Topic: Words Can Never Hurt Me (Elizabeth Hastings Prolog) (Read 64174 times)

BerkaZerka · « **on:** June 09, 2016, 09:01:18 pm »

Ann Arbor Michigan; Friday May 13th 2016
It had been a long day for Elizabeth, cataloging all the new books donated to the university library from that Bakersfield estate auction. Box after box of some choice additions, including two absolutely amazing finds - the 11th century Codex Benedictus and ninth century Lorsch Gospels. The two handwritten and illuminated books being in Latin and estimated at a value of $8,000 and $15,000 respectively.

Once all the excitement over their discovery had died down, the news crews and university administration left, leaving Elizabeth once again alone among the stacks to finally finish her work.

While the two medieval manuscripts and other works in the collection would greatly enhance both student and faculty research, as well as put the university library in the forefront of such studies, Elizabeth was glad to get back to her books. She didn't care for all the attention or hype, especially since the majority of those seeing the news story about the books couldn't care less. It was a fluff piece for the station and an excuse for the university to get a little attention. It took a certain type of individual to really appreciate the true significance of such a find.

Glancing at the clock, Elizabeth was surprised to see that it was past 9:00 pm. It was dark outside and she was the only person still in the library. Of course she had closed up on more than one occasion, but all these crates and boxes still needed her attention and normally, she would be locking the door well before this time of night.

With heavy sigh, she grabbed a cart-bin and began breaking down boxes and crates to take out back. After two trips, she was down to the last of it and filling the bin for the final time, when something caught her eye.

On the floor among the last of the crate debris was a small rectangular object about the size of a man's wallet. In fact, Elizabeth initially thought that it was a wallet someone had dropped, until she went to pick it up and found that it was actually quite heavy, with an oily metallic feel, and unusually cool to the touch.

What she had appeared to be a small bound codex of fourteen index-card sized sheets of lead - each browned with an ancient patina and engraved with the most exquisitely strange text (something Elizabeth had never seen before).

Clearly, it had to be from the Bakersfield collection, but Elizabeth was positive that she had already accounted for all the works on the manifest...

Sethaniel · « **Reply #1 on:** July 06, 2016, 07:42:29 pm »

Elizabeth examined the book more closely, hoping to find some clue as to its provenance.
It was strange for her to see a completely unfamiliar writing system. Even though she couldn't read Arabic or Sanskrit, she could usually at least recognize the text.
"What are you supposed to be?" she asked the book, carefully turning its pages with her gloved hands.

BerkaZerka · « **Reply #2 on:** July 07, 2016, 09:50:54 pm »

Thinking through all the languages she had ever seen, Elizabeth thought the text resembled, to a small degree, the smooth flowing script of modern Arabic, but she was sure that couldn't be what it actually was.

The plates sure looked authentic though. If they were some sort of fake, they were quite convincing ones.

As Elizabeth considered the strange codex, a sudden loud noise startled her.

A large hardcover book had just inexplicably fallen off a nearby rack. While not an entirely uncommon occurrence in a large library with patrons carelessly placing books back on the shelves, after perusing their pages, the timing of it sure seemed a little unsettling.

That, and looking, Elizabeth saw that it was a copy of Stephen King's 'The Stand'.

Sethaniel · « **Reply #3 on:** July 08, 2016, 09:00:11 am »

"How did that happen?" she asked the empty library. "There's no one here--" then, louder "Is someone here?"

She carefully set the codex onto her desk and leaned over to pick up the book.

BerkaZerka · « **Reply #4 on:** July 08, 2016, 01:41:45 pm »

No one answered; and Elizabeth retrieved the fallen novel.

As she picked it up with one hand, the two thousand-plus page book flipped open and fell back to the floor - landing page-heavy on one side - where the pages started to rapidly flip from one side to the other, as they balanced themselves out on the spine.

As this happened, a page flung out of the book to settle nearby.

The page in question had dried yellow tape on one edge of a tear, where it had once been secured back into the book some time ago - though now the tape was dry, flaking with age, and had zero stick left to it.

Someone had also highlighted a paragraph on the page, in what must have been florescent yellow a few decades ago, but now, it was a faded brownish color.

