Chapter 9 of the Jack Moore Chronicles. My bloody
hands gripped the steering wheel as I drove.
The drive took longer than it should have. My
mind was a mess. I lost a lead and had a dead
body as a passenger. The back of the bus was
scorched. A cop could have seen the remodel and
pulled me over at any moment. The tension was
tight. It felt like a hand was squeezing my chest.
The memories flooded back as I arrived. The once
green grass I played in was now bare. The property
was abandoned. It was in the middle of nowhere,
and nobody wanted to live here. Why did my dad
want to live here? I had a shit ton of questions
and a dead guy on that bus. What was I going
to do with him? He probably had a family who
would miss him. I left him there for now. I got
out of the bus. The front door was old, like
the house. I didn't have a key. Around the back,
my old bedroom. My jacket acted as a guard as
I wrapped it around my arm and broke the glass.
I used to break out of this place and meet up
with Stephen and friends. I never thought I would
be breaking in. The old misfit poster still hung.
An old deerstalker on a hanger. The same hat
I wore chasing Steven around, screaming, It's
elementary, my dear Watson. A tear fell as I
pushed forward. I needed to get to my dad's study.
The house captured a moment in time. Frozen like
a photograph from the past. A couch with my impression
still left. A broken piano sat against the wall.
The old floor still creaked in the same spots.
French doors led to the study. They were open
like wings spread wide. The aroma of Dutchmaster's
cigar shot up my nostrils. Another hallucination,
no doubt. I rampaged through his desk. Nothing.
I flipped through a dozen books. Nothing. I dropped
one in a fit. As I bent down to pick it up, I
saw something engraved on his desk. A unique
symbol. Not the one I was looking for, but it
called to me. I ran my hands over it. I could
feel the ridges of the river as if it flowed
through me. What was with these random symbols?
I got up and scattered through more books until
I found one. The book felt weathered and brittle.
The binding was coming apart. Engraved on the
leather, the symbol on the desk. My finger hovered
over the symbol. Its ridges sent shivers down
my spine. I opened the book. It was blank. I
flipped through the stained pages. The pages
were all empty. Fuck! I threw the book at the
fireplace. The book landed on an old pile of
ash. The ash was under a layer of dust. settled
in clumps. Forgotten ash was the resting place
of mouse droppings and decayed skeletons. I went
to pick up the book. It was the only lead I had,
despite the emptiness. As I grew close, the ash
that gathered around the leather shifted from
white to gray, its gray morphing into an ember.
The symbol began to illuminate and animate. The
river flooded. I could hear the melody of water
flow. I could hear birds chirping. Above the
river, tree roots sprouted, as if fertilized
by the flames. I hurried to grab it, but it was
too late. A fire engulfed the leather. Next to
the fireplace, an old metal pot with pokers.
I took the pokers out and put the metal pot around
the book. I then grabbed a poker and... Pushed
the pot out of the fireplace. The bottom of the
metal pot was still hot to the touch. I looked
around some more. Waiting. I hoped this trip
wasn't for nothing. Someone might have died because
of me. There was an old dusty frame that rested
on the desk. My father's arm wrapped around my
mother's back. Their smiles radiated beyond the
paper. This was before I was born. I never saw
my father smile much after. Mom died. I stared
at that photo for way too long. Eventually, I
found an old pair of stiff leather fireplace
gloves. I lifted the pot. The worn leather was
now a fresh brown. It was as if the fire gave
it a new life. The symbol on the front pulsated.
I blew the embers away and opened the book. The
first page was no longer empty. In scorched writing
it read, The Viridian Alliance. From the grass,
the sky, we live and die in her name. We are
one with her, one with all living things. I wanted
to stay and read every word of this book, but
I couldn't. There was a bus with a dead guy and
my fingerprints all over it. A town with dead
and missing people. I need to get back to Ivy
Hollow. What did I get myself into? If you enjoyed
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