Summoner: The Book of Dimension

89 The Letter From Zack

The air inside the sleeping quarters of the Dark Abyss Regiment was stuffy.

It reminded Peter of the men’s dorm during college and it was quite similar since they were also men sleeping in one large room. The only difference was that it was four times worse. He wondered how long had it been since it was generally cleaned.

Peter groaned as he stepped over bodies of the Dark Abyss Regiment members who he had put into a no-wake-up sleep. He had checked them all and no one was breathing.

It was safe to say that everyone was dead but he felt like he had to leave soon The shadow creatures were another thing he didn’t want to deal with. But first, he had to get some things he could use.

As he gathered some stuff from that room, especially books, he couldn’t help but think about the words Victor said before he died. “A spirit from his childhood,” he murmured. Another thing he knew when he learned about Victor’s weakness was that his dreams also had this memory of his childhood. He was talking to something.

There was also some entity when he showed the memory of him killing his own family.

Peter pieced it together and realized just then. It was similar to the spirit that possessed Josh. He was tempted by that spirit. Whether it was the same spirit or it was the same kind, that spirit was up to no good.

Well, unlike Peter, Victor seemed to agree and obey that unknown creature and became its minion.

After collecting random books in a bag that was unattended there, he thought of ways how he should come back to earth. He saw something in the corner of his eye, something like a small crystal cube. It was placed on top of the table on a corner under the note on the wall that said, “For Emergency Purposes”.

Of course, as expected, it placed Peter’s curiosity high. He walked to the cube and touched it carefully. He didn’t know what it would do, but it reminded him of that crystal orb that dream goblin Wiboe used when he was going to the dream space and back to the dream kingdom.

The inside of the crystal cube was glowing with glittery light when the light of the torch reached its surface. It was quite mesmerizing, but he didn’t have time to be too engrossed in it.

He threw it on the floor but he watched as it bounced mildly. “Did I throw it too lightly?” he asked himself and adjusted the bag on his shoulder as he reached the crystal cube. He stood back up and this time, he threw the crystal cube with all his might.

The crystal cube broke into pieces, emitting a light brown sandy smoke. Peter coughed at the specks of dust that entered his lungs, but he was surprised when he saw that the smoke started swirling in a circular manner. It was just as tall as him.

Suddenly, he saw something through the smoke. A place like earth.

He hesitated to enter since he didn’t know if it was really earth, but he jumped through it anyway.

When he stepped in there, he felt a tingling sensation all over his skin. His feet stepped onto the concrete ground and when he looked back at the smoke where he had come from, the smoke was not there. “It was a portal,” he concluded.

He looked around at the familiar place. It was downtown his city. He grinned in relief. He didn’t have to worry about his way back home. The portal brought him home.

The cab got him home in no less than five minutes. He had been gone for almost two weeks and the first thing he had to check was the mailbox. There were five letters there, and he barely got anything before.

As he unlocked and entered his house, a letter from Dorothy was the one he opened first. It was sent three days ago.

The letter said:

Hi, Pete!

Yeah, I know this is kinda old school but I can’t contact you and you haven’t contacted me either. This is my only way to relay a message to you. If you read this, message me. I left home to go and visit my grandparents, but I’ll be back in a week. See you soon!

Dora xoxo

Peter smiled and slipped the letter into his pocket to remind himself to message her later. He opened two other letters and they were just bills he had to pay.

The other one was a letter from his editor.

Peter,

You’ve been out of reach but I guess it’s still because of your friend’s wake. Anyway, I’m sending this mail since I can’t contact you. I have some things to discuss with you, so please do contact me when you get back. Thanks!

People had been looking for him and he felt already restless. Killing a bunch of evil people was cool for him, but he still couldn’t grasp the idea that he really killed them.

He stared at the last letter and it was from the unexpected person he would receive a letter from. Zack.

Just then, his telephone rang. He walked upstairs to his room still holding onto the opened letters and the unopened one from Zack. He looked at the name of the caller and it was Ray.

He picked up the call and Ray’s yell was what welcomed him.

He winced and placed the phone away for a few seconds before he placed it back at his ear. “Please don’t yell. My ear doesn’t like being yelled at,” he said.

“Yeah, sorry. I was just surprised that you finally picked up the call,” Ray said with a sigh. “What happened to you? Zack came to take you from the river but you were not there anymore. The next thing we knew, you were taken by those old dudes. We couldn’t do anything to get you back to them. We’re forced to leave and escape. We were looking for you everywhere, but we can’t find you.”

Peter sighed. “Those old dudes took me somewhere. But that’s not important now. I’m fine. What happened to Josh’s body?” he asked. “Did all of you make it safe?”

“We escaped from that damn town and went home, but I’m not sure about the others. I’m pretty sure they went home just safe,” Ray started. “Josh’s body was cremated the next day and Benedict decided to take his ash to another country with one of his granddaughters.”

Peter nodded. “I’m glad you guys are safe. I didn’t know I could make it home.”

“Yeah. Are your limbs complete? I mean, it’s been ten days since you’re gone and taken. We reported to the police that youre missing but we never heard any lead,” Ray said,

Peter chuckled. “I was reported to be missing? And yeah, my limbs are complete. My head’s still intact.”

“You’re taken by some old guys and you’re gone for a few days. We didn’t let the fourth day to come and reported you to be missing. What do you want us to do?” Ray said, slightly sounding annoyed.

“Thanks, I guess?” Peter chuckled and looked at the letter from Zack. “Oh, I received a letter from Zack. Do you have any idea what this may be?” he asked.

The line was silent for a second or two but he heard a sigh from Ray. “Just see it for yourself. Even I couldn’t believe it,” he said. Peter was curious about what the letter could contain.

He kept the phone handset and placed it in between his shoulder and ear as he opened the letter.

Dear friend Peter,

I don’t know where you are but I hope you’ll read this when you get back. Ever since we found the Book of Other Worlds, I realized what I really wanted aside from my video games shop.

I hope you and Ray will do good without me. Forget about me as I would with the both of you. I hope you know what I mean.

If you don’t understand what I mean, I wanted to say I want to cut ties with you both. I’ll live a different life now.

After seeing what power the Book of Dimensions holds, I want to gain more power. I realized I have the potential to become more powerful.

I’m going to sacrifice my life and devote it to the Book of Dimensions and become more stronger and powerful.

Goodbye.

Zack Deppe.

He didn’t know what to feel and just stared at the letter. Peter was silent for a few minutes until Ray spoke on the other line. “Did you read it?” he asked and sighed.

“Is this true?” Peter asked. “What does Zack mean?”

“It’s true. I received a letter as well. He wanted to cut ties with the two of us, saying he wanted to focus on developing his powers with the Book of Dimensions,” Ray sighed once again.

Peter sighed in annoyance and betrayal. “He got the book?”

“When Zack jumped to the water to save you, he came back with your bag. I think that’s when he got the book,” Ray said.

Peter had a lot of complicated thoughts, but he just sighed. At least, his friends were safe. He could allot his time to learning shadow magic from the things he gathered from Victor.

Another thing he needed to do was to find out the truth about Emma.