, though it seemed unlikely that the torn pages were there because of spelling errors and plot mistakes, and no person could ever go to that much trouble to try and trick a friend.
The book had to be real, there was no other valid explanation for that. The problem was finding out where it came from and how Mr. Smith got a hold of it.
Chapter 16
July 14, Night-time
New York City
It was strange that he was told to stay still and not do anything for on end. Again. It seemed strange that he had to lay low. Wasn’t he doing people a favour by giving those leeches what was coming to them? He doing a public service by punishing the beggars he met on the spot. All they used their ill-gotten money for was alcohol and tobacco, and maybe food if they were “starving”. Why then did he have to hide from everyone?
That wasn’t the only thing on his mind. His friend, the only person he’s ever known, had recently started to act strangely. He felt a sense that the man was trying to keep himself at a distance from him, as if he was afraid of him, or more likely, ashamed of even knowing him. Why? Did he do something he wasn’t supposed to? If so, then what was it? And why did he stop his punishments when they had gotten such momentum? Why was this happening now? Why was his friend acting so cold toward him now? It didn’t make any sense.
Suddenly, he heard a woman’s voice crying out in the distance. He stood up from his hiding place, and followed the sound echoing off the walls. He ended in the alley right next to the one he was hiding in.
In the dark, he saw the outline of a woman struggling with a figure wearing a jacket. The man’s hand covered the woman’s mouth and he held her in a tight grip with his other arm. The woman desperately tried to get away from him, but she wasn’t strong enough. He noticed that her body seemed to be losing energy fast. Her body was going limp, probably because she was struggling for air. I can’t just stand there and do nothing.
He dashed forward as fast as he could and grabbed the man by the collar and wrestled him off the woman. He then threw the man to the ground and punched him so hard, the assailant was knocked unconscious.
After assuring himself that the man was no longer a threat, he looked up at the woman to see if she was alright. She laid on the ground, holding her neck, trying to catch her breath, and trembling from head to toe. Her ordeal had affected her more than he could understand.
He tried to take a step toward her, but she gasped and tried to slip backwards on the dirty pavement. She was probably afraid of him. He edged closer to her more gently, and extended his hand to help her up.
“Are you alright?”
The woman didn’t answer. She simply stared at him, wide-eyed, as if she was surprised that he save her life.
“Don’t worry, I’m not going to hurt you. Please, let me help you to get up.”
She hesitated and slowly crept her hand toward his. It took a while, but she finally put together the courage to take his hand and let him pull her up as gently as he could.
“You see? There’s nothing to be afraid of. I’m not the one who tried to hurt you.”
She nodded, still unable to say anything.
“Come on, I’ll take you to the next alley over. I will protect you there, I promise.”
He escorted her to his hiding place. All the while, she looked like she was getting more and more comfortable with him. He sat down in his usual spot, and invited her to sit with him. She shook her head and stood at a distance from him. Her decided it was best to make her feel as comfortable as he could make it for her.
“What’s your name?”
She took a deep breath before answering.
“Cindy.”
“Don’t worry, Cindy. I promise I won’t hurt you.”
“Do you have a name?”
“Yes, my name is Whiplash.”
“That’s a funny name.”
“I was told I had a knack for whipping my tail around for no reason. It took me a while before I finally had it under control.”
He took his tail and wrapped it tightly around a telephone pole. That movement helped him wind down after an adrenaline rush.
“Is this where you’ve been hiding this whole time?”
That question took him by surprise.
“It sounds like you’ve been trying to find me.”
“Well, no. It’s just that the police is looking for you. The entire city thinks you’re a criminal.”
“A criminal? I’m not a criminal.”
“They say you stole money from homeless people. Worse, the police said you beat up the person you were stealing from if he or she caught you doing that.”
He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Stealing from and occasionally hurting those low-lives was a crime? Was that why he had to stay hidden?
“You didn’t steal from or hurt anybody, did you? The police say they caught you on tape.”
He didn’t answer her. All he could
do was stare down on the ground. He heard her gasp. She had figured out that he had committed those acts.