The highlighted paragraph read, “No one can tell what goes on in between the person you were and the person you become. No one can chart that blue and lonely section of hell. There are no maps of the change. You just come out the other side."

"Or you don't.”

Sethaniel · « **Reply #5 on:** July 08, 2016, 01:58:51 pm »

Elizabeth shook her head angrily. Why couldn't people show a little respect for books? And was that Scotch Tape someone used? Really!

She picked up the book again, intending to set it aside for possible repairs at a later date.

BerkaZerka · « **Reply #6 on:** July 09, 2016, 06:43:40 pm »

With that taken care of, and everything else cleaned up, Elizabeth could finally lock up and go home.

Of course, there was still the mystery codex to deal with.

Should she leave it here in the library? Or take it home with her?

Should she call her boss to let him know about it now? Or in the morning?

It was a part of the Bakersfield collection after all. They would want to be made aware of it as soon as possible. It could be equally as important as the Codex Benedictus and Lorsch Gospels.

Or maybe keep it to herself for the moment? At least until she could figure out more about it. It wasn't on the manifest, so no one would miss it - and it would be a shame to stir everyone up again over a potential hoax.

It might be a good idea just to make sure first...

Sethaniel · « **Reply #7 on:** July 09, 2016, 08:34:22 pm »

It's not like she'd never taken books home before, after all.

Elizabeth carefully packed the codex in with the rest of her things, and prepared to lock up.

BerkaZerka · « **Reply #8 on:** July 11, 2016, 12:36:28 pm »

With the library secured, Elizebeth walked the short distance off campus to her small studio apartment.

It was later than she would usually be making the trip; and the darkness of the evening seemed unusually oppressive in some odd way that she couldn't quite put her finger on. She hadn't been afraid of the dark since she was a little girl, but this was downright unnerving for some reason.

Arriving home, she hurried up the steps to her front door and fished the keys from her messenger bag. Something buzzed in the darkness above her. An insect of some kind.

Flashing her penlight toward the sound, Elizabeth saw a small paper-wasp's nest in the upper corner of her doorframe. It was something new. She hadn't had a problem with wasps before. A single black and red wasp crawled across its surface, buzzing its wings loudly.

Too loudly.

Why was it so loud? How could it be so loud?!?

Sethaniel · « **Reply #9 on:** July 11, 2016, 06:25:58 pm »

Reflexively, Elizabeth swatted at the wasp. Not trying to smash it, just brush it away.

BerkaZerka · « **Reply #10 on:** July 12, 2016, 12:47:05 pm »

The wasp flew off the nest and around Elizabeth a few times, then landed on her messenger bag. There, it crawled inside before she could stop it - the buzzing of its wings going silent as it disappeared within...

Sethaniel · « **Reply #11 on:** July 12, 2016, 01:34:45 pm »

"Oh! No no no no no!!" Elizabeth tipped the contents of her bag out onto the porch. "Oh, why'd you have to go in there?!"

BerkaZerka · « **Reply #12 on:** July 12, 2016, 01:45:10 pm »

Everything fell out with a clatter on Elizabeth's doorstep - her mace, taser, various paperbacks, the mystery codex, cell phone, magnifying glass, hairbrush, lipstick, etc.

Elizabeth uncontrollably winced, as the small lead book bounced off the concrete - though for a moment she wasn't sure which to be more concerned about - the ancient relic or her cell phone, which made a nasty cracking sound as it landed screen down (of course)...

No wasp came out however.

Was it still crawling around inside the bag?

Sethaniel · « **Reply #13 on:** July 12, 2016, 02:33:17 pm »

"Arrrrrgh, what do I do?" Elizabeth asked no one in particular. She really didn't think sticking her hand in there was a good idea, but she couldn't just leave her bag outside all night.

Could she?

Better than taking the wasp inside the house, she supposed. . .

BerkaZerka · « **Reply #14 on:** July 12, 2016, 04:05:08 pm »

It wouldn't hurt the messenger bag to stay out all night; and hopefully, the wasp would head back to its nest by morning.

