Let Me Die…
By: Randy Tran
I want to thank my family for all the lessons they have taught me…
To show compassion to everyone even though they are wrong or bad…
Because we are, after all, just humans…
Table of Contents
Prologue…..…6
Chapter 1: Summer Vacation…...…...10
Chapter 2: Coincidence…..…..22
Chapter 3: One Quiet Morning…...32
Chapter 4: The Work Begins…...45
Chapter 5: Home Sweet Home…...…55
Chapter 6: Boy….….71
Chapter 7: Complete…..…83
Chapter 8: The Incident…..….95
Chapter 9: Can't Look Back…...106
Chapter 10: Hell's Gates Has Opened...118
Chapter 11: I Walk Alone….133
Chapter 12: Last One…. 145
Chapter 13: Regret…..…155
Prologue
Once, there was a country that was run by communist rule. In this country, lived a couple that shared a forbidden love for each other. Mike Yi was a male that sold food and vegetation for money to help his family; Kathrin Kim was a female that was similar to Mike. She sold food for money and would try to help support her family. Kathrin's mother wanted to wed her off to a rich man so that she could have access to the money. But through fate or whichever you choose to believe, Mike and Kathrin met each other and fell in love. As the couple grew up, they planned to escape to a better country to live out their new lives they have planned to spend together.
So through cautious planning and timing, they successfully escaped by boats to the country of the United States of America. There, the couple got married and lived a happy life. After one year, they conceived a baby boy in the city of San Bernardino. or in their time, the city of crimes and murder. From that point on, the baby grew up a life where his parents forced everything they could into the child's head. The father would teach the boy everything, from engineering to medical and the mother would teach the boy from cooking to cleaning.
At a young age, the boy has gone through multiple abuses from being beaten by his own parents to suffering from public judgment. The boy learned though, he learned that on his own, he can do great things. But he knew better. The boy knew that his parents didn't see him as their child, but they saw him as an abject that had to be polished to perfection. If perfection were ever to exist. As the boy grew, his two sisters were born and even they chose to beat and abuse him.
The boy knew he could change things; to treat his sisters as his parents did. But he promised himself that if he had the power to change the way his parents taught him, that would only lead to his sisters beating and abusing him even more. As the boy continued to grow, he learned that he was an excellent thief. That he could steal almost anything and get away with it. The life of a thief was a way the boy could do the things he wants, along with chemistry and art, but his parents never really approved. The boy's parents had literally planned out his life to the point of when he dies. So it all goes down to the point in which path a boy named Trace would choose when he comes across a strange book that he discovered was in the basement of an old house that his family had moved into…
Chapter 1: Summer Vacation
Trace has just got out of class and it was the last class of the last day of high school for him as a junior. As he walked towards the bus to get a ride home, a couple of guys drove by and splashed a bucket of fish guts on him. Anger boiled in Trace, but he knew better than to try and resolve this problem, for it was the last day of school and the guys that dumped the chum on him were most likely to be popular, so their friends would vouch for them.
So Trace tried to get most of the chum off of him before he went onto the bus. As he got on, the other students on the bus just stared at him and some laughed. "Sorry kid, but you are covered in shit and smell like it too." stated the bus driver. As he said this, the other students on the bus just laughed even harder. "But my house is another ten miles and it is like a hundred degrees outside." but the bus driver only shook his head and waved me away. Again, I stared at the other students on the bus as they laughed at me. I only looked down as I exited the bus and watched it and the other buses drive away.
By the time I got home, it was about five o' clock in the evening. As I went through the front door, I was greeted by a book making contact with my glasses, which did not break. "Where the hell have you been? Sam and I have been starving! And why do you smell like shit?" asked Beth, my sister. "Well to answer the question of why I stink, I was splashed with fish…" I could not finish as my sister Beth's hand made impact with my left cheek and made a loud. Slap! "Shut up, I don't care how you ended up smelling like shit but just go get us food!" my sister practically shouted at me. All I could do was nod and go upstairs to go get washed up to go shopping.
As I finished, I went downstairs and left the house to go shopping. I took my bike that had just recently got fixed, to go to the grocery store near my home. On the way there, I could still smell the fish in my hair, but it was not as bad as before, so I hoped that people would just ignore it. As I entered the store, I slowly walked around the whole store to look for any cameras. I found a place that the cameras could not cover so I went straight for the art section and grabbed a sketchbook and walked over to where the camera could not see me. I stuffed the book behind my jacket and tightened my belt to ensure that my prize didn't fall out.
I then slowly walked to the instant food section and bought two instant rice and beef boxes. I paid for the food and went out the store with both the food and my prize, the sketchbook. I then got on my bike and went home, as I neared my house I saw that my parent's car was in the driveway and I knew that this was going to be one of those nights that I would be in pain and hungry when I went to bed. As I walked through the front door, part of my prediction came true, I felt a rough hand making contact with my left cheek and I was knocked down. I rubbed my cheek and before I could recover, I felt a fist impacting my gut, knocking the wind out of me. "Why are you late coming home? Where were you and why the hell do you smell so bad?" I heard my father complain. I then heard footsteps coming from the kitchen towards me.
"What's this? Why did you spend my money on things like this? Do you think you can go around spending the money that I worked for on shit that you want?" yelled my mother. All I could do was gasp for breath due to the fact that my father's punch knocked the wind out of me. "I tried to stop him but he did not listen to me and said that he can do whatever he wanted!" stated Beth. At that moment, I wanted to kill them all. But I hesitated, then the worst thing happened; my father saw the bump in my back and reached for it, pulling out my sketchbook. "Why you piece of shit… you think you could go spend your parent's money and hide it from us?" At that moment I knew this night was going to be a painful one.
I was right, for immediately after my father found the sketchbook, he dragged me by the hair towards the living room where he took off his belt and started whip me with it. I knew better than to yell or scream, so I just curled into a ball and tried to hide my face. At that point, I felt a kick to the right side of my ribs, again knocking the wind right out of me. "You think you can hide from punishment…fine" Father then grabbed my arm and dragged me towards the basement door and down the stairs. Father then left me there and went back up and locked the door. All I could do was lay there, but there were no tears, no, there was a smile.
There was one mistake that my parents made when they started to punish me for even the slightest mistake, and that was distancing me my family. Now I don't even have one, all I have is a prison. And the other mistake was teaching me all the things that I now knew. From that, I was able to build a small room in the basement that no one knew about because it was hidden from sight by the tool set. I got up and limped over to the tool set and pushed it aside. It revealed a small room just enough for me to sit up and lay down in, a bed made out of two old blankets, an old alarm clock, and another thin and small blanket. I sat down and lifted up my blanket to reveal a notebook.
As I sat there I wrote in my journal:
June 23, 2012
Hello,
Today was not such a good day. I got in trouble with my parents again and my sisters blamed me for what they wanted me to do. And I got multiple bruises from my father beating me. But what can I do? If I fight back, they would just they hit me more. So I just literally curled up and waited for them to get tired and stop. Today I'm sleeping down in the basement again, which is not that bad, considering every time I get thrown down here, I clean up a little. Anyway, I'm really tired and in pain so I will rest.
As I finished my entry, I looked around and decided that it was again a good idea to clean the basement some more, considering that I was locked down here and I got nothing else to do. I stood up and walked over to the main light that would light up most of the basement. As soon as the light lit up, I could tell that my father had been down here because he would always go rummaging through the boxes that I had organized to provide room for me whenever I get thrown down here. As soon as I finished assessing the chaotic degree in which my father had invoked, I started to work on cleaning this place for the night. 'Guess I won't get any sleep tonight…not like I was going to get any sleep to begin with from all this pain that I feel.' I slightly chuckled from the thought. That one was suppose to look forward to the time they get to spend with their family, but all I want is to get away from mine.
As I continued to clean up the basement, it was getting late and I could hear the laughter from upstairs and knew that the rest of the family most likely finished dinner and were now just watching television. I took a look at my clock and noticed that it was now eleven. I gave a sigh and placed the boxes I had in my hands near the pile that I had finished organizing. I decided to take a short nap.
When I woke up, the first thing that I noticed was that it was extremely quiet. There was no laughter, not even the sounds of the crickets that were down here with me. All I could hear was the sound of me slowly breathing. Then, out of the shadows, I saw a man in a butler outfit walk forth. ''Who are you?" I asked calmly. 'This is odd, why do I feel so calm and who the hell is this man?' And on cue, as if the guy walking towards me heard my thoughts answered…
"My name is of no importance. But what is important is what you are feeling and wanting." said the butler in front of me.
"What do you mean and how did you get here? There is no door, where did you come from?" I asked, my voice trembling as if I was afraid of this guy. But what I felt was the exact opposite. I was feeling really calm, as if this butler was playing a classic song that would soothe the soul.
"Do you like the way you are?" asked the butler.
"What do you mean?" I asked in return, wondering why someone would ask such a random question.
"I mean exactly what I said, I asked you. Do you like the way you are?" the butler asked again.
"…No, I don't like who I am…" I answered.
"What if I offered you a way to change the things that you would like? What if the things you draw can be true and change things to the way you want it to?" asked the butler. I did not know how he got the information about me drawing, but I was too deep in thought to worry about that too much.
'I can change things to be the way I want and things can go my way… But this guy, this butler can't be serious. How can I change things? This is so stupid.' I thought.
"You can change things and this is not what you think…" The butler then pulled a black book out of thin air. "Hey that looks like my…" I could not finish because the butler did it for me. "Yes it does, I will be taking yours and you can have this one. But I must warn you… this book is very special, so be careful on what you do or think. And most importantly, don't be angry when you are near this book, understand?!"
The last word sent shivers down my spine, as if he were scraping his nails against a chalkboard.
I woke up, realizing that I must have fallen asleep after I sat down, but something in my gut said for me to take a look at my notebook. I looked under my blanket and found that it was not there. Fearing that my father might have found it when I was asleep or that I lost it and father would eventually find it, which was when I saw the book on the tool set next to a pen. It was as if reality was telling me to write something for it.
I walked over to my notebook and opened it, it was completely blank. There were not even the guidelines for you to write on, just a blank white page…
'No, it can't be real… Could it?" I thought to myself. I looked at the pen next to me and decided to try it.
June 24, 2012
Today one man fell and dropped his wallet. In it is 500 dollars…
"This is stupid, it was just a dream, and it can't be real." I closed my notebook and went to bed, seeing that the basement was clean enough to sleep for tonight; plus I was really tired from the beating and the cleaning afterward. I went over to my bed and laid down, staring at the book as if it was a rat that I could not kill. "Stupid family and stupid dream. What am I thinking? It was nothing but a dream to create hope and there is no such thing as hope." I closed my eyes and fell asleep.
