Chapter 3
Marginals
After leaving Pinton in the garage, the pair entered the house. Selena didn't pay attention to how inconvenient the staircase was anymore. With every step she was getting closer to the book, and the desire to learn what's in there was getting stronger. Kevin, too, was so deep in his thoughts that he was walking in step with her, not trying to get ahead. But when they entered the library, he was got to the table first, picked “The Door” and opened it without a shadow of trepidation.
In the beginning of the book, there were neither an annotation nor any information about the author or the publishing house. There were no marks inside, as if nothing has never been torn out, and the first page was blank, save for a huge, bold question mark in the middle. Knitting his brows, Evanford turned the page. Text was printed in large font, with widely spaced lines:
You're on the threshold of a dangerous adventure. What will you choose? Staying on this side, with little sores of your problems? Or entering, putting your mind and life at stake?
Step by step, door by door you will penetrate into the depths of your consciousness. Things that you could never think of will be revealed to you. Something that doesn't lie on the surface. Layer by layer you'll clear your brain, until you'll get to the true you...
Consider it carefully. There will be no way back. You won't be able to open the next door before closing the previous one. And by the way – you've already started playing once you've read this far.
Decarbonized rays are driving the covered scheme... Some incoherent mess followed. Kevin turned a couple more pages – not a single sensible phrase. Checked out the last page – same there.
“Yeah, that did help,” Selena sarcastically remarked. “It's obvious either way – I've got into a big trouble, and there's zero explanation about how to get out.”
Kevin paid no attention to her words. Young man examined the book once again. What information is there at his disposal? Haurot Sputkee – those words can mean anything, but here they are used as an author's name. The book itself and the content of its pages can change. There is no information about an author or a publishing house. Pages aren't numbered...
“Give me this,” Selena snatched the book out of his hands, closed it and immediately opened again. The question sign remained where it was. “At least it's not changing every minute,” Silver concluded. She started quickly thumbing through. In a middle of the book something caught her eye. Turning back a couple of pages, she saw a pencil-drawn heart on a margin. Its edge was encrusted with thorns. Heart was “chained” to the paper with two crossed chains. A paragraph next to the picture went:
My body is free, but my soul is chained. For some, it's a battle, for some, it's a game. I know that fear is my greatest foe. My face may have changed, but my bonds are the same as before.
“Some teenage angst,” Kevin sniffed.
“I wonder if it was here before?” Selena slammed the book shut and thumbed through it again. The heart was gone. Without a second thought, the girl grabbed a pen, putting ticks on some random pages. She thumbed through the book once, twice – the ticks remained. Selena torn out a sheet from her notebook and put it between the pages, and repeated the procedure, then shook the book just to make sure. The sheet was gone. “See! It's like this... reloads it.”
“You do know how to deal with tech,” Kevin said in almost serious voice.
“Yeah, I know which button to push to turn the computer on, imagine that!” Silver was infuriated. This snob is at it again! She couldn't stand it any longer. She was tired, terribly hungry and endured more stress within those twenty-four hours than she did within the last few years. Moreover, her legs were nearly falling off because of long walks on high heels – and the thought that she'll have to hobble at least one more kilometer was outright depressing. Selena couldn't spend another minute in this house...
“I'm leaving!” she shouted, heading for the door.
“Give the book back,” Kevin demanded.
“No! Why would you need it if you dig all the wisdom out of your own mind? But if you want it, take it!” Silver pressed the book to her breasts.
Young Evanford looked at her in contempt, remaining in place. The book didn't prove itself useful enough to fight for it. Let this harpy take it. After all, shifts might be linked to her, and he just happened to be around. Yet another proof that her company doesn't bring any good... Kevin realized that he's trying to fool himself. He's also neck deep in this paranormal situation... He just didn't want to touch this hysterical woman.