Jason Vale and the Ghost Journal Preview

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1

‚Not today,‛ the man said , as he jumped

backwards holding the bag.

In front of him, three black luminescentcreatures headed toward him. They didn’t look

happy. One broke from the pack and raced toward

him. He slid to the right underneath it, took

something out of his pocket, and threw it. It hit the

creature and froze it in place. The man jumped up and

kicked the frozen creature, shattering it. As he landed

one of the remaining creatures held out his hand and

something shot toward him. It wrapped around the

man as he struggled to get it off. The creature then

raced forward. Before it could reach him, the man

spoke some words and broke out of his bindings. He

quickly reached down and threw something at the

oncoming creature. The creature was frozen in place.

He ran toward the creature and shattered it inthousands of pieces, just like the first. There was now

only one left.

The remaining creature let out an inhuman

scream that shook the air, knocking the man back. He



2

slammed into wall and fell to the ground. The creature

didn’t attempt to move forward. Instead it stood thereand waited. The man shook his head and stood back

up, a little dazed.

‚Enough of this!‛ yelled a voice.

The man looked around and saw nobody. The

creature quickly left the room, leaving the man alone.

As the man walked toward the door of the

room, he felt someone behind him. He turned and saw

a woman standing there. He jumped backwards and

reached for his pocket. Before he could grab anything,

the woman put her hand out. The man was thrown

back and slammed into the wall.

‚You have wasted enough of our time,‛ she

said, as she walked toward him.

He was dazed on the ground. As he tried to getto his feet he stumbled.

‚To think , all of this could have been avoided

had you just given it to us,‛ she said.

The man finally reached his feet, still a bit

dazed. He snuck into his pocket without the woman

noticing, and threw something at her. It was the same

item he had used to freeze the creatures. This time

though, it had a different result. The woman caught it



3

in her hand and inspected the item.

‚You really didn’t think THIS was going towork did you?‛ she said , as she threw the item to the

ground causing the floor to ice up.

‚No , but this might,‛ the man said , as he

pulled something else out of his pocket and threw it at

her. This time as the woman tried to catch it, it

knocked her down. With the woman knocked down,

he raced toward the door and tried to leave the room.

He opened the door but before he could leave it

slammed shut and locked.

He turned to see the woman standing up with

her arms outstretched. A beam of dark light shot out

from her hand. He didn’t have time to escape. The

beam hit him in the face. As he fell to the ground

holding his eye in pain, he dropped the bag. Thewoman walked slowly over to the bag and picked it

up.

‚It’s time to end this,‛ the woman said, as she

closed her eyes and began to chant.

The floor of the room began to shake. As she

continued to chant, the door slammed open. A dark

haired woman stood in the doorway and looked down

at her fallen companion. She rushed over to him.



4

‚I’m getting you out of here,‛ she said , as she

grabbed the man from the ground.She led him out of the room, just as the woman

who had injured her friend stopped chanting. The

woman opened her eyes to finish the man off, but he

was gone. She laughed to herself as she looked

through the open doorway and saw him being led

away.

She took the bag the man dropped, and opened

it. Inside was a book. The book was leather bound and

looked very old.

‚Finally we have it!‛ she said , talking to

someone or something not in the room.

‚There are only two left and once we have

those there will be no stopping us!‛

She put the book back in the bag, closed hereyes, and vanished.



5

‚I am very disappointed in these test scores,‛

Mrs. Adderly said, as she walked around the room

and handed the tests back.

Her science tests were known to be difficult,

though she rarely voiced her displeasure to the class.

She went row by row giving each student a glance,

specific to how they did on the test. She was known

for this too. If you did poorly on a test or paper she

would look at you with disappointment, shaking her

head as she handed it back. If you did well, you

would get an unassuming smile and a nod of

approval.As she made her way around the room, she

reached Jason Vale’s desk. She took his test, handed it

to him, and smiled. Jason was one of the brightest

students not only in her class, but in the entire school.

Getting a good grade was the norm for him. He

excelled in school and enjoyed the accolades the

teachers gave him, as much as he hated the grief he

got from the other students.



6

‚Now class , I expect you to do better on next

week’s test. Be sure you study chapters 12 and 13,‛Mrs. Adderly was rushing to beat the dismissal bell,

‚if anyone has any questions-‛ The bell rang before

she had a chance to finish.

