worry, it'll stop hurting soon. I'll be taking the book now," the face said. It was becoming clearer, I started to make out features, a feeling of absolute dread taking hold of me when it spoke again and I recognized it, "I've been waiting a long, long time for this."
And then Hack was standing over me and shaking me like a rag doll. He was yelling my name over and over, and he looked scared. Someone was screaming. I was screaming, and must have been for a while because my throat felt like I'd just got done gargling sand. I was lying on the ground; I could still feel the memory of the vicious beating Knows-Secrets had been handed as if it had been done to me. The attacker's face, his voice, solidified in my mind and I felt like screaming all over again.
"Damn it Tommy, snap out of it," Hack said loudly and hauled a hand back, about to slap me.
"Stop, wait, I'm…its okay. I'm okay." I feebly tried to push him away but just didn't have the strength for it, so I let him haul me up to my feet. The whole world spun around, and memories that weren't mine bounced around inside my head. It took a while for them to recede into a haze of static and background noise.
"What was that all about?" Swift asked.
He was still standing next to the charred remains of the creature formerly known as Flesh-Thing, and before that Knows-Secrets. It wasn't even recognizable as anything remotely human anymore; it had been consumed by a fire that burned it from the inside out.
"Answers. Lots and lots of answers. Finally. Knows…Flesh-Thing was never the enemy. He spent his entire miserable life trying to find a way to destroy the Sleeper, and he found it when he got the book. Devlin's book," I said.
Swift and Hack traded looks of shock and disbelief.
"Yeah well that's not nearly the most ridiculous or freakishly terrifying part. I know who took the book," I said. I'd been trying to resolve it, somehow, but there was no way around it.
It was enough to make me want to break down into a full-blown panic attack.
"Well damn it boy, who the hell is it? Who has the book?" Hack said.
"My great-grandfather," I almost choked on the words and they left a taste of bile in my mouth, "Henry."
Chapter Twelve
"That's insane, not to mention impossible. Henry's been dead for…for a damn long time," Hack said, scowling.
"Shocking news, I wasn't aware," I snapped.
My brain was still refusing to process what I had seen in Flesh-Thing's memories.
"You're completely sure that's what you saw?" Swift spoke to me slowly, like he was talking someone away from a ledge.
I glared at him. If I didn't already know it would be like hitting a brick wall bare-handed, I would've punched him. It wouldn't help anything, but it might make me feel better. I looked over at the blackened husk of Flesh-Thing again and for just a moment felt a twinge of sympathy for the creature. Thousands of years it spent trying to make up for a terrible, terrible mistake all for nothing. Thousands of years of existence, only to have it abruptly ended in a moment of blazing agony.
"We have to move. Even if what I saw was just some Other bastard, no offense, wearing my great-grandfather's face, they have the book and I'm pretty sure they know how to use it." I started making my way out of the tunnel when a sudden random thought slammed into my grey matter. I spun and looked at Hack, "God-Spear."
"Say what?"
"God-Spear. Flesh-Thing kept saying it."
"Along with a lot of other madness, if I remember right."
"But the God-Spear, he was terrified of it. I think…don't quote me on this but, I think he was talking about Henry, or Henry's doppelganger." My brain was moving a hundred miles a minute. Things were trying to click together. "When I saw it speaking to Grannok, it said the God-Spear was coming and the ritual had to be done. That was right before you and Henry showed up. Just now it was screaming about the God-Spear, right after it got the living hell beaten out of
And then Hack was standing over me and shaking me like a rag doll. He was yelling my name over and over, and he looked scared. Someone was screaming. I was screaming, and must have been for a while because my throat felt like I'd just got done gargling sand. I was lying on the ground; I could still feel the memory of the vicious beating Knows-Secrets had been handed as if it had been done to me. The attacker's face, his voice, solidified in my mind and I felt like screaming all over again.
"Damn it Tommy, snap out of it," Hack said loudly and hauled a hand back, about to slap me.
"Stop, wait, I'm…its okay. I'm okay." I feebly tried to push him away but just didn't have the strength for it, so I let him haul me up to my feet. The whole world spun around, and memories that weren't mine bounced around inside my head. It took a while for them to recede into a haze of static and background noise.
"What was that all about?" Swift asked.
He was still standing next to the charred remains of the creature formerly known as Flesh-Thing, and before that Knows-Secrets. It wasn't even recognizable as anything remotely human anymore; it had been consumed by a fire that burned it from the inside out.
"Answers. Lots and lots of answers. Finally. Knows…Flesh-Thing was never the enemy. He spent his entire miserable life trying to find a way to destroy the Sleeper, and he found it when he got the book. Devlin's book," I said.
Swift and Hack traded looks of shock and disbelief.
"Yeah well that's not nearly the most ridiculous or freakishly terrifying part. I know who took the book," I said. I'd been trying to resolve it, somehow, but there was no way around it.
It was enough to make me want to break down into a full-blown panic attack.
"Well damn it boy, who the hell is it? Who has the book?" Hack said.
"My great-grandfather," I almost choked on the words and they left a taste of bile in my mouth, "Henry."
Chapter Twelve
"That's insane, not to mention impossible. Henry's been dead for…for a damn long time," Hack said, scowling.
"Shocking news, I wasn't aware," I snapped.
My brain was still refusing to process what I had seen in Flesh-Thing's memories.
"You're completely sure that's what you saw?" Swift spoke to me slowly, like he was talking someone away from a ledge.
I glared at him. If I didn't already know it would be like hitting a brick wall bare-handed, I would've punched him. It wouldn't help anything, but it might make me feel better. I looked over at the blackened husk of Flesh-Thing again and for just a moment felt a twinge of sympathy for the creature. Thousands of years it spent trying to make up for a terrible, terrible mistake all for nothing. Thousands of years of existence, only to have it abruptly ended in a moment of blazing agony.
"We have to move. Even if what I saw was just some Other bastard, no offense, wearing my great-grandfather's face, they have the book and I'm pretty sure they know how to use it." I started making my way out of the tunnel when a sudden random thought slammed into my grey matter. I spun and looked at Hack, "God-Spear."
"Say what?"
"God-Spear. Flesh-Thing kept saying it."
"Along with a lot of other madness, if I remember right."
"But the God-Spear, he was terrified of it. I think…don't quote me on this but, I think he was talking about Henry, or Henry's doppelganger." My brain was moving a hundred miles a minute. Things were trying to click together. "When I saw it speaking to Grannok, it said the God-Spear was coming and the ritual had to be done. That was right before you and Henry showed up. Just now it was screaming about the God-Spear, right after it got the living hell beaten out of
Similar Books
