Page Turners - Chapter 5 [Page 34] - Highly Strung

“Show yourselves!” Charlize barked into the forest.

“Well, goddamn, that was one interesting conversation!” shouted a gleeful man, stepping out from behind a tree.

Another man followed behind him. “This guy really has a universe in a bag? Guess Creations are everything people say they are. But, damn, you're a God? Must be nice.”

“I'd never leave the bag, personally,” the other man chimed in.

“We're here for the job, got your thread and everything. Would've been here sooner if it wasn't for that bitch's tripwire,” said the first man.

“That String wrapped around us like a fuckin’ snake! How'd you even do that?” asked the second man.

“Easily,” answered Charlize. Unphased by the two Bookwyrms, she whipped a vicious look at Od, who had promised he turned off the thread summons, only to get a wry smile in response.

“Cocky bitch! Look, we're here now. Better to have two Bookwyrms rather than one, right? So, what's the job?” asked the first man.

“I'm afraid you're too late, gentlemen. As you already heard while you were eavesdropping, an agreement has already been made. Better luck next time, chaps,” said Od with a gentle smile.

“Oh, I disagree. Seems to me we're right on time. And to make things easier, we got a hostage, see. Pretty efficient, right?” said the first man as he tugged on the invisible String binding the girl, causing her to wince.

I can't believe these people are allowed to call themselves Bookwyrms. They are painfully amateur. What kind of Bookwyrm encounters another and doesn't demand to see their hands? They've been turning Pages for too long without work, they're rusty. Weak, Charlize thought.

As the men continued to taunt the girl and barter with Od, Charlize went to work. Her hands were behind her back, fingers twitching wildly as she weaved threads of Seam into String. She let the String fall to the floor. It snaked behind her, out of the clearing, and began to circle back around to the other side, behind the men.

“What's your fuckin’ problem? You don't care about the girl?” asked the man, as he squeezed the bind tighter, causing the girl to yelp.

“To be honest with you chaps, I met that girl not an hour ago. Not sure this is having quite the effect you think it is,” Od answered.

“Enough of this shit!” shouted the second man as blood rushed to his face. “Just kill the girl. We'll just take the ba—”

Both men clutched their throats and flailed their feet as they left the ground. As they seemed to levitate upwards, the girl's bindings loosened, causing her to stumble forward.

“Don't kill them!” she pleaded. “Please, Charlize! Please don't kill them.”

“Get behind me, girl. Now!” Charlize commanded.

“No! Put them down!”

“Fine. Stay where you are.” Charlize stepped forward, her hands gliding from her back to her front. Her fingers clenched, jolting the men up higher as they gasped and gurgled.

“I'm serious! I'm not stupid, you know? I know you have questions. I won't tell you anything! Nothing about Page 5! I swear I won't!”

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“Page 5?!” Od shouted. His eyes and mouth stretched as open as his face allowed.

“Stupid girl!”

Charlize made a tight fist. The men shot up into the canopy above, lost in pink leaves. A crack echoed out from their location. Charlize made a few more motions with her fingers, like tying an invisible knot, then let her hands drop to her side.

“How foolish can you be?” she asked the girl.

The girl dropped to her knees and began to weep. Her eyes overflowed with tears, and her words caught in her throat. “Why did you kill them?”

“Initially, I was going to kill them because they were a threat. They were planning to hurt you and then hurt us. I couldn't allow that. But mentioning Page 5 sealed their fate.”

“So it's my fault? How was I supposed to know?”

“You knew what you were saying when you made that threat. You knew the meaning of your words.”

“You're a horrible person!”

“Not quite as horrible as the ones who just strung you up.”

“Woah! Woah, woah, woah, woah! How about we slow down for a second,” said Od as he stepped between them, arms outstretched to keep them at bay.

“Don't you start! Are you finished with your petty little tests now?”

“Yes, jeez, my bad on that one. It's not like I'm the only one throwing tests about, OK? We both tested out now?”

Charlize didn't answer. Od turned to the girl, knelt over, and searched through his pocket. He pulled out a plaid handkerchief that matched his trousers and handed it to her with a cautious smile.

“You really should be nicer to the girl, you know?” he said.

“You're the fatherly type all of a sudden, are you?”

“She's right, you know? You really are a horrible person,” he said, followed by a muted chuckle and a vacant look.

“Pathetic. We need to get moving. It's a long way.”

“Nice try,” Od said as he helped the girl back to her feet. “We should probably have a little chat with our friend here first, don't you think?”

“Not the time or place, Od.”

“Hold up a sec. You just took on a mission to help me find a guy to help me kill God. And you think bringing along a mysterious girl from Page 5 is a good idea? Into the triple digits? Everyone is going to want to meet her, to know everything about her. For fuck’s sake, I want to know everything about her! What about the Rashithan? The Undoing? The fucking Authors?! Have you even thought about that?” he rambled at a blistering pace.

“Of course I've thought about that!” she snapped. “It's too much, too many variables. That's not how I work. Not how this is going to work. We deal with what we have. Prevent what we can, omit what we can't. Prioritize and execute. That's all we can do.”

“What about me? Do I get a say?” asked the girl.

“Seems fair to me,” Od answered.

“So, little one, what do you want to do?” asked Charlize in a solemn tone.

“I want to stay with Charlize.”

“Are you sure?” Od blurted with genuine shock.

“Yes. Sometimes she's scary but… when I'm with her, I feel safe. Like no one can hurt me.”

Charlize gave a slight nod, then stood silent. She couldn't help but linger on the girl's last words. A warmth overcame her when hearing she made her feel safe. But her final words made her feel something else. There was something darker in those words, the air of arrogance. She couldn't help but think, a girl feels safe when protected. A Queen feels untouchable.

The girl skipped ahead along the blue grass meadow, kicking up blades that drifted in the gentle breeze. Charlize followed behind after pointing the way, and Od walked next to her, merrily swinging his bag. The tension from earlier had finally lifted, and they were back out in the open. The girl was back to her cheerful ways. Od and Charlize had accepted their mutual deception. The party had finally begun their journey to meet Iglesias King.

“I think it's time you tell me a little about your capabilities, Od,” said Charlize.

“Aren't you working for me? Shouldn't you be telling me your capabilities?” Od replied with a snarky expression.

“Why? Are you concerned about my capabilities?” Her answer quickly wiped the smug expression from his face.

“I guess not, no.”

“Let's start with the terms of your Contract.”

“They gave me 12 years lifespan and 4% access.”

“OK. I hope you have years in the bank, it's going to be a long journey. And we're gonna need as much margin for error as possible.”

“Yeah, about that. Slight problem I may have forgotten to mention. I only have 3 years lifespan left.”