Opening the door and scooping everything up, Elizabeth went inside, then shut and locked the door behind her.

Laying her things out on the kitchen counter, she saw that the codex hadn't even been scuffed at all, but her phone now had a single long crack going across its screen.

Sethaniel · « **Reply #15 on:** July 13, 2016, 02:52:56 pm »

"Dammit! Dammit dammit damnit!!"

BerkaZerka · « **Reply #16 on:** July 14, 2016, 12:24:27 pm »

With a sigh, Elizabeth put her phone down and picked up the lead codex. She could get her screen fixed later, but something about this strange text seemed to be calling to her now.

Heading to the computer, Elizabeth logged on and started surfing the web for any clues to the odd script. After a few hours going in circles, she found herself frustrated, tired, and nowhere nearer the information she sought.

Maybe it was a hoax after all.

No... even if it was a hoax, there would be something about it. At the very least, a claim of discovery and someone seeking to profit by it.

Oh well, tomorrow was a new day.

Heading to bed, Elizabeth set the codex down on her nightstand and slipped into the sheets. After the day she had just been through, it didn't take long for her to fall asleep.

---

The next morning, Elizabeth woke up, recounting the strangest dream she'd just had.

In the dream, she had awaken in the middle of the might and begun reading the lead codex. She simply picked it up and read, as if she had understood the strange language her entire life.

She wasn't able to get far into it, but it was some kind of testament to an ancient djinn who walked the lands of Sumer before recorded history. Apparently, this being (who's name she couldn't recall), was precursor to the legend of genies and the granting of wishes.

In the dream reading, Elizabeth was just about to get into details of how to summon the djinn, but then woke up for real.

---

Looking, the lead codex was still at Elizabeth's bedside, where she had left it the night before.

Sethaniel · « **Reply #17 on:** July 14, 2016, 12:43:23 pm »

Elizabeth got up and went to the computer, curious to see if perhaps there was something to this Sumerian djinn idea. Maybe she was remembering something subconsciously in her dream?

BerkaZerka · « **Reply #18 on:** July 15, 2016, 01:50:12 pm »

Looking some more online, Elizabeth found information on the ancient Sumerians, their lore, and even a bit on the Anatolian prehistory as far back as Catal Hoyuk (8,000 B.C.). None of it was really helpful.

The problem was that the script in the lead codex was nothing like the Sumerian cuneiform – or even the Vinca proto-script that predated cuneiform from as early as 5,500 BC.

If her dream was anything but her imagination running away with her (which it very well could be), then the codex was something even older than all that.

As Elizabeth gave this some thought, her phone began to ring. Glancing at the cracked screen, she could see that it was from her boss, Mr. Pique, at the University Library.

He knew that she wasn’t going to be in today, especially after the circus yesterday had turned out to be.

Sethaniel · « **Reply #19 on:** July 15, 2016, 02:15:42 pm »

"What you you want?" Elizabeth asked the ringing phone. "You know I'm not in today. Did someone call off?"

She picked up the phone and carefully pressed 'answer.'

"Yes?"

BerkaZerka · « **Reply #20 on:** July 16, 2016, 06:37:27 pm »

"Miss Hastings?" Mr. Pique began on the other end of the line, "I have the Coordinator for the Bakersfield Estate here in my office."

"He thinks an artifact from the estate may have accidently been shipped with our collection. It would have been a small sheaf of lead plates."

"Have you seen anything like that, while cleaning up last night?"

Sethaniel · « **Reply #21 on:** July 19, 2016, 11:57:06 am »

"Oh! Yes!" Elizabeth happily replies. "I took it home for further research. It wasn't on he manifest and I wasn't sure how to catalogue it."

BerkaZerka · « **Reply #22 on:** July 19, 2016, 05:01:30 pm »

"Ah, excellent," Mr. Pique replied, relaying the info to someone with him in the office.

A moment later, Mr. Pique came back, "Can you bring it to the office? Or would you like Doctor Toht to stop by your apartment to pick it up?"

Sethaniel · « **Reply #23 on:** July 20, 2016, 12:32:41 pm »

"Uh, I guess I'm not doing anything," Elizabeth replies. "Should I come down to your office then?"

