Chapter Three: The Mysterious Book
James continued to run, trying to put as much distance as he could between him and the people at school. Once he reached the bottom of the rooftop stairwell and out into the hallway he clumsily turned around the nearest corner and kept sprinting as fast as he could. His mind was a flurry of intense emotion as he desperately tried to avoid the many stares of the students he passed by in the school corridors. He was sure that at least some of these people had just been outside and seen him get thoroughly trounced by Atsuo and the other boys. He couldn't take any more taunts from anybody, not in his current mental state.
He ran towards the nearest exit that led out of the school, choosing to not risk being cornered by someone in one of the bathroom areas. As he continued his desperate escape towards the outside door he almost bowled over some students returning from a mid-day walk. He stumbled to the side at the last second to avoid directly hitting them. He awkwardly fixed himself and resumed running out the door, not stopping to make sure that the students he almost ran into were ok.
Some of the other students, who had witnessed the rooftop incident, followed him out the door and out the main gates of the school's property and right out to the street. They had been concerned about him and were disgusted by the actions of Atsuo and wanted to try and help James but he was moving so fast that by the time they made it to the school's front gate all they could do was watch as he disappeared from their view. The sight of him covered in soup and the bloody mess that his face had become made them hesitant in trying to stop his departure.
Meanwhile Makoto, following the trail of pumpkin soup puddles, and the directions the various students she encountered were telling her, came out of the school's main building only a couple minutes behind him. She had lost some time as she looked for any indicators as to which direction he had gone when they were no students around to guide her. A group of students gathered near the front gate drew her attention and as she raced up to them they showed her which way he had gone but with no further direction beyond that she couldn't continue to track him and would only waste valuable time and energy attempting to pick up his trail.
Makoto stood there on the sideway her fists clenched and shaking in frustration at her sides. Usagi and the others came up behind her, looking in the same direction she was. They had seen Makoto emerge from the building and proceeded to join up with her at the school's main gate. Each of them had worried looks on their faces that matched Makoto's.
"I am sure that James will be ok," Ami said quietly.
"Yes. He just needs some time by himself," Minako added.
"When he comes back we will cheer him up," Usagi expressed with some of her usual enthusiasm.
Makoto didn't say anything, choosing instead to continue looking in the direction James had last been seen. Usagi and the others each took a position beside her and looked in that direction as well. They could only stand there feeing completely helpless and hoping that James would be ok where ever he was. They also began to each silently think of what they could do if or when he did come decide to come back to the school.
The Juban Public Library was located approximately ten blocks away from the school. James often went there to study since he rarely saw any of the other students from his grade there with the sole exception of Ami Mizuno.
He didn't stop running until he was safely through its front doors. Once he was inside he took a few moments to compose himself as he did not want to attract any more attention than he already had with his dramatic entrance. He leaned back against one of the closed main doors of the library letting his breathing and heart rate begin to slow down and return to their normal rhythm. He placed his right hand on his chest and he could feel the rapid thumping of his heart through his uniform's shirt. James had never been overly physical active in his life so the effects of such a display of physical exertion were not something he was used to.
When he felt his body's systems return to what would pass for normal for him he casually walked further into the library. He walked in an off-the-cuff manner making it seem to any observers that he either didn't know or simply didn't care that his face was badly bruised and was covered in dried soup and blood. Luckily there weren't that many people in the library at this time of day so no one except the librarian had taken notice of his presence.
James felt slightly better as he wanted to be by himself right now. He walked to the back of the library in an attempt to try and stay out of sight on the very slim chance that anyone from the school should come in there looking for him. He was fairly sure that no one would except for maybe Makoto. As hard as it was for him to admit it he really didn't want to see even her right now, especially in his present physical and emotional state. He took a seat at the furthest table and rested his forehead on the top of his hands which rested on the tabletop. He let out a deep sigh and he finally felt like he could let his guard down and try to relax his tired and drained body.
His mind, however, in the quiet and near empty environment of the library refused to leave him alone. Vivid memories of the laughter from Atsuo and the other onlookers as well as the feeling of the hot soup touching his skin continuously flashed through his brain on a never-ending loop. A sharp pain in his rib cage from Atsuo's knee attack and the resulting kicks and punches from the other kids each time he took a breath also acted as a constant reminder to him. By far the worse image his brain tortured him with was the look Makoto had given him when she had arrived on the roof and saw him on his knees bloodied and completely humiliated. He shook his head several times in a futile attempt to knock those horrible memories out of his mind and end the psychic torture he was currently enduring. His internal frustration and anxiety rapidly built up as the memories replayed over and over again in his head. He slammed his fist down on the table, physically trying again to end the psychological turmoil he was experiencing.
"I will get those bastards back somehow. I will make them all pay for making me look bad in front of her!"
All of a sudden a deep and distant sounding voice cut through his verbal declaration, echoing loudly inside his head.
