Secret of the Star
Chapter 1
The old man lifted his eyes and looked over the brim of his glasses at the sound of the bell to greet what he thought was the first customer of the day. He was actually surprised that anybody would want to come into this old dusty shop. All of his items and books were covered with dust, cobwebs clung from every corner, and on top of that, all the floorboards creaked whenever someone stepped on them. It seemed fitting that an antique shop be in an antique building.
Few people ever entered the shop. Even fewer did so with such speed and silence. The shop owner jumped back, startled because the stranger who had just entered his shop was right in front of him. He had crossed thirty feet in a split second and never made a sound on the floorboards.
The old shopkeeper gathered himself up and asked, "May I help you, sir?" The stranger studied him for a minute sending a chill down the old man's back. The stranger then produced a photograph of a strange book with a star shaped lock on the side. The shopkeeper looked at it and said, "If you're looking for this book; I had recently donated it to a library, in a small town, a few hours from here. If you want, you could go see if it's on the shelves." The dark stranger just looked at him for a few more seconds before turning to leave the shop. The mysterious man suddenly stopped and swung around, a weapon in his hand. The last thing the shopkeeper experienced, in life, was a flash and a bang. He felt as though someone punched him in the stomach and he looked down to see a red stain appearing on his shirt.
He realized it was blood, his blood. He felt himself falling, and then there was nothing but black.
The stranger put the gun away and walked out the door into the night. He took a deep breath of fresh air and smiled to himself. 'Time to take back what is rightfully mine and gain back the power that was once lost to me and my family.' thought the stranger. He chuckled as he thought of all the people he would make suffer in his quest for power.
In a small town in Massachusetts, young 16-year-old Allison Maze makes her way through the town's few streets to the local library. She is an attractive girl, with long brown hair, emerald green eyes, a full smile, and a nice figure. She stands about 5'6". Allison isn't overweight; but she isn't extremely skinny either. So why is a girl like this going to the library? Simple. She likes to read.
Allison enters the library and looks around at the welcoming sight of books. She loves to read and is always in the mood for a new and exciting adventure. As Alli starts browsing through the aisles, she fiddles with the half star pendant her grandmother gave her. She suddenly feels her eyes drawn to an old dust covered book. "Funny.", she thinks to herself, 'I have been coming here for a long time and have never seen this book here before.' She takes the book off the shelf and looks at the cover for a clue as to what the book might be. The cover is blank; and she discovers a lock on the side of the book, in the shape of a star. 'That's strange, I've never seen a lock shaped like this before.' Allison decides she might as well bring it home and see if she can open it. She grabs a few more books before heading back out into the night to hurry home. Little does she know that this particular book has the power to save humankind. However, despite how wonderful this power may be, it also has a dark side to it. If misused it could also destroy humankind.
Allison walks through her front door to the welcoming smell of freshly cooked dinner. "Mmmm. This smells delicious," she thinks to herself, "I wonder what we are having tonight." Allison walks into her dining room to see a spectacular meal set on the table by her mother. "Oh, mom this looks so good!" she exclaims as she sits down at her place, putting her books down beside her, "I'm starving!" Her mother walks into the room and looks at her daughter.
"You better eat it all this time since you are SO hungry." she says.
"Don't worry mom, I'll finish what I can. I have a lot of reading to do." Allison says as she pats her books. Her mother rolls her eyes and says,
"You always do." Allison laughs at this and then devours her dinner, her eyes always returning to the book with the star shaped lock.
The stranger stood outside the library doors, trying to suppress the excitement that was building within him. 'Could it be that my journey is finally over?' he thought. The stranger shook his head, dismissing the thought, and walked into the library. He used his speed and stealth to sneak up on the librarian, startling her. Not wasting any time, he pulled the photo of the book, from his pocket, and showed it to the women.
"I just checked that book out to a young girl not too long ago. You will have to wait until she returns it." she said. The librarian flinched as she saw anger flare in the man's eyes.
He spoke one word, "Who?" The frightened women took out a slip and gave it to the man, with a trembling hand. It showed the last people who checked out books that day. She circled the name of the young girl who checked out the book, not trusting to use her voice, because of her fear. His eyes narrowed as he saw the name of the person who checked out his book. Allison Maze. The man then looked back up at the librarian, took out his gun, and shot her. He smiled at the familiar sound, and kick, of the weapon in his hand. He knew he was getting closer to the end. He just had one more victim; and he would have his prize. The stranger looked back down at the name of the next, and hopefully, last person in his way. Allison Maze.