‚I will be here for another hour or so! Have a

good weekend class!‛ she said, as the class rushed to

leave, ‚Oh and Jason, can I talk to you before you go?‛

Jason was usually the last one out of class and

today was no exception. He always waited for the

other students to leave first, as there was less of a

chance he would get picked on. As he walked toward

her desk, the few students left in the class chuckled

and shook their heads at him. Jason turned to look at

them as they left.

‚ Jason ,‛ Mrs. Adderly said , calling out to himto get his attention.

Jason turned away from the kids who were

laughing and looked at Mrs. Adderly.

‚You have been the best student I’ve ever had

in my class, and I just wanted to see how your project

for the science fair is coming along. You know it’s only

three weeks away!‛

It was fall and time for the annual science fair



7

at Forest Hills Middle School. Students from any

grade are welcome to participate, and Jason hadentered every year. Each time, Jason had won first

prize for his grade. He was in 8th grade now, and this

would be his last chance to enter the contest.

‚It’s coming along ok. I still have some work to

do but I’ll have it ready in time,‛ Jason said, with a

gleam in his eye. He always enjoyed talking about his

science projects with anyone that would listen.

‚That’s great. Just wanted to be sure we would

see you there this year,‛ Mrs. Adderly said, as she

began to gather her things and straighten her desk.

‚Thanks for asking Mrs. Adderly. Have a good

weekend,‛ he said , as he turned to leave.

As he got to the door, he looked to make sure

nobody was waiting for him. He was hoping thatenough time had passed, and that the other students

had already left for home. While Jason was the

smartest kid in school, he was also the one who

seemed to be picked on the most. He was a socially

awkward boy, though he was kind and generous to a

fault. He seemed to be in luck today, as he left the

room there were no students to be found except one.

‚How did you do on the test? Or do I even



8

need to ask?‛ Faith said.

Faith was Jason’s closest friend. She was alsoone of the more popular kids in school, which made

their friendship seem strange to the other kids. They

had known each other since they were babies, having

been neighbors for years. Faith’s family moved to the

other side of town just last year. Despite not being

neighbors anymore, and their different social paths in

school, they had remained close. Faith had stuck up

for Jason on more than one occasion, getting him out

of some sticky situations.

‚I got 105,‛ Jason replied, with little emotion as

they began to walk toward the exit.

‚105? How did you manage that?‛ Faith asked ,

half laughing half astonished.

‚Well,‛ Jason began to answer pushing hisglasses back into place, ‚I got every question right

including the 5 point extra credit,‛ He said, smirking

back and enjoying showing off his grades…again.

As the two made their way outside two girls

called out to Faith. She waved to them and turned to

Jason, ‚Bye, I have to go.‛

‚Hanging out with Becky and Lauren again?‛

he asked.



9

He did not like Faith’s friends, mainly because

they often picked on him and called him nameswhenever Faith wasn’t around.

‚Yup, going to do some shopping before I go

home. See ya later,‛ Faith walked over to Becky and

Lauren and the three of them left together.

Jason walked home alone, sure that Becky and

Lauren were talking about him. The trip home didn’t

take long, as he lived just a few blocks from the

school.

Jason’s home was an old , rustic, New England

home. It was gothic looking in appearance. With the

renovations his parent’s recently made it looked new

enough to fit in with the other homes in Forest Hills

though.

As usual his parents were not home. They bothhad successful careers. His father was a dentist and his

mother was a real estate broker. While it did allow

them to live in comfort, it did not afford them much

time to spend at home. He had grown up this way and

had grown accustomed to this way of life. He would

often be alone in the house for hours, with his parents

not coming home until about seven or eight o’clock in

the evening. By the time they got home he had already



10

made dinner, and on certain occasions made enough

for his parents as well.He walked into the kitchen, dropped his

backpack on the table and poured himself some

orange juice. He sat at the kitchen table and relaxed

after a hard day at school. He was glad it was Friday.

As he sat there relaxing, he thought that this

afternoon would be a good time to start his book

report. He had been so focused on his science project

that he had not started on it. He had plenty of time to

get it done though, and had a list of books in mind

that his teacher had ok’d. Finishing his orange juice he

put his glass in the sink, took his backpack, and left his

parents a note telling them where he was going.

