Leave the Book, Jennifer: The Sequel

I look to him in disbelief. He shouldn't be here. He’s supposed to be gone, destroyed with The Book. Why is he here? He comes close to me and wipes a tear from my face; I did not realize that I’m crying. I try to use my voice, but it comes out barely as a whisper.

    “Adam, I’m so sorry,” That’s when the tears take over. Adam, from my former fantasy, embraces me and caresses my back.

    “Shhh,” he says. “It’s alright. I’m here.”

    “Why- how are you here? You’re supposed be…”

    “Dead?”

    “Yeah.”

Adam is from a book, where I can travel inside, but it was burned when the library went down. The fiction characters have never come outside of it, into the real world, I mean. This should be impossible, but hey, traveling inside your fantasy world should be too.

    Adam lets go and picks up some papers I also hadn’t realized that I dropped. Now reality comes back to me. I was on my way to a publisher’s office to see if I could publish my book about my experience with ‘The Book,’ under fiction, of course. I then pull myself together and take the papers from his hands.

    “What are you seriously doing here?”

He looks around nervously as he takes my hand. It feels different now, since I’m now engaged to William. I never told him anything about my fiancé, but I told William everything about ‘The Book’ after the whole fire incident. I pray that he doesn’t feel the ring on my finger. “Jennifer,” he whispers, his hand still in mine. “We need to be somewhere… discreet for me to say anything.”

    I need answers; I’m curious. I also don’t want him anywhere near me, but knowing Adam, he won’t leave until he gets what he wants. Ten minutes of walking, and we’re at my apartment that William and I share now.

    “Please, sit.” I say gesturing to the seating area. After putting together some lemonade and cookies, I sit across from him, keeping some distance between us. “Can you explain why you’re here now?”

   He takes a deep breath before shakily handing me something that very recognizable in my hands. My fingers brush across the familiar spine and etching in the cover. Memories of my past life flash right before my eyes. It is scarred from the fire, and the dust of ash covers it, but I know it’s ‘The Book.’ My lip quivering dangerously, I say, “Tell me what happened. Everything. I need to know, Adam.”

    He munches down a couple of cookies before he clears his throat. “Right after I told you that I loved you, you disintegrated into a million particles. Then you were gone. I didn’t understand, and I looked up to the sky, and there… was this void. I went to the town to see if others noticed it, then I decided to go up there myself. Using an old catapult that we repaired, and they shot me up there. I crashed into a burning building with, that in my hands. I escaped, but it took me a few days realized everything. My entire world wasn’t real. I traveled back inside, ‘The Book’ a couple of times, but I didn’t speak of the real world. Then I discovered… The Void.”

    “The Void?” I ask.

   “Yes,” he says. “It’s the space between the real world and the fictional. You can also decide which world a traveler belongs in.”

    My attention turned to Adam. For the most part, it sounds like he’s lying for the most part. Then again, I hadn’t explored the full extent of ‘The Book’ because I stuck in my little world. Then something hit me.

    “What do you mean by decide?”

    “There’s a way that you’re able to change which one you belong in. Normally, when I’d drop the Book, I would return to the world inside it. But I went in there, and soon… it was like a switch flipped. Now my home is the real world. Now,” he takes my hand and looks into my eyes. “We can be together. I now understand why you left, but nothing can-”

    I hear the door open and my hands instinctively push Adam’s face towards the couch. William is home early. He knows everything about Adam, but he doesn’t know about my fiancé.

    “Stay down,” I whisper carefully to him before I go to welcome William. I choose my words carefully. “Hey, what are you doing home?”

    “I worked overtime yesterday, so they sent me home.” He says while he gives me a hug and a kiss on the cheek. “Are you expecting company?”

   I look to the platter of refreshments I laid out. “I… just was waiting for you to get home. Yeah! And now that you’re here, we can enjoy them!”

    “Oh thanks, honey,” he grabs a cookie, walks to the couch, and my insides squish together. He plops down on the couch, and doesn’t see Adam. Weird. “So how did the interview go with the publisher?”

I say while I skeptically walk towards the couch, “It was… great. I decided to go next week instead. My papers and birth certificate flew away.” He’s not there; had I been imagining everything? Was it my sorrow from my past life that made me hallucinate?

    “Are you okay, Jennifer? You’re saying nonsense.” William snaps me out of my trance. “And why are you looking under the couch?”

    I bump my head on the armrest. “Sorry, just distracted. I lost my earring.” Finally, something sensible comes out of my mouth. He offers to help me, and after about a few minutes, we give up. As we’re slowly coming up from the floor, our faces meet. He is literally two inches from my face; even though he is my fiancé, he still gives me so many butterflies. His smirk makes my heart beat three times faster.

