WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.000 Chapter 9 of the Jack Moore Chronicles. My bloody 00:00:04.000 --> 00:00:06.219 hands gripped the steering wheel as I drove. 00:00:07.419 --> 00:00:10.220 The drive took longer than it should have. My 00:00:10.220 --> 00:00:13.900 mind was a mess. I lost a lead and had a dead 00:00:13.900 --> 00:00:17.579 body as a passenger. The back of the bus was 00:00:17.579 --> 00:00:21.039 scorched. A cop could have seen the remodel and 00:00:21.039 --> 00:00:26.039 pulled me over at any moment. The tension was 00:00:26.039 --> 00:00:29.809 tight. It felt like a hand was squeezing my chest. 00:00:30.730 --> 00:00:35.250 The memories flooded back as I arrived. The once 00:00:35.250 --> 00:00:39.409 green grass I played in was now bare. The property 00:00:39.409 --> 00:00:42.390 was abandoned. It was in the middle of nowhere, 00:00:42.630 --> 00:00:46.789 and nobody wanted to live here. Why did my dad 00:00:46.789 --> 00:00:49.469 want to live here? I had a shit ton of questions 00:00:49.469 --> 00:00:53.170 and a dead guy on that bus. What was I going 00:00:53.170 --> 00:00:56.170 to do with him? He probably had a family who 00:00:56.170 --> 00:01:00.570 would miss him. I left him there for now. I got 00:01:00.570 --> 00:01:03.530 out of the bus. The front door was old, like 00:01:03.530 --> 00:01:07.810 the house. I didn't have a key. Around the back, 00:01:07.810 --> 00:01:12.909 my old bedroom. My jacket acted as a guard as 00:01:12.909 --> 00:01:15.829 I wrapped it around my arm and broke the glass. 00:01:16.390 --> 00:01:19.310 I used to break out of this place and meet up 00:01:19.310 --> 00:01:22.569 with Stephen and friends. I never thought I would 00:01:22.569 --> 00:01:26.510 be breaking in. The old misfit poster still hung. 00:01:26.750 --> 00:01:31.150 An old deerstalker on a hanger. The same hat 00:01:31.150 --> 00:01:34.230 I wore chasing Steven around, screaming, It's 00:01:34.230 --> 00:01:37.670 elementary, my dear Watson. A tear fell as I 00:01:37.670 --> 00:01:40.609 pushed forward. I needed to get to my dad's study. 00:01:40.810 --> 00:01:45.030 The house captured a moment in time. Frozen like 00:01:45.030 --> 00:01:48.670 a photograph from the past. A couch with my impression 00:01:48.670 --> 00:01:52.769 still left. A broken piano sat against the wall. 00:01:53.549 --> 00:01:56.150 The old floor still creaked in the same spots. 00:01:56.870 --> 00:02:00.349 French doors led to the study. They were open 00:02:00.349 --> 00:02:04.709 like wings spread wide. The aroma of Dutchmaster's 00:02:04.709 --> 00:02:08.310 cigar shot up my nostrils. Another hallucination, 00:02:08.310 --> 00:02:12.210 no doubt. I rampaged through his desk. Nothing. 00:02:12.330 --> 00:02:17.370 I flipped through a dozen books. Nothing. I dropped 00:02:17.370 --> 00:02:21.389 one in a fit. As I bent down to pick it up, I 00:02:21.389 --> 00:02:24.590 saw something engraved on his desk. A unique 00:02:24.590 --> 00:02:28.409 symbol. Not the one I was looking for, but it 00:02:28.409 --> 00:02:32.689 called to me. I ran my hands over it. I could 00:02:32.689 --> 00:02:36.129 feel the ridges of the river as if it flowed 00:02:36.129 --> 00:02:39.729 through me. What was with these random symbols? 00:02:40.030 --> 00:02:43.610 I got up and scattered through more books until 00:02:43.610 --> 00:02:47.330 I found one. The book felt weathered and brittle. 