A Deadly Bewray

CHAPTER VIII

*RING RING*

"Kyle, where are you two? Layla, Oliver, Aby and I already have arrived, we are at my house." says Justin.

"We will get there soon if only Dylan would move faster!"

"Says the one who moves as slow as molasses!" yells Dylan at Kyle.

After one hour of waiting, the two show up while breathing heavily.

"Finally!!! What took you so long?" asks Justin.

"Do you have the key or have you lost that too?" says Aby teasing them.

"Of course I have it! I kept it in my pocket" says Dylan, giving her the key.

All of them sit down around the chest waiting for Justin to unlock it.

"Are you ready to find the next clue about the cult?"

Dylan looks perplexed at Justin and asks:

"What are you talking about?"

"Wait! What...cult?" asks Kyle tilting his head confused.

"Haven't I told you about it??"

Layla takes a deep breath and starts to explain:

"Well, when we were in Galway, a lady from the City Museum, Margaret Brown, told us about this secret cult." and she begins to explain them exactly what Mrs. Brown told them. "She is the one who helped us to find more clues in our journey."

"I didn't know about any of these! Now come on, let's open it!" says Kyle excited.

"You made us curious... But I am afraid now to find out what's in the chest..." says Oliver.

"Don't be such a baby!" says Aby.

"Are we going to open this chest?! Let's finish this mission already!!!" says Dylan annoyed.

Justin inserts the key in the padlock to open the chest, but it's not working.

"Why isn't it opening?"

"Well, that's a chest with two locks..." says Oliver.

"I think that we can open it if we insert the keys we have found at the same time." says Aby.

Aby takes the other key and unlocks the chest to find that there is an old book covered in brown leather with a golden spine and the dragon symbol on it.

"Should we open it?" asks Justin.

"Yes! Let's do that!" answers Kyle.

"What? No! What if it's a trap?" says Oliver shivering.

"Are you serious right now?! What will even happen if we open this stupid book?! Nothing!" says irritated Dylan.

"Fine, then open it, if you are sooo brave!" suggests Aby.

"OK! Give it to me!"

  Dylan opens the book randomly and reads a fragment from the first page. Layla widens her eyes and jumps up.

"That's the same story the lady we met at the museum told us."

"Except here's longer and a lot more detailed." adds Justin.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Read it!" says Aby looking at Dylan, as he was still holding the journal in his hand.

  They all spend the day together reading and discussing the stories written there when suddenly Dylan stops as he notices that some pages are missing.

"What happened?" asks Kyle confused.

"Yeah, why did you stop?" continues Oliver.

"I just think it's pretty late. I don't know about you but I'm tired." explains Dylan, getting up to leave and putting the journal in his backpack. "Come on Kyle, are you coming?"

"Yeah, I'm right behind you."

"He's right, we spent all day here, let's all get some rest and figure out the next step later." says Justin after letting out a huge yawn. "Night guys!"

"Good night!"

***

"That was fun, don't you think?" smiles Kyle once they got home.

"Yeah, it was great..." responds Dylan a bit distracted.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just tired."

The boys decide to leave the conversations for tomorrow and go straight to sleep.

  That was an easy task for Kyle, as for Dylan though, he was still thinking of those pages when he heard a slight sound outside. Still being awake, he goes out to check what's happening. Stepping out of the house, he notices a black figure wearing the symbol trying to run away from their yard so he starts chasing him, eventually catching up. He pins him to the ground and the man punches him to free himself but Dylan isn't the kind of guy that accepts losing a fight that easily, so he punches him back letting him go with a black eye. As the guy runs away, cursing him, he drops his cape, in which Dylan finds some papers.

"They look like the pages of that old book.. OMG ..these must be the missing pages. I think these are some ..coordinates?" says to himself as he looks them up on the phone.He finds out the coordinates go to a nearby forest and he looks back at the house thinking if he should wake Kyle, but he leaves resolutely for the indicated place immediately. He could barely see through the thick autumn mist but he still managed to find one of the cult's meetings place. In the middle of the glade, there was a huge campfire and around it, forming a perfect circle, were a lot of members, talking. Listening closely to their conversation, he realises they are talking about his group as soon as he hears one of them saying "The hotel just sent us a message, they already found it, we should do something about it." . Trying to get closer to find out more, he steps on a tree branch, making it snap loudly under his foot. "How predictable? Just like in the stupid movies where the character steps on the only branch nearby and he is caught. Well,Dylan, you have branches everywhere! ... I don't think it was the best idea to come here.."the boy says to himself. Scared of being seen, he runs away but probably too late. He gets home, locks the doors and goes to sleep, ready to tell his friends next day what just happened.

***

"You got it as well?" asks Layla through a message. Kyle types back quickly "Yeah, we got two, one for me, one for Dylan."

"I'm worried about Justin, I'll text everyone to get there asap. See you two there."

"See ya."

  In just a few minutes everyone arrives where everything began, in the first place. They rush inside and Justin, confused, asks:

"What are you all doing here? Why do you all look so tired?"

"We run all the way over here to check up on you. Are you okay man?" says Oliver.

"Why wouldn't I be?" replies Justin even more confused.

"Everyone got a letter saying that we should've never looked for anything and that you'll suffer because of us, so we came here to make sure you're okay." says Layla almost crying, rushing to hug him.

"It's okay, they can't possibly even know that we're looking for them, right?" Justin comforts her.

"Umm... actually, guys, I think this is a great time to tell you..." starts Dylan, a bit unsure. "I saw them last night when..." He tells them everything that happened, everything he saw and heard and, as soon as he finishes the story, they all hear a knock on the front door.

"I'll take it." says Justin as he goes to open the door, only to find a stranger. "Can I help you?"

"Of course, you can start by getting out of my way!" responds the stranger, kicking Justin in the stomach, throwing him on the floor. He gets in and after him, through the door and the windows, a whole group of people with their heads hidden by hoods entered as well, surrounding the five friends.