Paper
Matthew Ryan Fischer
One page down, seven-hundred and thirty-five left to go. Alex tore
out another page from the book and began to chew it. She took a swig of whiskey
to try to make the process easier. It did not. It was going to be a long night.
“What are you doing?” asked Lou.
“Wyatt has gone missing. Artemis has gone missing. I was told that
if they went missing, the book was mine.”
“I believe Wyatt’s words were ‘guard it but don’t let it fall into
the wrong hands. If it comes to that, destroy it.’”
“Therefore…”
“Therefore that still doesn’t mean the book is yours. And I see no
threat. And I don’t think you’re really going to destroy it that way.”
She tried to swallow the
paper that had been in her mouth. It was not going down without a fight.
“That doesn’t look enjoyable in the least. Are you sure you don’t
have some eating disorder?”
“I know what I’m doing.”
“I don’t think you do. No one can consume that much paper. Certainly
not hundreds of pages. You’re going to tear up your insides trying to pass
that.”
“Tell me something I don’t know. You want to know why I’m doing
this?”
“I imagine it beings with a disorder of some sort.”
“A story. A secret. And of course power.”
“Is that always the case?”
“How about you go behind your bar and bring back another bottle?”
“You gonna pay me for it?”
“I thought Art had a tab?”
Lou wasn’t happy about it, but he did it anyway. He brought back a
less than stellar bottle.
“Cheap bastard.”
“Pay me next time. Now how about my story?”
Alex poured herself another shot and contemplated tearing out
another page.
“I would advise against it. Or at least, I’d consider tearing up
the page into little pieces before I tried to swallow it.”
Alex tugged at the corner of a third page. “Okay, short version.
Artemis was paid to steal something, he stole it, turned out he stole something
he shouldn’t have stolen.”
“Sounds like a normal Saturday night.”
“True. Par for the course as some people say. So the owners of
this book are dangerous. But that’s not all. There are several other groups
after this book.”
“Each more dangerous that the last?”
“Well… close enough. Each in its own way. Anyway Art calls Wyatt,
Wyatt sticks his nose in.”
“As he is wont to do.”
“As he is wont to do. Anyway, so Wyatt and Artemis ride off to
play hero along with a new friend, one of the good guy book collectors.”
“Do I know this person?”
“Nestor?”
“Name means nothing to me.”
“Pencil pusher? Paper trail forensic accountant type stuff? Looks
just like you’d expect a research nerd to look.”
“I have no idea. There are too many people in this story already.”
“Well that’s just it. That’s the end of the story. Three men go
off to save the world and three men don’t come home.”
“And how does that bring us back to you eating paper?”
“Oh Lou, my beautiful beautiful friend Lou. That’s just it. There
men go off to save the world and three men can’t. But one beautiful badass
goddess worshiping bitch of a witch? Well, let’s say I can save the world, but
also I want to just what’s in it for me?”
“I’m guessing stomach cramps. Very bad, painful cramps.”
“You might think that, if this paper, if this book, if any of it
were normal in the least. Especially the chemical laden mess that passes for
paper now. But this is some special sauce my friend. This is one of those
ancient wisdom magick books.”
“Magic with a ‘k’?”
“Magick with that special special K. Fortified with prophecy and
prediction with all your daily recommended myths and alternate realities added
in for good measure.”
“So you eating it has nothing to do with you destroying it?”
“You know too well.”
“I know all of you too well.”
“All of us except Nestor.”
“Yeah, fuck that guy. Whoever he is. So what are you doing?”
“Learning. Growing. Evolving. The paper is magick. Write your own
tickert type magick.”
“So you think you’re going to gain infinite wisdom or infinite power
from this stomach ache?”
“You want a taste, don’t you?”
“I’m thinking I might. But first, don’t leave me in suspense – when does the
other shoe drop?”
“You mean the badness? Well you have the owner of the book who
will want it back, you have whoever handwrote in the book, and then you have
Nestor’s friends, Nestor’s enemies, and perhaps one or two other sage collectors
of the strange and occult. How many enemies are you looking for?”
“But the power?”
“I can feel it working already.”
“Tear me off a piece.”
Alex smiled and tore out the next page. She knew that Lou was no
dummy. Still, she wondered where the others were and if she was going to see
them again. One thing at a time, she supposed.
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