Taking his bike out of the garage he peddled toward

the bookstore. Jason was heading to one of his favorite places,

Bookmark. The local bookstore in Forest Hills, Bookmark

is a place where you could find any and everything.

While they didn’t carry many new books like the large

book chains, they did have an extensive collection of

older books. Bookmark had many things for an

inquisitive young boy like Jason, and he often spent

hours after school there. He had befriended the owner



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of the store, an older man named Anderson.

Anderson loved books, and the store had beenin town as long as Jason and his parents could

remember. Whatever Jason needed, even if he didn’t

know the right book, Anderson was always there to

suggest something. In recent years, Anderson for the

first time had hired a few employees to help him.

Anderson was still sharp, but was getting up in age

and needed help to organize his extensive collection.

While the store was in town, it took Jason some time

to get there. The afternoon was winding down and

began to give way to early evening when Jason

entered the store.

‚Hi Anderson ,‛ Jason said, seeing a man

behind the counter leaning over to pick something up.

‚Why hello Jason ,‛ Anderson replied , withouthaving to see who was there. Anderson got up and

turned around to face him ‚how are you doing

today?‛

Anderson was usually very talkative and today

was no exception. He enjoyed talking it up with his

customers and particularly enjoyed hearing the local

gossip of the day.

‚Pretty good,‛ Jason replied.



12

As much as he loved talking to Anderson it

was late in the day. If he led on about anything, hemay be talking well into the next morning.

‚I have a book report due soon,‛ he said,

handing his list of books to Anderson.

Jason could have gone to the library and

checked these books out. The books on his list though,

were ones he was interested in reading and keeping.

He had a very large book collection for someone who

was only in 8th grade, and looked forward to adding

too it whenever he could.

‚Well let me see what you have here,‛

Anderson said as he studied the list, ‚hmm…well

you’re in luck. We have most of the books on your list.

Do you want them all? How many book reports are

you doing?‛ Anderson asked.‚Well, I’m doing my report on Treasure Island ,

and I want to read The Light Beyond the Forest. Why not

give me those two, then you can pick one you think

I’ll like,‛ Jason always trusted Anderson’s judgment

when it came to books. Anderson had never picked a

book that Jason did not thoroughly enjoy.

‚Well, let me see here…,‛ Anderson was

talking to himself as he walked away from the counter



13

and down one of the aisles. He pulled a copy of

Treasure Island from the middle shelf. Walking back tothe front counter, he handed the book to Jason. He

then walked down a different aisle, looked up, and

pulled The Light Beyond the Forest from the top shelf.

‚And for the last one, Sam!‛ Anderson called

out, as he made his way to the front counter with the

2nd book.

A young looking man appeared from the back

of the store. Jason looked at him but did not recognize

him. He was familiar with all of Anderson’s other

helpers, but had never seen this man before. The man

walked slowly toward the front counter.

‚Here,‛ Anderson had scribbled a book title on

a sheet of paper and handed it to Sam, ‚I believe we

have a copy in the back room, can you get it for me?‛ Sam did not reply as he looked over the sheet.

As he turned to go, he looked directly at Jason for

what seemed like an eternity before he continued.

‚New helper?‛ Jason asked.

‚Yes, just hired him a few days ago, quiet

young man. Doesn’t talk much but he is a hard

worker. He should be back in a minute,‛ Anderson

said.



14

‚So tell me, how is your friend Faith? I haven’t seen

her in the store in a while.‛ ‚She’s good, just been busy with other things I

think,‛ Jason replied, almost half-hearted as his

thoughts went back to Becky and Lauren and all the

bad things they must have said about him.

‚Good, good, well tell her not to be a stranger!‛

Anderson replied, with a laugh.

‚Ah here he comes now,‛ Anderson said, as

Jason looked to the back and saw Sam carrying a

shopping bag.

Sam handed the bag containing the book to

Anderson. Putting the remaining books in the bag,

Anderson rang up the total. Sam gave Jason another

glance as he walked past him, and retreated to the

back room.‚Well let me see here, your total is fifteen

dollars and seventy five cents,‛ Anderson said.