   “Hi,” he says. It’s so stupid, I blush.

   “Hi,” I reply, breathless. We haven’t actually kissed yet; we agreed to wait for the big day. But there are so many times that we’ve considered breaking that agreement, but something always stops us. As we stand, a booming voice comes from the kitchen.

   “Jennifer! My love! What are you doing?”

Our heads turn to find Adam behind the counter holding a handgun at William’s temple.

   “Adam! What are you doing?”

   “Adam?” William asks, bewildered.

Adam then points the gun to my face and loads it. “NO!” William shouts as he protects me.

    “William! NO! Adam, this-”

    “Isn’t like me?” he finished for me. “Well, I didn’t think of you to be a cheater. Also, I need Jennifer one way or another. Maybe killing William off is just the thing I need.”

    If this were a movie, the dramatic orchestra would be playing. “What the heck is wrong with you, man?” William says. “Jennifer told me that you were a good guy.”

    “That was in the Book. It was fiction. This is reality, and I guess I’m just the antagonist in this story. You’re welcome.”

    Then Adam starts mumbling words, and ‘The Book’ flies in the middle of everything. The room darkens, and objects start floating around. A blinding flash explodes from the Book, and a vortex is formed below it.

   “What is that?!” William shouts. My bun falls and hair is whipping my face. I’m clinging to William now, and gaze then trails to Adam, and a tear slips down my cheek. He is definitely not the man I once knew. Then my attention turns to the hole in our floor, and I instantly knew, “It’s the Void!”

    Adam is now coming our way, gun still in his hand. He grips my arm and I scream. William still has a hold of me and tries to pull me back.

    “You’re not taking Jennifer!” William tells Adam angrily.

    “She is what I need, and I am what she needs. You have no say in this!” Adam replies.

    When I was younger, I always wanted guys to fight over me, but I never meant like this! Too many thoughts are raging in my head right now, and I can’t think straight. My eyes then catch ‘The Book’ in Adam’s hand, and then my gut takes over. I step on his foot, and his grip on me loosens. William uses his other fist and punches him in the face. Adam’s elbow finds a way to dig into William’s rib cage. I try to tug ‘The Book’ from his grip, but he notices and ends up pushing me to the vortex. My hold on the object is strong, but I lose my balance and now I’m hanging over the Void.

    “Jenni-” William’s voice is cut of by a slap in the face. Adam is trying to shake me and let me fall, but William recovers quickly and reaches for me hand. One hand on the book, another holding a gun, Adam kicks him in the butt, and he slides of the side of the Void and we’re both hanging. Another scream exits my throat while the strain on my arms is threatening to pull me apart. The only thing that ensure our safety is my grip on the Book.

    “Adam…” my strength is waning. “Please…”

   “Jennifer,” he says. “What’s that thing called? Oh yeah, this is my villain arc, sweetheart. But from my view, all I see is a woman who acts like a stupid little girl. I see a woman who is the villain in my eyes. This is my goodbye, Jennifer, since I never got one.”

    And before I know it, we’re falling. Down… down… down… through the Void.

    My eyes burn as I open them. I’m sitting in a soft field filled with tall grass and flowers, and the sky is as blue as ever. Birds are chirping, and my hair flowing in tune with the wind. Everything is so… peaceful. I wonder how I got to this moment. Then everything rushes back to me.

   Adam… he was now the villain? He couldn’t be, I know him to well. Then again, he did attack William and I and threatened to kill us. Oh my goodness, William!  I run around the four-foot grass, shouting his name. And then the ground comes hits my face.

    “Ow!” I yell. “What the-”

    “Well, it seems like we keep running into each other,” William says from behind me. “You tripped.” He finishes with a smile.

    “Yeah, I can see that I tripped. At least our glasses aren’t broken." We fidget with the wire frames and stand up to our feet. He says, “Well, where… Jennifer! You’re hand!”

    I expect it to be a lizard mutation of some sort, but instead, “It’s The Book! How…” My grip must have been so strong that it came with us when we fell. I was holding on for our lives, after all.

    “If I was holding this…”

    “Then that means… Wait Jennifer; whatever you do don’t drop that! If you do, I’ll be stuck here. Only the original holder of the book can travel between the worlds.”

    “You’re right,” I reply, reestablishing my grip. Aware of my surroundings, I now know where we are. It was the place where Adam actually kissed me, and that was also the day that I met William. “Follow me.”

    After about fifteen minutes, I see the stone paving to the Old English style town. But something was off. An eerie presence hovers over me as we step onto the road. No one was in the streets walking, or doing whatever they did. William pointed out to me that there were ash marks on the buildings and almost everywhere we went. It was like a ghost town. Something wasn’t right.

