Jacob Gearfram: RS Ch.2 - The Hangman

Ch. 2- The Hangman

         Jack's heels clicked on the golden road of The City of Memories as he strolled through the city, enjoying the smell of the midnight air. The moon hung above him. White, full, and bright, staring toward the city like a giant eye. The air was fresh in Jack's nostrils as he breathed in deeply, then exhaled bringing out a small smile. Something about being alone on a golden road, with nothing but silence, was serene. Despite Jack's violent habits, nights like this make him feel very much alive and content with himself. Jack doesn't know much about his childhood. His earliest memory was that of strangling a small boy he was fighting with, and killing him. Killing seemed to have made refuge within Jack's soul. It has been a part of his nature for most of his life, and one of the only things he was good at. Lying, and fleeing being two others. He used to hate, or even despise himself for these qualities. He held many roles, and wore many faces, and eventually he learned that he is who he is. He is a murderer. A bodyguard. Hitman. Hero. Villain. No matter the role, two things stay true. His name is Jack, and he is a killer. And he came to terms with that a long time ago.
         This time Jack plays the role of a servant, and he is on a mission for his master. Walking down the road, heels still clicking from his black loafers, he searches for a man he is supposed to meet in one of the small alleys. He was told to find a librarian with blonde hair, but he could not help but think that the man is probably sleeping just like everyone else. Still though, Jack smiles, and walks onward with his hands cupped behind his back where his two silver hooks hang about, enjoying the night in silence with the wind. He will find the man eventually, but a night like this calls for no rush.
         About a half hour later of walking, Jack spots a man sitting in an alley to his right. The man didn't look up, or give any sign that he was aware of Jack's presence. His arms wrapped around his knees, and he looked to be muttering some kind of prayer or chant. Jack turned right, toward the man to confirm whether or not he was who he was supposed to meet. Jack's heels did not click, and he moved closer more silently then a ghost. He narrowed his dark blue eyes as he got nearer, and he noticed that the man's hair was a light, gold blonde color. “Are you The Librarian?”
         The Librarian jumped from his crouching position, startled, and with wide, frightened eyes he stared at the stranger panting. Both Jack and The Librarian waited for a moment, before he could confirm his title. “Yes.” He pushed his black-rimmed glasses up, and kept his eyes on Jack without blinking. “You must be The Hangman.”
         “That's what they call me yes.” said Jack, The Hangman. The Librarian seemed to calm down for a moment, then motioned to Jack to follow him down the alley after looking to see if anyone followed. Both of them weaved through the sleeping city in silence, making their way through alleys, then after that, through secret passageways concealed behind stone walls. They even had to make a trip through the sewer lines, mingling with the putrid stench of feces and dead rodents. Eventually, they came to a large wooden door, and a light shone from the other side.
         “In here.” said the Librarian. He slipped a key into the lock, and with a small click The Librarian opened the door. The light that shone, hanged from a lantern on the right side of the wall. The Librarian picked it up, and continued to lead the way. The room they entered seemed large, but Jack could barely see what it contained within. Jack and The Librarian walked down the left wall, seemingly searching for something while the echos of their footsteps permeated throughout the room. Within a minute, The Librarian found a lever, and pulled it down. Within moments, several large torches on the walls spring to life, lighting up the large room entirely, filling it with heat and shadows. Though now that Jack could see the room very clearly, calling the room large would only be doing it an injustice. The room looked like that of a great hall from a kingdom, only instead of a throne and a large space in the middle, the room was made up entirely of humungous book shelves filled from floor to the ceiling with nothing but old books. The Librarian moved forward, passing three bookshelves.
         “How many bookshelves are in here?” Asked Jack.
         “Thirty-Five.” The Librarian padded past four more shelves, accompanied by only the sounds of flames crackling, and the hooks swinging about behind Jack in motion with his heavy footsteps. “This place was built at the time of the first five Librarians. It contains some of the oldest scriptures in universal history. Only a select few Librarians know about this place. We kept it down here to keep the earliest of recorded histories safe.” He walks past the tenth bookshelf now.
         “I don't care too much about learning the history of this place Librarian.” Said Jack. “I was sent to find you, because you mentioned to my master that you found the book containing the last eight foundations.”
         “Yes...” said the Librarian gravely. The Librarian's pace started to slow down, then he rounded the corner of the fourteenth shelf. In the middle, in front of the left book case, there stood a light wooden desk containing a large book on top. In a few moments, both stood over the desk containing a plain brown leather book looking at about six hundred pages long. From the look of it, it was ancient. Jack picked the book up, and opened to the first page.
         On the middle of the page there where two, slightly faded sentence. It read, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.”
         “How original.” Said Jack, as he felt the page with his left hand. It was rough, and the age has shown, though the paper itself somehow remained intact. “An Earthen biblical reference.”
         “You been to Earth?” Asked The Librarian.
         “A few times. Was involved in a few assassinations over there.” He closed the book, and started at its blank cover, the looked over to The Librarian, who still held the torch from earlier. “Why a biblical reference do you think?”
         “Your master was asking about a book containing the eight foundations. Do you know what they are?”
         “I can't say I do.”
         The Librarian took off his glasses, and polished them with a white rag he took from a pocket in his shirt, then slipped them back on, and looked Jack strait in the eye. Not many can look Jack strait into the eyes without getting the chills. “I read about the eight foundations in various texts contained throughout this library. From what I can gather, the eight foundations are what hold this universe together. The front page, as you say, contains a biblical reference. Perhaps the book contains the means to create, or destroy, the foundations, and perhaps the universe itself. Whoever holds the book, may be able to play God himself. The Alpha, and the Omega.”
         Jack, opens the book again, and reads the first passage on the front page again. Then nods his head in approval. “I suppose I wouldn't put it past me. The ability to create and destroy the universe itself, right in the palm of your hands.” He tucked the book away under his left shoulder, and motioned for The Librarian. “I'll ask my master about it later. If you would be so kind as to lead the way out Librarian?”
         The Librarian looks toward Jack, but when their eyes met again, he lowered his head. “Yes of course. Right this way.” As The Librarian lead the way out, Jack could not help but feel an adrenaline rush of sorts. Being involved in possibly ending the entire universe made Jack feel like a kid going to a circus, about to watch a man tame a giant beast, and another putting his or her life on the line walking across a thin line of rope thousands of feet in the air. For Jack, an event in this motion brings excitement for him, and with it came his demonic smile.
         He was led out into the streets of the city, and then extended his right hand in appreciation and farewell. The Librarian took it, and said his thanks, and was grateful to contribute for his master. Before The Librarian could react, Jack swiftly released his left hand from behind his back, containing a silver hook, and lodged the point into the esophagus of the Librarian's neck before he could scream. They both stood, for a moment, then Jack ripped the hook out, and the Librarian fell in a pool of his own blood. Choking. Gasping for life. From his right hand he took another hook, and slid both hooks under, and into, the Librarian's armpits. With the hooks attacked to thick black cords, Jack hanged the Librarian from the nearest golden archway for all to see, in signature fashion, blood dripping from the corpse. Then in moments after, Jack disappears.