Page Turners - Chapter 4 [Page 34] - Everything For You
Falling through space. Planets whizzed past, while moons danced around them. She slipped between the cracks in an asteroid field and shielded her eyes from the blinding light of a star, one after the other, after the other. The black space around her was endless, the planets and stars countless. She was quickly losing herself, falling from a height she could not possibly climb back up, drowning in the endless infinity.
Od squeezed her shoulder and pulled her back from the bag. Charlize gasped for air as she stumbled backward. Her heart was pumping so fast she thought it might explode right there and cause a bloody scene. She looked to Od, who was wearing an unbearable smile.
“What kind of trick was that?” she asked, still trying to control her breathing.
“No trick, Charlize. That’s my universe,” he said without a hint of humor.
“A universe in a bag? I’ve never heard of a Creation like that.”
“And yet, you just saw it with your own eyes.”
“How did you pull me out?”
“You never fell in. It just felt like it. Happened to me too the first time. The vastness fucks with our minds. We can’t fully comprehend what we’re seeing, so our brains make us think we are moving through it, instead of observing it. At least that’s my best guess. More importantly, you get it now, right?”
“That depends. Does that universe belong to you?”
“It does.”
“And so you're a God inside that bag?”
“I am.”
“I see. Infinite possibilities beget infinite outcomes. Is that your angle?”
“Exactly. This is my Creation, Everything For You.”
“It’s certainly possible that you could pull a Creation from there and gift it to me. That is, if Creations even exist in that universe?”
“They will. I just haven't got around to it yet. Y'know, playing God is kinda tricky. Lots of plates to spin, sometimes they get a little wobbly, and sometimes they smash. Plus, I haven't had a lot of time to play in there. I’m sure you can understand that I’m pretty reluctant to just leave my bag lying around while I’m inside. Creations are never apart from their owners unless the owner is dead. There’s a real chance that while I’m inside, the bag could assume I’m dead and just become a Creation waiting for a new owner. Pretty sure I can die in there too, though I haven't tested it for obvious reasons. Worst case, it could become a gifted Creation. You see my concern, I’m sure?”
“Your thinking is sound. No two Creations are the same. Assume everything is possible until you’ve tested it and proved otherwise.”
“See? Not looking so useless now, am I?”
“You still haven’t explained your plan for killing God.”
“Simple. I’ll build an army. Not one army from one nation, but many armies across multiple worlds, multiple galaxies!” His volume rose along with his grandiose claims.
If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
“I thought you were already struggling to spin the plates you had. How do you expect to manage that many people across that vast space?”
“Practice makes perfect, right? I figure if I’m God in there, like you said, anything is possible.”
Charlize looked over to the girl, who was still reeling from seeing her gasping for air—the first remote sign of weakness she had displayed up to now. She had spent thousands of years dealing with reality-bending quandaries but never something of this scale. Her experience was the only thing stopping her from being crushed by the overwhelming information and possibilities they provided. Meeting the suspicious girl from Page 5 was enough to change the course of her life. Now she had stumbled into a self-proclaimed God, with the potential to back that claim. If those two things coalesced? She could hardly begin to fathom what could happen.
Things were becoming too big, too complicated. All she wanted was to step away from the Book. To find the so-called heaven on Page 1 and leave the rest of the Book behind. No more turning Pages, no more jobs, no more killing, and no more memories of the Burning Black—just peace. The girl was her ticket to Page 1, and a second Creation would ensure she could get there without anyone standing in her way. Somehow, she had tripped over everything she could ever need to achieve her goal. The girl could help her locate the door, and Od could provide the key to open it. She needed them both, and that meant dragging two giant question marks across the Pages—a burden she wasn’t thrilled to take on. All the while, she needed to ensure there was a barrier between Od and the girl, a wall of mistrust she would have to build and maintain. She needed them to trust her but not each other.
“Hello? You still with us, Charlize?” asked Od as he waved his hand in front of her face.
“I can’t help you,” she suddenly replied as her eyes snapped back to the real world to meet Od’s.
“You can’t?”
“I’ll be honest. I have no intention of going to war with God. I have enough blood on my hands, and what you're proposing will be the bloodiest affair the Book has ever seen.”
“After all your bitching, you were wasting my time all along?”
“Not exactly. I know someone who can help you. I suspect they’ve been vying to kill God since before you were even born. But to reach them, we need to travel deep into the triple-digit Pages. And that will come at a high price.”
“A gifted Creation?”
“Ding-ding-ding,” Charlize responded in a condescending monotone.
A sincere smile spread across Od’s face. “So you do have a sense of humor? This person you mentioned, do they have a name?”
“Iglesias King.”
“Mr. King? The Rashithan Mr. King!?”
“Former Rashithan.”
“He’s a fucking legend! Been toe-to-toe with more than one Author and survived. How do you know him?”
“I can take you to him. I’ll even introduce you. The price is one gifted Creation. Do you accept the terms?”
“What about the girl?”
“The girl comes with us. She’s my concern, not yours.”
“I just want to be clear about your priorities here: we’re both in danger, and you can only save one of us. Who do you save?”
“Only one of you is paying.”
“Right,” Od paused after receiving the answer he wanted but was taken aback by the callous nature one would need to give that answer. The realization that Charlize was willing to sacrifice a young girl for her own gain made him both deeply concerned and incredibly confident. As reluctant as he was to think it, she was exactly the person he needed right now. “Then I guess we have ourselves a deal.”
“Great. As it stands, I will take this verbal contract as binding. Once we reach Page 50, we will form a true Contract. Agreed?”
“Agreed.”
They shook hands, binding the verbal contract. Their eyes met, and for a brief moment, they conversed without words, each recognizing that the other was not being completely transparent with their intentions or motives. There was a mutual agreement in that look—that for now, they would use each other for their ends.
Charlize looked to the girl across the clearing and summoned her with a nod. There was a look in her eye—a fear. Not because of what happened with the bag, but a different, more immediate fear. The girl wriggled in place. She struggled to break free of something invisible. Her panic rose, and she began to lash out violently!
“I can’t move,” the girl whimpered.
A gruff chuckle came from the tree behind the girl. “Nope. Not a goddamn inch.”