“Hi, my name’s David Hoyte and I’m a glaciologist here in Greenland,” the man introduced in a British accent. “I saw what those things did to you and I decided to help since I knew how to.”
“Yes, I knew you could help, sir. I wrote your name in the book and it brought us to you, remember?” Rachel frowned. What was she saying? “Where is our friend?”
“He’s okay now, and safe.”
The little girl walked past the tall man into the house. “Aiden,” she called out. “Where are you?”
“Over here, Rachel,” Aiden replied. “Just come upstairs.”
“What did you do to save him?” Kimberley asked Mr. Hoyte, glad to hear the boy’s voice again.
“Well, I shot the guy attacking your friend and ferried your friend’s wounded body into the future with a piece of the white book I had with me,” Mr. Hoyte said. “I now brought back the healed body afterwards. Please call me Dave.”
“Sergeant Kimberley Reyna of the Portwood Police Department,” Kimberley introduced. “You can call me Kim.” She walked past Dave and climbed the stairs to meet Aiden.
Mr. Hoyte followed her.
Aiden and Rachel were sitting on the only bed in the room. Kimberley hugged the boy. “Good to see you, old friend,” she said. “Glad you made it.”
“Glad to see you too, Kim,” Aiden said less enthusiastically. He hadn’t forgotten Kimberley’s outburst back at Brazil. “That killer stabbed me twice and I can’t even see a single wound now.”
“Because Mr. Hoyte here took you into the future and back, like you guys did for me back in Brazil,” Kimberley pointed out.
“Thank you, Mr. Hoyte,” Aiden said.
“Call me Dave.”
“You saved my life, Mr. Hoyte,” Aiden said. “I am grateful.”
“Well then, you’re welcome,” Dave said. “I guess you guys are…hungry? I’ll go make us some breakfast downstairs.”
“Jeremiah Evra, were you a Bookmaker back at the Mine?” Rachel asked him.
Mr. Hoyte froze. “When I discovered that as my name, I did not like it, so I stuck to Dave,” he said to no one in particular. “I’m a Sicarii Kabbalah Masada or Sikama for short, Rachel, and like you know, Sikama members are Bookmakers, most of who can bear the two powerful books they made. Some slaves also joined the Sicarii Kabbalah Masada back then.”
“So, you knew me then?” Rachel wanted to know.
“Of course,” Dave said. “Who didn’t know the commander’s daughter then?”
“She came from the Mine,” Kimberley said dryly, rolling her eyes.
“She’s the reason those things are after us,” Aiden supported the police officer with.
“I see,” Mr. Hoyte said. “I believe your father gave you this?” He pointed at the mysterious book lying on the bed.
“Yes, he did,” Rachel said, picking up the book. “We need your help. That’s why we came looking for you.”
“How did you know my name?”
“Well,” the little girl began. “I knew you back at the Mine, though we kept a distance. Your name just popped up when we needed to run into the future again.”
“I see,” Mr. Hoyte repeated. “When I saw the attack of the Gray Ones from my house, I knew what to do with an ankh I’ve always had with me. You know an ankh or a cross symbol drives them away?”
“Or a ‘T’ sign,” Aiden added.
“Okay,” Kimberley said. “The weather here is cold, so guess we never realized that the white book was freezing up as we ran towards your house.”
“Yeah,” Aiden agreed. “No wonder those things ambushed us.”
“Excuse me,” Mr. Hoyte said and left to get breakfast.
“Wonder why no one is talking of hunger anymore,” Aiden said, looking himself over.
Rachel hugged him again. “How can we be talking of that when Kpakol was killed and you almost died, Aiden?”
“Kpakol?” Dave asked at the door. He dropped a tray of sandwiches and hot tea on the bed’s side table. “You met Kpakol?”
“Yes,” Kimberley said. “The guy you shot killed him.”
“Kpakol was trying to help us retrieve the other book,” Rachel said. “He even knew members of the Inner Circle.”
“How?” Dave seemed confused. “I mean, how can Kpakol know so much? He was just a slave at the Mine.”
“Here we go again,” Kimberley said, holding her head with both hands. “Why would Kpakol lie to us?”