Allison wakes, after a good night sleep and stretches, to wake herself up. She looks over at her clock, and removes the book from it so she can see the time. It read 6:30. "I overslept!" she yells as she jumps out of bed, quickly puts on her school clothes, and gathers her books together. She runs downstairs, grabs a piece of toast, and kisses her mom, before she rushes out the door to catch her bus, as it pulls up to the stop. "Just made it," she says to no one in particular, and she takes a seat.
Allison looks out the window and sees a strange man staring back at her, a cold, dark, and dangerous look in his eyes. She feels a shiver crawl up her spine, and shudders. She quickly turns away from the window; but can still feel the stranger's eyes on her. Unblinking. Unmoving. The bus begins to move and Allison's thoughts turns to school. Yet the image of the stranger lurks in the back of her mind, always watching, always staring.
Mrs. Maze just finished cleaning the kitchen and dining room, when the doorbell rang. "It better not be a salesperson again. I'm getting sick and tired of them," she thought. She opened the door, and flinched as she saw a tall dark man, all dressed in black and wearing black gloves. There was an ominous feel about him, and Mrs. Maze felt very uneasy as she asked,
"Can I help you?"
The stranger, once again, pulled out his photo of the book and showed it to her.
"I need this book," he said, in a voice that was cold and devoid of emotion. Mrs. Maze looked at the book, not recognizing it at first. Then it clicked, and she remembered Allison bringing a book like that home last night.
"My daughter has it. She checked it out from the library," she said. "Does it belong to you?" His cold dark eyes bored into hers, for a few seconds before he replied,
"Yes. Can you see if it is here, please?" he asked, as he stepped into the house uninvited. Mrs. Maze nodded her head, and then went upstairs to look for the book. A few minutes later she returned downstairs.
"I'm sorry but she must have taken it with her to school. You can come back later if you would like to see if she has it." The stranger felt the familiar rage build inside of him; and he felt his hand grip the gun. Mrs. Maze saw the rage and something inside of her told her she was in danger. It was too late. The stranger fired once, and she fell to the floor, wondering why someone would do this, over a book. Her thoughts turned to her daughter. "I must protect my daughter!" she thought, as her vision dimmed. "I must protect my Alli!" With her last breath, she whispered her name,
"Allison." Then she was no more.
The stranger looked down upon the body, thinking she was just another person who got in his way. He turned his gaze away from the corpse, stepped over Mrs. Maze, and started up the stairs. It didn't take him long to locate Allison's room. It was the only room that was blue, and had a kind of teenage look to it. The walls had posters on them, rock bands, film characters, and others. The room was clean and orderly, as were the books on the many bookshelves. "If it is here this should not take long," thought the stranger. He began rummaging through the books, and then the dressers and closet. After twenty minutes of searching, and coming up with nothing, he grew angry. "Why must everything be so difficult?" he asked himself. "I'll go wait for her at the school, and finally reclaim my book." The stranger heard a siren sounding off in the distance, gradually getting closer. "Looks like life is going to get even more complicated," he thought to himself as he started down the stairs and then out the door. Slipping away from the destruction he wrought, and drawing ever closer to the school that held his prize.
Allison doodles on her math worksheet, as Mr. Robins drones on about exponents and formulas. They hear a knock on the door and look to see the principal enter the classroom.
"I need to have Allison come with me, Mr. Robins." Allison stands up, gathers her things together, and follows the principal to his office. She is very startled to see two police officers standing by the desk. Allison turns to the principle with a worried look in her eyes and asks,
"What is going on? What happened?" One of the police officers took off his hat and said in a solemn voice,
"Your mother was murdered today. Nothing was taken but when we looked in your room, it looked as though it had been searched. Do you know if your mom had enemies or if anyone had a grudge against you or her?"
"No, my mother was well liked by everyone. I don't understand why someone would do this." She says, tears welling up in her eyes.
"Why would anyone want to hurt my mother? She didn't do anything to anybody. She didn't deserve this!" The police officer put a hand on her shoulder and said reassuringly,
"I'm sorry for your loss Allison. Believe me when I tell you that we are going to try and locate the killer and bring him to justice." He gives her a half smile.
"Your father will be here soon. You can wait in here." Said the principal.
"Can I have a few minutes alone please?" Allison asks between sobs.
"Yes you can, I'll be right outside the door if you need me." Says the principle and walks out, closing the door behind him.
Allison sits in the chair and cries, wondering what evil person would want to do this to her mother. Suddenly she feels a chill she felt earlier that day and looks up. Right outside the window was the stranger from the bus stop. He stood there and just stares at her, almost as though he was looking into her soul. Then he smiled, an evil knowing smile, and pointed with a black-gloved hand. He mouthed the words "You're next." Allison felt fear rise up inside her, and then she felt a brewing rage that quelled the fear and replaced it with anger she had never felt before.