Chapter 2: Coincidence…
I woke up and looked at my alarm clock; it was now eleven o' clock. 'I wonder where everyone went. They should've been screaming my name to go make them breakfast.' I got up and slowly walked up the stairs then opened the door, slightly being prepared for the door to be pushed shut and knock me down the stairs. But oddly enough, it never came. I opened the door fully and looked around.
I was hungry from missing dinner last night and walked towards the kitchen. It was strangely quiet. I would have expected to be yelled at or called for by any member of my so-called family, but it was not going to happen. I then noticed a small note on the island in the middle of the kitchen. I reached for it, but I was hesitant. 'Why am I so afraid of this little note…'
I finally picked up the little note and read it.
Hey boy, the family decided to go to the mall and since your lazy ass did not wake up, we left without you. But don't think this is an excuse from doing your chores. And since your sisters are with us, you have to do theirs.
At the end there was no signature saying who it was from, but I could tell it was from father as soon as I saw the note's first quote and the word 'boy'. Father never really called me Trace or even by my last name Yi.
I went straight to work, seeing as there was nothing left for me to do. And surely no friends would invite me to their house because I don't have any friends to start with. As I worked, I felt as if someone was watching me, I would find myself quickly turning my head to see if someone was there. At one point, I thought that my family was only playing a trick on me to get a good laugh. I stopped what I was doing and went out to the garage only to find it empty.
'That is pretty weird…Guess that dream made me paranoid.' I gave myself a little laugh. I soon finished and decided to go back to my room. As I sat on my makeshift bed, I realized that my notebook was not where I left it last night. Last night, I had left it on the tool set, but now it was under my blanket where I would usually put it. I shrugged it off, thinking that I must have brought it over but forgot about it.
As I opened the book, the first thing that I noticed was that it was blank. 'That's really creepy. I swore that I wrote that some guy dropped his wallet and in it was five hundred dollars.' At that thought, I closed the notebook and went out to the front door and opened it. Right on the sidewalk that was in front of the door, was a leather wallet…'No, it couldn't be…Could it?' I walked out the door and towards the wallet. And as I neared it, I could feel my heart beating in my neck. I picked it up and looked around, noticing that no one was looking or around. I pocketed the wallet and went back inside the house.
I decided that it would be best if I went into my room to open the wallet. I took the wallet out and placed it on the tool set table and just stared at it, trying to decide if I should look inside it or not.
"This is so stupid. It was just a dream…" I finally said and picked up the wallet and opened it. The first that I checked for was an ID, but I could not find one. Then as I opened the area where the cash was usually kept, I was at a loss for words. In that slot, were a bundle of twenty-dollar bills. I immediately closed the wallet and ran upstairs and towards the garage… Family is still not home. I ran back to the wallet and took out all the cash and counted. "20…40…60…80…100, okay so that is one hundred…" And I continued to count, finally reaching the end total of... five hundred dollars…
"No, it can't be. But I did write that last night…But then again, the book was blank, but…what happened to all my entries before that? It's all gone…" I went through the wallet looking for an ID, but again couldn't find one so I decided that since I found this wallet, I get to keep it. I took the wad of cash and went looking for a hiding spot to keep the money in. I first went to the kitchen, but decided to hide it in another place, figuring that mother would find it. After all, she takes inventory of the kitchen daily… I then went into the garage, but it was such a mess that I would probably end up losing it.
I finally decided to go back to my room and sat down to think the situation over, I then spotted a loose brick in the side walls. I took a screw driver and pried it out and there was a slot in the brick. Perfect. I stuffed the cash into the slot and shoved the brick back into place. I took a few paces back and looked at the area where the cash was and you could not tell the difference from the other bricks and I decided that it should be a good place to keep my cash.
'Mine…' That single word echoed in my head. It was a word that I knew but did not use often. I slightly laughed at that thought.
At that moment, I heard the front door open…
"Boy, get over here…" Yep, that was Father…
I ran up the stairs and walked towards him. "Yes father…" I could not finish before he started to yell at me.
"Why did you run up the stairs? You could have broken one of the boards, you know that!" my father scolded me.
"The boards down there are strong. I know this since because I'm the one that usually repairs it when you…"
I tried to finish but I felt his hands push me back. As I stumbled back, I crashed into one of the family room's chairs.
"Look what you have done, you dumb boy." I heard my mother join in on the conversation.
I looked at the chairs and realized that I have broken one of the three chairs that I had knocked over. "Sorry Mother, but Father did push me. So doesn't that mean that it was not my fault to begin with?" I tried to reason with my mother, but she would never listen to me, even though I was being logical.
"How dare you talk back towards your elders! You know the punishment for this." My father stated.
"Yes I do Father…" I walked over to the couch and my parents went into the kitchen to get a pair of cooking chopsticks. As I waited for my so-called parents to return, I saw that my sisters were walking in through the front door and was now staring at me. My little sisters were quietly laughing and pointing at me.
At that point, my blood was boiling and I could not even think straight. All I wanted was for them to go away, far away to a place where they would suffer what I have been going through.
I could not think of a fitting place for them because I then felt a sharp pain hitting my back. I turned my head and saw that my parents were back with the cooking pair of chopsticks and I regretted what I said next.
"That hurts dammit!" I yelled back at them and this took them by surprise because they were used to the way that I always took orders. That was the way that I was raised. But I was now getting tired of my life and the way that my family was treating me.
"Shut up, just shut up you damn boy! Do you think that I'm stupid? I'm teaching you how to act so you should be grateful, you insignificant little brat! Why were you even born? I choose to raise and feed you and this is the way you repay me you, stupid boy?" My father lost his temper and I knew this was not going to be pleasant.
"Wait, I'm sorry, please! I'm really sorry…" but that was as far as I was able to get before my father started to beat me senseless.
By the time he had finished with me, I was bruised, cut and bleeding severely; also my father was panting and gasping. Most likely he was getting tired of beating me and I could smell that he had been drinking.
'No wonder he is so aggressive tonight. He is probably drunk and has lost control of his thinking…But that is nothing new…'
"Now you can lay there and sleep you brat. And think about what you have done," My father said as the rest of the family walked up in silence. I could tell that the rest of the family was surprised about how aggressive Father's reaction was. But most of them were probably too scared to say anything.
I looked up at the faces of my family and saw that the reason it was so quiet when Father was beating me was that they all had already left or gone to bed.
'Silly me, what was I thinking? I don't have a family, just a group of people that I know and hate.' As Father left, I remained on the floor; the cool tile giving me a slight pleasant relief from the pain that I was feeling.
"I will not cry, because men don't cry, so neither will I…" Rage and anger boiled in me and I struggled to get up and get to my room in the basement. 'Who do they think they are…Why do they treat me like this? All I ever do is try and please them, all I wanted was for them to be happy for who I'm and for what a great son they have…'
I then was able to reach the door that lead down to the basement. But when I opened the door, I was not able to grab the support beam in time and fell down the stairs…
'I keep giving and they keep taking. But that is not enough for them. It isn't enough for my parents… No, they are not my parents, they are…"
I reached for my black notebook and wrote just one sentence… just one. 'All my family members die, and I will get everything they have…'
I then fell asleep; not being able to finish my sentence, but was satisfied with what I got…
Chapter 3: One Quiet Morning
It was morning and Trace stirred in his sleep. As he slowly opened his eyes, you could see that he had little sleep from the beating he received from his father last night. Then, a thought occurred to him.
He sat up immediately and felt pain run throughout his body. He grunted and tried to ignore it. As Trace got up, he fell back down. Trace slowly crawled towards the black notebook that he had left on the tool set the night before and reached up for it. As he opened it, it was blank…
Trace put his notebook down and went up the stairs not knowing what to expect. He knew what he had wrote last night, but he did not know what to do if it turns out that his family was dead.
Trace slowly opened the door. 'Ha, déjà vu.' he thought to himself. Remembering the day before and how, even though he worked hard on the house, he was able to do so in peace and quiet. Trace walked around the house; first checking the garage for the car, to see if it was still here…
It was. Trace could not think of any excuse for his parents to miss out on work, considering that they love money. Trace then closed the garage door and went to the family room to see if his family had watched a movie and fell asleep on the couch. As he reached the living room and the couch, he saw no one there…
Trace then went upstairs to the second floor of the house and he could smell something… It was very familiar, but he could not put his figure on it. As he reached the top of the stairs, he checked both his sisters' room to find that the beds were still made and that no one were in the rooms…
Trace slowly walked over to the master bedroom where his parents usually slept. As he neared the room, he could smell that scent again. It was extremely familiar to him and just as he touched the doorknob; it struck him like a ton of bricks.
'This is a metallic smell… The smell of blood…'
Trace slowly opened the door to see a sight that no one should see; should they even be men or child, no one should witness what Trace saw. On his parent's bed, laid all four corpses of his family members, from his father to his little sisters.
The expression on Trace's face was not that of fear or sadness at the loss of his family. The expression could only be described as that of someone seeing an average thing; as if one were to go work when one wakes up. Trace walked over to the bed, ignoring the bloodstains that were on the carpet, until he was standing in a pool of his family's blood.
Trace first went over to his little sister's corpse. Sam wore a saddened expression as if she just lost something and in her chest, a large, gaping hole.. "She was just seven, but was a big brat…" Trace stated as he moved onto the next corpse, which was his sister's, Beth. She had the same injury as Sam's. Beth had the expression as one would get when one was in pain. "Ugh Beth, look at the mess you made…" Trace moved onto the next corpse while giving out a little laugh at the joke he made.
The next corpse was that of his mother's, Kathrin. Kathrin too had the same wound that Trace's sisters had but it was smaller than that of his sister's. Kathrin's expression could be described as sorrow as one would get when they have lost a child…
"Hello Mother, did you lose something…" Trace started to laugh loudly now, as if someone had told him a great joke. Trace finally moved on to the last corpse. That of his father's, Mike Yi. "Hello Father, now let's see what you've got…" Trace stared at the giant gaping hole that was in his father's chest, it was as if someone took a cannon ball and shot it at him. But there was no exit wound, only a hole.
Trace reached out and stuck his hand in the upper right hand corner of the hole that was in his father's chest. Trace was looking for something. As he maneuvered his hand around, he finally found what he was looking for. Trace withdrew his hand and pulled out his father's heart.
"I knew that you always had a cold heart, even when you were alive." stated Trace. Trace threw the heart back into the gaping hole in his father and went to the restroom to wash his hands. As he finished, he took a shower and changed into the clothes that he would be wearing for the day.