“I don’t understand. Why would you do something like that? What did those poor people do to you?”
“Nothing. I was told that all they do is beg all day, taking other people’s money, taking advantage of their kindness and using the money to buy stupid things like alcohol and tobacco. They don’t get jobs and make their own money. Is it wrong to think that?”
“Well, it’s true that a lot of homeless people have a bad reputation, but that doesn’t mean they deserve to be punished. If they get money, it’s because people willingly give them the money, so it’s theirs to use how they want. Even if begging was illegal, you don’t have the right to take the law in your own hands. It’s just not right.”
Who does she think she is, anyway? I help her out, and she’s trying to condescend me? What does she know about what’s right and what’s wrong? I don’t need to justify myself to her.
Even as he thought that, something in his thoughts told him he was wrong. Besides his friend, nobody had ever spoken to him. He wanted to know more about the world he was hidden from.
“I want to know more. I want to know what it’s like to be human and living in this society.”
“What do you mean? You’ve never had any human contact?”
“I only know one person, and that’s my friend. He raised me and taught me all I know. He’s almost like a father to me.”
“Did he also teach you to hate homeless people?”
“Yes.”
“I see. I’ve been told it’s wrong to hate people for the way they live. In their case, they don’t have a choice but to be on the streets. Something happened to them that made them this way, and it’s usually not their fault. What’s more is that your friend is hiding you from everyone else in the world and letting you commit crimes for no reason. I don’t think it’s right, because he doesn’t have the courage to do this himself.”
She was essentially calling his friend a coward right in front of him. That got him angry. She had no right to tell him what he should do and what to believe in.
“Leave.”
“What?”
“I said leave!”
He stood up and got so close to her, that she almost screamed in terror.
“Get away from me. Get out of this alley right now and don’t ever come back. Don’t try and come back looking for me and don’t tell anyone what you saw tonight. I never want to see you again.”
He watched as she held her head down and started walking toward the street. Before she turned the corner, she took one last glimpse at him. Whiplash heard her running down the street. He regretted what he’d said to her. She was the only person in the world he had ever met, besides his friend and he got angry at her simply because she didn’t agree with his views. His friend’s views.
He had known his friend for as long as he could remember. He’d told him he saved his life. He taught everything he thought he needed to know. At first, it seemed impossible to believe that there were people who didn’t believe in the same things he did. The worst part was that according to that woman, most of the people in the world believed that what he was doing was wrong. Did that mean he deserved to be punished? What about what his friend had taught him? Was everything he was told a lie? If so, then what should he do about it? If his friend was deceiving him, then he couldn’t just pretend like he hadn’t met Cindy. He enjoyed her company, however brief it was. If she was right, then he was being deceived by the one person he had known his entire life, the one person who took care of him. The one person he thought was protecting him. He had to find out the truth as soon as possible, because he couldn’t keep living in the dark.
Chapter 17
Tuesday, July 15, 8:24 a.m.
Arex’s Apartment
Arex was surprised when Jason called him the night before and said that he wanted to see him. It sounded like there was some sort of emergency. He was even more surprised when Jason showed up at his door when he himself hadn’t had breakfast yet. As Arex made them some eggs, Jason explained his situation.
“I went to the library on the Saturday and I found Tom Smith there. You remember, he was the one who met us there.”
“Yeah, sure. He said he was researching ancient cultures or something.”
“More specifically, he’s researching the ancient cultures, their myths, and how they affected their daily lives. Anyway, when I saw him there again, we talked for a while, and then he let me borrow this book. More like he gave me this book, because he never told me to give it back to him.”
“Are you sure he didn’t say something like “I’ll let you keep it for a week”, or something like that?”
“Nothing like that. I swear, he gave me this book. At first, I didn’t think much of it, I mean the guy seemed distracted and besides, he was at the library every day. He told me it was his favourite place to work in. I went there again to talk to him about the book, but he wasn’t there.”
“Didn’t you ask why he was giving you the book?”
“He said he didn’t want me to leave the library empty handed. I went there to borrow another book since I couldn’t read the Silmarillion. A lot of pages were missing. But get this: this book is missing a lot of pages too. Look.”