BerkaZerka · « **Reply #24 on:** July 20, 2016, 12:54:37 pm »

"That would be fine." Mr. Pique replied - "See you shortly."

He then hung up.

Less than a minute later, Elizabeth's phone signaled an incoming text message. It was from Mr. Pique and read: 'Couldn't say over phone with him standing here, but be sure to get pictures of every sheet before you bring it in!'.

Sethaniel · « **Reply #25 on:** July 20, 2016, 01:05:16 pm »

"That's weird," Elizabeth said to the phone. "I wonder why Mr Pique is so interested. Didn't think he even saw it."

Still, she took her cracked phone and began to take pictures of each page, intending to send them to mr pique, as well as save them to her desktop and store them in the cloud, and email them to her brother. (Elizabeth had learned a long time ago that you could never have too many backup copies.)

BerkaZerka · « **Reply #26 on:** July 20, 2016, 02:13:20 pm »

Mr. Pique was probably just taking advantage of Elizabeth having the codex in her possession. He was always looking for new acquisitions to add to the library and had been very excited to get the Bakersfield Estate.

Knowing that there was potentially even more treasures to be found in that collection, Elizabeth could guess that Mr. Pique wanted the pictures to study the codex, in order to determine if it was worth going after for acquisition.

No, he hadn't seen it, but that Doctor Toht fellow had certainly described it to him - which would have gotten Mr. Pique's salivary glands going.

Finishing up her backup and copies, Elizabeth took the codex and went to gather her things. They were still scattered across the kitchen counter, where she had left them last night.

Crap... that meant her messenger bag was still outside on the porch... with that wasp...

Sethaniel · « **Reply #27 on:** July 21, 2016, 10:21:56 am »

"Oh right. . . that weird wasp. . ." she said to no one in particular. "Maybe I could just get a different purse?"

Elizabeth went to the front hall closet and began to search for another bag, conducting an imaginary conversation with Mr Pique under her breath as she did so.

"So, it looks like it's probably Proto-Sumerian in origin. . . Something about a djinn, granting wishes. . . Isn't it strange that the codex is made of lead? . . Crap, none of these are large enough."

Having failed to locate a purse capable of containing the lead codex in addition to the rest of her belongings, Elizabeth was left with no choice but to brave the suspicious candywasp.

She opened the front door, and looked out. "Hey, are you still out there?"

BerkaZerka · « **Reply #28 on:** July 21, 2016, 12:13:28 pm »

A cacophony of buzzing seemed to answer Elizabeth back.

The messenger bag was still where she had left it, but the nest... Oh My! It was no longer a small little affair, as it had been last night.

Dozens and dozen of the black and red wasps now crawled and buzzed across the surface of a huge nest that filled the entire upper corner of her door frame.

'How...?!?'

Sethaniel · « **Reply #29 on:** July 21, 2016, 12:32:21 pm »

"Eeep!" said Elizabeth, slamming the door.

"What the hell, wasps?" she shouted at them from behind the relative safety of 3 inches of reinforced plywood. "What is your problem?" She backed away from the door and considered her options.

"It's a good thing Dr Toht isn't coming over here," she told the codex. "But how am I going to get out?" She looked out the window at her messenger bag. "Oh, right! The window!"

BerkaZerka · « **Reply #30 on:** July 21, 2016, 01:50:18 pm »

Elizabeth slowly slid the window up (praying not to alert the wasps) and fiddled with the screen - 'How do you get this thing out?!?'

Eventually, it dawned on her, that she could simply head out the back door.

Sethaniel · « **Reply #31 on:** July 21, 2016, 02:25:11 pm »

"Oh. Right."

She gathered her things, and went out the sliding glass door.

BerkaZerka · « **Reply #32 on:** July 21, 2016, 03:11:57 pm »

The grocery bag that Elizabeth had shoved all her things into didn't look too far out of place. After all, plenty of people went shopping on or around the campus.

'Yeah, right! Got to get my messenger bag back from those wasps, as soon as possible!'

After the short walk from her apartment to the university, Elizabeth hurried up the library steps and went in. Nearing the office, she saw a man sitting there with a newspaper. He got up when Elizabeth approached.