As Trace pulled his shirt over, he exited the restrooms and stared at the corpses that lie on the bed. He then noticed that it was already ten o' clock. "I'm kind of hungry…" Trace went downstairs to start cooking breakfast.
As Trace opened the fridge, he took a look to see what he could have. 'I finally get to have breakfast and choose what I want to eat.' Trace thought to himself. Trace then took out three honey sausages, two eggs and went over to the stove. He started to cook the eggs and sausages together to finish faster. He then went over to the cabinet and pulled out two slices of bread and placed them in the toaster.
Trace then finish making his breakfast and set everything onto a ceramic plate. He walked over to the table and began eating; taking the toast and dipping them in the egg yolks. As he finished, he took his plate and dropped it in the sink to soak for a while. Trace then took a cup from the dishwasher and went over to the fridge, pouring himself a glass of orange juice.
Trace took the cup and went back to the sink. He then washed both his plate and the cup he had. Trace went back down to his room and sat on his bed, thinking about what he had and what he should do with the rest of the day he had left.
Trace looked over to his clock and it read 5 o' clock in the evening. 'What should do? I'm now free and this is what I always wanted, right…' Trace got up and again walked around the house; avoiding the master bedroom for he did not wanted to the smell the scent of blood right now.
Trace then decided that he wanted to go to the neighborhood park nearby that was only down the road, not even a five minutes' walk. So Trace went back down to the basement where his room was located to grab his hat and sunglasses. As he did, he noticed the black book that was sitting on the tool set. Trace walked over to the book and looked down upon it, "It seems that you really like to be there don't you? How about you go to the park with me?" Trace asked the book, as if it was alive.
Trace picked the book up and opened it, staring at the blank, white pages and thinking about the two entries he had wrote. But somehow, they had disappeared and there was no trace of him writing in the book. Trace then emptied his bag and put the book in it with a pen and pencil to write in the book later if he wanted.
Trace went to the front door and opened it. He then turned around, waiting to see if anyone would start yelling at him. But nothing happened, no one yelled or scolded him for leaving and no one was complaining. Trace smiled and he exited the house and locked the door behind him. As Trace walked down the sidewalk, he began to think about the things he would now be able to do. But there were things that troubled him and the first thing that came up in his mind was how he was supposed to get money.
'I could get a job, but that would most likely require my parents to sign or approve of things…Maybe… I could… Ha, this is not going to be easy at my age. How am I going to explain to my employers about this situation? I can't just tell them that I have a cursed book that would make everything I write come…true.' Trace smiled at the idea that just popped into his mind.
"So now that the money issue is over with, there is the problem with the corpses and the house. I could take care of it but people will start to get suspicious about the absent of my parents… The book," Trace's smile grew as he thought about all the possibilities that the book could offer and how it could change the way he lived and everything could go the way he wanted. Not the way that others wanted.
Trace arrived at the park and he began to look for a nice, shady place to just sit down to start brainstorming. He found a big tree that provided a nice, comfortable shade. As Trace sat down, he opened his backpack and got out the black book with his pencil. Trace opened the book and thought about the things that he should change for himself.
Trace began to write…
June 25, 2012
The bodies in the master bedroom vanishes and was clean…All the cash and values are transferred to my name…I get an ID saying that I'm over 21…All the cars that my family owned are sold for half a million each…I have a debit card with all the cash and values placed in…
Trace stopped and began to think if he had forgot about anything else that he might need to be on his own…he got the corpses so that they don't stink up his new house, he got the cash that was now his, he sold the cars that his family owned so he could get more cash, also he had routed every valuables and cash to one bank account that he owned. 'I can now use the word mine and own much more often but it feels off for some reason as if this was just a dream that I'm living in… if this is a dream please let it be real…' Trace stopped thinking and took out his pen and stabbed his hand drawing some blood from the injury that was self inflected. ''Well I feel pain so it's definitely not a dream" Trace notice that it was now sundown and decided to get back to the house to get ready for dinner considering that he had missed lunch and all.
Trace put everything back into his backpack and started to walk home on the way there it was considerably cool than it would normally be then Trace recalled the time that he had lived in Chicago, Illinois and that it would snow there during the winter and when his parents would leave for somewhere with his sisters and he was left home to do work or such he would go outside just to enjoy the white snowing view of his neighborhood.
"I could make it snow tomorrow, "said Trace as he realized that he was already on the drive way of his home. 'Home and I can finally enjoy going in the house without anything to stop, hurt, complain, or anything that could give me a crappy night' thought Trace as he opened the front door. "Well the bodies have not stunk up the house yet and they would be gone tomorrow," Trace then went to the kitchen and began to prepare dinner for him self
Trace got out some rice and began to cook it; while the rice was cooking trace took out the meat and began to marinate it for the grill. Trace then put the steak on the grill and let it cook, after he had finished the steak Trace put it on a plate and turn of the grill and went back inside.
Trace took out a small bowl and began to eat the steak with the rice. As he finished he put the dishes in the sink to soak along with the utensils that he used to cook the meal and walked over to the fridge with an empty cup. Trace opened the fridge and stare at the options he had. Trace could have orange juice, cranberry juice, or apple juice…
After a little considering he decided he just wanted plain water while he then closed the fridge and push the button that would give him some water. The then drank some and put the cup on the table while he washed the dishes and as he finished we went to the living room and just sat there thinking about the things that he could do tomorrow.
After a while he looked over to the clock and noticed that it was now eleven at night. Trace got up and grabbed his backpack as he head down towards the basement, when he got to his bed he decided that he need a way to get to places so he quickly got his black book and write down…
Also there will be a sport car with the keys next to this book tomorrow…
Happy with the things that happened today he kicked off his shoes and went to bed with a smile on his face that has not appeared on Trace face since he was a little boy.
Chapter 4: The Work Begins…
The next morning when I woke up I could feel that I over slept but there was no one screaming at me 'So it was not a dream but to make sure' I got up and walked up the stairs to the second floor of the house. I opened the master bedroom door to fine that the bed and the whole room was clean and there was no corpses or blood anywhere.
I smiled and exited the room feeling that things were going great. I went to the front and opened the front door to find that the drive way was empty and the cars were not there. I went to my room in the basement looking for the black book. I found it and next to it was a car key. I grabbed the key and walked back up the stairs and towards the garage.
When I opened the door, in the garage was a good looking deep-sea blue sports car. I smiled greatly and unlocked the car. As I got into the car and started the engine, all I could do was smile. It was a great car. I turned off the engine, got out, and locked the car as I went back into the house, promising to take a ride to test the car out. I went back to my room and grabbed my wallet and opened it to find an ID stating that I was twenty-two years of age.
Next to the ID was a debit card with a sticker that had the pin on it. It read 0000, "That's cool; it's like a machine where the passcode is set to default." I said out loud. I decided that all the things I wrote down was here and all was good, so I got a pair of clothing and went to take a shower. After I finished, I went to the fridge and cooked the same as I did yesterday.
Three sausages, two eggs, two toasts and a cup of orange juice later, I dropped the dishes into the sink and cleaned them up. I then got into my new car and went out to go the bank to check how much I had in the account.
As I arrived at the bank, I got out and locked the door. I entered the bank and felt slightly out of place for this is the first time that I did anything for me and not for someone else. As I approached the counter, the assistant behind the counter was a young male about in his mid 50's from the color of his hair and the wrinkles he had.
"I would like to change the passcode of my debit card…" I said to the assistant.
"Of course, I would need your ID and your debit card to begin the process," the assistant answered.
I got out my wallet and pulled out the new debit card that I received and the ID along with it and handed it over to the assistant for him to check. As he checked the ID and the card, he handed me both my cards back.
"Thank you, now I need you to swipe the debit card for the computer to pull up your account," stated the assistant.
I did as I was told and swiped the card. The assistant began to type on the keyboard of the computer and his eyes widened…
"Is there a problem sir?" I asked, fearing that the card did not register.
"No, everything is fine mister… Yi. I'm just surprised by the balance of your account is all," the assistant responded without taking his eyes off the computer; as if he were watching a great video and was at a loss for words about the clip.
"May I know the balance of the account?" I asked in return, knowing full well that it was a massive balance considering that I sold both my families' cars for half a million each and plus the balance from their accounts too.
"Sorry sir, but I could not tell you out loud. I can show you the screen, considering this is your account," The assistant turned the screen so that I may see and the screen read that my balance was…3,934,872 dollars…
I was at a loss for words but kept a calm expression, not wanting to arise any suspicion by my reaction. "Yes, that seems right. I just…inherited my families' money from a tragic accident that had recently occurred," I stated, trying to act sad.
"Oh, I'm sorry for your lost and bringing it up," the assistant stated.
"Yes, it's fine. May we continue to change the pin of my card?" I asked politely.
"Oh, sorry sir," The assistant began to type on the keyboard of his computer some more and then he handed me a number pad. "Yes, now all you need to do is just push in the new pin that you would like for the debit card," I pushed in the new pin that I wanted and pressed the green enter button.
"Thank you sir, and would that be all today?" the assistant asked me.
"Yes that is it. Thank you and have a good day." I responded and the assistant just gave a happy smile and a nod as I turned away and exited the building. I got into my car and thought to myself, 'Close to four million. That would mean that before the cars were sold for a million, my family had close to three million to begin with; and they still were that cheap about the things I buy…Oh well, they are gone now.' I smiled at the last thought.
I started the car and drove out of the plaza and towards a place where they would sell electronics. I arrived at a place called Bill's Machines; I entered the building and began browsing. As I went through the place, I grabbed a mp4 player, laptop, cellphone, PC tower, big screen television, printer and a sound system.
As I neared the register, the cashier was staring at the load that I had and stared back at me, "I'm buying this for a present for a friend's." He just gave me a nod and began to scan each item. After all items were scanned, the total price was close to five thousand dollars. I pulled out the debit card I had and swiped it then pushed in the pin. After the machine processed the transaction, the cashier just smiled and waved me good-bye and I did the same.
'I may be on my own, but that is not an excuse to be rude to the people that have given me good service… But…how come random people are polite to me, yet my own family…' I frowned at the thought that my own family was so abusive to me and yet I have met two total strangers and they were really polite to me.
I was able to fit all the electronics into the new sports car that I got but I had a difficult time organizing everything so that it would fit in the car but would not damage the electronics or the car. "I need to drive carefully on the way home, don't want to damage my new things on the way home." I mumbled to myself.
