The Black Time

The Stranger

So sorry for updating so late. Exams and interviews are eating me alive!

As soon as her hand touched the wall, the bricks started moving and made way for them to enter. They entered inside. There they saw a big brown book with handful of dust on it. It's title said-

RAAZ KEE KITAAB

"What does this mean?" Darien asked.

"It's Hindi form of the line-" Book of secrets!" Lucinda said picking up the book.

"What do we do now?" Darien asked.

"We take it to that stranger," Jessica said.

"But first, promise we'll come back here to explore this place," Chancy said.

"Done!" Lucinda said in a hurry. "Let's leave now or we'll be late!"

"Wait, do you think we should call Devin?" Jessica asked.

"Are we calling Jackson?" Lucinda asked.

"No, this is different! He oughta know! His name is on the list!"

"Fine, but do you know any way to call him?"

"No, but you might be knowing!" Jessica argued. "I don't know what problem have you got with him?"

"I haven't got any problem with him." Lucinda lied easily. For a moment she wanted to tell them who he was. But she realized that no one would believe her. So, she had no choice but to go with whatever Jessica said. "There is one way......we can use Hablandus marbles."

"Use what?" Chancy asked.

"Hablandus Marbles! They are called speaking marbles. They send messages instantly." Jessica explained.

"But the only problem is-" Lucinda said.

"We don't have one!" Jessica finished the sentence.

"So now, can we get going?" Lucinda asked smiling in her head.

"Yeah!" Jessica cried, accepting defeat.

They jogged to street number five. They took a turn in the small passage. There they saw that stranger. They looked around to check that no one was there. They walked towards the stranger who had a hood covering his face. "Open page nine hundred, sixty-three!" he spoke in an emotionless voice. "How could there be nine hundred, sixty-three pages in this book?" Jessica asked opening the book. She started turning pages and to everybody's surprise, the book never ended. They kept on turning pages, and pages kept appearing. "It is infinite!" Jessica said shockingly.

"Quick!" said the stranger suddenly that made everybody jump. They opened page nine hundred, sixty-three and kept the book in front of the stranger. He spoke some enchantments from the book and suddenly everything turned dark. The sun disappeared behind thick clouds. The wind started howling. And then too many things happened at once. The stranger's body rose in the air. Thick black smoke circled around his body. Due to the pressure of the air, none of them was able to open their eyes. She was confused. Suddenly, a hand grabbed hers and she felt as raindrops were brushing her hair. She opened her eyes and found herself alone. The smoke had vanished though the wind was still howling, a bit slower now. The stranger had also disappeared. She looked around. All the trees had dried. Everything had turned dark.