It was a squat-faced German fellow, with round wire-rim glasses and unusually thick lips. He wore a dark suit and tie, with a black leather overcoat and matching hat and gloves. He certainly had a 'European' look about him.

"Ms. Hastings?" the man asked, extending a handshake, "I'm Doctor Ernst Toht, Coordinator for the Bakersfield Estate."

Sethaniel · « **Reply #33 on:** July 21, 2016, 03:28:49 pm »

"Oh hi!" said Elizabeth, holding out the grocery bag before hurriedly switching it to her left hand so she could complete the handshake.

"Um. . . " and back to the grocery bag in search of the lead codex. "Here it is!"

BerkaZerka · « **Reply #34 on:** July 21, 2016, 09:33:13 pm »

"Excellent!" Doctor Toht replied - his eyes lighting up at the sight of the codex.

Taking it, he held it up to admire; "This little marvel has been carbon dated at 16,600 BC. Obviously they don't have a name for the text and no idea who could have produced it, but I've taken to calling it 'Wormwood'."

"It came into the Bakersfield Collection last year and I've been studying it ever since. Can't say I've gotten terribly far with the language, but I believe it to be some form of prehistoric religious work."

At that point Mr. Pique came out of his office.

"Ah, so we have everything sorted out then?" He asked

"Quite well, thank you!" Doctor Toht smiled.

"You know," Mr. Pique continued, "We have a wonderful Linguistics Study program here at the university. If you ever need someone to assist in your studies of that language, our Professors would be most happy to help."

"I will definitely keep that in mind," Doctor Toht replied, putting the lead codex in his coat pocket and then shaking Mr. Pique's hand.

He then tipped his hat to Elizabeth, "Fraulein," and turned to take his leave.

Sethaniel · « **Reply #35 on:** July 25, 2016, 09:05:57 am »

"Why do you call it Wormwood?" Elizabeth wondered out loud. "You mean, like the star in Revelations? The codex is about djinn, isn't it? What does that have to do with the Apocalypse?"

BerkaZerka · « **Reply #36 on:** July 25, 2016, 11:01:48 am »

Doctor Toht wheeled back around in disbelief - his face a mixture of shock and a nervous smile. "Y, You have read some of the codex?!? But how?"

Sethaniel · « **Reply #37 on:** July 25, 2016, 03:52:48 pm »

"Well, I didn't really 'read' it, so much I 'had a really weird dream about it.'"

BerkaZerka · « **Reply #38 on:** July 25, 2016, 05:19:43 pm »

"That is... fascinating," Doctor Toht replied awkwardly, rubbing his chin. It wasn't clear to Elizabeth if the man was being genuine or facetious. "I would love to hear more about it, but I have to get the codex back to the Estate as soon as possible."

Then raising a finger in a 'eureka' moment, he added, "Ah! I don't suppose you would want to ride along would you? We still have an extensive library up there and would have access to the codex, at least long enough for a chat."

"I'd be happy to bring you back here or to your home after we drop it off."

Sethaniel · « **Reply #39 on:** July 25, 2016, 06:30:44 pm »

Self-defense Rule #97: Don't take rides from strangers. But dr toht wasn't a stranger, he was a fellow academician. Plus, everybody knows intellectuals use strength as a dump stat. Well, okay, that or charisma. But dr toht seems personable. Sort of. What were we talking about again?

"I'd love to," said Elizabeth.

BerkaZerka · « **Reply #40 on:** July 25, 2016, 08:48:16 pm »

"Excellent!" Doctor Toht clapped, leading Elizabeth to his car out in the lot. Being Coordinator for the Bakersfield Estate must pay well, as the doctor stopped at a white new model Lexus GS F Sedan and opened the passenger door for Elizabeth.

'Fancy luxury car, eighty grand and up,' Elizabeth found herself thinking. One of the perks of being a librarian, Elizabeth was a veritable font of useful (and sometimes useless) information on a wide variety of topics.

"The estate in about twenty miles northwest of Ann Arbor," Doctor Toht explained, "Adjacent the property of the Timberland Game Ranch. Should only take a half hour to get there."