“Did he?” Rachel began.
“Kpakol lied to you,” Dave said. “The other book is no longer with Man. I’ve seen that through Shurabi.”
“Wait a minute,” Kimberley said. “Are you saying Mariah also lied to us?”
Mr. Hoyte laughed. “You met Mariah? No wonder.”
“No wonder what?” Rachel asked him.
“No wonder you believed Kpakol. He repeated what Mariah told you.”
Kimberley frowned. Who to believe? Something fishy was definitely going on. “Kpakol told us not to trust Mariah,” she said.
“And then he tells you to look for the black book?” Dave asked her.
“Well, actually, he told us the black book might have left this world,” Rachel said. “He said that we might be too late.”
“Okay, he’s right about that.”
“Can you just explain like everybody else?” Aiden told the tall man. “Starting from Shurabi?”
“First we need a sharpie, Mr. Hoyte,” Kimberley interrupted. “We have to protect ourselves first with ankhs on our arms.”
Dave Hoyte nodded, left and returned with her request. “Shurabi is a hard one to explain,” he began as his guests drew ankhs on their arms. “It is a spell the Booklords imparted into the two books we presented to them. Shurabi infused invisible Hebrew words into these books. Words that practitioners of Kabbalah Ma’asit who studied Shurabi could see and read if they’re worthy.”
“We know that, Mr. Hoyte,” Rachel said. “We need you to tell us something we don’t know.”
“Shurabi told me a long time ago that the other book’s Bookbearer had voluntarily handed over this book to the Black Ones,” Mr. Hoyte said.
“How?” Kimberley asked.
“Any Bookmaker can see all the hidden Hebrew words when the other book is still in the hands of a human being,” Dave Hoyte said.
“Really?” Kimberley began. “Mariah said that…”
“She obviously lied, Kim,” Aiden cut in.
“Or he’s lying,” Rachel said, nodding towards their new host.
“Whoever told you that even half of the hidden Hebrew words appearing in one of the books mean the presence of the two books in our world lied to you,” Mr. Hoyte said.
“And why should we believe you’re telling us the truth?” Kimberley asked him. “Why should we assume you’re not lying to us?”
“How do we know you’re telling us the truth?” Aiden wondered.
“Who amongst you have tried to see the hidden words on the book?” Dave asked.
“I tried to do that,” Rachel said.
“Me, too,” Aiden said. “I could only see part of a complete sentence.”
“And who are you?” Mr. Hoyte asked the boy. “How come you can see the hidden Hebrew words?”
“He’s a boy from my town,” Kimberley said. “Kpakol said he resembles a remarkably gifted Bookmaker back at the Mine.”
“Yeah, been thinking about that,” Dave said. “He looks like someone back then, and he can see some of the hidden words.”
“What does it all mean?” Rachel wondered.
“It means Kpakol could be right,” Kimberley said, eyeing Mr. Hoyte. “And that our friend here is not telling us the truth, or most of it.”
“I’ve told you what I do, and where you are right now,” Dave began. “I’ve talked about the Sicarii Kabbalah Masada, and…”
“No, you haven’t,” Rachel said. “What do you really know about the Sicarii Kabbalah Masada?”
“I know litt
le about the Sikama, since I was never a member of the Inner Circle,” Mr. Hoyte said.
“How many people made up this Inner Circle?” Rachel asked.
“They were more than twelve men and women, I think,” Dave Hoyte replied with a frown. “These were the Elders, as we called them then, who solicited on our behalf in the Inner Circle, and represented Jews the world over whenever the Angels of the Most High came down to Earth for discussions concerning our emancipation from Emperor Constantine.”
“Emperor Constantine?” Kimberley frowned. “Where did that come from?”
“Okay, I could have told you guys earlier,” Rachel said. “The Sicarii Kabbalah Masada initially wanted to depose of Emperor Constantine before something happened that caused them to take up a different objective.”
“They wanted to use the books to remove the emperor?” Kimberley asked her.
“Initially,” Mr. Hoyte began, “the Sicarii Kabbalah Masada was a Jewish endeavor to assassinate the emperor before Yahweh gave this cult the books and her members decided to do a greater good for the Jewish race with these gifts. That was when I joined the sect.”