As I closed the trunk and walked around the car to the driver's door and got into the car, I noticed that it was now getting late so I needed to hurry if I wanted to set up my things tonight…or I could just wait until tomorrow to do it because I'm in no real hurry.
As I started the car and backed out, I thought about the room I had in the basement and how it was not a good place to stay, considering that I now have the whole house to myself and that means that I could choose any room I wanted. But there are still the things that were already in the rooms that weren't mine.
'I could just write in the black book and just sell all the things in every room except mine in the basement for a good price; maybe another million.' I smiled at the thought of getting another million in my bank account.
When I had arrived home, it was already sundown and it was getting cold outside. I opened the garage door and parked the car in the garage, not wanting the sun in the morning to damage the car's interior.
I got out and began to unload everything into the house and left it in the living room, which was closest to the garage door that led into the house. After I had finished, I was tired from carrying all the stuff in so I locked the car and closed the garage door and went to the fridge to get a refreshing, cool glass of water.
When I had finished my drink, I got ready for dinner. I was in no mood to create some great big dinner so I just settled for one of those instant meals which turned out not to be so bad. As I finished, I went back down to my room in the basement.
When I reached the bottom floor, I gave a little smile. It was indeed a basement and it was cold, but when one lives in an area -even if it was a bad environment- one grows use to it and learns to enjoy what they have. I walked over to my bed, grabbing the black notebook on the way from the tool set and sat on the makeshift bed.
As I opened the book, again it was completely white with no guidelines to help you write straight and there was nothing in it. I got my pencil and began to write what I want to happen tomorrow…
June 26, 2012
Today all the things in the rooms of my family members are sold for another million…I'm able to set up all electronic items in the master bedroom.'
As I think about it more, I realized that there is not much work to do that would require the help of this cursed book, but I could just write down everything that I want. But that won't be as fun as to work for it and when done, just stand back and marvel at the work you were able to accomplish. Then, an idea popped in my head.
Both of my sisters' room is replaced by a big empty room…
And with that, I closed the book and placed it alongside my pencil next to the alarm clock on the tool set and went to bed thinking about all the things that would and could be done tomorrow.
Chapter 5: Home Sweet Home
As I woke up, I knew what had already happened but I still went to check. I got out of bed and went to see what the second floor of the house would look like after what I had wrote in the black book. As I got upstairs, I saw that the hallway where my sisters' rooms were was replaced by a bigger, open room with a nice, new-looking carpet but the restroom was still there. 'Guess I could have added the bathroom to the room…' I smiled and went to my parent's room to find it also empty.
I went back to the basement and got a pair of change clothes and went back to the bathroom to take a shower. "I'm in no hurry. No one is going to complain at me to hurry up. A good, long shower is just what I need to relax." I stepped into the tub and turned on the water. I was shocked at the sudden cold water that hit me. I did not hate it but did not find it enjoyable either. But it did help me to wake up.
As I finished and got out of the showers, I thought about what I could do today. I have to finish the electric equipment installation but I didn't know what else there was to do. I got changed and went down to the kitchen and got breakfast ready. As I went through the fridge for a cup of orange juice, I realized that I needed to go grocery shopping soon to get more juice and food.
After I had finished breakfast and washed the dishes, I strolled into the living room where I had put all my stuff. As I began to go through the things that I had bought yesterday, I began to wonder if I could get more things because I did have enough money to buy what I want.
I had some trouble bringing the television up the stairs to my new room, but was able to do so when I slid the bottom of the box against the carpet flooring at an angle to get leverage. After the television was up, I was easily able to bring the sound system and computer into the room.
As I was setting up the television on the wall mount, a thought popped in my head. 'I might need some furniture in the room because if I have all these great electrical devices in my new room but I can't sleep in here…Guess I should go furniture shopping.' I finished setting up the television set on the wall mount and decided to stop.
"I should probably get the furniture before I finish setting up the electrical things." So I stopped what I was doing and walked downstairs to get the keys in the basement. I got the keys and went to the garage, as I started the car and opened the garage door, I could feel the heat from the environment.
I started the air conditioner in the car and backed out of the driveway. I decided to go to the nearest commercial furniture store to buy a new bed, some tables, and a night stand for the new room that I now have.
As I neared the place, I realized that my car might not be big enough to carry home all the items that I'm going to buy. "I can rush order it and get it delivered and brought in the house by tomorrow morning."
I went inside the building and the cool air conditioner hit me like a wave against a cliff. It was a great feeling to escape the hot summer winds. As I continued walking towards the displaying area, a sales man walked up to me and greeted me.
"Hello and welcome to Pete's Beds where the best bed lies!" greeted the sale's man with a great expression that was obviously fake from the way he was standing and the small frown upon his face.
"Hello, I'm looking for a room set to purchase. Can you please show me your finest or most popular?" I asked politely but was slightly irritated that the sale's man gave me a puzzling look.
"Pardon, but do you mean to hold a reservation to purchase a whole set or…"
"I would really appreciate it if you would please show me your finest room set or your most popular." I cut the sales person off before he could finish. I was really irritated from the heat and would like to finish setting up my new room before the night ends tomorrow and the rush order would take about twenty four hours to complete the delivery.
"Oh… of course, right this way please." the sale's man answered, surprised by my hostile comeback.
The salesman showed me to a great room, almost the size of a warehouse if it were not for the air conditioner and tons of customers browsing about.
"This is our finest set in the whole building. It costs about fifteen thousand dollars. But you can order this with rush order for another thousand or so. The payments can be as low as only five hundred dollars a month and…"
"I don't like this, can you show me the most popular set now, please…" I again cut the sale's man off not wanting to hear him drone for the rest of the day and waste my time.
"Of…course…right this way." the sale's man answered in barely a whisper. He also grumbled something else but I was not able to catch what he said.
'I going to make you regret messing with me, just who do you think you are talking about behind my back…'
"This is our most popular; the designs are simple yet elegant and could fit any one's room whether they are male or female. This set is a bit more costly than the last. It ranges about thirty thousand dollars and another two thousand for the rush order, but you can make payments as low as a thousand per month and…"
Again the sale's man could not finish before I cut him off. "I will take it…"
"Sure, now where are your parents to pay for this and what percent can they pay?" the sale's man asked me. At this point, my anger for this man was rising fast but I kept my cool and coldly responded…
"I will pay for it and I do not plan on making monthly payments…I will pay in full," I answered towards him with some venom. This seems to scare the sale's man to a point of him going pale.
"You plan to pay in full… Well, of course, would you like to drive the items home?" he asked, fearing that I might attack him or something.
"No, my car is too small. So I require the rush order fee along with any insurance for the items if they are to be damaged by your workers." I answered again, emphasizing the word workers to show that if anything happens to the things that I bought, I will make him pay for it.
"Of course sir, right this way towards the counter to pay." We both went over to the counter near the front entrance of the building and I pulled out my debit card and paid for the whole package and the sale's man just stared at the computer screen as if he were dreaming.
I cleared my throat and he snapped back to reality. "Sorry, just making sure everything is in check and all seems to be so. We will deliver the set to you by tonight." stated the sale's man.
"I also want to hire some of your men to help me bring the items into my house and make sure their shoes are clean or they're wearing shoe coveralls." I answered back at him with a cold expression.
The sale's man was now looking very pale, as if he had just seen a ghost. I smiled on the inside thinking, 'Darn and I forgot to give him a tip, oh well.' I walked out the building with a cold smile. 'That book of mine, it's starting to rub some if its coldness on me. Better be careful about my temper, don't want any unwanted incidents.' My smile grew when I thought about the last word.
By the time I got home, it was dinnertime and I was really hungry. "Darn, guess that sale's man wasted too much of my time." I went over to the fridge and looked in it. "And I forgot to go shopping for more food." So I just made a quick instant meal that tasted rather awful considering how much Father spent buying this.
"No wonder it tastes horrible. Father bought it and anything that he touches or chooses is fowl." At that moment, the bell at the front door rang. I got up and walked over to the front door. Before I could reach for the knob, the bell rang again and again, being pushed repeatedly by a very impatient person.
I opened the door and the guy in front of me stopped and said, "I got a full set for this address. Is this correct?" He asked while looking around the house behind me as if he had the wrong address.
"Yes, this is the correct house. Please wear coveralls over your shoes to keep my place clean." I responded while also pointing towards his partner.
"Of course…" the guy answered, being slightly confused as to why such a young looking person could live alone in this house, let alone purchase a full room set like the one they had in the truck.
"I want the furniture brought upstairs to the second floor of the house. And make sure you don't damage the walls of my house or the furniture, thank you." I told the workers to do what they were supposed to do and I just sat there on one of the chairs in the living room. When they bought the items up the stairs, I followed them when they placed the item down.
They did not seem to like the way I was always looking at them, as if I was waiting for them to make a mistake.
After about another two to three hours, the workers were finished and nothing was damaged. "Good work, would you guy like something cold to drink?" I offered, not wanting to be impolite. Even though I was treating them harsh at the beginning, they did do a good job and the offer of a cold drink made their face light up.
I went back into the kitchen and got two glasses of ice cold water and bought it to them. "Now please leave. You may keep the glass." I told them with a smile on my face.
Both the workers were stunned by the way I was nice for a sec and harsh the next, but listened to what I told them and left with the cold glass of water. As I closed the door, I was able to catch what one of the workers said…
"Man, what a jerk. You would think that one would appreciate what we have done for him."
At that point, I was really upset and went for my black book and wrote in pen…
June 27, 2012
Everyone that was at the furniture place I was at dies a horrific death…
I then closed the book and went to bed, not caring for a shower. As I lie in the makeshift bed in the basement, I thought to myself, 'They will pay for their disrespect.' I fell asleep before I could imagine any of the horrific deaths that the book will cause all the workers and people at the building that I was at.
Next morning came, and I got up and took a shower and got ready for the long day of work that was going to come today. I got out of the shower and got changed into an old pair of clothing, not wanting to ruin any of the good clothes that I had. "I should go shopping for more clothes and food today, got to remember that…" I told myself as I ate a quick breakfast; one of those instant meals and it tasted better then the dinner I had last night.
I went back up to my soon-to-be new room and was looking at the new furniture that I had ordered yesterday. I began to open the box for the bed set and started to assemble it. I finished assembling it in about another hour. "Not that bad for just the bed; so only the desk and the table is left." I commented to myself.
I pushed the box spring then the mattress onto the bed set. I stood back to marvel at the work that I had just finished. It was one of the biggest pieces of the room so I finished the hardest part of the furniture set. I began to work on the desk, which was not that hard, just many smaller pieces than the bed; but it took about half the time to finish the desk. I was happy that the wood design of both the bed and the desk matched with the color of the carpet.
