by Ben Yallop
Entry 75
I have found some evidence that Tarak means ‘protector’ and ‘rune’ means secret thus his full title would seem to be ‘Protector of the Enduring Secret’. How apt. I wonder what the secret can be.
Entry 77
It seems that more people than I would have expected are sensitive to the location of lines. There are widespread stories of ghosts and people have monitored changes in temperature, the appearance of orbs, static electricity and magnetism, all phenomena caused by the friction generated where our two worlds rub together. Some have even heard the hum that lines create. It’s been heard in Bristol in the 1970s and particularly in Taos, New Mexico.
Entry 79
Strange. Today during my research I wandered away from my usual section of the library and came upon a book of philosophy called The Grandfather Paradox. It caught my eye as it was sticking some way out of the shelf. I opened it and a separate piece of paper fell out. On that page was a poem. A poem I remember well for it led us on the path to Montauk and Tongue's Scar. I copy it here:
Down in the dark, beneath the Deeps,
A line lies where the Cyclops sleeps,
A man-made line which full of power,
Will help you in your darkest hour.
That door will also lead to doom,
For beyond its gate; that dreaded room,
Yet do not falter, do not dismay,
To Tongue's Scar you will find your way.
Even as I write this I realise what this page before me means. I know what I am supposed to write. Do I have the power to change things now? I could leave a warning. Dare I write something different? But what if I'm wrong and altering events leads to a worse tragedy. This is torment. What should I do?
Ha! Without meaning to I realise I have written what I should have all along. It is settled then.
Entry 81
I sometimes feel overwhelmed by the fiction literature out there. It’s so full of references to the Riven that is has become clichéd. I cannot seem to find a fictional reference to a magician that does not wear a black cloak. This must surely be because of things that have actually happened in the past and it has become a stereotype. I wonder what Ferus would say if he knew he was the father of all these stories, that every fictional dark magician is a product of his actions!
Entry 84
At the Tavern Kya told us that a woman called Eusapia had helped her to find us. I have found mention of an Italian woman who displayed what men call ‘telekinetic’ powers. Her name was Eusapia Palladino. She lived from 1854 to 1918. She said that a great store of ancient and lost knowledge is held in India or Tibet, passed down from people in a world called Atlantis or Lemuria. I wonder what this can be?
I also found mention of another woman called Ninel Kulagina, apparently a housewife who, during the Cold War, was the subject of some study by Soviet scientists. It is said that she could separate an egg yolk from the white using her mind. Did Vallalar not teach Sam the same thing?
Entry 88
Weewalk knew all about the Montauk project and explained it to you, Sam, so I will not repeat it all here. Even now the name of that place fills me with gloom. There is plenty of material available. I’m afraid that you must do your own research into the events there. But one thing I will mention is the chair for I think that might be important in some way. It is said that a chair was found or created in which one could sit and receive new mental abilities and prescience powers. A prototype duplicate was apparently put in a facility on the River Thames. I have heard that the Riven King sits upon a most unusual throne. I wonder....
I will say something about the ‘Montauk Monster’ as it was known. The body of this beast was washed ashore in July 2008. From the photographs I cannot identify it but it must be from Mu. It was called the 'Hound of Bonacville' before the 'Montauk Monster' name became more widely adopted.
Entry 90
I read of a sad event today. I had wondered whether those green children had ever been found. Kya told us that she had arrived in Suun-t-Marten village just after their disappearance. It seems that they did arrive in the village of Woolpit in Suffolk, sometime in the 12th Century. The men there could not understand their language but eventually the children began to adjust to their new life and learn the same dialect. It seems it was not long before the young boy died. How sad. The girl was given the name Agnes and lived out her years there but was always a foreigner and was never really accepted by the villagers. Their images still appear on the village sign today. Their strange appearance also gave rise to a famous story of the Babes in the Wood. Some men have since put forward the theory that they came from another subterranean or extra-terrestrial world. The children were able to explain that they came from somewhere that is recorded as St Martin's Land
Entry 93
Men seem to be aware only vaguely of Yonaguni and the pyramid that now lies beneath the waters of Japan. It was ‘discovered’ in 1987 but men have not been able to ascertain whether it is natural or manmade. For me it is simply another line I know of but will never get to use. The door to Atlantis.
