by Cody Hyde
Everyone continued to stare in shock at the man known as Jacob Grey, the last of the four who had entered the Underground twenty years ago. Sheila and Ted’s brother. Joe’s best friend from high school. The man who was adopted by the Grey family and who had introduced the Book of the Underground to the rest of them.
“Hello, Sheila, Sinister… been a long time, hasn’t it?”
“You-you-you’re still alive?” responded Sheila.
Joe was confused as well.
Will turned to Starr. “That man stalked me in the alleyway the other night,” he whispered to her.
“Really?” she whispered back.
“Yeah.”
“Creepy.”
“Yeah.”
Rocky just stood there scratching his head.
Charlie then spoke to Jacob. “So I’ve heard about you.”
“Really? What has my brother told you, Charlie James?”
“They thought you were killed by a witch...”
Then Sheila interrupted. “The one we fled from, the one who cursed me! All these years, Jacob, I thought you were dead!”
“I-I-I can explain, Sheila.”
Joe interrupted. “Tell us the truth, Jacob. Tell us how you betrayed your brother and sister!”
“I didn’t betray anyone! You did!”
Joe grew angrier than ever. “And I never betrayed you!”
“Oh, really??”
“Just tell us what happened, Jacob!” interrupted Charlie.
Everyone went dead silent.
“Geez, bro,” commented Will.
Charlie continued. “Obviously you haven’t been killed by the witch. But you can transform yourself into her cat?!”
Will laughed a bit.
Charlie turned to him. “Quiet, Will.”
He stopped laughing.
Joe hadn’t answered Jacob’s last question.
“Why have you been hanging around my house the last week?” questioned Charlie. “Before I entered the Underground, why haven’t you already shown who you were? You could have warned me before I was captured.”
“I hadn’t let you know earlier because of your father!” He turned to Joe, who just chuckled evilly.
“A little late now, don’t you think?” he responded with a grin.
Sheila yelled at him. “You’re evil, Sinister!”
“Ah, thank you, Sheila,” he replied sarcastically.
But questions still needed to be answered.
“So why couldn’t you show yourself around my father?” asked Charlie to Jacob.
“Because I didn’t want him to know that I was still alive in this world until the time was right... and if I’m not mistaken, now seems to be the proper time.”
“Oh, is it now?” questioned Joe.
“Oh, yes.”
Jacob then turned back to Charlie. “And I think it’s time you found out the truth about your past, Charlie.”
Charlie was once again speechless. He really honestly couldn’t be more thankful to hear those words being said. He has wanted to know the truth about his past for a very long time now. And he was about to hear it... finally.
“The truth about my past?” he questioned.
“Yes, Charlie,” replied Jacob. He then turned back to Charlie’s father. “Tell him, Joe James! Tell your own son why you had tried to kill him, tell him everything!”
Charlie couldn’t bear to hear the mention of his father trying to kill him anymore. He needed to know right now.
Joe chuckled evilly again. “How did you know I tried to kill him?”
“Are you kidding? It was all over the news right before your death! I’ve been out of the Underground for years now! I’ve just kept away from you!”
Joe went silent again.
“I see,” he then replied. He turned back to Charlie. “You really want to know why I tried to kill you, Charlie? You desperately want to know the truth?”
“Yes, now tell me,” he responded.
“Okay, boy, I’ll tell you. I’ll tell you everything.”
Sheila, Will, Starr, and Rocky all couldn’t wait to hear some answers either. They stood there looking as if they were just completely drawn into the conversation, waiting to hear what was going to be said.
And then Joe began.... “Charlie, I have planned to rule the Underground for the last twenty-five years now... and you know why I had tried to kill you?”
“Why?”
“Because I was led to believe that you were destined, Charlie. I was so close before I had fallen in love with your mother, Sharon... and then we had you. A child... three years later.”
It sort of made sense, but why would a father try to murder his own son?
“With a child... Charlie... the power of the destined was passed onto you. It is a legend from the book that has been told for a long time to be true, Charlie. With the power being passed onto you, the paths will change, and you were bound to enter the Underground sooner or later.”
That sort of makes a little more sense now, he thought. And Ted was right about him trying to kill me because he believed I was destined. But you are still one evil father for even planning what you had almost done.
Joe continued to uncover the truth. “It wasn’t long, though, before I was too late to carry out my plans. I woke up that night that I tried to kill you, but I had found myself in another place... in the Lake of Souls.”
“So that explains why no one could figure out the cause of your death then, isn’t it?”
Joe laughed evilly. “Most likely.”
Charlie stared into the cold eyes of his father as Joe then walked over to the well next to them.
“I truly hate you,” said Charlie.
Joe grinned. “Do you?”
Will, Sheila, Starr, Rocky, and Jacob all stared too as Joe then placed his hands on the well.
The army of undead just stood there behind him grinning, some licking their lips as they waited for their chance to attack their next victims as soon as they got the go.
Joe spoke again. “I had entered the Underground here, in this very same well twenty years ago. This is the well where we had opened our very own portal.”
“I’ve already been told,” said Charlie.
Joe’s eyes went from the well back up to Charlie. “You’ve grown to be a mouthy one, haven’t you? Spending too much time around your mother, now, are you?”
He ignored those questions.
“Charlie, truth is, when I entered the Underground, I had escaped. Before either of you did.” He pointed to Jacob and Sheila, who lowered their eyebrows at him.
“Tell him how you escaped, Sinister,” said Jacob.
“How I escaped? Well, truth is... I had stolen a very powerful object from the witch herself, the Black Ring.”
“You stole the Black Ring?” questioned Jacob.
“I could have told you that, brother,” interrupted Sheila.
Jacob ignored her.
“So where is it now?”
“It was taken from me nearly a couple nights after I escaped the Underground.”
“Who took it?”
“I do not know. Someone or something had attacked me that night, and the next thing I know, the ring was missing from my hand. And whoever took it must have been up to something.”
“Well, how in the world did you even manage to just simply walk off the witch’s ring?”
“Oh, it felt like such a simple task, but honestly, I don’t completely remember.”
“It was only twenty years ago!”
“Then I’m not sure why I don’t remember... I just don’t! Last thing I remember was leaving the witch’s hut... after I nearly killed you. But you had to transport your soul into the witch’s cat!”
“It was the only way I could live.”
“So I wasn’t the only one messing around with dark magic, was I?”
“I didn’t use it in the wrong context, like you, Sinister.”
Joe laughed evilly again. “Soon I will be the new ruler of the Underground.”
Jacob laughed.
“Well, you know what your biggest mistake was?” he asked.
“What?”
“You left the Book of the Underground behind after you tried to kill me, Joe.”
And after these words, Charlie’s sword surprisingly came stabbing through Joe’s body from behind. He hadn’t expected it.