Evil Star

understood."
    "Understood what?"
    "It's evil!" Morton took out a handkerchief and wiped it across his brow. "Have you ever read a horror story, Matt? One that you can't get out of your mind? One that stays and torments you when you want to go to sleep? The diary is like that, only worse. It speaks of creatures that'll come into this world, of events that will take place. I don't understand it all. But what I do understand won't leave me alone. I can't sleep. I can't eat. My life has been turned upside down."

"Then why don't you just sell it? You've been offered millions of pounds."
    "And you think I'll live to enjoy a penny of it?" Morton laughed briefly. "Since I read the diary, I've had night-mares. Horrible nightmares. And then I wake up and I think they're all over, but they're not. Because they're real. The shadows that I have seen, reaching out for me, aren't just in my imagination. Look!"
    He pulled back a sleeve and Matt winced. It looked as if Morton had tried to cut his wrists. There were half a dozen mauve lines, recent wounds, crisscrossing each other about an inch away from his hand.
    “You did that?" Matt asked.
    "Maybe I did. Maybe I didn't. I don't remember! I wake up in the morning and they're just there. Blood on the sheets! Cuts and bruises. I'm in pain. . . ." He rubbed his eyes, fighting for control.
    "And that's not all. Oh, no! I don't see things properly anymore. Ever since I read the book, all I see are the shadows and the darkness.
    People walking in the street are dead to me. Even the animals, the dogs and the cats . . . they look at me as if they're going to leap out Horowitz, Anthony - [Gatekeepers 02] - Evil Star and ..."
    Once again, he was forced to stop.
    "And things happen," he continued. "Just now! Com-ing here today.
    A car nearly ran me down. It was as if the driver hadn't seen me —
    or had seen me and didn't care. Do you think I'm going mad? Well, ask yourself what happened to my house. It burned down. I was there. The fire just started, all on its own. It came from nowhere!
    The doors slammed shut. The telephones stopped work-ing. Do you see what I'm saying? Do you understand? The house wanted to kill me. It wanted me dead."
    Matt knew that at least part of this was true. The Nexus had already told him about the fire.
    "I am a condemned man," Morton said. "I have the diary. I've read all its secrets. And now it won't let me live."
    "Then why don't you just get rid of it?" Matt persisted.
    Morton nodded. "I've thought of destroying it. Of course I have. But there's the money!" He licked his lips and it was then that Matt saw the true horror of Morton's predicament. He was being torn apart between fear and greed. It was a constant battle and it was destroying him. "Two million pounds! It's more than I've ever earned. I can't just throw it away. How would I be able to live with myself? No! I'll sell it. That's what I am. A bookseller. I'll sell it and I'll take the money and then it'll leave me alone."
    “You have to sell it to us," Matt said.
    "I know. I know. That's why I agreed to meet you. Four boys and a girl. They're in the diary. You're one of them. One of the five."
    "Everyone calls me that," Matt interrupted. "But I don't even know Horowitz, Anthony - [Gatekeepers 02] - Evil Star what it means. Ever since I got tangled up in all this, I've been trying to find a way out. I'm sorry, Mr. Morton. I know you want me to prove something to you. But I can't."
    Morton shook his head, refusing to believe what Matt had just told him. "I know about the first gate," he said.
    “Raven’s Gate.”
    “There’s a second gate. It's all in here. .. ."
    “Then give it to me." Suddenly Matt was tired. "If you really want to get rid of the diary and I'm the only person you'll give it to, that's fine. Give it to me. You'll get your money. And then maybe we can both go home and forget all about it."
    Morton nodded, and for a brief moment Matt thought it was all over.
    He'd hand over the package, and he and Richard would be on the next train to . .. wherever. But, of course, it wasn't going to be as easy as that.
    "I have to be sure you are who you say you are," Morton rasped.
    “You have to prove it to me!"
    Matt's head swam. "I've already told you. I can't do that."
    “Yes, you can!" Morton was gripping the book so tightly that his fingers had turned white. He looked quickly around the church, once again making sure they weren't overheard. "Do you see the door?"
    he asked.
    "What