In the search of the King; Chapter Two

Rebecca hadn't noticed anything out of the ordinary when she returned to her room after dinner. She went back to her desk and sat in her chair. She swiveled in her chair to face the computer. Rebecca jiggled her mouse to wake the computer up. She leaned in close to the screen.

Rebecca had learned that Steven King wrote for his college newspaper. She smiled when she read the list of film credits. Rebecca had known that he liked to appear in his own films. She discovered that he wrote more books under the name of 'Richard Bachman.' Rebecca sat back in her chair. "When I said that I wanted to be like Steven King, I may have bitten off more than I could chew." She inhaled sharp. "I hope that I will do something with it."

On the floor, next to her chair, the notebook sensed Rebecca's thoughts. It vibrated with anticipation. It wanted Rebecca to notice it. It vibrated so hard that it slid further out of the bag that it was in. At that moment, the phone rang.

"I GOT IT!" Rebecca called down the hall to her mother, before picking up the receiver. "Hello?" She asked into the handset.

The voice that came back was one of her friends from school. He had a question about some math problem that they were working on in class. Rebecca reached for her bag on the floor. The bag, now empty was the envy of the notebook. The notebook glowed, angry at its own impatience.

Rebecca fished around inside her bag until she found the textbook she wanted. She opened to the page her classmate was describing. She read the passage and 'how to solve' part aloud into the phone for her friend. There was a pause and excited chatter on the other end of the line. Her classmate appeared to have found the solution to the problem he had the question on. There was a murmur over the phone as Rebecca was thanked for her assistance and then a click as the call ended.

Rebecca returned the phone to its cradle. She looked down for her bag on the floor. It was resting on top of the glowing notebook on the floor. Rebecca reached to pick up the bag, but drew her hand back in surprise. "Why is it warm?" She asked to no one in particular. Rebecca removed the bag. That's when she saw the glowing notebook. It seemed to pulse with pleasure at Rebecca having finally discovered it.

Rebecca stared at the notebook in shocked wonder. She had set down the textbook that was in her hand. She eyed the glowing notebook with awe.

Rebecca was sure that when the teacher handed her the notebook, it was an ordinary blank notebook. It didn't glow, move, or anything. It was just a plain old ordinary notebook. She knew there was no other books in her bag besides the math textbook and the homework assignment the teacher had given in class.

Rebecca reached out a timid finger to poke the curious leather binding that before was a thin cardboard. She didn't know what to think. The notebook didn't grab or zap her finger in any way. It stood the touch. Rebecca felt compelled to open the notebook. She didn't know what for she just knew that she had to open it.

Rebecca grasped the book. She held it firmly in her two hands. She closed her eyes. She opened the book. When there was no explosion, Rebecca opened her eyes slowly, one by one, until both eyes were open. Before her, Rebecca beheld an unimpressive blank page. That's when it happened.

"Greetings..." A cool smooth voice emanated in Rebecca's mind coming from the book.

Frightened, Rebecca dropped the book. She cowered in the corner of her room. "Who was that?" Silence answered her. Rebecca shook her head. She felt like she was dreaming or something. Rebecca took a deep breath to let the fear escape. Then, she left the room to get a glass of water. When she came back, she toed the book under her bed and changed into her pajamas. She'd deal with it, whatever it was in the morning. Things were just too weird right now.

Rebecca closed her eyes and tried to force thoughts of the book from her mind. It didn't help that she had dreams of it pulsing and flying at her trying to eat her with triangular bookmarks in place of teeth.

At some point, in the middle of the night, Rebecca's eyes popped open. She stared, wide eyed, at the ceiling. She remained this way for an hour. Rebecca determined that she just would be unable to sleep for the rest of the night. Her thoughts twisted and turned. She thought of the book.

Rebecca rolled onto her side. The book both intrigued and haunted her. She didn't understand the voice. She didn't understand the glowing. She didn't understand any of it. Still, the book's hypnotic siren call pulled at Rebecca from under the bed.

Suddenly, Rebecca sat up. She sat cross-legged. Rebecca started to have second thoughts about the book. It wasn't like it had hurt her or anything. It just glowed and vibrated and had a weird voice and haunted her nightmares. Rebecca sighed. She swung her legs over the edge of the bed to rest her feet on the floor.

Rebecca reached under the bed to feel for the notebook. She jumped when her fingers grazed the cover. "It's just a notebook." She told herself. Rebecca was trying to make herself feel more confident than she actually felt.