00:02:47.830 --> 00:02:51.590 The binding was coming apart. Engraved on the 00:02:51.590 --> 00:02:55.729 leather, the symbol on the desk. My finger hovered 00:02:55.729 --> 00:02:59.150 over the symbol. Its ridges sent shivers down 00:02:59.150 --> 00:03:05.509 my spine. I opened the book. It was blank. I 00:03:05.509 --> 00:03:08.650 flipped through the stained pages. The pages 00:03:08.650 --> 00:03:13.229 were all empty. Fuck! I threw the book at the 00:03:13.229 --> 00:03:16.669 fireplace. The book landed on an old pile of 00:03:16.669 --> 00:03:20.759 ash. The ash was under a layer of dust. settled 00:03:20.759 --> 00:03:24.199 in clumps. Forgotten ash was the resting place 00:03:24.199 --> 00:03:28.599 of mouse droppings and decayed skeletons. I went 00:03:28.599 --> 00:03:31.639 to pick up the book. It was the only lead I had, 00:03:31.740 --> 00:03:36.300 despite the emptiness. As I grew close, the ash 00:03:36.300 --> 00:03:39.020 that gathered around the leather shifted from 00:03:39.020 --> 00:03:43.919 white to gray, its gray morphing into an ember. 00:03:44.340 --> 00:03:48.800 The symbol began to illuminate and animate. The 00:03:48.800 --> 00:03:51.719 river flooded. I could hear the melody of water 00:03:51.719 --> 00:03:55.360 flow. I could hear birds chirping. Above the 00:03:55.360 --> 00:03:59.120 river, tree roots sprouted, as if fertilized 00:03:59.120 --> 00:04:03.020 by the flames. I hurried to grab it, but it was 00:04:03.020 --> 00:04:08.080 too late. A fire engulfed the leather. Next to 00:04:08.080 --> 00:04:10.979 the fireplace, an old metal pot with pokers. 00:04:11.199 --> 00:04:14.500 I took the pokers out and put the metal pot around 00:04:14.500 --> 00:04:18.250 the book. I then grabbed a poker and... Pushed 00:04:18.250 --> 00:04:21.449 the pot out of the fireplace. The bottom of the 00:04:21.449 --> 00:04:24.709 metal pot was still hot to the touch. I looked 00:04:24.709 --> 00:04:28.269 around some more. Waiting. I hoped this trip 00:04:28.269 --> 00:04:30.910 wasn't for nothing. Someone might have died because 00:04:30.910 --> 00:04:34.329 of me. There was an old dusty frame that rested 00:04:34.329 --> 00:04:37.970 on the desk. My father's arm wrapped around my 00:04:37.970 --> 00:04:40.949 mother's back. Their smiles radiated beyond the 00:04:40.949 --> 00:04:45.110 paper. This was before I was born. I never saw 00:04:45.110 --> 00:04:49.019 my father smile much after. Mom died. I stared 00:04:49.019 --> 00:04:53.079 at that photo for way too long. Eventually, I 00:04:53.079 --> 00:04:55.439 found an old pair of stiff leather fireplace 00:04:55.439 --> 00:04:59.680 gloves. I lifted the pot. The worn leather was 00:04:59.680 --> 00:05:04.519 now a fresh brown. It was as if the fire gave 00:05:04.519 --> 00:05:08.699 it a new life. The symbol on the front pulsated. 00:05:08.879 --> 00:05:12.540 I blew the embers away and opened the book. The 00:05:12.540 --> 00:05:16.540 first page was no longer empty. In scorched writing 00:05:16.540 --> 00:05:20.980 it read, The Viridian Alliance. From the grass, 00:05:21.060 --> 00:05:24.600 the sky, we live and die in her name. We are 00:05:24.600 --> 00:05:29.240 one with her, one with all living things. I wanted 00:05:29.240 --> 00:05:32.459 to stay and read every word of this book, but 00:05:32.459 --> 00:05:35.240 I couldn't. There was a bus with a dead guy and 00:05:35.240 --> 00:05:38.139 my fingerprints all over it. A town with dead 00:05:38.139 --> 00:05:41.480 and missing people. I need to get back to Ivy 00:05:41.480 --> 00:06:06.089 Hollow. What did I get myself into? If you enjoyed 00:06:06.089 --> 00:06:10.610 this episode, please consider leaving a review. 00:06:10.790 --> 00:06:13.839 It really helps us out. Want more podcasts from 00:06:13.839 --> 00:06:16.600 Wolfshield Media? Check out our website at wolfshield 00:06:16.600 --> 00:06:19.620 .media. Until next time, thanks for listening 00:06:19.620 --> 00:06:21.360 to this Wolfshield Media production.