Modern Rituals by J.S. Leonard Read Free Book Online

her and the paper slipped from his fingers and spun to the ground, landing in a thick patch of dirt by his right foot. The word “Protect” stared up at him. Olivia had turned to walk away, and James bent down to pick up his note. He followed her, rubbing dirt from the parchment, and as he rubbed, the parchment changed. The texture frayed. He flipped it over. A series of words appeared.
    “Whoa…whoa…whoa! Check this out!” he said, still wiping away dirt.
    Olivia turned and jogged back to him.  
    “What are you doing?” she said.
    A varnish had coated the parchment’s reverse side, now rubbed free by the abrasive dirt. James scratched away the remaining substrate, revealing the following characters:

    教室 B-12 // 本 Amida  

    “Uh…looks like a mixture of Japanese and English. Check yours,” he said.
    Olivia retrieved her slip and scratched at the reverse side. Nothing happened.
    “You need to use something gritty to take it off,” James said. He took a pinch of dirt from the ground and placed it on her paper.
    She rubbed. Same inscription. Neither of them understood Japanese, leaving them to ponder the English words. Neither B-12 nor Amida meant much to them.
    “Hmmm… Maybe B-12 is a code? What is Amida referencing—is that a name?” Olivia said.
    “Not sure, but this was obviously meant for us to find,” James said. “I wonder if there’s some way we can translate these characters.”
    Olivia started back toward the road. “Well, we aren’t going to find any answers out here, I guess. Let’s go.”
    They reached the dead-ended road. The quiet forest unsettled James as the low hum diminished behind them. The silence deafened—his ears desperately grasped for sound, only to find a peculiar auditory void. His heart’s thumping resonated in his neck.
    “Man…do you hear that? Or, rather, the lack of that ?” he said.
    “I’m sorry?” Olivia said, hopping back over the roadblock.  
    “It’s like this forest is dead. I haven’t heard a single bird or animal. Nothing. I’m no country boy, but I know that forests aren’t this quiet.”
    “It is strange, yes.”
    They walked to the parking lot entrance in silence.  
    An eeriness crept into their surroundings: quiet and chilly. Tendril shadows snaked around the forest and school grounds. James’ neck hairs stood on end as if a stalker watched him—or rather, hunted him. The buildings invited him.
    James approached the archway positioned between two buildings at the forefront of the compound.  
    “This must be a high school, but it’s not American, I can tell you that. Where the hell are we?” James said examining the archway and marquee.

    Olivia opened her mouth to speak, but words evaded her. She could be anywhere. She could be far from Belfast or only a few miles from her flat. This place did not strike her as threatening—no, it was the unknowing that threatened; the lack of information and strategy. It was balls-up and it boiled her blood. A tingling clawed on the underside of her skin—this, she knew, was her subconscious digesting her surroundings, the result of which she hoped would reveal her next move.
    She had new clothes. She had a piece of paper. She had a potential ally—or enemy? She wasn’t certain, yet. She couldn’t escape by running—at least not here. And, she had a slight headache. She needed more options, and options came from access to resources—especially information. Her next steps: explore the school—or whatever it was—and figure a way out.  

    Olivia stood silent for few moments. Finally, she said, “Anywhere.”
    They passed underneath the arch and into an open foyer sandwiched between what appeared to be a two-story administration office on the left and an entrance to the gym on the right. A pair of soaring glass doors provided entry to the office building, and on them, Japanese characters mixed with numbers informed of office hours or the building name—at least, James assumed they