“Awesome,” Aiden joked. “That’s a joke,” he added.
“You joined the sect as a Bookmaker?” Rachel asked the tall man.
“Yes. I was a parchment specialist in Rome before I heard about the sect through a friend who also recruited me for the sect.”
“So, what was your job?” Kimberley asked.
“Eh, the Bookmakers needed to make more books they could keep in reserve should any of the two great books go missing. These reserve books needed to be made with the right material, and that’s where I came in,” Mr. Hoyte explained. “I worked with the specific direction of Jehoash because he was also a parchment specialist and discovered the right material for the two great books. I went around the country looking for this material and conveying it to Rome anyway I could.”
“Were any of these reserve books ever made?” Kimberley asked.
“No,” Dave Hoyte said. “Unfortunately, the material I collected was seized by the Romans before it got to Rome. I don’t know what became of it, because we fled the Mine when we got word that the Romans and the Booklords were coming.”
“How did you flee?” Rachel asked.
“We escaped with pieces of the white book,” Dave Hoyte said. “A page from the book was torn to pieces and shared amongst us.”
“Do you still have this piece of paper?” Kimberley asked him.
“Of course,” the glaciologist said, bringing out the paper. “I told you I used it to save your friend.”
“Did you ever think of destroying this piece of paper?” Kimberley asked.
Mr. Hoyte hesitated. “I couldn’t burn it so I kept it in a safe with the intention of throwing it away whenever I’m out at sea.”
“Glad you didn’t do that,” Aiden said.
“Aren’t we all?” Dave Hoyte smiled.
“Was my father in the Inner Circle?” Rachel asked.
“Yes, he was.”
“Back then did you know anyone who was a member of this circle?” Kimberley demanded.
“I knew many people,” the man replied. “Ben Haddad, Ezra, Jehoash, Ezekiel Raib; need I continue?”
“So you can help us get to one of these people?” Rachel asked.
“Of course, my dear,” Dave Hoyte replied. “If it will help your course.”
“Anyone but Uncle Ben Haddad,” the little girl said.
“And why do you say that?” Kimberley demanded.
“Father said he was a bad man.”
“What if your father was wrong?” Aiden pointed out. “What if this man was the leader of the Sicarii Kabbalah Masada?”
“He wasn’t the leader,” Rachel responded.
“So who was their leader?” Aiden asked her.
The little girl looked away. “I-I don’t know,” she confessed.
“Who led this Inner Circle, Mr. Hoyte?” Kimberley asked.
Dave Hoyte turned to Rachel. “Your father, Rachel. Jehoash led the Inner Circle with Ben Haddad.”
Chapter 27: Melting Ice
THE bullet holes on his body disappeared and he sat up, looking around at the emptiness created by the vast expanse of snow. He looked at his hands and the bloodied knife lying beside him, now sunk halfway into the snow.
Carl Bain smiled and looked up. He knew who’d brought him back to life again. “Now, they’ll know!” he whispered, the smile still playing on his lips. “I’ll keep coming until they return what is mine. What belongs to my masters. I’ll keep coming until they all perish. I’ll never die!”
The American thug stood up and felt all over the front of his coat. No sign of a tear. He didn’t even feel the pain anymore. Good.
He picked up the knife and looked it over. He wished he had a gun. The knife became a Glock G34. Good. His masters heard his wish.
He wondered why they remained invisible.
Carl Bain saw the lonely house and appeared before it. He couldn’t vanish again. He knocked on the main door.
* * *
“He’s the one, Kim,” Rachel reported, peeping through the bedroom window.
“Looks like he has a gun,” Aiden whispered beside her. “Where did he get a gun?”
“His demon friends must have granted him one,” Kimberley said. “This guy is now a certified pain in the ass. Can’t imagine he’s alive after I cut off his head.”
“No problem,” Dave Hoyte said, cocking his firearm. “I will keep killing him until he leaves you guys alone.”
The man outside knocked on the main door a third time.
“So, Dave, what’s the plan?” Aiden asked.