After I had finished setting the desk into the correct position of the room, I stepped back and felt satisfied with the position of both the bed frame and the desk; then I went straight to work on the table. I set up the table and took a look around the room for the overall look of the positioning of the furniture and was happy with the current progress I was making.
I went downstairs to make a lunch that consisted of a ham with tomato and lettuce sandwich. I ate it slowly, being exhausted from the work I was doing and not wanting to get a cramp. As I finished, I went to get a drink of water and rested for a while. I went to the living room and turned on the television in there. I flipped to the news channel and the current news was a building called Pete's Beds had a freak accident where a propane truck crashed into the building and everyone in the building was blocked by the truck so they could not escape.
Everyone died. 'That is great. Everyone died, meaning that the sale's man and the two workers that had brought the stuff here must have died.' I smiled and went back to work, happy about the current so-called disaster that happened.
I had already finished the furniture, so all that was left was the electrical items. I set up the computer and hooked it up to the television on the wall and set up the surround system with the computer, along with the DVD player.
After everything was finished, I started up my computer and set everything up along with the mp4 to be recognized by my computer. After that, I set up the lights that came with the set and was really happy with the room. I went to the showers and took a nice long one that was extremely relaxing. After that, I decided to go shopping for both food and new clothing.
I took my wallet and went for the garage and started the car. As I opened the garage door, I could feel the heat again. It was not as bad as yesterday but it was still hot. I went to the closest grocery store and bought some food; mainly meat, cereal, juice and some other things that I saw to be good. Went home to drop off the food and store them in either the freezer or the fridge. I then went back into the car and was rather upset. 'I have been working all day. But when this is all done, I will enjoy the night greatly.' I got out and went to Krazy Clothes, the place that I got my good pair of clothes at home. I entered the shopping area and could feel the cold air conditioner cool me down from the extreme heat from outside.
I grabbed a cart and went through the men's aisle and looked through the jeans and t-shirts. I never really liked anything that was really complex with many colors or designs. I was satisfied with a plain t-shirt, jeans, and a pair of casual black shoes.
After I had got everything I liked, I went to the counter to pay for everything. The cashier checked the price tags and the total came out to be two hundred and fifty five dollars. I swiped my card and left with a smile on my face.
"I got new clothing, a new room, electronics, and life. Nothing can make this day any better." I quietly commented to myself. I got into the car and started the engine. I got home at about six in the evening. I decided to take a piece of steak and marinate it along with some rice and a cup of orange juice.
After everything was cooked, I sat down and enjoyed a good dinner. I took another shower to get rid of any sweat that may have formed on me when I went shopping for food and clothes. I pulled on a bath robe that I had bought along with the clothes and sat in the new room that I had and begun to play some nice, relaxing music.
"Home sweet home at last…" I fell asleep on the chair and felt happy with the new life that I had.
Chapter 6: Boy…
The next morning I woke up in the chair and realized that I fell asleep in it. 'I seem to be falling asleep more often without realizing it.' I thought to myself. I got up from the chair and stood in the middle of my room. "This is what a person deserves and this is what I should have deserved." I said out loud to myself.
I went to take a shower but wanted to take a quick one for I wanted to enjoy my day since I had finished refurbishing my new home. So as I got into the shower, I did not rush, nor did I relax. After I had finished my shower and got changed, I went downstairs and happy that I was finally done with my home.
I did not want to go anywhere today, I already went shopping for new clothes, got enough food, got a new room, so there is nothing more that requires me to go out so I will just stick around my room and enjoy my new computer.
I went to the kitchen to eat breakfast, wanting two eggs and some maple sausages with strawberry jam on toast. As I cooked my meal, I began to wonder, 'What else is there for me to do because if all I ever do is just enjoy my room, things are going to get boring rather quickly. But my family is not here to ruin anything for me, so I'm happy with this life.' I finished cooking the meal and set it all on two plates and got a cup of orange juice.
I then began to eat. After I had finished my breakfast, it was eight in the morning and I went to put the dishes in the sink and wash them. After I had finished with that, I went back to my room and played some nice, relaxing music and went on my computer.
I began to look at shopping online, something that I heard that many people were beginning to do and it was really popular. I went on a few and found many neat things all of which I can buy but it would take up more houseroom than to entertain me.
After a while, I wanted to take a nap and went to bed, wondering what should I do tomorrow because I have nothing more to do. Just then, before I could go to bed, an idea lit up in my head. 'I could go fishing, I always enjoyed it and the lake is not far from here.' I got up and grabbed my car keys.
I opened the garage door and started the car and the AC. "It's hot outside, but a nice shade and a chair will be perfect for me to enjoy fishing by the lake." I mumbled to myself. I backed out the car and headed straight for the Sporting Goods store.
I arrived and got out of the car and went inside the store with a cart in my hand, pushing it through the aisles. I came by the fishing rods and picked out a nice blue and white rod that was flexible but durable; great for both casting and indicating if a fish is biting. I then went to the reels and found a nice black and gold reel that would support a one hundred pound line and has drag.
I began to look for the line when I noticed that there was a cap sale in the aisle next to me. I went to check it out. I found a nice cap that was mainly white with a small blue fish design near the right side of the cap.
I then went back to look for the line and got the one hundred pound line along with some worms for bait. I went to the counter and checked out, spending about another two hundred and went back into the car.
I drove to the lake that was close to home and arrived, noticing that not many people were there today. 'This is great. Not a lot of people and there is a shaded place over there near the bench.' I went over there and began to set up the rod and hooked on the bait.
As the day went on, I was able to catch about a bucketful of catfish and it was beginning to get cooler as the sun slowly went down.
It was now about ten o' clock and I had best be getting home to cook the fish for dinner. Just as I got off of the bench, my fishing rod made a hard jerk to the left, knocking over my other equipment and soda can that I had bought during the evening. I went to grab it and felt that the fish was pulling really hard on the line. It was fortunate that I had bought the one hundred pound line because this fish was putting up a fight.
I was struggling with the rod; my drag on the reel was making a screeching noise that sounded like tire burning rubber on pavement at a distance. Then the fish began to loosen up on the line and I immediately began to reel it in.
The process of me and the fish fighting went on for another ten minutes before I was able to get the fish near the shore; but now a problem occurred to me. 'How the hell am I going to net this fish when I have to hold the rod with both hands?!' I began to analyze the situation and was able to come up with an idea that I can give the rod some line so I can wrap it around my shoe and then I can get the net.
I loosened some line and wrapped it around my shoe, but the fish shot straight in the opposite direction when I loosened the line and the line wrapped around both my shoe and two of my fingers before I could get my hand out of the loop.
As the fish pulled on the line, the line cut into my flesh and I could feel my warm blood flowing out of my fingers and down my hand. I struggled and went for the net on the table and was able to get it but I could not see the fish in the water for the fish had thrashed around the muddy shores and made the water all blurry.
I was beginning to run out of ideas, it was getting dark and I don't have a flashlight and the fishing line was now cutting really deep into my fingers. My fingers were beginning to get cold and I was getting really tired then a young boy about 7 or 8 years old grabbed the fish line and the line loosened up on my two digits.
"I got the line Sir, go ahead and get the fish in the net." The young boy stated, his voice strain because of the pain he was in as the line began to cut into his hands.
I got up and grabbed the net and caught the fish in it. It was a big catfish; about a foot and a half in length and weighed probably about twenty pounds. It was indeed the catch of the day.
The boy got up and began to walk away after I had sat down and placed the fish in the bucket. "Hey boy, thanks…" I said, but the boy was already walking in the other direction.
"Hey, where do you think you're going? I got to thank you and your parents," I yelled at the boy. He stopped and walked back slowly.
"I…I have no parents." the boy spoke quietly and sadly. I was surprised to say the least, I could live on my own no problem but this boy was still young and his hands were probably all cut up like mine when he held onto the fishing line for me to get the net.
"Well then I guess you can come with me. We got to clean up those hands, yes?" I said to the boy. He looked up at me and he was both muddied and pale from the fight with the fish. He was a homeless boy, so he probably had little energy to survive let alone help me with the fish.
"Thanks…" the little boy said quietly. We both went back to my car and as I got in, the boy stood there, hesitant to enter the car.
"Hey boy, what's wrong?" I asked.
"I'm all dirty, aren't you worried that the car will get dirty too? The mud will stick to your car seat and everything." the boy asked, his voice filled with concern. I was both happy and sad about this boy. He was both injured and homeless, most probably hungry too, but he was concerned that he might mess up my car; guess there is still good people in this cold world.
"Don't worry about it; I got a way to get everything back to top condition, including you. So get in here, I will turn up the heat for you, you must be cold after rolling in the mud." I stated to the boy. His face lit up and he got into the car, holding his hands in front of the vents to get his hands warm. As his hands warmed up, the blood from the cut began to run again and I realized that his hands must be in pretty bad condition and that my hands were cut too.
As we both arrived at the house, I got the boy inside and wrapped him in a towel while I gt the fishes and equipment from the trip into the house. I put the gear in the garage and the fish in the sink.
I went back to the boy with a warm and wet towel to wipe his hands up. The boy's hands were pretty messed up and probably needed some stitches but he has no parents and he will most likely be too afraid of the doctors and needles to get stitches. After I had finished with cleaning the cut, I went back into the kitchen and got the first aid kit.
I went back to the little boy and wrapped his hands up. "All right, that should do it. So what's your name little kid." I asked the boy.
"The name is Dan," the boy said tiredly.
"Well Dan, since you have nowhere to go to or to go back to. You are one pathetic kid, look at you, you have no parents or family, hungry, dirty, poor, cold, homeless." I said to him. Dan began to cry and I began to laugh.
"Well, guess you're stuck with me as a new family. What do you say little kid?" I said to him and put my hand on his head. Dan has a look of shock on his face and looked up at me with teary eyes to see me smile back at him.
"Really?" Dan asked me, still not believing me but he gave a hopeful smile.
" Yup!" was all I said and his face grew brighter and his smile also grew. Then a trickle of blood ran down his forehead and down his right cheek. The boy looked shocked from the wet and warm feeling that was running down his face. Dan took his hand and touched the slow flow and looked at the red colored fluid.
I lifted my hand off his head and look at my two fingers which were caught in the line before the boy came.
"Ah! Your fingers, they are cut really bad! What should we do!" the poor boy said in a panic. I just smiled at him and he began to calm down.