Jason pulled out a twenty dollar bill, leftover

lunch money he hadn’t used this week. He was lucky

it hadn’t been taken by a bully.

‚Here is your change, and you will enjoy these

books, I just know it!‛ Anderson said.

‚Have a good night,‛ Jason said, as he left the



15

store.

Jason got on his bike with his new books, and began the ride home. It was still light enough for him

to see, but it was getting dark quick and he was eager

to check out his new books. By the time he peddled

home he saw his parent’s car in the driveway.

‚Hi Mom,‛ Jason said, as he entered his house

carrying his backpack.

Jason’s mother was on the phone and cooking

at the same time. She must not have heard him as she

did not respond immediately. She turned away from

the stove and looked toward Jason and let out a big

smile. She waved to him with the hand that was

holding the stirring spoon. He shook his head and was

about to make his way upstairs.

‚No hello for me?‛ his father asked, as he sat inthe living room watching T.V.

‚Hi Dad, sorry just have some things I want to

do,‛ he replied.

‚That’s ok, I had a hard day too, where did you

go?‛ his father asked.

‚Went to Bookmark , I have some things due for

school,‛ Jason replied.

‚Ok that’s good, that’s good,‛ his father said as



16

his attention shifted from his son to the T.V.

Jason was used to his parents behaving thisway, they both worked long hours and it was hard to

really have any family time together. He found some

solitude in his studies and especially enjoyed escaping

in a good book. He made his way upstairs eager to see

the ‚surprise‛ book Anderson had given him.

Jason walked into his room and put his

backpack on the bed. His room was adorned with all

sorts of posters and scientific items. He had a poster of

Albert Einstein on his wall, two microscopes on his

dresser which was right next to his computer desk. He

also had two large bookshelves in his room. The

bookshelves were filled with all sorts of books, from

scientific biographies on Isaac Newton to books like

The Hobbit.He sat down on his bed next to his backpack,

and took the bag with his new books out. He took

each book out one at a time. He took out Treasure

Island first. He always wanted to read this book, and

now with his book report, would finally get the

chance.

The second book was called The Light Beyond

the Forest. The book was a tale about King Arthur’s



17

knights in their quest for the Holy Grail. He enjoyed

tales of knights and chivalry and this was one book hehad never had a chance to read, until now.

The final book, the one Anderson had selected,

was larger than the others. Its exterior was leather

bound and appeared to be very old. There was also no

title on the front cover or binding. Before he could

inspect further, his mother called to him that dinner

was ready. Having not eaten since lunch time, he was

hungry. Placing the book on his bed, he headed

downstairs to join his parents for a rare family dinner.

Dinner was salmon and macaroni and cheese.

Jason enjoyed both and was looking forward not only

to eating, but also spending some time with his

parents for once.

‚So, what did you do in school today?‛ hismother asked.

‚Well,‛ Jason began, ‚I got my test back from

my science class!‛

‚Oh that’s great, how did you do?‛ his mother

continued, as his father began to eat his meal.

‚I did- ,‛ he began to answer, but his mother’s

cell phone rang.

‚Hold on Jason , I have to take this,‛ his mother



18

said, as she got up, her plate of food untouched. She

walked into the living room to take the call.His father looked up at her as she left the room,

and then looked over at Jason , ‚So tell me son, how

did that test go?‛ he asked, in between eating.

‚Well, I got a 105,‛ Jason said, though with a

little less enthusiasm than he had before.

‚105?! that’s terrific!‛ his father replied,

genuinely happy for his achievement.

‚You know when I was in school I don’t think I

ever scored that high on anything!‛ his father said,

with a chuckle. Before his father could continue his

cell phone rang.

‚It’s Mrs. Tanner,‛ he said , exasperated at the

notion, ‚I’ll be right back, if I don’t take this she will

call me all night.‛His father got up from the table and stepped

into the hallway.

‚Hello Mrs. Tanner, yes that’s perfectly

normal,‛ his father’s voice trailed off as he walked

into the den. Jason was left sitting by himself at the

dinner table, eating his salmon and macaroni and

cheese.

After dinner he returned to his room and



19

turned the desk lamp on. Taking the book from his

bed, he went to his desk and sat down. He wanted tospend more time inspecting the book Anderson had

selected for him. Looking over the book, he again

found it very strange. The outside of the book showed

no author or title. There also seemed to be grooved

embroidering throughout the cover and back of the

book, that he did not notice before. As he ran his hand

through the embroidering, his phone rang. Jason had

his own personal phone line, though he rarely used it.

