The Everborn - Nicholas Grabowsky [159]
“So what of your agent William Behn?” Andrew asked. “He did receive a manuscript?”
“I suppose the Watchers are having their way with him,” was Ralston’s response. He leaned forward, with a serious look about him. “Andrew, if I knew what I know now and was still completely human, I would tell all the world about it. I mean, the thing is, I’m not the human I once was. I can’t tell the world now....being the state that I’m in, they’ll crucify me. I have a feeling that somewhere in the near future, I get my chance, for writing about all of this the way I did...well, at least the way I’m going to...is the only way to get away with it. Besides, writing all about it and sending it back in time is crucial to everything that’s happened so far, don’tcha think? And furthermore, it gives our side the advantage against Salvatia, even if your twin brother did accidentally receive portions of the book.”
Andrew walked towards him until he met with the pillowed border on the carpet, and he was clearly perplexed. “Wait. This is indeed news to me. This is the book I awoke to after falling asleep before my typewriter. I gave it to you that night, the night your band had the debut at the Crowjob....the night I met Melony....”
“Yeah, the wife of Maxwell J. Polito himself. Strange character. I can’t wait to see him now.”
“This turned out to be a completely different book than what I thought I was writing for you.”
“Yeah, wasn’t it, though,” Ralston said indifferently. “Before I knew any better, I thought it was a completely different book, too. When I was at my soberest, I always insisted you’d let me in on what my next big novel was going to be about. I kinda flaked on asking you questions about this one. You know, when I fled from your apartment that final climactic day, the first thing I did was race home and straight up to this room, capsized my end table drawer and smoked its contents...torched a glass pipe with a few hundred bucks worth of crystal and inhaled some purple-haired green bud and a fifth of Hot Damn. Odd, because people usually indulge in these kinds of things to escape reality. At that time, all I wanted to do was to find reality. And Jessica was out shopping or something, so I couldn’t very well take it out on her....
“And then, after what seemed like a long-ass time while I just sat there and tweaked, my thoughts led to the thoughts I never before could bring myself to face, such as what happened between us at the playground where you and I met, then those thoughts led to the book. Jessica had read it before she could put two-and-two together and set it aside, and long after she arrived home and fell asleep that evening I had found the copy, read as much as I could while this time paying attention to it, until the Watchers showed up just as I was getting to the juicy parts. The most important parts, the parts pertaining to the recent events which have led us into what’s happening now, and a few chapters before....”
“How convenient,” was Andrew’s response, curious to the technicalities of Ralston’s new insight yet restless regarding the matters at hand. “So these Watchers took the book away just in time to prevent you from reading what was to occur after they found you reading it.”
“The Master Magicians, as Polito preferred to call them, had probably known everything about the book long before the rest of us, being that these particular Watchers are from the future and what happens now affects them. As best as they can, they’re protecting the interests of the outcome of all this. God forbid they allow any of us involved in this opera to read ahead of themselves. That would be cheating. They’re simply protecting the interests of the outcome. They have to,