what was i thinking?! HELP!

okay, so i have done the equivalent of about two days writing.  (i figured out that i’d need to write about 1,667 words a day if i’m going to make the 50,000.)  however i’m suffering some blockage.

its not that i don’t know what to write… i mean, i don’t.  but i’m afraid that no one will want to read it.  i’ve had my best friend read it, and she says its something to keep going with, and while i trust her judgement, i don’t trust mine.  i don’t need your praise, or anything.  i just am curious whether this is something i should keep doing, or pick a different topic?

– noah

Prologue
 
            Journal 11/20/08
            I’m back in the Mental Health Institution. Why don’t they call it what it really is? It’s a looney bin. Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against people with mental problems. But I don’t have one! Too bad they don’t know that. This is the third time I’ve been sent to a place like this. First time in this one though. This one is cleaner than the ones in New York, but it’s still a looney bin.
            Sure, they think I’m a pyro. It’s not that I don’t enjoy fire, I do. But really, there is so much more behind it, and I’m afraid to tell the doctors about it because I don’t know what will happen. Besides, I don’t want to put my friends in jeopardy. I guess I’m just gonna have to grin and bear it… again.
            Although, at lunch today I saw this beautiful woman, well.  I say woman because I have no idea how old she is. She’s probably no more than 23. But she’s gorgeous. I’ve asked the nurses about her, apparently she’s lived here since she was 8. Something about watching her family be murdered. And I guess she hasn’t spoken since. I sat with her late last night on the couch in the rec. room. We just sat and watched TV. I haven’t actually tried to talk to her, but I get the feeling that even if I did she wouldn’t answer…
 
—
 
            The bell attached to the door jingled as the three made their way into the store. The musty smell of aging paper and worn leather washed over them as they entered. The shop was small, only three lines of bookshelves freestanding, cramped close together, along with the bookshelves along the walls. However the shop was deceptively long, with another room at the end that held various machines to keep it weather-controlled, preserving the books. At the front of the store a little old man sat, a neutral smile across his lips, his white eyebrows and whiskers hanging over his eyes and mouth.
            Jade went straight to the back of the store. She and Reed came here often. It was his favorite place, and she didn’t mind books either. She wanted to get her brother something good for his birthday, which just happened to be his release date. While walking, she called over her shoulder, "Any new rares in he might like?"
            The old man at the counter chuckled, squeezing his eyelids together causing the many wrinkles to multiply as his smile spread across his lips. He didn’t bother to answer the question, she was already in the little room. He knew she’d find what he put there for Reed.
            Reign and Eddie stood rather oddly near the front of the store. Neither had anything against books, but at the same time neither of them were crazy about them. "So, what is it about books that Reed finds so fascinating?"
            Eddie shrugged. He never understood Reed’s obsession with books. "No idea. He likes to read, and I think he likes to pretend to be smart with the ladies." He smiled as Reign snickered under her breath. Both realized the little old man was studying them intently through half closed eyes, a peculiar look on his face. He smiled at them as they noticed his gaze, and both began shifting their weight uncomfortably.
            Jade appeared from between the bookshelves holding up an rather worn, but beautiful leather bound book with faded yellow pages. "I take it this was for him?" Jade smiled. The little old man laughed and nodded his head.
            "I saw it a few weeks ago at the convention and knew I had to get it for Reed. I’m not sure what it really is though. It seems kind of like a book of potions…"
            "Potions?" Reign asked, interested for no other reason that it reminded her of Harry Potter.
            The old man shrugged, "Yes. It reads almost like a recipe book, mixing different herbs together. Nothing I’d ever seen before, but I knew Reed would like to see it." He smiled again, his face crinkling in every direction. Jade set the book and her purse on the counter and began rummaging through her purse looking for her wallet.
            "How much did you want for it?" She asked, still looking in her relatively small purse. Eddie watched her wondering how she could lose anything in something that small.
            The old man thought for a moment, "Well… I’ll tell you what. Give me two hundred dollars and we’ll call it even."
            "Two hundred dollars?!" Eddie’s mouth dropped open. "Two hundred dollars! What the hell?! I thought Reed was a friend of yours?"
            "He is." The old man replied gently. "I bought it at the book convention for four hundred and fifty. But because Reed’s birthday is coming up I thought I’d give him a deal on it." His lips curled into a strange smile that Eddie couldn’t read, which made Eddie even more uncomfortable than he was before.
            "I know its in here somewhere. Ah ha!" Jade exclaimed satisfactorily as she produced a small wallet, which she opened and pulled two crisp hundred dollar bills out of it. Handing them to the old man, she took the book, smiled and turned to walk out the door. "Thanks! I’ll let him know its from the both of us." The old man chuckled again as he deposited the money into the cash register. Eddie and Reign followed Jade out the door. 
            Walking down the street away from the store, Jade admired her purchase. "I think he’s really going to like this. What do you think?" Eddie and Reign weren’t really paying attention. "Ehem…"
            "Huh? What?" Reign had been taking Eddie’s hand as they walked, and was looking up into his eyes. "Um… sorry. What did you say?
            "Ugh… you two make me sick." Jade made a fake retching noise, causing them all to laugh. "I asked if you two thought Reed would like…" she stopped, and looked around. "What did I do with my purse?"
 
