THE BOOK OF SOULS

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Jacob slightly pushed his trolley down the hallway, stacking up the shelves at the library, He had always been a bookworm - with a long list of book club memberships throughout high school and college, He romanticized about working at the library but he quickly learned otherwise.

A deadpanned look slowly grew on his face throughout the years of monotonous labor which involved babysitting visitors, finding things, cataloging books, tidying up and the whole nine.

As Jacob continued his tasks, he gradually heard a chiming sound that grew louder as time passed.

"Now, whose goddamn phone is that" Jacob muttered under his breath.

The chiming grew disturbing and he couldn't bear it anymore, Jacob began scanning the area, searching for the culprit, his investigations led him to a secluded corner of the library.

He was certain about the origin of this sound as he arrived at some group of shelves but surprisingly he didn't see anyone, he presumed that someone forgot his or her phone at that spot, so he began searching the shelves.

The chiming got louder at a particular spot but there was no phone, instead, he felt a vibration when he lifted one of the books, the humming vibration accompanied the chimes as he now held this book in his hands.

He slightly opened the book and caught glimpse of some white light peeking from the edges of the book.

"What the hell?!" Jacob scurried as he dropped the book out of pure fright.

He took a look at the book now sitting suspiciously on the floor, the glowing white lights now shining brighter at the edges of the hardcover which had no title, Jacob took a look around to see if anyone had witnessed what he just encountered.

Although Jacob was very skeptical about the scenario, this was the most interesting thing he had seen in all his years working at the library, he walked closer to this mesmerizing object, first slightly kicking it with his feet, then slowly picking it up with jittery hands.

He took a slow deep breath as he opened the book, the white light illuminated his face with warmth and curiosity, Jacob slowly sat cross-legged beside the shelf entranced as he began to read from this strange book.

"In the beginning of time, after the splitting of source consciousness and the birth of time and countless souls..."

Jacob was shocked as he saw those writings manifest on the pages of the book but something else scared him to the bones, he heard a voice pronouncing the words as he read them, this wasn't some internal monologue that all readers possess, the voice came from everywhere around him and vibrated his core being.

"Alright, I think I've lost it... this is insane" Jacob exclaimed with a muffled tone as he shut the book one more time.

He abruptly dropped the book and paced around the area, trying to rationalize his state of mind but he didn't reach any conclusion, he took one more surreal gaze at the book laying on the floor.

Although Jacob was afraid of this mystery he slowly let out a lucky smile at this discovery, he felt it might be worth fortunes and he welcomed the idea of being in possession of a sentient book that might possess many secrets.

Jacob hurriedly wrapped up the book and sneaked past the back area away from any suspecting eye, he was going to take it home and nothing was about to stop him, he hoped to uncover the mysteries of this book safely in his room without any disturbance.

After Jacob got home, he couldn't wait to open this book and read the contents, he got settled on his chair and began reading where he stopped, he took a deep breath, bracing himself for that same benevolent voice.

"...There arose some rogue entities that sought to destroy the paradigm of birth and re-birth of souls, you have been chosen Jacob as a guardian of the Book, Only you can wield the power of THE BOOK OF SOULS"

As Jacob proceeded to read, totally engulfed by the words within the book, he was suddenly interrupted by a presence that seemed to materialize out of thin air. Jacob momentarily let out a fearful scream after realizing this entity, It was shaped like a human but it seemed to float in the air, its skin looked like the reflective surface of water.

"Don't be scared, Jacob, I sensed your presence when the book chose a new keeper and I just had to see you for myself" The entity motioned towards Jacob.

"Y-You mean this book?" Jacob stuttered

"Yes, the Book of Souls, I would need you to hand it over Jacob" Said the entity with a stern tone.

Jacob tried to hand over the book to this being but took one more look at the pages and saw the words written boldly on it, accompanied by the echoing voice.

"DON'T GIVE HIM THE BOOK, HE CAN'T TAKE IT FROM YOU"

"Don't listen to the voice Jacob, it would be your ruin, just hand me the book" The entity spoke again impatiently.

"Why do I need to hand you the book, w-who are you?" Jacob asked with a bit of courage.

"I was born from pure energy, Jacob, I am the other side of the coin, I want freedom for all souls, but He wants control and order, don't you want freedom Jacob, do you want to go back to your Old Job tomorrow trapped in this endless loop that He designed, born and reborn into this matrix? You need to give the Book Jacob, I can free you, I can free all mankind.." The entity spoke with conviction.

"B-But You said, You need me to give it to you, that means you can't take it from me... It says I am the keeper of the book"

"Argghhh, I warned you Jacob" The entity spoke with aggression and charged towards Jacob, firing a blue energy beam at him.

Jacob ducked for cover with his eyes closed, using the opened book as a shield, He thought it was all over but he slowly opened his eyes and saw that the book absorbed the energy.

Jacob instinctively walked closer to the entity with new found bravery, using the book as a shielding weapon, The book slowly swallowed up the blue energy beam and also the entity.

"You will never be free Jacob..." The final words of the entity echoed as it got swallowed by the Book.

Jacob finally took a deep breath, he felt like he had been holding his breath all this while, he slowly turned the book and tried to read the pages but there were no words, there was no voice, just blank paper.

_{submission to @theinkwell prompt}
_{Hope you enjoyed the read :-)}