Page Turners

Page Turners - Chapter 2 [Page 34] - A Man Called Od

They journeyed forth across the blue lawn, heading for one of the vibrant pockets of forest. Charlize led the way while the girl skipped behind her.

Dead weight. That's all she kept thinking. This wasn't the way she did things, not normally. The girl had her rattled. If there was even the slightest chance she knew about Pages 1 through 5, she didn't have a choice but to keep her close. Any resource that could provide information on the first five Pages of the Book held incredible value.

Page 34 was considered a stable Page because of its consistently calm climate, lack of deadly predators, and low native population. Historically, there was very little turmoil on Page 34 as there was little to gain. It produced very few valuables, and small factions typically claimed those it did. Most of the people lived peaceful lives in small villages of no more than four families. No one in the Book required food or water, so people were free to live joyful, quiet lives with their families if they chose. That was unless they wanted to turn the Page and begin their own Story. It was also one of the few Pages that could be crossed in under a decade. The combination of those things usually made Page 34 a peaceful part of any Page Turner's journey.

Charlize and the girl had been walking for a week, and her concerns about the girl slowing her down were already proving correct. It wasn't much, but Charlize could intuit they were losing an hour or two each day. The trap she had laid for the Bookwyrms the previous day would slow them for a day at best. They didn't have time to waste.

"Shall we pick up the pace a little?" asked Charlize.

"You keep saying that," the girl whined in response.

"As I've already told you, two other Bookwyrms are pursuing me from Page 33. It will cause us problems if they catch up."

"But I'm bored of walking."

"That's the job, girl. We venture across Pages. Some can take centuries to get from one end to the other."

"Well, maybe I don't want to be a Bookwyrm then. Or a Page Turner," she said spitefully.

"You don't want to see what the rest of the Book has to offer? Don't you like flowers?"

The question caught the girl off guard. "Um, yeah. Yes, I like flowers."

"On Page 182, there are flowers so big that people build villages on them. The Page has no floor, no ceiling, and no gravity. People use giant balls of floating pollen to move around the world. When you pop them, they send you flying at incredible speeds."

"Flying?!" The girl's eyes started welling at the thought of it.

"Yes, flying. There are many Pages where that is possible. And so much more."

"Will you take me there one day?"

"If you promise to keep up."

"You swear?"

Charlize was reluctant to answer. As much as she needed the girl if she wanted answers about Page 1, manipulating her like that felt wrong. She didn't like that feeling. Questioning herself was dangerous. It could cause hesitation, and hesitation could mean death. She'd already crushed that part of herself down, and this girl was dredging it back up. It was her innocence, her ignorance of how brutal the Book could be. Charlize was like that once. If she had someone like herself to guide her back then, how different would things have turned out?

No, she thought. This is different. The stakes are higher, and she's not me. She's neither entirely innocent nor entirely confused. Parts of her are genuine, but not the whole thing. She's been with me for over a week and hasn't once mentioned a desire to go home or remorse for leaving the family she claims not to remember. There's something she's keeping hidden behind the innocence. But the client comes first. Come on, Charlize, prioritize and execute.

They were only a few meters away from a pocket of forest. The girl was now happily skipping along, excited to play in the striking pink and orange woods. Although irritated by the skipping, Charlize was at least happy she was keeping up now.

"How do you know where we're going?" the girl asked as she merrily bounced along.

"This button on my jacket. It tells me if we're close."

"A button does that?"

"Quiet, girl," Charlize snapped with a harsh whisper. "There's something here, a String."

"I don't see anything."

"Stay still and be quiet. Let me focus for a moment."

Charlize hovered her right hand out in front, palm down. Closing her eyes, she focused on the String made from threads of Seam. By analyzing a String like that, she could gather information about its length, location, and sometimes its origin point. She opened her eyes and prepared for action.

"I need you to wait here for a moment," said Charlize, like an officer commanding one of her units.

"Why? The forest is right there. Can't we just go in?" the girl groaned.

"There is something right here, an invisible String. It is very dangerous."

"You already said that. I don’t see anything. Are you lying?"

"Didn't you promise to follow my instructions, little one?" Charlize asked softly, changing tactics.

"Yeees," the girl replied in a petulant tone, her eyes looking away from her.

"That's right. I need you to stay here. Don't move and don't make a sound, no matter what you see."

The girl nodded in response.

Charlize began to walk into the sky, climbing an invisible staircase one step at a time.

"Wow! How are you doing that?" yelled the girl in a burst of excitement.

"Silence!" Charlize snapped back. Her eyes gave the girl a look that, for the first time since meeting Charlize, made her fear her.

Charlize continued up, walking parallel to the String she discovered. Step by step she rose until she stood above the trees. Ten meters in the air, standing firmly on nothing, she glanced down at the girl, her tailcoat swinging in the breeze, before walking ahead over the treetops. The girl couldn't help but stare up with equal parts fear and awe.

Not even ten minutes had passed when Charlize came walking out from the forest toward the girl, walking straight through where the String once was.

"What happened?" the girl asked politely.

"Nothing to worry about. Let's go."

The girl didn't question her further, sensing she shouldn't.

Under the pink canopy of the forest, the light turned a similar hue. The subtle pink glow bounced off the orange bark of the trees and created a gentle swirling of warm colors.

