The Talisman
Rated T
Disclaimer: The characters and story do, in fact, belong to me. Please do not try to steal said creation for your own. Instead, read it and have a good time doing so.
Chapter 1
Johnathan was a man of logic. Contrasting his father's beliefs, which, to him, were of nonsense and childish fears, he never believed in silly curses; in fact, he thought they were pathetic fears, created from the overactive imagination. In his youth, he'd roll his eyes, staring pitifully as his father, a rather superstitious, anxious man, would hang talismans upon talismans around the house. His mother kept quiet, letting her husband have his protection, but Johnathan would silently judge him, seeing only an old fool naively wasting his life away in fear. His face would be a look of weakness, blatantly hammering away to tack talismans in place, muttering softly with a throaty croak:
"This will protect us...this will protect us..."
Then his father would gaze at him, peering into his soul with crazed, delusional eyes.
"This will protect you, Johnathan...this is all for your protection."
...Johnathan would not be like his father.
He still remembered his father's warnings, which were filled with shaken fear and hysteria.
"Don't ever take this talisman down. This will protect you from HER. It will keep HER from taking you away, Johnathan."
Johnathan never found out who this "HER" was, but apparently, something lurked in the forest that had many neighbors bringing their children in earlier. It was something that certainly had his father terrified. That was long alone, but he still remembered like it was yesterday; nevertheless, having studied at Harvard for a doctoring degree, the young man couldn't afford to worry himself about silly curses. He distanced himself from his father out of sheer embarrassment, speaking only to his mother when keeping tabs on their well-being or to express words of love. That woman was truly a saint to put up with that ignorant, fear-blinded man. The next time Johnathan spoke to his mother, she told him they'd be vacationing to Hawaii for the year, asking if he would be so kind to house-sit for them.
The young man agreed, driving up the next week.
His parents and he had lived in a particularly odd area; the town, consisting of small general stores and a school, was a good hour away by car, and the neighborhoods were spread out for a few miles. The path to his parents' house was long and narrow, overshadowed by rotten oak trees as the house, which was old and rotting itself, laid ahead, big but oddly ominous, standing upon a small hill surrounded by a decaying forest of oak trees. He rode along the path, grunting as each bump and pothole could potentially puncture a tire; passing by, Johnathan noticed that the other houses nearby, which were yards away, were vacant. Everyone seem to have moved away since he left, which meant his parents had been left alone in the middle of no-where.
Now he would be left in the middle of no-where too.
"Perfect. Just perfect." Johnathan all but sighed.
Walking into the house, he cursed while tripping over the family's cat, who gave his own growl of annoyance. Looking up, the young man sighed begrudgingly, seeing those blasted talismans hang innocently around the house and fluttering in the occasional breeze from the window. Staring at those pieces of paper, he began to feel that familiar resentment.
"This is all for your protection, Johnathan..."
Hearing his father's pathetic voice, he became caught up in the moment, and soon Johnathan wasted no time tearing them down. One by one, each talisman fell to the ground like soft, fluffy snow in the countryside. The air filled with ripping sounds, clean but rough noises that released the disdain Johnathan felt for his father and his blasted curses.
All that was left was one lone talisman.
Tacked in the middle of the house, hanging high over the living room like a lookout, it stared down at Johnathan mockingly. It was that same talisman he remembered particularly in his youth, seeing the old man replace it constantly and hammering it over and over and over:
The same one that was supposed to keep HER away.
With an annoyed grumble, he reached up, quickly and roughly, snatching it away and ripping it to shreds.
His father was a fool...there was so such thing as silly curses...
End of Chapter 1