“Simple. We gun him down.”
“Remember he has a gun,” Kimberley pointed out. “I hope you’re good with yours.”
“You don’t need to worry, dear,” the man replied. “I got this.” He walked to the door. “You all should stay here.”
“I’m coming with you,” Kimberley told him, moving towards the door. She saw a shovel and picked it on her way out of the room.
The man outside knocked on the main door a fourth time as Kimberley quietly descended the stairs behind Mr. Hoyte.
A short corridor led to the main entrance and the Portwood sergeant took up position behind a door leading into this passage while Dave Hoyte hid behind a low cupboard in the room exiting into this small lobby.
Carl Bain kicked open the main door and dived into the lobby shooting like a mad man. A shot missed his right shoulder and he let off some bullets at a low cupboard directly ahead of him, hearing a man cry out before scampering away from this furniture while shooting in the fellow’s direction. He couldn’t see his attacker owing to the darkness surrounding him, but he could hear the noise the man made in haste.
The American minion got up and ran after his target, never expecting the sudden facial slam that blacked him out.
“Quick,” Kimberley shouted. “Let’s get out of here before he wakes up!” She dropped the shovel and picked up Carl Bain’s Glock. David Hoyte appeared at the door as Aiden came down the stairs with Rachel.
“His powers are ineffective here,” Rachel observed.
“We drew the ankhs,” Aiden reminded her.
“He almost got me,” Dave said, feeling the scratch wound on his right arm. “Go outside,” he told the kids. “I don’t want you to see this.”
“See what?” Aiden began.
“Go, Aiden,” Kimberley ordered the boy.
Aiden nodded and pulled Rachel into the small lobby. They went out through the main door.
Mr. Hoyte shot Carl Bain in the chest and forehead. “For good measure,” he began, “let’s throw him into the sea.”
Kimberley shot the dead man twice, in the chest and forehead. “How do we do that?” she asked.
“I have a work chopper behind the house,” Mr. Hoyte said. “I often fly out to the northernmost part of this island for environmental studies and
monitoring.”
“Okay, let’s hope drowning will end him,” Kimberley said. “He’ll just rise up and follow us if we can only delay him.”
“He’ll drown in the water,” the Bookmaker-turned-glaciologist said. “That will stop him.”
“I hope you’re right,” Kimberley murmured with a frown. “So, you can’t help us?” she asked the Bookmaker.
“Not as much as I would have loved to,” he said. “We could have tested a theory I proposed if you had a piece of the black book with you, maybe the piece with Kpakol?”
Kimberley started. “And how did you know about that?”
“Right, I knew the slaves got hold of a page from that book and shared it amongst themselves to escape with,” Dave said. “I sensed at the time that Jehoash knew about this and didn’t want to say anything concerning the matter.”
“Okay, so what’s the theory you wanted to test out?”
“Actually, I have two theories,” Mr. Hoyte began. “The first one is that I think something might happen if we bring materials from the two books together. Like a piece of the books? Maybe we’ll create the third book.”
“And what’s the second theory?” Kimberley asked him.
“I discovered I could read all the hidden Hebrew words on my piece of paper whenever I’m flying towards the northern part of this snowy island,” the Bookmaker said.
“So, what does that mean?”
“It means that the North Pole could be an aperture to the spirit realm, and that if I had the white book with me when I went up towards the North Pole, I might be able to read the complete hidden Hebrew sentence written on the book.”
“And what would that accomplish for us?” Kimberley demanded. “Sorry, I’m still lost here.”
“This is just a theory, dear, but I think we would be able to retrieve the other book from the spirit realm if we can read the complete hidden Hebrew sentence on the white book’s pages.”
Kimberley’s lower jaw dropped. “Interesting,” she said. “So, what are we waiting for? Let’s fly out right now.”
“Okay,” Dave said. “But we’ll need to tie our friend here to the chopper first.” He went into the adjoining room and came back with a dining cloth. Kimberley helped him wrap Carl Bain’s body with the material. She also helped him to move the human minion’s body to the backyard, where an Airbus H125 obliviously sat on its helipad.
The White Book Page 32