Rebecca got out of bed. She knelt on the floor next to her bed. Next to the notebook, as well. Rebecca inhaled when she picked up the book. She exhaled slow, carefully examining the book.

Rebecca turned the book over in her hands. She'd felt like she'd done that a lot since receiving the book in class. NO! Rebecca didn't know what happened to the book that she had received in class. This notebook wasn't that one. Rebecca frowned. She stared at the cover. She was getting nowhere fast and kept coming up with more questions than answers.

All of a sudden, Rebecca sat bolt upright. She smacked herself in the forehead with the notebook. 'If the book can talk, maybe it can answer some questions, too.' Rebecca thought.

Rebecca gulped. She stared down the book for a moment more. "All right book, talk." Rebecca opened the book.

"Greetings." Came the same calm smooth voice from before.

"Are you the voice of the book?" Rebecca asked. She felt like Jello.

"Yes." The voice cooed. The voice sounded the way water felt. Cool, smooth, and refreshing.

Rebecca started having second thoughts, again. Something about the book gave her the willies. She plowed forward, despite the feeling in the pit of her stomach. "Do you have a name?"

"I have been called many things." Velvet caressed Rebecca's eardrums. "The veil. The void. Call me whatever you wish. I am nothing more than a vessel of dreams. Only a dreamer can fill me and make me complete."

"I'm going to call you the Void or Void, for short." Rebecca looked at the blank pages before her. "You don't have a mouth." She wondered. "How are you able to talk?"

"I am not talking." The Void explained. "I am communicating directly to your mind. Only you can hear and feel me. It only appears that I am talking. No one else is aware of the things that I am able to say and do."

Rebecca was starting to calm down from her initial terror. "Why are you talking to me? What is your purpose in contacting me?"

"You seem to have expressed an interest in becoming an author." The Void responded. "New writers must be tested to see if they are worthy of the task."

"Worthy?" There was that steel ball in the pit of Rebecca's stomach. "How can you tell if I am worthy or not?"

"It is a rite of passage that all new writers must endure." The Void answered.

"What rite?" Rebecca asked. "What must I do?"

A small whirlpool appeared in the center of the page. "Peer into the void. See what there is to see. Tell the story." The Void's words were cryptic.

"Umm! Peer?" Rebecca's voice cracked. She didn't know what to think. She had no clue what to feel. Yesterday, was an ordinary day. She was sitting in class, minding her own business. The teacher came along and gave her this notebook and told her to write a story. Today, the original notebook was gone and... and this void was telling her to "peer? How do I know that I can trust you?" Rebecca snapped.

"Can you trust yourself?" Came the response. "Are your eyes seeing reality or is it an illusion? Are your feelings for real or being manipulated in some way? Choose your adventure."

Rebecca bit her bottom lip. She put the book down on the ground. She got up and paced the room. Back and forth. Back and forth. Every so often she'd pause and give the book on the ground a fierce look of fire and passion. Then, the fighting spirit would wane and she'd be unsure, again. Rebecca resumed her pacing. Suddenly, she stopped. "Will it hurt?"

The book lay on the floor. Silent. Motionless. It was still open. The whirlpool swirled ominous.

"I think I want to try." Rebecca glanced at her bedroom door. "But what about mom and my friends. What if I never see them, again." It was just too much to think about in the middle of the night when half the world was asleep.

Rebecca sighed, heavily. She wanted to have a few more days to think about it. Rebecca shook her head. She reached for the book. To pick it up and put it away.

Rebecca's hand got too close the the whirlpool, as it churned. That's when Rebecca's hand got caught in an invisible tide. The maelstrom pulled on Rebecca, trying to drag her into the book. Rebecca freaked out. She pulled back. There was a tug o war over Rebecca's arm.

Rebecca felt herself losing ground. She screamed and clawed the air around her for something to hold onto to keep herself from being pulled in. Rebecca couldn't find anything that would hold her. She threw pens, stuffed animals, and other things at the notebook to get it to stop pulling. However, the things were sucked away to oblivion. Still the book kept pulling on her. Rebecca grabbed the side of her bed. The bed slid. It startled Rebecca causing her to lose her grip and her balance. Rebecca lost her battle with the notebook and the whirlpool. She closed her eyes as she felt herself sucked in. The whirlpool disappeared as magically as it had come. It had taken Rebecca along with half the contents of her room.