The Book[:

I opened the tattered, old black and red book that would tell me what my future holds. I’ve always wanted to know what’s in store for me, so I would know what to expect from people and know what to say instead of standing in front of someone with a blank expression on my face looking like an idiot. I would no longer be looked down on as the stupid girl with nothing to say. I wouldn’t be weird anymore and I would be able to prevent being teased and bullied. This book was going to fix it all.

As I opened the book and started flipping pages, strange things began happening. Gusts of wind flew at me from no where, windows opened themselves, and shadows ran from corner to corner of the dark room. The lights in the room were off, yet I was nearly blinded by the light the book was giving off. The old man’s voice echoed in the back of my head over and over, repeating the dangers of opening this forbidden book, “NEVER open the book! No matter how much you believe you are in need of that horrid book, your troubles are far less worse than the consequences of opening that terrifying book!! Never go near that book!! Never…never…” it was echoing in my head. His voice was screaming at me and it wouldn’t stop! It was as if the old man was in the room with me screaming in my ear! My ears were ringing, getting louder and louder by the second, I felt like I was being stabbed in the head with a knife repeatedly while the room was spinning. I covered my ears and stepped away from the book. I got light headed and the books light got brighter.

The pages started flipping on their own. I fell to the floor and curled up in a ball and started screaming! Glass bottles fell off of shelves and broke when they hit the ground. “NEVER OPEN THE BOOK!” repeating in my head! I got this feeling in the pit of my stomach that this was all about to get ten times worse, the book rose up from the table all on its own, floor boards broke and cracked, pages of the book started ripping themselves out and when each page ripped it felt like my skull was cracking.

Then, it all stopped. The books’ light turned off, the book fell to the floor, windows closed themselves back up, the wind stopped, the echoing, the ringing, the pain. Everything was frozen. I slowly opened my eyes and stood up. I saw ripped paper, broken floorboards, and cracked glass on the floor. I took a deep breath and pondered whether I should leave it all behind and go home, or risk it all and pick the book back up. I glanced at the door and then back at the book unsure of what to do.

Then, had making my decision, I walked towards the book hoping for the best. It seemed like nothing could be as horrid as what had just happened. One step at a time I moved my legs towards the book, and with each step I heard a floor board creek. I then hovered above the nearly destroyed book. I picked it up and skimmed through the beginning of the book waiting for something terrible to happen. Nothing did. So far, the book was only telling me everything that has happened in my life leading up to now.

I kept reading… reading and reading… it seemed as if hours had passed before I found something.

I had just finished reading about me walking towards this book… and it was already about to tell me…… my death? A strange feeling came over me as I read the last few words, “…on the 16th of November…” that was today. “…the shadows… will be the death of you…” and that’s where the book, my life story, ended.

Shadows? Will be the death of me? I dropped the book. I didn’t hear it hit the floor. The room started shaking, the winds rushed back from no where, the glass on the floor rattled with the room, and the book opened up to a page. On the page I saw the words in big letters, “NEVER GO NEAR THE BOOK!” I gasped and tried running to the door, but my legs wouldn’t move. I fell to the floor as I tried to reach for a door that looked like it was getting farther and farther away! I picked myself back up and got my legs to work. I ran and ran towards the door, but it wasn’t getting any closer.

I gave up and stopped running. I looked around the room. It seemed to have tripled in size! I closed my eyes and tried to pinch myself, this wasn’t real! When I opened my eyes, I saw the old man, “Never go near the book!” and then he disappeared into thin air. I screamed and started sobbing.

All of a sudden, shadows came crawling out of the darkness. I couldn’t see! They had surrounded me completely! I was suffocating, being pushed to the floor until my knees couldn’t hold up anymore. I fell onto the floor not able to move or breathe. The shadows had completely surrounded me, and there was no way of getting out. There was a huge weight on me that started to let up. I was finally able to breathe again… and I screamed. The shadows swallowed me up, and I was gone. But my body was still there in the room next to, the book.

Then I woke up, on the grass in a graveyard. It was daytime, the sun was out. I picked myself up off the grass and started to look for an exit to the graveyard. Then, I saw my mother. She was looking at someone’s grave, crying. I walked over to her to ask her what was wrong. “Mom? What’s wrong? Whose grave is this?” she didn’t answer. “Mom? Hello? Mom! MOMMY!!” why was she ignoring me?! Can’t she hear me?! Then she walked away. I looked at the name on the grave.

In memory of…. Scarlet Rivers…

…………..that’s my name…………..

Darkness came over me……and I was gone.