—
 
            The bell jingled once again as the three stepped into the store. "I wondered how far you’d get before you realized you’d forgotten it." the old man said as he was packing things up behind the counter, the sun setting outside the shop windows.
            "Forgotten what?" the strange voice asked. It was monotone, and devoid of all emotion.
            The old man turned slowly. Seeing the three figures before him sent chills down his spine. They were identical, all three with long white hair, and fair skin. All three were tall and slender, but with faces as if they hadn’t aged since puberty. Not a line marred their skin. All three were dressed identically, off-white pants, vests and shirts, with long overcoats of a similar color. But their eyes were what really got to the old man. An ice bluish hue that cut into his soul as all three sets pierced him with their collective gaze. "I..I’m sorry, but we’re closed." the old man stuttered at first, then went back to what he was doing behind the counter.
            "We’re here for something special…"
            "…Perhaps you can help us…"
            "It would be very much appreciated." The three voices were similar, and they talked as if they were one consciousness in three bodies. The old man stopped again and looked up at them over the counter.
            "We’ve come for a book…"    
            "… That we were told you possessed…"
            "… Which was purchased recently at a book convention?" The three stared at him unfalteringly with their strangely colored eyes.
            The old man straightened up behind the counter and watched the three closely. Waiting until his nerves were somewhat steadied he finally answered. "I don’t know what you’re talking about."
            "He’s not going to cooperate."
            "No, it seems not."
            "Its a shame, I rather hoped he would." 
            The three began to approach the counter…
 
—
 
            "I can’t believe I left it." Jade said as they approached the door.
            "Well, at least you know where it is…" Eddie said, just as the old man was thrown through the front window so of the shop onto the street. "What the hell?!" Jade ran over to him and knelt down beside him.
            "Old man, are you okay? Can you hear me?" Jade said, rolling him over onto his back. He face was cut in many places and his clothes had many tears from the glass. "Oh my god, who would do this?"
            "Um… Jade…" The unusual quality to Reign’s voice scared Jade. Looking up she saw three men in the store, heading towards them. One was crawling out the broken window as the other two followed out the door, the bell jingling once again. "Who are these guys?"
            Jade looked back down to the old man as he groaned. "Who are they? What is going on?"
            "Witnesses…"
            "I know…"
            "We’ll deal with them accordingly."
            "I don’t know what "accordingly" details, but I’m pretty sure I won’t like it." Eddie said, stepping in front of Reign, and placing himself between the trio and the old man. "Who are you, and what do you want with him?"
            The old man groaned again and his eyes flashed open. The first of the trio coming through the window began to charge at Eddie with lightning speed. Eddie deflected the first two hits aimed at his head. The quickness and ferocity surprised him. Falling back as the attacks kept coming, he called over his shoulder, "Ladies, we have a problem."
            The other two had finally come fully out the door and were moving with the same blurring speed as the first towards Reign. "Forget hiding!" Reign dodged backwards, avoiding the first two coordinated strikes from the two attacking her. Ducking under a third and then lithely twisting away from a fourth, she cart-wheeled backwards over a fire hydrant. Clamping her hands on the hydrant, water suddenly surged out of the horizontal outlet, a focused spray that knocked one of the attackers backwards several yards. The second dodged the jet of water aimed at him and leapt through the air towards Reign.
            Eddie was still blocking the swings that were meant for his head when the old man looked up at the commotion. Thrusting his arm feebly in the air everything stopped. The water gushing from the hydrant seemed frozen. The one of the trio that was quickly approaching Reign was suspended in mid air. A blow that was only inches from Eddie’s nose hung in the air as if paused.
            Reaching up with his bloody hand, the old man touched Jade’s forehead. "I’m sorry to do this…" Jade felt a burst of light, then information flooded her brain. As if unpaused, she fell forward clutching the old man’s hand as he closed his eyes. Hearing his voice, she looked down at him to see his lips not moving.
            "I know. All three of you are. As well as this trio. I have to do this quickly. I had hoped to sit down with you and Reed at some point and have a proper discussion about this, but these three have brought me to my end." The voice in her head was a much younger version of the old man, stronger, and yet fading slowly. "I am imparting onto you all that I know, which I have learned from generations past. You must seek it out. You must find it before it is too late. Good luck child." 
            With that his hand fell from her forehead. At the same time everything became unfrozen and fell to the ground. Eddie landed backwards, his attacker falling on top of him. Reign’s attacker fells straight to the ground and the water from the hydrant seemed to peter out, barely dribbling from the nozzle.
            Everyone looked around very confused as to what just happened. Recovering quickly, the trio jumped to their feet and with the same speed as before, moved quickly down the street and into the ever deepening night sky.
            Jade continued to kneel next to the old man, holding his hand to her chest, a tear sliding down her cheek.
            "How did he do that? What just happened?" Reign asked, walking up behind Jade to look at the old man on the ground. "Did he just… freeze things?"
            "He stopped time." Jade said softly. "And he knew I’d be able to read his mind. He… he was one of us."
            Eddie stood dumbstruck, "Stopped time? I’ve never heard of that one."
            "Me neither." Jade said, placing his hand back across his chest, she reached down and closed his eyes. "But he knew about us, and its like he downloaded a lot of information into my head before he died. Important information, but I don’t know what any of it means."
            "I don’t get it. Who is he, and where did he come from?" Reign asked, but her question was cut off by a distance siren. "Uh oh… Cops. Jade, we gotta go." Reign touched Jade’s shoulder. "C’mon." Jade stood and looked at the old man one more time, then turned and followed her friends at the same blurring pace.