Jason handed Arex the book. It looked like a standard hardcover diary, tough the pages seemed old and weatherworn. Only ¾ of the pages were filled, or they would have been if it weren’t for those missing pages. The book didn’t have a barcode, or a Dewey Decimal code, or even a library stamp on it.
“This book isn’t from a library.”
“No, and according to the Library of Congress, it doesn’t even exist. At first, I thought it was some elaborate prank that he played on me, but look at the details. If this isn’t real, then someone went through a lot of trouble to make it look real. There’s talk about another intelligent race living in a parallel dimension. What if that race really exists? What if everything in this book is real? That would mean that there are other people out there who know about this. What if they knew that Mr. Smith had it? What if they know I have it now? They could come after me. This is serious. My life could be in danger.”
“I think you’ve been reading way too much. Real life isn’t like that, I know that much.”
“I know what I’m talking about. Think about it. Mr. Smith acts strange in front of me, then disappears. He doesn’t tell when I should give back the book he gives, or that I should even give it back to him at all. Look at what’s missing from these pages. I know, because Mr. Tselios wrote down that he was going to explain everything in future paragraphs. The map that should show the location of the portal he went through has been ripped in half. Mr. Smith obviously has the half that shows the exact location. The paragraphs and pictures that should describe the physical traits and anatomy of the aliens are missing. The entire last few pages are missing, right down to whether or not he got back to Earth. Somebody tore these pages out, and left in what looks like the outline of an adventure novel.”
“Are you sure it’s real? Are you even sure this book was written in the early 1930s?”
“Look at the way the pages are worn. They’re all yellow, frayed at the edges, and there’s wax that fell on them, so the guy obviously writing this next to a candle. And this notebook wasn’t bound with glue. And the best clue is the writing. This had to have been made with a quill pen. Calligraphy pens were around back then, but people who put them in bags ran the risk of spilling the ink all over the place. It much easier to wash quill feathers. The writing is just as worn as the pages and the lines aren’t really even, so you can tell this wasn’t typed.”
Jason Meyers, super genius, thought Arex. The boy had managed to convince him that there was maybe more to the book than literary fiction or an elaborate prank.
“Okay, suppose I believe you for a minute, how do you expect to find the truth? Like you said, Mr. Smith isn’t there, anymore. How will you fin
d out how old these pages are?”
“We go to the FBI. They have the technology, or if they don’t, they can get someone who has the technology to carbon date the pages. There are about a dozen blank pages there, so they should have more than enough to work with.”
“Oh no, you don’t. I’ve bothered the FBI enough as it is. They need to concentrate on
Investigating the other reptile and whatever other case their working on. They can’t be bothered with something that might turn out to be a wild goose chase.”
Jason sighed. Whether or not his fears were well founded, Arex didn’t feel comfortable with the idea that they would ask the FBI to help them figure the mystery behind a book. He also realized, however, that Jason’s fears were real and should at least be somewhat allayed. The only way to do so, would be to find out the age of the journal. He couldn’t ignore the off chance that possessing the book would be a threat to his best friend’s life. Either way, the journal was more trouble than it could possibly be worth.
Chapter 18
July 15, 1:46 p.m.
FBI Field Office
It turned out to be a pretty hard day at the office. Mike always wished to get more use out of his desk, but this was ridiculous. All he had on his agenda was paperwork when she should have been out there with Mika, trying to discover the hideout of the other reptile. Some of his colleagues had suggested that since Arex was actually named after the project which he was created in, then the thief reptile should have been called Arex 2. Somehow, that felt really wrong. Arex wasn’t anything like this other reptile. He didn’t know anything about his suspect, but he was pretty sure they had very different personalities.
The public hadn’t really been helpful. Most of the phone calls the FBI received from the hotline were crank calls made by idiots who thought it was funny to waste their collective time with false leads, especially when they led straight to Corey Rodgers wearing the suit. The tips that weren’t pranks led nowhere, but it wasn’t as if they could ignore the potential leads that would come to them.
The A.R.EX. Origin Page 8