    “Sugar,” a country-accented voice calls from behind. “Is that really you?” The smell of buttered biscuits with molasses surrounds me with nostalgia. I instantly know who it is. By hearing her voice, I finally allow myself to break down.

    “Ramona!” I cry as I run to my best friend. I hadn’t seen her ever since I left, and there was a void in the real world that could never be replaced.

    “Hey, hey, hey. It’s all right. Come inside sweetie, there it much we need to talk about. And your friend can come too.

    After a fresh meal and some tissues, I explain everything to Ramona. And I mean everything, from the fictional and real world issue, to William, and all that had happened with Adam. It was so comforting to pour out to someone that you trust and love, and she made me feel at home again. Maybe it was Ramona that I didn’t want to leave in the first place.

    Ramona then explains to me that Adam had been lying. Yes, he did originally go into the real world, but he came back. Then he took over everything and became a true tyrant. Then he was looking for ‘The One’ and wanted to settle things in ‘The Void.’ My best guess is that he though ‘The One’ was me.

    “And I though I said no cheating. Didn’t I say that?” she remarks. We laugh then Ramona says, “Well, at least you ended up with someone good and not Adam, honey. I’m glad you followed your heart.”

The next few days, William and I help Ramona and the townspeople get things in order around the village. William hits it off with most of the people, and they are really excited when he comes around. It’s like he belongs here.

    As for me, I’ve been alternating ‘The Book’ through my hands, which is very tiring if I’m honest. And every minute was just counting down to the day that I’d see Adam again, and anything could happen when that time comes. I ask Ramona and William to come meet me at Sunset Cliff, and prepared, as if for a huge fight. We agree to meet later that evening. I get there a few hours early, to train with a sword and dagger I had brought. Sunset Cliff is where I said goodbye to Adam, and where I though ‘The Book’ was destroyed. I practice some moves that I’ve seen in movies; then I hear footsteps behind me, knowing that it’s William and Ramona. They both have similar weapons like I do. I’ve never noticed how hours can pass by so quickly.

    “Let me guess,” William says, swinging his sword in a perfect circle. “We’re going to hunt down Adam.”

    “Most people refuse help,” says Ramona. “but you want us here. I’m proud of ya, sugar.”

    “I wouldn’t be where I am without you guys. You deserve to be there, by my side, no matter what happens.” We all grin, and William pulls me to his side.

    “You know how to open The Void, right?” I shake my head. “I did notice that Adam read the acknowledgements before the vortex opened. We’ll hold onto you, and let’s try that.”

    They both link arms with me as I flip the familiar pages to number 247. Acknowledgments is spread across the top of the page, and begin to read aloud. I have a feeling it’ll be for the last time, ever. Words start floating off the page, and soon, we’re weightless. A violet-black hole appears above us, and our feet are dragged towards it. It’s an extraordinary. As we are turned upside down, and catch a glimpse of the place I used to call home, fading away slowly. That’s the last thing I see before we enter The Void.

I still feel William and Ramona’s arms linked in mine, so that means we all made it together. I observe my surroundings. It’s just… dark, and silent, like any void would be. I’m surprised I can see my friends near me, but I can’t see whoever is in front. My mouth opens to say something, but I’m honestly scared. I don’t even know if William and Ramona have come out of their own trance yet. I feel my fingers trembling across the only thing I have that ensures that we can escape.

    “Took you long enough,” a voice calls from the shadows. I gently nudge the others awake because I know it’s Adam. “I was expecting you sooner.”

I finally gather my courage to say, “We were eventually going to find you, but I had no idea you were here.”

    “And you brought your little boyfriend,” I feel William grasp let go as he’s pulled into the shadows. We both shout for each other, but I don’t know where he is; it’s too dark.

    “Oh, and Ramona. I didn’t expect to see you here. But the more the merrier!” Ramona just disappeared too, leaving me with myself, a sword and dagger, and ‘The Book.’

    “Now, how did you figure out how to get here all by yourself?” Adam says. “I know you’re not that smart. Ramona obviously doesn’t know a thing.” I stay silent. Then I feel his whisper behind me. “It was William, wasn’t it?”

    I turn around; Adam stands there, his eyes peering into mine. I place my hand on the hilt of my sword. “He said he noticed what you did when you first opened the Void.”

    “Tsk, tsk,” he paces. “He’s lying.”

    “William would never lie,” I say, struggling to keep my voice strong.

    “You know I wouldn’t either, so I’ll let you in on another secret. William isn’t who you think he is.”

    “Shut up, Adam.”

    “Let me finish. William was focusing on you when I opened the Void, so how could he know? Well, that’s because William isn’t from your world. William from ‘The Book’ itself."