"Don't worry, this is nothing bad." I reassured Dan. The boy looked puzzled as I got up and cleaned my wound and wrapped it like Dan's cut. "Well, that's that. How about we call it a night, tomorrow we will both clean you up and get new clothes for you, what do you say?" I asked as I turned to look at him only to find him already asleep.
I smiled and looked at the clock to see what time it is. 'It's midnight and the boy has lost a lot of blood from the cut. No wonder he is tired.' I thought to myself. I got a blanket and threw it over Dan. I sat there, watching the boy sleep.
After a while, I decided to do something that might help both the boy and me out. I went to my room and got the black book, quickly writing what I wanted down.
June 29, 2012
Both Dan and I were completely healed and are fine…My car is completely clean, as if it were new…House is clean…And a complete envelop of fake information on the boy including social security, ID, birth certificate, etc.…
I then set the book down and went back to the living room where Dan was sleeping and sat down next to him and fell asleep as well.
Chapter 7: Complete
I woke up to a scream that rang in my ears. I stood up, fully awake, expecting someone was breaking in and robbing the place or that someone was held hostage. Only to find that Dan was looking at his hands and was panicking that the cut was complete gone with no evidence that it was there in the first place.
"My cut, it's gone! But what happened? Is this a dream or am I dead from bleeding too much?'' Dan said in a jumble, it was all but impossible to understand.
"Don't worry about it. I can fix almost anything I want," I told Dan. 'With a cursed black book.' I thought to myself, smiling a bit.
"But it has not been a full day yet! So how come it is just gone?" Dan asked me as he started to calm down.
"Magic," That was all that I told him and I patted his head. "Lets get cleaned up for breakfast, all right kid?" I asked him.
Dan frowned. "My name is not kid, it's Dan and I still don't know what your name is." Dan demanded of me. All I could do was just smile at how brave this little boy is.
"I'm sorry Dan, my name is Mike," I said back kindly. Dan began to smile and we both went to the bathroom and I showed him how to use the shower and brush his teeth. After we both had finished, I got changed and gave Dan a pair of clothing that was too small to fit me but still slightly big for Dan to wear.
"We will go shopping after breakfast. What do you say?" I asked Dan. Dan's smile was so wide you can almost walk on it. We both then went downstairs and I began to cook breakfast.
I made eight sausages, six eggs, four toasts and two cups of orange juice. After I had finished cooking the meal and put everything on a plate to be brought to the dining table.
As I neared the table, I could see a little drool coming from the corner of Dan's mouth and could also hear his stomach growling at the delicious smell of breakfast.
I sat there staring at Dan as he gobbled down his food and juice not missing a single crumb or drop. I smiled and him and began to laugh quietly at first which then broke out into a full hard laughing spree. Dan heard me and stopped, closing his eyes and looking down at his feet.
"Hey don't worry, here," I pushed him my plate and juice and he looked up at the plate and then at me with a puzzled look. "You are hungry yes? Then you can have my plate I don't mind really." I told Dan. He just smiled at me and began to eat my share of the food only slower and showing a little table manners this time.
"Wow, thank you so much. That was really a great breakfast, I usually eat old garbage food I find but this is great, thanks!" Dan said to me with much gratitude. I smiled and got up to the island in the kitchen and got the car keys, which I had left in the kitchen after we both had arrived home yesterday.
"Hey Dan, let's go shopping for some food that you would like to try along with some clothes and a new set for a room that will be yours." I said to Dan as I went to get my wallet from up stairs. As I got down, I saw Dan crying which for a moment surprised me. 'Why would he be sad when I offered so many nice things for him?' I thought to myself.
"Hey little man, what's wrong? You ate too fast?" I asked him. Dan just shook his head and his eyes were still working the waters.
"No one has been this nice to m-me…Is this j-just a prank to throw me out, o-or are you r-really going to g-get all those things you s-said?" Dan said between sobs.
My heart was so much in pain from the comment that this boy just made. I was not mad at him but was surprised he would think such a thing. "Listen here Dan, I told you that you are my family now, and family look out for one another so I will get you all those cool things that I said I would, promise." I said as I held out my pinky. Dan just stared at the pinky and had a questionable look on his face.
"Here, you do this." I said as I took his pinky and wrapped it around my own and giving him a shake. Dan stopped crying and slightly smiled at me.
We then both got in the car and I opened the garage door and backed the car out. "Hey, is it too hot in here? I could turn on the air conditioner if you want." I asked Dan, I was fine with the heat but the baggy clothes of mine that Dan was wearing could make it hotter for him than me.
"Yes please," stated Dan. I turned on the air conditioner and headed for a clothing store to buy new clothes for him.
We then arrived at a nice looking store and we got out of the car. It was now near early noon so it was getting hotter by the minute. We both went inside and to the children's clothing aisle.
"Go ahead and choose anything you want, but it must fit you." I told Dan. He was now really happy as he browsed through the aisle looking at new pants and t-shirts to wear.
After a while, we had picked out about twenty new pairs of clothing for Dan plus two bags of socks and a new pair of casual shoes to wear, considering he had really big shoes with holes and now socks to wear. After all that was done, we both went to the counter and paid for all the clothes.
The total amount was around five hundred dollars because Dan had picked a few expensive designers clothing. As I started the car, I noticed that Dan had a sad expression on his face. "Hey, what's wrong man?" I asked him.
"You had to spend a lot of money just for me and my clothes. I'm scared to think about the prices for the room." Dan said, clearly concerned for my financial status.
"Hey, what did I tell you about this? I told you not to worry, we are family and I have plenty of cash to use. No worries okay?" I told him. I held out my pinky and he smiled again as we shook our pinkies.
We then went to a furniture store to buy a set of furniture for Dan. 'I hope this place is not like the last' I thought to myself.
We went to a place called Bed's Emporium. We both went in and a sale's man greeted us.
"Yes, how may I help you?" he asked kindly.
"We are looking for the children's set of rooms. Please show us the most popular and finest." I told the sales men with a smile, giving him a chance to be nice if possible.
"Of course, right this way," stated the sale's man. He took us to a long aisle where there were dozens of room sets all aligned in an orderly fashion. He took us about mid-way down the aisle and pointed to a fine-looking set.
"This is our most finest. Its cost is around five thousands dollars and that is with tax and the rush order. With an extra thousand, you will get insurance for the delivery." stated the sale's man with a smile.
"What do you think Dan? You like this set?" I asked Dan. I could tell he was in deep thought.
"Do you have one that is in blue perhaps?" Dan asked the sales men.
"Of course, right this way." said the sale's man. He took us near the end of the aisle and pointed to a similar set but it only had a sea theme bed and a blue dresser and drawer. "Here you go, a blue set of our most popular," said the sale's man with a smile.
"You like this one?" I asked Dan again.
"Yes, yes, very much can we get it?!" asked Dan excitedly.
"Of course, can we get this set with the insurance and the rush order please, I will pay in debit." I told the sale's man. He was slightly surprised by this but agreed and showed us to the counter to pay for the order.
After all was paid and the items were beginning to be wrapped and loaded onto the truck, I told the owner the address to bring it too and hired two men to help assemble the set considering the effort it took me to set mine up. They agreed and told me it would take about a couple hours to get everything loaded and delivered.
Dan and I then both left and headed for the car. "Now we get some new food you want and get home, yes?" I asked Dan. He grinned at me happily and I started the car and drove to the grocery market.
When we arrived, it was late noon and we got what we wanted for dinner and paid everything at the counter. Dan picked out a big New York style meal with a big steak, mash potatoes, and a lobster tail with lemon pepper seasoning. I wanted the Deli Mediterranean style grill burger.
As we both exited the store, we were joking about how the store had the coolest food that was on our minds. We both got in the car and started to head home. As we arrived home, we saw a big truck in front of our driveway. I parked the car next to the truck and got out, telling Dan to stay in the car.
As I approached the truck, two guys got out and walked towards me. "Yes, we got a delivery for a full room set for this address." said the man on the right.
"That would be correct, please wear shoe coveralls when entering the house," I told them.
"Of course sir." stated the man on the left. As they both went to the truck to begin unloading the furniture, I went back to the car and brought the clothes and groceries in.
By the time that I finished cooking, the two workers had finished setting up the room and I was really satisfied with how it turned out to be and the workers did not mind Dan telling them where to put things. I wanted Dan to decide where he wanted his stuff, I wanted him to be free and not treated like I was. I thanked the workers and gave them each a twenty dollar tip and two cups of ice cold juice which they thanked for and left.
Both Dan and I ate our dinner and talked about Dan's feeling for the new room. In general, he loved it. Dan helped me with the dishes, I washed them and he would dry them and put them in the cabinets.
We then both got washed up and brushed our teeth and got ready for bed.
As Dan got in the new bed of his, I wished him a good night. "Good night Dan, sweet dreams." I said.
"Good night Big Brother…" Dan said before he drifted off to dreamland.
I was surprised to say the least, this little boy called me big brother, something that even my own sister never called me and yet this boy who is not related to me is so kind and caring. I smiled and turned off the light and left the door slightly open with the hallway lights on. As I retired back to my room.
"So I got the room that is my sisters' room's combined and Dan got the master bedroom, which is smaller than mine but not by much, guess this is a complete life for me…" I said quietly to myself as I too drifted off to dream land.
Chapter 8: The Incident
I woke up in my bed, having a slight headache but happy with what I had. I have, for once, a good family even though it only consists of a boy that is not even related to me but I was still happy and treated him like a little brother.
I got out of bed and went out of my room to check on Dan to see how he was doing. As I opened his door, I saw him snoring on the bed that we had purchased yesterday and smiled slightly. I then went to the shower and took my time. After I had finished, I went to go change and got downstairs to prepare dinner.
As I began to cook some of the fish that I had caught at the lake, I heard a pair of feet running down the stairs.
"Dan!" I called out loud. Then the running stopped and I heard Dan hurrying to the kitchen but not running. Dan greeted me with a smile and I gave him a blank expression.
Dan's face turned and he bowed his head.
"How many eggs would you like for breakfast?" I asked him with a smile. Dan looked up at me and saw that I was only messing with him.
"Two please," said Dan with a slight laugh as he started to walk over to the table.
I continued to cook breakfast and took my time, wanting to mess with Dan some more. As I finished, I placed the plate of food and a cup in front of Dan. He started to scarf it all down, then realizing that I was watching him with a stern expression, he began to use his table manners.
"Sorry…" Dan said quietly. I smiled at him and patted his head to show him that I was not mad at him. I went over to my side of the dining table and began to eat the food with Dan. After all was finished, Dan and I took our plates and headed over to the sink. Dan helped me washed the dishes and we both went to the living room to watch some television. After about ten minutes watching a cartoon that Dan wanted, I fell asleep.