"So, tell me about this dream of yours, " he said, as they pulled out of the lot and onto the road.

Sethaniel · « **Reply #41 on:** July 26, 2016, 12:04:47 am »

"In the dream I could read the codex," said Elizabeth. "It was about an ancient djinn that granted wishes. And I just got to the part that told you how to imminent it when I woke up. Dreams are funny like that, you know? They'd be terrible tv shows. Like that one detective drama I was watching. Four seasons, I was watching it, and the very end? The detective gets shot! And that's how the series ends! Thanks fir watching, I guess he's dead."

BerkaZerka · « **Reply #42 on:** July 26, 2016, 10:28:37 am »

'Ach, that's terrible!," Dr. Toht chuckled at the ending of the show. "I don't get to watch much television. My work keeps me very busy."

"About your dream though," he continued, "I was astounded to hear you mention the Djinn. And you are absolutely correct!"

"From what I have deciphered, the codex is about an entity from prehistory, that was worshipped as a god and took an active part in shaping civilization over the millennia. According to the text, the liberal wielding of his power for the benefit of his people, gave rise to the legend of the Djinn."

"Quite a coincidence ey?" He then said, "That your dream about the codex would be so accurate... Tell me Ms. Hastings, do you believe in the supernatural?"

Sethaniel · « **Reply #43 on:** July 27, 2016, 09:51:09 am »

"Supernatural?!" Elizabeth exclaimed. "Absolutely!

"I used to love that show, but after Eric Kripke left it went downhill so hard. It's just ridiculous now, sad really. I mean. . . oh. Oh.

"Um. . . the supernatural. Yeah. . . I guess. . . I don't disbelieve in the supernatural, would be accurate?"

BerkaZerka · « **Reply #44 on:** July 27, 2016, 10:33:32 am »

"Good, good," Dr. Toht replied nodding his head. "It is refreshing to find open-minded people now and again."

"And I believe your natural open-mindedness was what allowed the codex to speak to you, as it were. It told you a little about itself in your dream. Where I... I have had to wrestle with the damn thing for every scrap of secret I could wring out of it."

"I quite envy you actually, Ms. Hastings."

The doctor then paused in thought a moment, before continuing, "You asked about the language, Wormwood, yes?"

Sethaniel · « **Reply #45 on:** July 27, 2016, 11:21:06 am »

"Um, yeah!" Elizabeth said with surprise. Dr Toht was turning out to be a pretty nice guy. "Why did you call it that?"

BerkaZerka · « **Reply #46 on:** July 27, 2016, 12:25:03 pm »

"Oh, well, it's not completely my own nomenclature," Dr. Toht admitted.

"I found some very very obscure samples of the text online; and it was from them that I learned the script was called 'Wormwood'."

"If the information online is to be believed, then the writing is demonic in nature. Something that came to Earth with fall of Lucifer, when he was cast out of Heaven."

"Personally, I don't believe that of course - as the script itself, predates biblical history by a wide margin. More than likely, some theologians discovered one of these codex long ago and applied their own belief system to it, so that it wouldn't conflict with their particular view of the world."

Sethaniel · « **Reply #47 on:** July 28, 2016, 07:28:36 am »

"Wow, that's amazing," Elizabeth said. "How did something so special end up accidentally shipped to us?"

BerkaZerka · « **Reply #48 on:** July 28, 2016, 01:31:27 pm »

"It actually happens more often than you'd think," Dr. Toht replied; "With the entire estate shipping out all at once to a variety of locations, things can get lost, go missing, or end up at the wrong destination."

"By the way," he then continued, changing the subject back to the codex script; "Once we reach the office, I can show you the other samples of Wormwood that I found online. I can also direct you to the site links themselves, but they are from the darknet - which is a dangerous place to roam, if you are fainthearted or easily distracted."

Sethaniel · « **Reply #49 on:** July 29, 2016, 02:35:02 pm »

"That sounds exciting!! Other samples, I mean, not things that are distracting and frightening."

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Author Topic: Words Can Never Hurt Me (Elizabeth Hastings Prolog) (Read 64174 times)