James
James froze for a second before panning his head around looking in all directions. He expected to see the librarian walking up to him as she investigated the noise he made when he slammed his fist on the top of the table. He was more than a little surprised when he saw that there was no one standing over him or for that matter anywhere near him. From his position at the table he could only see a couple of people sitting at some of the other tables across the library from him. Neither of those people was looking in his direction so it was logical to assume that they weren't the ones that had just called out his name. Also James didn't recognize either of them so it wouldn't make sense to him that they would know his name to begin with.
He scanned the book stacks that were near him from his position in his chair. He looked for anyone that might be hiding among them who had the hopes and intentions of continuing what Atsuo had started. He lowered and craned his head looking through the gaps in the books and shelves for anyone currently watching him. After about a minute of looking he didn't see any such movement or any other signs that anyone was there spying on him. He turned his head back around and returned to look down at the table in front of him. He began to think of how he could get passed the events of today and face Makoto and the rest of the student body tomorrow.
James!
He jumped out his chair knocking it over backwards in the process. He was now completely convinced that he had not imagined what he had heard. The voice sounded much closer this time but it still had the echo-like aspect to it. James also mentally noticed that the voice seemed to have a clear tone of something or someone with some kind of authority. He quickly suppressed the notion that it was a divine being thinking that it was too far of a stretch.
Unlike the first time the voice seemed to have come from the book stacks to his left as he felt it stronger on his left side for some unexplained reason. He turned his body and slowly moved towards the nearest shelf keeping his eyes completely fixated on them. His senses were on high alert as he looked for any signs or clues as to where exactly the voice had come from. He glanced up and down as he scanned the areas around him in case there was a trap or something trip-able waiting for him. Finding nothing in the first aisle he scanned down the second row and again saw and found nothing out of the ordinary. He moved to the next book stack when a strange sensation abruptly washed over him.
He felt compelled to walk down the second aisle again. It was very hard for him to describe it but the closest thing James could come up with was a repressed memory fighting to be freed upon seeing a certain object or place. He tied to ignore it and made another motion to continue on to the next row of books.
James, come.
The voice cut through the tension and nervousness James was strongly experiencing as he stood at the mouth of the aisle. He thought for sure now that he was the subject of some sort of prank. There had to be someone nearby, directing him down this particular stack for some yet unknown sinister purpose. He reasoned that there had to be some sort of speaker or projection device planted somewhere among the rows of books on one of the shelves, that was connected to a microphone being used by someone in another location close by.
There was one problem with that scenario: How had the person or group of people doing this know exactly where he was going to sit or even for that matter that he was going to go the library in the first place? He haven't seen anyone go to this section of books since he had arrived and one would logically think that there would be some sort of sound as the person placed the projection device on the book shelf.
Throwing caution to the wind he slowly began to walk down the aisle. His body language showed that he was being very careful as he moved between the book stacks. His hands slid along the edges of the book selves giving the appearance that James needed support or was using them as a guide much like what a blind person might do. He studied every inch of the area in front of him before taking each step looking for anything that seemed out of place. About halfway down the aisle he unexpectedly stopped. He looked down at one of the lower book shelves and took special notice of a large black book situated in the middle of a row. He slowly knelt down and looked at it. The strange feeling inside him was persuading him to pick it up and open it. He fought the urge for several seconds until he was unable to resist his curiosity any longer. He reached out with his hand and grasped the top of the book with his fingertips pulling it from its place on the shelf.
The book was bound in what felt like black leather and had no words on the cover or spine just a simple-looking symbol he had never seen before. He opened the book and began to quickly scan its contents. It was written in a mixture of the English and Japanese language and had several sketches of various monsters and people that were dressed in Dark Age era-style clothing.
James had never seen a book like this before and but something inside him screamed at him to put the book back and leave the library as fast as his feet could carry him. His first instinct was to do exactly that but there was some other force that was preventing him from physically doing that. Much like the original feeling that had led him to the book's location there was now a new and much stronger one that made the book seem absolutely irresistible to him. His intuition continued to hint to him that he needed to put the book down while something in James' mind was convincing him to take it home because the book could help him out in his current situation.
For a brief moment an image of Atsuo and what had just happened on the roof flashed again in his brain. This was immediately followed by an image of Makoto standing in the school hallway, smiling and waving at him. James blinked his eyes rapidly trying to re-focus his mind on the book he was still holding in his hand. When he had managed to regain control of his brain he noticed that the sensations he had just been feeling had changed. His internal instincts that had just been at war with the strange compulsion inside his brain to take the book had disappeared leaving only the desire to take the book home.
He made up his mind and stood up. He glanced around the area that was in his immediate line of sight to make sure no one could see him or what he was about to do. When he was satisfied that the coast was clear he slipped the book under his uniform shirt, tucking it firmly into the elastic waistband of his pants so it wouldn't slip or fall out as he walked. He then headed towards the front entrance and walked out of the library.
End of Chapter 3...
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