I woke up to the pounding of a small fist on my head.
"Wake up, wake up, you fell asleep! That is not fair! You agreed to watch television with me, not sleep through the show!" said Dan as he lightly pounded my head. I gave him a little laugh. "Sorry, just tired. Hey, you want to go to the park?" I asked Dan.
His face lit up and we both got ready to go to the park to enjoy our day. We both went out to the garage where the car was and I started the car's engine and turned on the AC. As I backed out of the driveway, my eyes took a while for them to adjust from the dimly lit house to the bright environment of the desert.
As I arrived at the park, even though it was only a couple blocks away I did not want Dan to be in the hot sun, I parked the car and both Dan and I got out.
"Alright Dan, you can play wherever you want but only as long as I can see you and it is safe, understand Dan?" I asked Dan to make sure that he understood that there could be safety hazards in the park.
Dan nodded at me and gave me a little smile. I just smiled back and he took off running towards the swing set. I began to walk towards a shaded patch under a tree to rest and keep an eye on Dan. I began to feel a slight cool breeze as it swept across my face and could also hear the light rustle of the late summer leaves in the trees above me.
I began to lean back on the tree and could hear Dan playing happily on the swing set.
Then, out of nowhere, I could hear shouting and laughter. I shot my eyes wide open to see a group of guys from my school running towards the park, shooting each other with carbon dioxide BB guns.
I began to panic and yelled towards Dan. "Dan, get over here now!" I yelled at him. Dan was still swinging as he heard me and stared at me with a confused look on his face.
The group of guys from my school were now running through the park and some of them were shooting and laughing as others took cover behind trees.
I ran over to Dan to try and get him off the swing but I was a good distance away from him and the group of guys from the school was right next to the swing set in the park.
Then, one of the guys ran over to the swing set while shooting his fellow friends and laughing was not paying attention to Dan that was still playing on the swing set.
I watched the event unfold right in front of me as it played in slow motion. Dan came swinging back down as the guy was right in front of the direction of the set. As Dan came down on the swing he hit the guy, which sent poor Dan hurtling towards the ground as his body rolled and tumbled in the grassy ground.
The guy that was also hit tumbled to the ground and was groaning in pain. The BB fight stopped as the other guys gathered around their fallen friend.
I ran over to Dan who was now unconscious and was gasping for air. I screamed at the group of guys to come and help me with him. As they got over to where I was, one of them spoke out.
"Look what you did to our friend, he's now in pain and bruised. How will you fix this you damn… Hey, you're from our school, right?" one of the guys asked me. I glared at them. They were being punks while a kid is unconscious and in pain and all they could do is ask if I was from the same school.
"Yeah, you are from our school. You're the Asian that my buddy told me about." another one of the guys stated. The whole group began to laugh at Dan and I while Dan was still having trouble breathing.
I was enraged by their comments and what they did next surprised me. One of the guys kicked me square on the jaw and knocked me back. I was stunned and they picked up Dan's limp body by his hair.
"I thought you had no little brothers. Whose this guy?" the one that Dan had impacted asked as he wiggled Dan's body around.
"Leave him alone," I said quietly because of the pain that was still in my jaw from the kick that I got earlier.
"What was that?" another guy from the group said as they began to laugh loudly, and dropped Dan's body to the ground. I watched them as they turned towards me and started to walk towards me. I watched them as they towered over me for I was on my knees after I was knocked back.
At that moment, I could still see Dan's body between two of the guys and he was now breathing but really slowly. I lost all sense of rational thought and I lunged towards one of the guys and began to punch him over and over in the face.
The group of guys from the school were surprised to see me beating the crap out of one of their friends and after a second they realized I was still hitting their friends. One of them grabbed my arms and pulled me up. I tried to break free and attack him but it was no use.
Then an idea came and I raised my leg back, right into his testicles. He screamed in pain as he let me go and I went for the BB gun that he had dropped. I began to shoot him in the face at point blank range and could see that the BB's were cutting into his flesh as fresh blood began to drip from the contact points of the BB's.
The other guys from the group began to attack me and tried to help their friends but I was still angered from Dan being hurt and them not caring about his current state.
I did not care what happened to me, all I cared about was to cause these guys as much pain as possible. Another guy went for me and got my left arm while the other guy went for my right. The guy that stood in front of me began to pound his fist into my gut and I was feeling intense pain.
I looked up and saw that Dan was still down, that only made me more upset. 'They still want to hit me and they don't even care for the kid!'
I lowered my head as his fist came down and made contact with my head, which caused both of us to feel pain. The guy on my left loosened his grip and that was enough for me to pull forwards and headbutt him in the nose, which made a sickening but satisfying cracking sound.
I began to hit the guy on my right; there are no rules in an unfair battle so I began to kick him repeatedly in the testicles. I was really enjoying the sound of his screams.
I again picked up a BB gun and walked for the guy that was punching me in the gut just a minute ago.
"Why?" I asked him. He just gave me a puzzled look as I stared at him.
"Why are you so stupid as to not care for the little boy that you hit from not paying attention?" He was now cowering in fear as I pointed the gun for his left eye.
"If you are not going to use this then you might as well not have it." I told him coldly. He began to scream before I pulled the trigger and the BB launched forth and ripped through his retina and blood was spilled. His scream of both fear and pain continued.
I walked over to him and kicked his hand from his face that was covering the bloody wound I had inflicted. I kneed him in the neck and stopped him from screaming. His buddies watched in horror as I aimed the gun for his right eye and pulled the trigger.
Now both of the guy's eyes were completely destroyed and could not be fixed no matter the attempts made. I looked over to the guy's buddies and began to shoot them, taking careful aim for their faces. I wanted them to feel great pain before I'm done with them. I could hear them running and screaming in pain as they began to run away.
As I began to cool down, I realized that there were still people in the park and they had watched the whole thing unravel. I also realized that Dan was still down. "Someone, please call 911!" I screamed. Everyone did not move a muscle and just stared at me and the body of the guy that I shot in the eyes, who was now unconscious or just dead from all the blood lost that came out of his eyes, I was beginning to get angry again.
'No one is helping me, this is society for you.' I picked up Dan's body and rushed to the car. I could still hear him breathing and was still hoping that he would make it.
'Please, please let him make it.' Was going through my head as I rushed towards the car.
Chapter 9: Can't Look Back
I placed the battered body of Dan in the passenger's seat and ran to the other side of the car and started the car's engine.
I ran through lights and stop signs, not caring for the law, all I wanted was for Dan to make it.
I had then arrived at the hospital, carrying Dan in my arms as if he was my own child. I ran over to the counter, "Please help my little brother, he was going down on a swing set when he hit a guy and he tumbled down on the ground."
The nurse quickly inspected the body of Dan, he was still breathing but only ever so slightly. The nurse then picked up the phone and called for a doctor.
The nurse asked me to sit down and wait for the doctor to arrive with a stretcher. "No, I would prefer to be standing and ready for when to doctor arrives." I responded coldly to the nurse.
After a while, I still could not see the doctor, "Where is this doctor of yours? This is an emergency, what's wrong with you people?!" I screamed at the nurse. At that moment, a doctor calmly walked towards me but with no stretcher.
"Please let me see the patient." the doctor asked. I was reluctant but handed over Dan's body to the doctor. He took a look at Dan while I stood there, feeling my heart beat in my throat.
"Alright, please come this way," responded the doctor as he handed me back Dan. I followed the doctor through the lobby's door and down an eerie white-colored hallway. After a while, I asked the doctor, "What's wrong? Why are we just walking? You should be helping Dan, not looking for a room!"
"Please, you must understand. I need an appropriate room to help the patient. But you could help by answering some questions, it will pass the time and I will be better prepared for when I need to help him." the doctor responded to me in a calm but caring tone.
"Very well, what is it that you need to know?" I asked the doctor as we continued to walk down the corridor then made a left.
"First, could you tell if the patient had any head trauma?" asked the doctor.
"I don't know for sure, but Dan was tumbling across the ground so it is possible." I responded to the doctor in a quiet tone caused by both sadness and regret that I could not have prevented what had happened.
The doctor seemed to have sensed my depression and tried to cheer me up. "You could not have helped the situation, you did what you could and Dan would understand that,'' said the doctor.
We then entered a room where there was a bed in the corner of the room and a curtain that was pulled back.
"Please put the patient on the bed and leave." stated the doctor. This surprised me how could he expect me to leave when Dan was still in trouble.
"How could you ask such a thing? I need to know that he will be fine," I demanded of the doctor. The doctor just sighed and gave me a look that was almost a threat.
"Please Sir, first we need you to fill out the paperwork and second, you are not authorized personnel, so you could not be here, even if I let you." The doctor stated towards me as he walked towards the phone to call for a nurse to assist him.
I grabbed his collar and began to shake him, "You will save him, I will pay whatever but you will save him, got it!" I practically yelled at him. By this time, the nurse was at the doorway and was looking at me with shock that I had assaulted the doctor.
I released his collar and left, steaming that I could not help and that Dan's life was in the hands of total strangers. The nurse then closed the room's door behind me as soon as I left the room.
I saw a chair close to the room so I decided to take a seat and wait for the doctor to finish helping Dan.
I was getting tired from the recent event of receiving a beating from those other damned students and fighting them off.
I slowly drifted off to sleep, which quickly became a nightmare…
I was at the park again and I was standing at the sidelines as I watched myself sitting under a tree and Dan playing at the swing set. "Dan, get away from the swing set and find cover! They are coming soon!" As I said this, the group of other students came in but stopped in front of Dan and began to laugh at him.
Dan got off the swings and walked towards one of the guys, giving them one of his small little smiles. I was relieved that Dan did not crash into one of the guys like before. But then one of the guys pointed his BB gun at Dan and gave Dan a big grin.
I watched in horror as he pulled the trigger and I was zoomed in and the whole event slowed down in front of me. I watched as the BB ripped through his left eye and blood spewed forth.
I began to run towards Dan; but the faster I ran the further Dan got from me. "Wait Dan, just hold on, I'm coming, please hold on!" I screamed at Dan's body, which was now on the ground in a puddle of blood.
I finally made it to Dan but before I could touch him, he stood up. "Oh Dan, you're alright, thank goodness you're alright." I said happily but as I bent down to hug him, Dan put his hand up to stop me.
"Why, why did you not save me? Why did you just stand there not doing anything but watched as I got shot in the eye? I thought you promised to look after me, but I don't need you." Dan said, then he pulled out a real gun and aimed it for me.
