Hide & Seek 2: The Return of Mr. Harmon

Chapter 5: The Gun

Caleb is dressed in white pants and a shirt. He looks perfectly fine. I start to cry. I want to hug him so badly but my body is beyond paralysed. I don't need to move, because he runs up and hugs me.

"I-I don't understand." I look for my uncle. "Where's Uncle Wayne? Where did you come from?"

"The book has him. And Aunt Mary too," Caleb says. His voice is so sweet. I missed it so much.

"Caleb, are you really here?" I ask.

Caleb shakes his head. "Yes but-" Tears begin to fill his eyes. "Something's not right. That day you left, things went horribly wrong. Do you remember when we played Mr. Harmon's game and everyone's ashes got mixed up?"

I nod quickly. "Yes," I reply, eager to know where this is going.

He grips my hand. "Mrs. Harmon was not Mrs. Harmon," he whispers.

Carmen closes the door and we all rush over to the couch to talk. My heart is beating faster than ever. "What do you mean?"

He starts to cry. "He switched his body with Mrs. Harmon before the book was burned. Then when he stepped into the light with us, everything turned dark."

I'm confused. "What do you mean?"

"He's still out there," he says.

A flashback snuck into my head. "Don't open it; once you read it, you'll develop an obsession. An unhealthy obsession." That's what Mrs. Harmon said before she winked at me. Why would she wink at me? Was that really Mr. Harmon? Could he really do that?

"And," Caleb broke me away from my thoughts, "Jasper and Caroline are not dead!"

More tears. "What!" I yell, tightening my grip on his hand.

"Mr. Harmon has them. And he's using them as bait. For you to come back," he says.

"It's been two years. How do we even know if they're alive? Or what they have become? Or what he has become?" I ask.

Caleb frowns. "I don't know! It's been two years. Why did he wait until the book was found? Why not use it against himself?"

Good question. I'm going to say something until Carmen finally speaks. "Because then Emily would have known and he couldn't get his revenge. He could use the time to gather up more bodies to sacrifice. He could have more power. So much power that he could himself be the book."

Caleb and I stare at her, wondering how she got that theory, as she rushes over to the papers to pick them up. "I was reading up on something," she says as she picks up her papers. "Legend has it that, before humans were put onto the world, there were Demons. They had a book which contained power that could be used for good. However, since the book was full of good, it could also consume the evil. Some other Demons, like Vlandeon, Destamon, and Flugozone were destined to use it for evil. Vlandeon killed almost an entire tribe to sacrifice to the book. The book consumed it, becoming more and more evil until there wasn't a speck left of good in the it. It was just completely evil. Sometimes, good would be fed to it, which resulted in the books good and evil war. The book was literally at war with itself. The book is made up of symbols that anyone can understand. That's because it talks to its readers."

Caleb and I listen intently, like two little kids.

"Something talks to the readers, telling them if they do this and that, it will give them a power unknown to mankind. These powers come from the demons such as flight, strength, shapeshifting, aging, and so much more." She continues, "There is a power in this book that has never been given to anyone. To unlock it, there has to be over two million sacrifices at one time. Or-"

Caleb and I look at her like, or? What's equivalent to two million sacrifices?

"Or the three rings worn of the first demons to have walked the earth. That would put the demons back on the earth. We would have a war like no other. But whoever does that will unlock the power unknown to mankind." She puts her papers aside. "I think... Mr. Harmon is looking for the rings."

"I can't imagine what he's like now."  Caleb says.

"What can we do?" I ask.

Carmen looks at me real serious. "Legend has it that there's a girl, an angel, some say. She has the rings. Maybe she can help us." She shakes her head and looks into the air. "God help me, I'm going insane. "Her location... Texas."

We're all looking at each other when I see Carmen slowly reaching inside of  her back pocket. Before I can stop her, she pulls out a gun and points it.

At Caleb.