"You are going to pay," she said through gritted teeth. The stranger smiled and then in a blink of an eye, he vanished.
Allison gets up out of the chair, her thoughts clouded with anger.
"I am going to make you pay for what you did." She silently vows to herself. She turns and opens the door, then jumps back a little because a man is right on the other side. He is a tall man with short dark hair, a muscular build, and blue eyes that held sorrow and understanding. He was dressed in jeans, a grey shirt, and hiking boots.
"You are in danger Allison. You need to come with me." The man said in a voice that seemed to wash away all of her troubles. She stares at him for a few moments then shakes her head, breaking the trance.
"Who are you?" She asks.
"I am someone you must trust and follow if you want to make it through the day alive." He said in his compassionate voice that just made her want to believe everything he said. "If you don't come with me now, you will die the second you walk out the front door and so will your father."
"Ok. I'll come with you, but I want to know why he is doing this." She says as she wipes the remains of her tears off her face.
"You will get all of your questions answered. Though for some I might not know the answer." He said.
"That's good enough for me." Allison says, "Let's go." The man nodded his head, took her hand, went out the back door of the school, and walked to his car. He opened the passenger side door and said,
"We need to hurry please get in." Allison climbs into the seat and buckles on her seat belt.
"Ready when you are." She states. The man smiled, it was a captivating smile that made her feel as though she was the safest person in the world, and started the car. The two drove away from the town and got on the highway heading south. "Where are we going anyways?" Allison asks.
"We are going to Pennsylvania. A friend there can help us. She will also be able to answer more of your questions than I can." He replied. "It's a long drive, you might want to try and get some rest, and you had a hard day." He suggested. Allison doesn't reply she just reclines the seat and closes her eyes. Before long, she feels herself slipping into unconsciousness and a single tear rolls down her cheek as she escapes into the darkness of sleep, home of dreams…and nightmares.
Chapter 2
Allison wakes up and yawns, not wanting to leave her cozy bed. She sits up and sleepily gets out of bed. She walks over to the window in her room and looks out at the dark cloudy sky. "Looks like it might rain." She thinks. Alli puts her clothes on and heads downstairs.
"Hey mom, are yo-." She gasps as she sees her mother on the floor, lying in a pool of blood. Allison screams and runs toward the door, jerking it open, and runs right into the stranger, the bloody knife still in his hand. Allison lets loose another scream as the knife flashed through the air.
Allison awakes with a start, her eyes darting back and forth, waiting for the blow to fall.
"Allison, its alright you're safe. You had a nightmare." The protector said as he tried to calm her down. Allison looks at him, her eyes clouded with fear, and sweat on her brow. She doesn't recognize him immediately, confusion in her eyes, then understanding dawns on her and she remembers the event that brought her here.
"Where are we?" Allison asks.
"We have arrived at my most reliable sources house. She is to be respected and you must be patient with her. She is quite old." He replied
"Before I go anywhere else, tell me who you are." Alli demands.
The man who saved her life looked down at her, smiling softly as he said, "I have gone by many different names throughout my lifetime. I will not reveal my true name to you until the time is right, but for now, you can call me Mark."
"Do you know why this is happening to me?" She asks.
"It has to due with the book you have recently obtained. I don't feel it is my place to tell you anything else; I will leave that to Ms. Gowland. Now please we must hurry."
Mark got out of the car and opened the door for Allison, as his eyes scanned both directions for anyone who might want to do them harm. As Alli steps out of the car she gets her first glimpse at the house Ms. Gowland resided in and takes an astonished gasp. Though house is a very poor word to describe the building she stood before. The estate was enormous, with white marble columns as thick as an old oak tree. It had three stories and in the middle of it, a huge round dome topped off the roof. It was painted pure white and there wasn't a hint of aging or despair in the walls.
Mark walked her up to the door and knocked. They waited a few minutes before the door opened and an elegant woman greeted them.
If Allison thinks the mansion was beautiful then this women was ten times as beautiful. The woman was tall and had long red hair, an angular face, and grey eyes that teemed with knowledge and wisdom. She wore a flowing black dress and black heels that only amplified her beauty. And she didn't look over the age of forty.
The graceful woman held her head high as she regarded them with her eyes that seemed to look into her very soul. Then she spoke,
"I have been looking forward to meeting you Allison Maze. Please come into my home. You must have a lot of questions."
She held open the door and admitted them into her home. Allison gazes in wonder at the artwork that covered the walls. There were display cases holding ancient writings in a language that she does not recognize, and artifacts that stood on tall pedestals.
"Come with me into my sitting room and we will discuss the events that have brought you to me, and I will also answer your questions to the best of my abilities." Ms. Gowland said.
Ms. Gowland guided them down carpeted halls with