A/N: Enjoy chapter 5!

Thanks to BlueEyes444, MCR-1993, iluvjoe, Ozma, and Shojobaby for their lovely reviews this time around!

Paradise Broken

Chapter Five

The Monastery

June 3, 2010

Fenton Hardy had arranged a meeting with David Abraham, the overseer of the mysterious project in the monastery. He sat in the spacious office, his keen eye taking in every detail. The walls were lined with dusty bookshelves, consisting of books of every color and size but none had a title etched into the side. Out of curiosity, Fenton stood and approached one of the shelves and removed a dusty red volume from the shelf. On the front cover, written in intricate golden script was the title:

The Story of History

Fenton opened the book and was surprised to see that every page was blank. Some sort of journal or something. He heard footsteps approaching the study and quickly replaced the book and took his seat once again.

The monk who entered was slightly overweight, balding, but had cheery eyes that held a peace Fenton had never seen. "Hello, my friend," the man said, reaching out a large hand to shake Fenton's. Fenton stood politely and shook his hand. The monk continued. "My name is David Abraham and welcome to the monastery. How may I be of service to you?"

Fenton smiled. He liked this man; he liked the feeling of peace and love he emitted and the warm, welcoming nature. For some reason, he had always considered monks to be cold and indifferent to the rest of the world. Perhaps some were, but not David Abraham.

"My name is Fenton Hardy," Fenton introduced himself.

"Welcome, brother," David said and took a seat behind his desk. He motioned for Fenton to have a seat as well.

"Thank you." Fenton hesitated, unsure of how to begin his interrogation. He had been planning on having someone unhelpful and secretive talk to him, not someone so friendly and open. He just couldn't see how a man like Marsuvees Black could be under the employment of such a gentle man like David Abraham. Finally he said, "I understand that you have a man working and living in your monastery named Marsuvees Black."

"Yes, that is correct," David said. "He is...unorthodox, to be sure, but if anyone knows about squaring off with his demons, it's Marsuvees Black." It was David's turn to hesitate. "I was looking for a replacement for a teacher and had heard of him. He seemed like just the kind of man to contribute his experience to Project Showdown." David opened his mouth as if wanting to say more, but closed it again, apparently thinking better of it.

His curiosity thoroughly peaked, Fenton found himself asking, "What exactly is Project Showdown?"

Again, David hesitated. "A project evaluating the effects of growing up in solitude on the minds and lives of young people," he said vaguely.

Deciding to let the matter rest for the moment, Fenton changed the subject. "Marsuvees Black lives in the monastery?"

"As we all do," David confirmed, looking relieved that Fenton had his mind elsewhere.

"Then why is he staying in the little town of Paradise, right at the base of the mountain? And why is a young boy claiming to have witnessed this man killing an elderly mute by plucking his eyes out of his skull? And why is the entire town being turned upside down because of this so-called, self-proclaimed 'preacher'? Why is he claiming to have some sort of supernatural power that will bring 'grace' to the town of Paradise?"

During Fenton's rant, David had paled considerably. He opened his mouth as if to speak, closed it, swallowed, opened it again, but nothing came out. He just sat there looking as if he were an extremely stupid person that had just been asked to find the cubed root of pi.

"David?" Fenton said softly, worried that his angry rage might have affected the monk adversely.

David shook his head and closed his mouth. "I—I am so sorry," he whispered. He closed his eyes and muttered, "Billy, oh, Billy, what have you done?"

Fenton narrowed his eyes. "Who is Billy? And what are you talking about?"

David took a deep breath. "Fenton, there is much that I must tell you so that you must understand my predicament. Be warned, it is very strange and, indeed, impossible. But I can assure you that everything you are about to hear is true. Please tell no one of what I am going to tell you, and please do not judge me too harshly when you hear what Project Showdown is really about."

Fenton raised his eyebrows but said nothing and patiently waited for David to tell his story.

"About fifteen years ago, right after my son Samuel was born, I was exploring this old abandoned monastery," David began. "And I stumbled across this massive library in a cavern under the monastery, in the heart of the mountain. These are only some of the books that were contained in it." He took a deep breath and continued. "All of the books were blank and titled 'The Story of History'. They intrigued me.

"I decided to use some of my funds to purchase the monastery as a home for my son and I. This way I would have full access to the library and the mysterious books it contained. One day I was looking through some of the blank books for any indications of use. Samuel, who was about five years old at the time, was sitting at the desk I had moved into the place. He had gotten a hold of one of the books and was writing in it with a magic marker." David's eyes misted at the memory.

"He wrote simply: 'The desk is red.' Of course, the desk wasn't red in the least bit; but you know how children are—what an imagination."

Fenton nodded. "I have two boys," he said proudly. "Almost grown up—they're actually down in Paradise right now."

David went on in a rush. "Anyway, Samuel wrote that the desk was red, and the next thing I knew, the desk wasred."

"What?" Fenton said, disbelieving.

"I told you it would sound impossible, but I assure you everything you are hearing is the truth," the monk insisted. "I was baffled of course, and, being selfish in nature as all humans are, I desired to use the books for myself. But when I wrote in them, nothing happened.

"I realized that only someone innocent—a child with a pure heart—can write in the books and unleash the power held within their blank pages. And so began Project Showdown. I adopted children that had no home or no future. I got the program sponsored by Harvard University and hired some of the most brilliant and religiously devout men I could find to be mentors and teachers to mold these young minds.

"What I told you earlier was true: these children have never left the walls of the monastery, have been taught nothing but good. And they have been taught how to write. I hoped that someday one of the children would find their way into the library and write in the books, to benefit the world. Since they have been brought up to know only good and they are so amazingly brilliant...

"It seems that Billy, the first child to find his way to the library, was inclined toward his sinful nature, and now it is obvious that it was Black that tempted him to do so..."

David Abraham took a deep, calming breath, looked Fenton in the eye, and said, "A thirteen-year-old boy named Billy is controlling everything that is going on in Paradise. He's more dangerous than you would think. Black has been here the entire time, I know, so apparently Billy has created a replica of the man that is now tormenting Paradise."

Unable to believe what was going on, yet finding no other plausible explanation, Fenton said hoarsely, "Then we have to stop him."

"I can't," David said sadly. "No one can, not now. If need be, my son may be able to remedy the situation. I'll call for him in a moment." He paused. "If your sons are in Paradise and Billy is indeed controlling what's going on...well, I don't know if you're a religious man, but even if you aren't, you'd better start praying. God help your boys if Black gets a hold of them."

A/N: I hope you enjoyed, and please review! I'll update soon! :D

~Emachinescat ^..^