He knew of only a few people who would be calling

him. He placed the book on his desk, determined to

keep this call short.

‚Hello?‛ he said.

‚ Jason quick turn on Ghost Seekers , you have to

see what just happened!‛ Faith said, barely able tocontrol her excitement.

‚Ghost Seekers,‛ Jason groaned, ‚you called me

for that?‛

‚ Jason just do it! It’s crazy what just

happened,‛ Faith replied , getting even more excited as

she spoke.

‚Alright, alright, what channel?‛ he asked.

‚Channel 106…quick it’s coming back on!‛ she



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said.

Jason flipped through the channels wonderingwhy he was wasting his time with this.

‚Ok it’s on, what am I looking for? What’s

going to happen?‛ he was hoping whatever it was

would happen quickly, and he could give his full

attention to the odd book he had.

‚Just watch when they go into the basement,‛

she replied, ‚oh there they go, check this out!‛

Jason watched as the two women from the

show entered the basement of an old wild-west

saloon. As they walked down, the camera was on their

faces. It showed them talking to whatever unseen

force they thought was there. When they got to the

bottom of the stairs, they both let out a scream. The

camera panned quickly to the left, then the right. Thetwo women looked right at the camera and asked ‚did

you see that?‛ Some ominous music played in the

background as the entire encounter was replayed.

As the show headed for commercial, a scene

from the next part of the show was shown. The two

women were asking questions in an empty room, and

again shouted and asked if anyone heard that

response.



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‚Faith, I didn’t see anything. The camera was

on the two women the whole time. Besides this is anentertainment show, of course they need to have

something happen every week,‛ Jason said, after

feeling he wasted his time.

‚I saw it! Didn’t you see that dark figure when

the camera turned? It was amazing!‛ Faith responded,

her excitement not dampened by his lack of

enthusiasm.

As she continued to tell him about what she

saw, and going into great detail, Jason took out the

book Anderson had given him. He again marveled at

how odd and interesting the book looked and finally

opened it. The first few pages had no writing. Flipping

through the rest of the book, he found it wasn’t just

the first few pages but the entire book that had nowriting. The book was thick and had hundreds of

pages but each one was blank.

‚I can’t believe it,‛ Jason said, while still on the

phone with Faith, who by this time had calmed down

from her excitement.

‚I know isn’t that show great, I told you how- ,‛

Faith began to talk, as Jason cut her off quickly.

‚No, not the show the book Anderson gave



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me.‛

‚The book?‛ Faith asked , not knowing what hewas talking about.

‚Yes, I went to Bookmark today to start on my

book report and- ,‛ Faith cut him off

‚Book report? That isn’t due for another couple

of months, you’re starting it now?‛ Faith asked,

though it really came as no surprise.

‚Two months is not that long, and I’ve always

wanted to read Treasure Island ,‛ he replied, ‚the point

is I bought three books from Anderson. One he picked

out himself, but that book has no writing in it.‛

‚No writing? You went to a bookstore and you

got a book with no writing? Are you sure about that?‛

Faith asked, not really believing his story.

‚Yes I’m sure , I flipped through the entire bookand there’s no writing at all ,‛ He replied, flipping

through the book one more time.

As Jason flipped through the book he

overheard Faith’s mother calling her in the

background, ‚That’s really weird, but listen my mom

is calling me and I have to go. I will talk to ya later.‛

After the call with Faith, Jason sat on the bed

wondering how a bookstore, much less a bookstore he



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had grown so fond of, could even have a book with no

writing in it. Maybe the book was so old the ink hadfaded away. That had to be what happened he

thought. The book looked like one of the oldest books

he had ever seen. Faded ink that made it look like

there was nothing written, had to be the answer.

Jason was satisfied with his own explanation.

Tomorrow he would be going back to Bookmark to tell

Anderson what happened. Jason placed the book on

the table next to his bed, took out Treasure Island , and

began to read it. He was determined to make

something of his evening, and he could think of

nothing better than to start reading Treasure Island.

Jason Vale and the Ghost Journal Preview

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