The girl skipped gleefully, totally lost in the forest's wonder. They'd been going at a good pace for almost two hours when the girl felt a sudden tinge, a small tickle at the back of her mind. She'd never felt that before, but she instantly knew what it meant—something that was hidden from her had been revealed.

"I think I'm going to be sick!" the girl shouted.

"What's wrong? You look fine. Let me take see," said Charlize.

"No, no! I'm going to be sick. I just need some space!" The girl ran off into the forest behind her, darting between trees and out of Charlize's sight.

Charlize didn't move a muscle.

Chuckling to herself, the girl was amused and impressed at her lie. She wasn’t being followed, so she must have been convincing, she assumed. Her arms spread wide like wings as she spun around in circles, enjoying the untethered freedom. It was different without Charlize around. Without her watchful eyes bearing down on her, she felt lighter, like she could freely float through the Book one Page at a time if it wasn’t for Charlize weighing her down.

A few minutes had passed, and from what she could tell, Charlize wasn’t coming to get her. Realizing that, she felt even less burdened and began to dance wildly as she spun in circles.

The spinning and dancing came to an abrupt halt when her foot caught on a tree root, causing her to crash to the ground. She held her wounded knee and tried to keep back the tears welling in her eyes. To her surprise, she couldn’t help but see Charlize's disappointed face in her mind, a look in her eyes like she expected more of her. She wiped the tears from her eyes before they spilled over, took a deep breath, and leaned back.

Her breath didn’t make it to her lungs; instead, it caught in her throat and was forced down with a gasp. Above her was a familiar image, deja vu. Just like Charlize had minutes earlier, two men were suspended above her in mid-air. Unlike before, this image did not invoke a feeling of awe but instead horror.

The two men slowly turned, floating in place, their heads and necks limp, chins pressed against their collarbones. She couldn’t pull her eyes away, couldn’t stop from staring at the lifeless levitating bodies twisting in the gentle breeze. As one turned completely around, she could see the back of their neck. There was something there, a thin dark ring wrapped around their neck like a choker. As she focused, she saw the thin line embedded in his skin. She saw that it wasn’t dark due to any discoloration. In truth, the mark was so deeply indented into the skin that it was creating its own shadow, giving the effect of a dark collar. Her eyes trailed upward and saw a horizontal branch a few feet above their heads.

Then it clicked. These men were hanging corpses, strung up by an invisible rope. Invisible string? she thought. That's what Charlize was talking about earlier!

Her mind raced, and fear bolted from her toes to her eyes like an electric shock. She had an innate understanding that Charlize was dangerous, but it wasn’t until that moment that she even considered she might be a danger to her. Is it really safe to stay with her? she thought. Then again, it made sense that Charlize wasn’t the only dangerous person in the Book. Was it safer to stay with her, or to go it alone? She knew the answer, but it didn't sit right.

When the girl returned, Charlize was in the same spot she’d left her, comfortably leaning against a tree. As soon as the girl got close, Charlize lifted herself off the tree and began walking on.

"Are you feeling better now?" she asked.

"Yes. Much better, thanks. I don’t know what happened, sorry," the girl replied, too nervous to even make eye contact with Charlize's back.

"Did you find what you were looking for?" she asked, without turning or breaking her stride.

The girl didn’t respond.

Finally, at the edge of the forest, they could see a small village ahead. With only five buildings in total, and small ones at that, the village was adorably quaint. Each house was circular with a smooth, rounded roof, making them seem like oversized mushrooms from a distance. One of the buildings was slightly larger than the others and sat at the center of the village, surrounded by the other four houses. It was clearly the central hub for the tiny backwater village, so the two of them headed straight for it, hoping to meet their mysterious client.

Upon entering the building, all eyes turned to them. There were only four other people there. One manned the bar, two sat across from each other at a nearby table, and another man sat by himself at a different table at the other end of the room. Three of the four of them were dressed in orange dungarees with long-sleeved pink undergarments, undoubtedly the locals. The other man was sitting by himself.

The mysterious man had dark skin with a short dark beard, speckled with grey. He was wearing a mustard yellow shirt, topped with a fuzzy red cardigan, and his legs were stretched across the table, covered in fitted plaid trousers and a pair of odd shoes. The shoes weren't just different colors but entirely different styles: on his right foot was a scarlet boot with a black sole and an oversized tongue that spilled over the untied laces. The other was a slick emerald green formal shoe with wing tips, polished to an embarrassing degree. His eyes were hidden beneath his green flat cap as he leaned back in his chair, cradling an ornately detailed leather bag. A subtle rumbling could be heard coming from him.

The moment they sat at the table, the man jolted awake, his legs kicked in the air, and he barely caught himself before he toppled over.

"So you’re him? The man they call Od?" asked Charlize, already knowing the answer.

"That’s right," the man yawned. "You must be here for the job."

"Your shoes are odd, and your name is Od? How original."

"Not to worry, the name isn’t for your benefit," Od answered with a smile.

"I’m not here for small talk. What’s the job?"

"You sewed my String onto your jacket button, huh? Clever. You must be Charlize," he chuckled. "Guess the rumors are true. You’re good. Don’t waste any time, do you?"

"I’m trying not to, but you seem reluctant to get to the point. Am I wasting my time here?" answered Charlize, her frustration building.

"Come now, no time for introductions at least? Fine, I’ll get right to it then."

"I’m listening."

"I need you to help me kill God.