Part Two

September 13, 2003

Chapter Thirteen

"Wassup, dewed?" James said to Jaron Reedemburg, the second shift foreman at Kramer Plastics.

"Not much dewed" Jaron replied back.

"See ya, Jaron, Day's over for me." yelled Darrel Hammond, the first shift foreman on the way out.

"Alright, see ya, Darrel." Jaron yelled back. Then he turned to James:

"So? Did you check out that web site I told you about? I told you they had good prices on parts for your car."

James was about to say "Yeah I did" when Jaron interrupted.

"Dude, you got a kick ass car. I like it. Your grandpa must have loved you, cuz that's some car. Needs a little work, though."

"I'm not as worried about my car as much as I am about my woman." James said trying to change the subject.

"Dude, I'm tellin' ya, get workin' on that car so you can start driving it soon. I wanna ride in it." Jaron said still on the subject.

"Jaron, I'm serious. This crap has me worried." James said aggravated.

"What are you talking' about, holmes? Jaron asked.

"Dude! I told you yesterday! The freaky occult stuff. The story of the old book, the whole 'birthing of a god' nonsense, ya know? James asked hopefully.

"Na, dude, I don't remember. So what's up again? What cult?

"Well…" James started.

"What is she doin'? Wait. Isn't she that Julie Connor girl? She ain't in no cult. I would know, I set you up with her.

"Yes she is, Jaron." James argued.

"No." Jaron contradicted.

"Dude, I'm tellin' ya, she IS."

"Whatever, dude. But she's not." Jaron said turning away.

"Oh, yeah, then how do you explain THIS?!" James said angrily while pulling an old, faded bible-sized page from his satchel.

"Dude! When did you become a thief!? Jaron questioned, obviously disappointed in James.

"Relax, would ya, I didn't "thieve" it, she let me borrow it.

"What?"

"Yeah. Now get a load of this." James said unfolding the page.

"Lemme see," Jaron said grabbing the page.

After reading for a couple of minutes, Jaron gave James a wild eyed look.

"Woah, this is some heavy bi'ness right here. You sure she believes it?" he said handing the page back to James.

"Oh, yeah. I've seen her pray to this Samiel god and I even went to church with her yesterday." James assured.

"Yesterday? Yesterday was Tuesday."

"Ya, I know. They go Tuesday's and Thursdays. They meet up at the old sanitarium there in Central District.

"You mean Cedar Grove Sanitarium, right?" Jaron asked.

"Yep.

"That place has been abandoned since '75. Story is there just weren't any more crazies to put in there, so they shut it down. Jaron said with a smirk.

"Yeah, well Julie's mom and about twenty others all chipped in to buy the place, and turned it into their own private church. It's still mostly dark, dusty hallways, but the lobby has been converted into the worship area, and the basement has all the storage and utilities. James informed.

"Oh, yeah? What about Julie's dad, don't he go?

"No. They are separated. Jerald doesn't believe a word of this jargon either."

"Well, you sure showed me, dude. I didn't know." Jaron finally said in defeat.

"The only reason I had to prove it to you is because I will need some time off of work."

"What!?" Jaron said incredulously.

"I know, but my Uncle Marcus that works at the Museum of Antiquities in Central Silent Hill is willing to send me on a trip to Washington State to recover the rest of this book. C'mon, Jaron. You know I want to study archaeology in college. This is great practice for the future."

"How long are we talking'?" Jaron asked skeptically.

"One week."

"What!? It don't take a week to fly out to Washington to get a book!"

"I know, but in order for the museum to fund the trip, Uncle Marcus had to schedule me at a religious relic sabbatical." James explained.

"Sabbatical? What's that?"

"Fancy word for seminar."

"So this is already planned out?" Jaron asked surprised.

"Yeah. I just got word of approval today. School's OK with it, seeing it's involved with education."

"How are you gonna get this book if you're at this 'sabbatical' or whatever it is?"

"After the session ends each day, I will be free to do whatever I want. On one day, instead of heading right back to my motel room, I'll take a detour to the local library, where the book is supposedly held in the book storage room." James elaborated.

"You're gonna steal it?" Jaron asked wild-eyed.

"No! Dude! Uncle Marcus has already taken care of the technical stuff. I'm just the pickup man."

"Then why do YOU need to go? Can't they just mail the book to your uncle?"

"No. It's a religious artifact. Besides, Uncle Marcus thinks it would be a good experience for my future, as well as some free shipping." James said.

"Well, talk to the big man. Just because I'm the boss' son, doesn't mean I can just make that decision. Personally, I don't think he'll do it, but ask him."