The Presage

Part 4

Tom couldn't recall when he had  fallen asleep the previous night but he knew that he was highly disturbed from what he had read in the diary.He got up from his bed  to use the bathroom,he almost tripped over the floor board that suddenly seemed to have come loose and was jutting out.He was having that uneasy feeling again,he switched on the lights to see if the book was still in his bed and found that it was no where in sight.He frantically searched the entire room and found that it had gone missing again.All these incidents seemed too surreal to be written off as mere coincidences again.He then made up his mind to see Mr Reeds as soon as the classes were over.He made his way to the kitchen to grab a cup of coffee, his mom was slouched in one of the chairs,she looked worried and dark circles were clearly visible around her eyes.

"What is it mom?What happened?Are you feeling unwell?" he asked  concerned lacing his voice.

But she just shook her head and started crying.He wrapped his arms around his mother trying to console her.In between tears she told him that dad hadn't returned from work yesterday.She had thought that he would arrive this morning so hadn't told Tom yesterday.Together they phoned all his dad's colleagues,but  none of them had seen dad after work yesterday.When they contacted his boss,he told them that dad had left office at the usual time yesterday and hadn't asked for any day off .They called all his dad's acquaintances and still came up empty handed.Tom took his mom to the police station to file the complaint concerning his dad's disappearance   and the officer ensured them that he will do his best to find his father.Tom stayed with his mother for the rest of the day,skipping school.He had never in his entire life seen his mother so devastated and he couldn't bear it.

Somewhere in the back of his mind there was a niggling doubt that, all of this had something to do  with that cursed journal,he should have got  it exorcised before he brought it into his house.But he didn't voice his suspicions out loud, as no one would believe them and even if they did, they wouldn't be able to help them.The day dragged on uncertainly,he was afraid to leave his mom alone, so he couldn't visit Mr Reed that day.When his mom retired to her room , he decided to search for that book again but still couldn't find it.When the door bell rang he quickly made his way to open it ,praying for it to be his dad,but when he opened the door he was surprised to see Mrs Calvin instead.He had never seen her step out of that library.She had come to see him as he hadn't gone to the library for a while,she reminded him that the book was past its due date and asked him to return it as soon as possible.He knew it was rude but for some reason he was reluctant to invite her inside.He heard footsteps from  inside and turned to see his mom.She asked him who had rung the bell and he stepped aside to introduce Mrs Calvin to her.This was the first time his mom was going to see the famous librarian about whom Tom had told her a lot.

"This is Mrs Calvin,the librarian" he said indicating with his hand.

His mom  continued to stare at him blankly, asking were the woman was and in the split second that he had turned to look at his mother,Mrs Calvin had vanished.He shook his head,telling his mother that she had left.When his mom went back to  her room,he replayed  what had taken place right then. Mrs Calvin was standing there when he had introduced ,wasn't she?How is it that she had disappeared so suddenly? What a mess his life was and it had all started when he first visited that abhorred library.What if Mrs Calvin had something to do with all this?What if dad was trapped in that building?

On an impulse he decided to see Mr Reeds without further delay.He told his mom that he was going out and superstitiously made a cross outside her bedroom to ward of the evil spirits.He had never been a religious person but he had a feeling that his beliefs  were  about to change soon.He heaved a sigh of relief when he saw the front door of Mr Reeds's home,he hoped that      Mr Reeds was available.He rang the bell and was happy to see the old man opening the door.He looked at Tom quizzically before ushering him inside.Tom lost no time in telling Mr Reeds about all that had taken place including the disappearance of his father.Mr Reeds listened to him patiently,promising to do all that was in his power to help Tom.He warned Tom that                   parapsychology was  no child's play and one shouldn't experiment with it unnecessarily.Now that Tom was knee deep in mud,he totally agreed with what Mr Reeds had said,his curiosity suddenly cooled in the wake of danger. 

Tom was happy to know that Mr Reeds was also an astral traveler but he told Tom that before leaving his body he always took the necessary precautions to guard his physical body.He told Tom that he used the holy crucifix with which to ward of unwanted forces.When he made his way back home Tom felt  a burden was being lifted of his shoulders,he was relieved to finally confide in some one else.If Mr Reeds kept his word then there will not be any more of those haunting dreams and those damn lapses in memory he had recently been suffering from.

Alighting from the bus,Tom stopped in front of the library.He decided to search the building,as he had a feeling that his dad was trapped  somewhere inside it.It might prove to be just a stupid idea but he couldn't rest assured without checking it out. But he didn't feel comfortable walking into the building without any backup,so he called Sara but it went to the voice mail as she was not picking up.He left her a message telling her that if she didn't hear from him within an hour or so,she was to alert the police and tell them that, he is trapped in the old dilapidated library.He hoped that Sara would follow his instructions because otherwise he might never see daylight again.Tom stealthily made his way inside,he quickly made his way towards the underground tunnel that he had come across in his previous visit. Luckily there was an old fashioned kerosene lamp which was lit,waiting for him outside the tunnel.Tom felt a strange sense of deja vu as he picked up the lamp and made his way into the darkened recesses.How stupid he was to think that he was past being scared of the monsters who lurked in the dark,because right now he was terrified of it.