Standing up, Josh checked his body for any cuts and abrasions. "Phew." He said as he looked back up at where he'd fallen through. "I'm fine, just a little banged up, but I'm fine." Continuing to look around, Josh noticed what seemed to be emanating the light he'd seen coming through the cracks. "Hey, I think I found something." He called out to the group above him. "It looks like some kind of book on a marble pedestal."
Turning, Josh could see the group starting to slide down the flooring to meet him in the basement. "Would you look at that." Emily exclaimed as she started to make her way towards it. Feeling a hand grab her arm, she turned to see Jenn holding her back. "Whats the deal, I just wanted to look at it. You, more than anyone, should know how captivating a good book can be."
Nodding her head, Jenn let go of Emily's arm. "Yeah, but we don't know where the light is coming from or why its down here separated from everything else." They both looked over at the book anc could see that the light didn't seem to be coming from any where that they can see, but instead it looked as if it was coming from inside the book itself.
As they were looking at the book, they watched it start to pulsate slightly. And while it pulsated, they heard a rough, scratchy voice, almost as if the autumn leaves were being blown across the ground. "Aperi mihi ut reveles potentiam meam." Jenn looked over at Emily, who had her hands cupping her ears to get a better chance to hear what it was saying.
"Do you hear that?" Will asked while looking around to see where it could be originating from. "There aren't any speakers that I can see. What about you Josh?" He asked his friend who took the area where they came down from.
Shaking his head, he looked back towards the girls. "Nothing over here. But I didn't hear anything when I fell down here and it didn't seem to start until we all came down here."
The light coming from the book pulsed and the voice called out to them once more. "Aperi mihi ut reveles potentiam meam" The group looked around at each other, but one person, seemed to not have a look of concentration. The light pulsated once more as the voice called for their attention. "Aperi mihi ut reveles potentiam meam"
"Open me to discover..." Emily mumbled to herself. "Open me to discover potentiam meam. Potentam meam." She repeated to herself, trying to decipher what it was telling them. Closing her eyes and drumming her finger on her chin as she spoke each syllable, she whispered to herself. Opening her eyes, she slowly started to make her way over to the book and with each step she took the light pulsated. "Open me to discover my power."
"Ems, what are you doing?" Jenn asked as she tried to grab her arm in an attempt to hold her back.
Looking back at her friend, Emily looked her straight in the eyes. "Open me to discover my power." She told her as she took another step forward, causing the light to pulsate once more. Looking back over to the guys, Emily gestured back towards the book. "It wants us to open it. The voice is saying, 'Open me to discover my power.' That's what it's saying."
"But this light feels off." Josh exclaimed as he motioned towards the podium. "If it was normal light, then where is the pedestal's shadow?" The other three looked where he was gesturing and when the light pulsated once more, they could see that the light didn't cast a shadow.
Seeing the shadowless ground didn't seem to bother Emily too much since she still kept moving forward. "Emily what are you doing?" Jenn and Will both cried out to her, but when she stopped to look back, the pulsating started to become more rapid and didn't seem to go inline with her steps anymore.
"I've got to do this, something tells me that we're not to be able to leave unless we open it" Emily told them with no emotion in her voice. Almost as if it wasn't her talking. Standing at the pedestal, Emily looked down at the book and even though her friends were calling out to Emily to stop, she opened the book. Looking down at the page, she looked back at her friends, who have looked at the opening where they fell earlier. "What is going on?" She asked following their gaze.
Picking up a piece of the flooring, Will tossed it towards the opening, but instead it was deflected with much more force than it was supplied with. "Whatever that book is, its not wanting us to leave."
Emily, wanting to see this for herself, tried her best to go over to them, but when she lifted her foot, it didn't want to obey. "I... I can't move." She cried out with desperation as she started to use her hands to help move her legs, but nothing seemed to be working. With tears starting to form in her eyes, Emily looked down at the book. Since she opened up the cover, the pages looked to be made of light itself that enveloped the entire room. Holding out her hand to touch the pages, Emily felt an odd compulsion to take the book. Lifting it off of the pedestal, the book seemed to weigh almost nothing and with it free of its tether, allowed Emily to move once more.
"What are we going to do?" Jenn sighed as she tossed another piece of debris towards the opening, causing the same result as before. She turned back towards her friend, Emily, to see that she now held the book in her hands, but was now walking towards them. "Em, what did you do?" Jenn said to herself.
The others looked over towards Emily, who was now within several feet of them. "Sorry, guys, but I had to take the book or I don't think I would be able to leave." Emily told the group, who looked at her disapprovingly. As she stopped near the group, the book's light started to pulsate once more, almost reminiscent of an old alien movie from the 70s.
"Emily, put it back now." Will commanded as he tried to back away, but in doing so, caused the book to pulsate even faster.
"Will come back." Jenn demanded as she grabbed his arm to pull him back, causing the book's pulsating to slow. "We need to stay together for some reason. If we get too far apart, the books light starts to pulsate faster."
Clearly irritated at being scolded by Jenn, Will crossed his arms. "The entry is still blocked by whatever is causing it. Plus its going to be dark soon." He added while looking over at Emily, who looked as if she'd done something wrong to draw his ire.
Looking back down at the book, the pages appear to have something written on them. It started off as faint, but with each pulse, the words became darker and more defined. Feeling her heart race a little more, Emily felt the urge to repeat them aloud. "Vita non est operae pretium, nisi in alio vivitur. Life is not worth living unless it is lived as another." She said to herself before having a thought. 'I guess all those years of Catholic School helped for something.'
"What did you say Ems?" Jenn wondered as she turned back to her friend.
Motioning down towards the book in her hands, Emily repeated what she said, but with a little more force so that they all can hear her. "Vita non est operae pretium, nisi in alio vivitur. Its whats written here in the..." She wasn't able to finish the statement, since the light coming from the book flashed from the book causing the group to cover their eyes in order to protect them.
***What happened to the group?***
 indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
| Members who added to this interactive story also contributed to these: |
View Portfolio
Visit Notebook
Send Gift Points
Awards
Badges
Send Email
Community Newsfeed
General Discussion
Sponsored Items
Book of Trinkets
Static Items
Books
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
More by this author