THURSDAY. TWO days had gone by since Jake learned about the pentacle but still that was not enough to help him understand the purpose of the book. At least not until he began to recollect on what the person who had given him the book had said to him and also the weird stuff he'd been seeing.
"Destroy?" Matt went over the word again.
"Maybe he was telling you to get rid of the book or something," Matt added.
It was after school and they were heading home.
"Let's burn it! " Gabriel proposed.
"What?" Jake found himself responding.
"You saw what happened at the library and don't even remind me about the hallway incident! "
Gabriel was referring to the latter with more panic after the previous day when he and Jake were moving down the hallway to go meet up with Matt in the library. Cole was dashing through the hallway with his 'Hallowee edition' skateboard—so he called it, shoving people away from his path.
Jake was carrying the book under his arm when Cole zoomed past him, shoving him like he did the rest except this time, it didn't end too well for him.
The moment he lay a hand on Jake's shoulder, the book began glowing after which Cole's skateboard snapped in half, with one part breaking off while the one he was on dug into the ground and he was sent half flying into the air before crashing into a locker and breaking his index finger which was twisted in a very unlikeable manner.
They did try to rule that out as a coincidence but there was no way his skateboard could have done that by itself, which Jake affirmed but still for some reason, did not feel like sharing to the group just yet.
As they went on walking, a tall man in a suit with a beanie passed them which seemed kind of odd to Jake.
He turned round while the others went on to debate on what to do with the book.
The man stopped and turned around. Jake saw his face.
"Mr. Henry?"
He had never seen him in that side of town. He lived way over on the other side of Barnstable.
Jake watched on and noticed something in his eyes. They were black, completely black as his right arm went under his coat and came out with a gun.
"Guys!" Jake called.
"What?"
"Oh, it's Mr. Henry!"
"What's he doing here?"
"With a gun!" Jake exclaimed.
"What are you talking about?" Matt asked, not seeing a gun anywhere.
"It's right there, in his hand!"
Matt and Gabriel turned from Mr.Henry to Jake.
"You don't see it?"
"Dude, you've been acting really weird lately ever since that book showed up," Matt said.
Jake could see the gun but his friends couldn't.
Oh no! Not another freaky imagination episode!
The book began to glow and Jake could feel a weird sensation in him, like a warning that something bad was about to happen.
"Everybody get down!" Jake called out, grabbing both of his friends and sending them all to the ground when what sounded like a gunshot went out.
They all heard it.
"What the fuck was that? " Matt exclaimed, still crouching.
"That would've been you dropping dead! " came Jake.
"Where's Mr. Henry? " asked Gabriel.
"I don't think that was Mr. Henry, guys. "
"What are you talking about? "
"I think I've been seeing...things. "
"No shit! " came Matt.
"Things that nobody else can. "
"Like with Mr. Henry? "
"Yes. I know this sounds crazy but I think the book's done something to me. I see things everywhere and it's like... it's like they're after me but they can't get close enough... "
"The book! " Gabriel responded, "maybe they want the book! "
"Yeah, and maybe that's why I have to destroy it... "
"Or, you're supposed to destroy them using the book! " Matt countered, "which is why only you can see them and we can't! "
"Huh, nice one! " Gabriel added.
"Hold on! " Matt added again, "I think I know somebody who can help us. "
"Really? Who? "
They got to Matt's place and he was just letting them in when Jake pondered.
"How exactly is your sister going to help us? "
"Well, she's kind of into fantasy and all that shit, " Matt shrugged.
Matt's parents weren't home and neither was his sister who got back about half an hour later.
"Wow, you're still doing sleepovers? "
"Ha ha, " Matt responded with sarcasm, "Jake here had a few questions he wanted to ask you. "
"Oh yeah, what about? "
Jake went on to explain how he could see spirits amd other non-living stuff move around without other people noticing at all.
"You're kidding, right? " was Julia's response.
Jake gave her a smug expression.
"Wait, you're serious? "
"I wouldn't have bothered to bring them all the way here if we were kidding, now would I ? " Matt said to his sister.
