The girls stepped into the small and narrow street, and instantly, the door slammed shut in their faces. Silently, they started retracing their steps down the street the way they had come.

The old woman stood silent for a while then let out a loud, unearthly sound which seemed to be laughter. The old building vibrated momentarily at the sound.

A strange transformation started to take place. She flickered slightly, becoming transparent for a while, and started taking another form.

Her old white hair started to turn black and gradually changed into beautiful, long hair. Her wrinkled and spotted face started losing the spots and the wrinkles gradually faded, turning her face from that of an old woman into a very beautiful young woman. Her old clothes brightened and transformed into a beautiful, white, sleeveless gown, held at the waist by a belt which seemed to be made out of diamonds. A pair of white mighty wings with blood red tips rose from her back.

Onoskelis, one of the many fallen angels cast out of Heaven along with Lucifer by the host of Heaven, has fully manifested.

The once gloomy shop now shone with a bright red radiance. She flickered once more and faded away. The red light slowly faded away with her. The old shop was dark and quiet.

The decomposing body of an old woman believed to be the owner of the shop would be found some days later by neighbours and reported to the police. An autopsy would reveal she had suffered from a heart attack, which wasn't strange or abnormal for a woman of her age with her medical history.

The girls found the small Fiat Martha had rented for their stay in London and hurriedly got into the car. Martha dropped the book and the envelope on the back seat of the car and pulled out the car keys from her pocket. She dug it into the ignition hole and turned it, bringing the small engine to life.

She steered the small vehicle out of the parking lot and they were soon on the road driving towards Briyon Hotel at Hyde Park where they were staying. Neither had spoken a word since leaving the old antique shop and the weird old woman with the extraordinary message for Martha. Martha drove quietly, moving the car expertly through traffic with Jo simply looking out of the window at the buildings they passed without really seeing anything.

Martha finally brought the car to a stop in front of the four-star hotel and got out from behind the wheel. Jo got out, slammed the door behind her, and started for the hotel entrance without looking back. Martha grabbed the book and the envelope from the back seat of the Fiat, and tossed the key to the approaching uniformed porter. Without a word to the man, she hurried into the hotel after her friend.

Jo was standing at the door of their suite when she finally caught up with her. She pulled out the key card from her pocket and inserted it into the slot beside the door. The door opened as the light changed to green and the girls pushed into the room closing the door behind them.

Martha dropped the book and the envelope on the small table at the center of the room and flopped into one of the sofas in the room. Jo stood staring at the book with a look of fear even though she struggled not to show it.

“What are you going to do with that book?”

Martha shrugged silently. She was also staring at it as it lay there on the table before her.

“Try and figure it out I suppose,” she finally replied. “I don't understand everything the old hag said but I'm very curious to find out what's in that book and what it's all about.”

“I still don't think any of this is a good idea,” Jo said turning her head round slowly. “I can accept our interest in the dark arts and all that, but then we were just fooling around, weren't we? This is way too serious and I don't like it.”

“I don't know Jo,” Martha replied eyeing the book again. “I don't know what to do. The old woman made it quite clear what I must do and I don't think it was an offer; it sounded more like an order.”

“But who's going to enforce it?” Jo asked. “We can just throw it through the window and someone else can find it and figure out for themselves what this is all about.”

“I do...” Martha started but Jo interrupted her furiously.

“Oh for God's sake!” she picked up the book before Martha had time to stop her and marched to the open window.

“No Jo!” Martha exclaimed jumping to her feet.

“Good riddance,” Jo said and flung the book out of the window as hard as she could.

Martha reached the window as the book went flying into the air. They expected it to start making a downward trip to the busy road below, but the book just hung suspended in mid air, rotating slowly, then, with such speed, it shot back into the room. A strong wind lifted Jo from her feet and slammed her hard against the carpeted floor. She cried out in pain. Martha turned to see the book gently float back to the table and landed exactly as she had left it. The envelope, which had fallen to the floor, rose into the air and inserted itself into the pages of the book.

Martha ran over to help her friend back to her feet. There were unshed tears in Jo's eyes as she winced in pain and stared at the book ominously.

“That book is evil.” She declared backing away towards the wall.

Martha stared at the book as it lay there and hesitatingly started walking towards it. She felt like it was beckoning her to approach.

She touched the cover, running her fingers on the soft, old skin then, for the first time since they got the book, she opened it.

The pages were brown and wrinkled with age, but there did not seem to be any breakage or tear on them. There were writings on the pages in a rather ancient and long lost language she could not make out. There were also some drawings, some of which she could make out as the solar system, though she could not tell their meaning.

“How am I supposed to read this?” she finally said, closing the book and backing away from it. “I can't understand a single thing written there.”

Suddenly the room became cold. The girls looked about in panic as the windows started sliding open and close before their eyes.

A smoky form started to emerge, but didn't seem to fully form, near the table where the book lay.

“When the time comes,” a voice, so chilling yet soothing at the same time said, “You will be able to unlock the secrets therein.”

As quickly as it had formed, the smoky form disappeared and the windows stopped moving. The temperature of the room returned to normal.

The girls ran for the door. They opened it and ran out from the room slamming, the door hard behind them.