Entry 94
Aha, I recognise this quote ‘The forthcoming end of the world will be hastened by the construction of underground railways burrowing into infernal regions and thereby disturbing the Devil’. Reverend Dr. John Cumming in 1860. How right he was!
Entry 96
Certain people in North America and Canada seem to be aware of the Wendigo. There seems to be some dispute about whether they are humans affected by an all-consuming mental deficiency which drives them to cannibalism.
Entry 99
I am reminded of the cleverness of the men and creatures of Mu in going undetected. As soon as men on this world find something that cannot be explained they begin to attempt to uncover its truth. Those who use the lines seem then to whisper a 'plausible' explanation in the right ear. Thus it was today that I read of something that I had done as a young man and which had been unexplained for many years has since been 'solved' so that men believe the supernatural mystery is cracked. I wonder who covered up that particular event. And why?
Entry 103
It seems that there is a group of people, the Aymara of South America, who have a reversed concept of time so that the past is ahead and the future behind. Perhaps such an idea has come about through being able to influence and travel to the past. But the more I think about it, the more I realise we might be similarly confused. If one says ‘The event on Wednesday has been moved forward by two days’ does it now mean that the event will take place on Monday or Friday? Apparently, English speakers will be divided 50 /50.
Entry 107
There was, it appears, a mysterious explosion in a part of Russia called Tunguska on June 30, 1908. It was apparently a very large blast, toppling some 80 million trees over 2000 square kilometres. The most widely held theory is that some kind of meteorite or comet blew apart as it hit the earth’s atmosphere. I faintly remember something about a place called Tongue’s Scar. Could it be the same? My memory is so poor these days. If the Riven have developed a weapon that could generate that sort of power then we are all doomed. I wonder, could the Riven King be powerful enough to pull the very rocks out of the sky?
Entry 113
I am starting to think, but no, even now I hesitate to write this for it is almost inconceivable. No, I must write it down. Who knows who will eventually read this book and what part it might play? What if the lines that connect our two worlds throughout time actually connect one world in time? I wish I had someone to discuss this with. Only someone able to travel freely along lines would be able to rule this out and I expect it would take many years of searching to find the evidence, if it even exists. I often wonder what Tarak’s last secret was, that Kya was so certain we needed to hear from him. Did my friends even ever manage to rescue Tarak? What does the future hold? I will never know.
Entry 124
I am finding that I’m increasingly forgetting things. My brain doe
s not seem to function as well as it once did. It may be time to tell Sam, but I’ve delayed for so long. I don’t want to scare him and I find myself confused. Did he know all this when I met him. I can’t remember. Trying to keep the train of thought is maddening.
Entry 127
I began to tell him the other day. He looked at me with so much fear and pity that I could not continue. He knows my mind is failing. Have I left it all too late? How then do I convince him that what I have to say about Mu is true? It is true. I wrote it here as a younger man…
Entry 129
Today I felt such a pain in my chest that I could do nothing but sit for an hour. Whilst there I thought of something important that I must write in this book, but now I am here with my pen I realise I have forgotten it. I must make Sam see. I shall leave him this book so that he will have it when I pass on. I think that’s right. He had it when I met him as Hadan didn’t he?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ben Yallop grew up in the 'haunted' house in the English county of Kent where the opening chapters of ‘The Circle Line’ are set. It was there that a ticklish fascination with the paranormal first began to creep in. After three years of philosophising at the University of Leeds (including studies in time-travel) and then various stints of international backpacking (and further encounters of the spooky kind) Ben settled down into the occasionally bizarre but wonderful world of the UK Civil Service. Initially donning wig and gown as a clerk of the Crown Court he now works as something of an adviser to the senior judiciary at the Royal Courts of Justice in London, making the occasional visit to warmer climes to promote justice overseas. He lives with his wife and three children in Farnham, Surrey and can often be found tapping away on his laptop about myths and monsters on the commute to Waterloo.
www.benyallop.com