"Okay, let me get my laptop. "
She returned moments later and sat on a couch then opened her laptop.
"Have any of you ever heard about the third eye?"
"A little, " Jake was the only one to respond.
"Wow, Matt, have I not taught you anything? "
"You're teaching me now! " he responded as his sister shook his head.
"Is that the one about seeing more than others see...oh wait, are you saying Jake has..." Gabriel added.
"A third eye, yes, " finished Julia.
Matt raised a hand.
"A what now? "
"The third eye, or the mind's eye, is a mystical concept of a speculative invisible eye usually depicted as located on the forehead, which provides perception beyond ordinary sight. "
"That is so unsettlingly right, " Jake muttered.
"Boy, aren't you lucky! " Julia went on, "in Dharmic traditions from India, the third eye is a gate that leads to the inner realms of higher consciousness and symbolizes enlightenment!"
"Enlightenment?" Jake pondered.
"Yeah, and if you utilize your third eye, you become what is known as a seer!"
"Okay..."
"Or you could do third eye training and tune in to the vibration of the universe likeTaoism in Chinese!"
"Told ya, big fan!" Matt whispered to Jake.
Jake then began to get that eerie sensation as he felt the cold creep up on his back. The sounds of everyone who was present were drowned by that sensation.
He then saw it.
Just behind Julia, there was a large window that had its drapes withdrawn, letting in most of the light from the setting sun. He watched on as the window pane slowly slid open and what looked like the tip of a long sharp claw came into view, pulling back the pane.
Jake wasn't sure what it was but he knew one thing. It meant trouble.
"I think you should step away from there, please," he said in a hushed tone.
"What?"
"Step away from the window..."
"I think the third eye's acting up again!" Gabriel spoke.
Jake watched as more claws appeared at the window, followed by a low rattling noise like the grinding of teeth—very sharp teeth.
"What is that sound?" Matt asked.
"What I'm warning Julia about..." Jake muttered.
"You...you can see it?" Julia began panicking, "shit! You're totally serious!"
The window's glass suddenly shattered with Jake lunging himself at Matt's sister, the two of them hitting the soft carpet on the floor.
"Get down!" Jake cried out after seeing a large creature unlike anything he had ever seen land in the far side of the living room.
Matt cried out in pain.
"Fuck! My arm!"
None of them except Jake could see the creature which was on all its fours, preparing to attack again. To Jake, It kinda looked like the Xenomorph from the movie series, Alien, except this one did not have a tail.
The rest of it was pretty much the same and terrifying. It had no eyes but a wide mouth filled with sharp teeth.
"Nobody move!" Jake cautioned as Julia sat up from her fall.
"Easy for you to say, we can't see shit!" Gabriel responded, breaking his principle of not using cuss words.
The creature gnashed its teeth, fast approaching Jake whose mind then drifted to his bag. He located it a few inches away from Gabriel.
"Gabriel, get my bag," he quickly said in a hushed tone.
"What do you see?" Julia was asking.
"C'mon Gabriel, the book, hurry!"
Gabriel fumbled with the bag, clearly succumbing to the fear of the unknown. The creature brushed past Matt and seemed to take a keen interest on Jake.
"Gabriel!"
Gabriel tossed the book at Jake, distracting the creature for a moment as it turned to his direction, growling at him.
Jake grabbed the book which he noted was glowing again and lifted it before him, towards the creature. The glowing intensified, shining bright light on the creature until it became visible to the others.
"Holy shit!" Matt freaked out, holding his bleeding arm after seeing the creature that had done that to him.
"There's nothing holy about that shit!" Gabriel responded after the creature let out a very sharp cry before bursting into nothingness.
The book's glow began to wane until it died out.
The place was then silent until Matt broke the silence.
"Up top for the third eye! "
He cringed afterwards as his sister ran to his side.
"Oh God, you're hurt! "
He had a small cut across his arm where blood had stained the sides of his torn shirt.
"You have the third eye! " Julia was still in excitement as one of her fantasies had come true.
"But what is that book?"
"I don't know," Jake replied, "whatever it is, it's meant to stop this monsters and that's why they keep coming for it."