"A BB gun hurts and ripped through my eye but this gun will tear through your heart." Dan said coldly as he pulled the trigger.
I could not move and I watched as the bullet slowly made its way towards me. I could feel it ripping through my heart. I felt the warmth of the blood flow down my abdomen and collapsed to the ground. "I'm sorry Dan, please forgive me."
I woke up in cold sweat. 'It was only a dream. Please, please let Dan be okay.' I thought to myself.
Just then, the doctor came out. I stood up immediately and walked over to him. But the doctor held up his hand. The doctor wore a sad expression, "I'm sorry, I can not help."
My world shattered but I still tried to keep some kind of hope. "What do you mean Doctor? I bet you are just messing with me, Dan put you up to this right?" I said, slightly laughing.
The doctor bowed his head and just shook it. My world was now cold and empty. I slowly pushed the doctor aside and walked towards the bed where Dan was. The monitor indicated that Dan was still alive but Dan's body was severely damaged.
"Mr. Tran, please come this way," the doctor asked as he walked up to a monitor that was in the corner of the room.
On the monitor were the x-rays of Dan's body. "As you can see here, the boy has received several broken bones; including the radius and femur, most likely from the first impact with the other person and when he tried to stop his fall by his arm when he fell off the swings."
I did not understand why the doctor was showing me these things, what the doctor needs to be doing is to help Dan. The doctor then pulled up another photo but this one was full of colors and it was an x-ray of the head.
"Also the boy has received severe brain trauma that could have severe affects on his memory or could lead to depression and other mental disabilities. It is not clear enough to say."
As the doctor told me this, I was beginning to lose my temper. "Excuse me Doctor, but why are you not helping my little brother? You are a doctor and this is a hospital, yes? Then why are you telling me this while Dan is in pain?" I asked the doctor in a cold tone and a deadly glare.
The doctor wore a sad expression; I then felt as though my guts were being ripped right out of me and thought to myself. 'Why is the doctor sad, Dan is still alive…'
"When the nurse looked up the files on the information that you gave her at the front desk, there was no coverage on the patient, therefore I can not help this boy." The doctor said with a sad expression.
"I have enough cash in my bank, I can pay you now! Help Dan right this instant!" I demanded as I began to raise my voice. The doctor just lifted his hands to stop me.
"Sorry Sir, but there is no way for me to return this boy to his original self. There are multiple bone fractures; some punctured his inner organs, head trauma, and with some of his major organs punctured including his lungs, and stomach. There is little I can do. Now if this were a case where I can take care of things one bit at a time, it is possible. But in this boy, the damage is too severe." the doctor stated with a blank expression.
I could not tell if the doctor was glad that he did not have to work or was sad from Dan's current condition
I ran out of the room and began to run down the hallway. 'This is stupid, those students will pay, those people who did not call for help will pay, the doctors will pay, everyone will pay…' I thought to myself as I reached the lobby.
I ran towards the car and started the engine and floored the pedal down to the floor, not caring for the law or my safety. All I wanted was for everyone to pay and they will, they will suffer unimaginable pain.
I then arrived home and opened the car door, not caring for the car still being on; I opened the garage door and went straight for my room. As I opened my room's door, I saw my target.
I slowly walked towards the black book and picked it up. "You will help me wreak chaos and hell on all those who I want," I said out loud as if the book could hear and understand me. Then another thought came to me. 'With this book I can save Dan…'
I then picked up a pen and began writing…
July 1, 2012
Dan is okay and in full, healthy condition.
Then suddenly, the sentence that I wrote disappeared and was replaced with one word…
NO.
I was both stunned and angry; this book was refusing to save the life of the one person that I really cared about. I began to write again,
Everyone that was at the park dies…Everyone at the hospital dies, everyone that I saw today died and the people they knew died. Hell will be released and everyone will pay. I want everyone to suffer.
I just want as many people to die and let them suffer a horrid death to feel the pain that I do now.
I finished writing and put the black book down slowly. I then dropped onto the bed, crying to myself as I slowly fell asleep. The last thing that came to mind was, 'I promised myself not to cry, yet here I'm crying from just a single death of one person, how funny.'
Chapter 10: Hell's Gates Has Opened
The clock read 11:59. Trace was still asleep, even though he wore a calm expression, something in this one person broke, something that should never break in anyone…
Trace no longer cared for other people. He now believes that people are selfish and greedy. But what Trace failed to realize is that not everyone is like what Trace thinks.
The clock now read 12:00. Then suddenly, chaos broke out as a great earthquake broke out. People woke up from their sleep to the sudden earthquake and began to panic. Car alarms began to sound off and electric lines snapped and fell down upon the street and sparked.
I woke to the feel of the ground groaning and my house shifting. I got out of bed, realizing that this was a big earthquake; I went under my desk to prevent anything from falling on me. I waited for the tremble of the earth to stop and my house to stop moving side to side.
The earthquake then stopped, but I still could hear screaming and alarms sounding outside. I stood up and took a look around my room to see the damage if any was done to my room. My television that I had mounted on the wall had fallen and the screen was broken; the light that was hanging on the ceiling has also fallen and there was an indent on the floor where the lights made contact. My desk was a mess but there were things still on it. I went to quickly change into clothing that were for public-wearing and went to grab my wallet.
'If anything happens, I still have money for anything that I might need.' I also grabbed my cellphone and went outside to check up on things. As I went out my room, the damage to my house was more severe than I had thought. The lights that were mounted on the wall outside my room near the stairway has fallen down and the wall has a big crack from the house shifting.
The restroom's sink has cracked and collapsed; the water was bursting forth with much force. I ran down stairs to see the damage that was down there. When I was able to see through the dust that has developed from the walls cracking, I could see that the living room's television has fallen over and the coffee table had punctured the television's screen. The chandelier has fallen on the couch which has also collapsed from the force and weight of the lights.
I went to the family room and to my surprise, the fan was the only thing that was damaged for it had fallen down on the rug and the kitchen has much damage. The fridge had fallen over and food was everywhere. The glass table that was in the dining room had been shattered from the lights that hung above it.
Most of the dishes in the cabinet has fallen out and shattered on the floor leaving sharp shards everywhere making it impossible to walk over without protection.
I went to the front door and quickly put on my shoes to see the damage outside, I could still hear car alarms going of but there were little screaming. I opened the front door to see the my yard has a giant crack on the ground and that a light pole has fallen n my car 'Dam it I should have parked the car inside the garage then maybe I could still have a car to drive around' I looked around the neighborhood to find that several houses has collapsed and people were now starting to calm down as they began to see who was missing or they were looking through their belongings.
That reminded me to go through my things in my room to see what I can bring I knew that police will soon take people away for safety reasons.
I went back inside the house and up the stairs and into my room. I grabbed one of my parent's suitcases and began to grab the new clothing that I bought for myself a few days ago and organized them into the suitcase. After I see that I had enough clothing's I began to look for personal belongings. I grabbed the charger for the cellphone and also grabbed both the charge and the mp3 player.
I grabbed a flashlight and my toothbrush along with some toothpaste. I put all my things into the case to find it quit heavy. I sighed and reopened the case and pulled out some of the clothing's which only left me with two t-shirts, two jeans, three boxers, four pairs of socks, a jacket and a hat, along with it my toothbrush, toothpaste, mp3 player, charger for both my cell and mp3 player.
I again closed the case to find it much light and am able to pull it around. I went down stairs and out the doors. I began to strap the suitcase on the back of the bike that could hold the case. And locked the door to the house, as I exited the driveway I could not hear anything except for the sound of me biking and some rubble still falling.
'Where did everyone go and what had happened here I thought there were no fault lines for and earthquake to occur but this earthquake caused so much damage one might considered it a major fault line.' I continued down the street planning to get to the city's plaza to see what damage was done there and hopefully get some answers on what's going to happen next.
I continued to bike towards the city's plaza but began to realize that there was not a living soul around but there was plenty of corpses enough that if they were all alive this could be considered a town concert. 'The earthquake might have interrupted the underground connections which means that I might not be able to get money from my account…there are plenty of bodies around and no one to witness, perfect…'
I pulled on the brakes and my bike came to a stop. I stood my bike to stand on it's own. I walked to a corpse that was closes to me. It was male the cause of death appear to be that he has impacted by a vehicle most likely that during the earthquake the automobile lost control and impacted him. I went for his front right pocket and found his cell, I threw that aside and went for his left front pocket there was nothing but change 'That will not do, change is to heavy and not worth enough,' I thought to myself then went for his back right pocket. 'There' I felt the wallet and pulled it out.
In the wallet was one hundred and thirty six dollars after I had summed up the amount. I then went for the next closet corpse, which was a female but for some reason the corpse had a hunch. I turned the body over to find that this woman was protecting a bundle blanket. I pulled the blanket away which revealed a disfigured body of a baby. The disfiguration came when the mother must have fallen on the child.
I rewrapped the body and went for the mother's purse and pulled out a bunch of stuff most it were for the kid including a spare diaper and a bib, as it turns out there was only forty eight dollars in the purse.
'Dam it there is so little on this women and yet I wasted my time on her but the kid…why did it have to die what has it done to me… no if that THING grows up it could be just like those who hurt and mock me' I pocketed the cash and continued to look for more corpses and cash on them.
After a couple hours I was getting tired and had gathered a couple thousand dollars from the corpses that had been around me and it was getting confusing between the bodies that I have searched and the bodies that I haven't.
I sat on the curb and began to count the cash that I had gathered. I was sure that there was at least a couple thousand from all the twenties and hundred that I had collected but I was still not sure of the total I have. I need to know for sure to keep tract of my spending rates.
After about five minutes I ended with nine thousand eight hundred and sixty three dollars. 'Wow that was more then I would have thought but that's good now I'm sure to have enough cash to work use for the time while the association work on the reconstruct or repairing the neighborhood.' I began to look my bike and realize that I had walked a considerable distance before deciding to stop but it was not that bad. I walked back to the bike and opened up my suitcase.
I pulled out the bag that held all the personal belongs and put all the cash in there for safe keeping but I wanted to keep about a hundred dollars in tens just incase I need and I don't feel like going through the suitcase again. I got on the bike and again continued my way towards the city's plaza where people would be in case of any disaster.
After about another fifteen minutes of biking in the hot sun I finally reached the city's plaza but there was only one problem, there were nobody there, nothing but a chaotic scene with corpses and fire everywhere. I began to slow down and look for anyone that might have made it through the disaster and was taking shelter.
I continued to go through the city but there were only fire and chaos with the smell of burning corpses that were still in the buildings that were on fire. I had finally reach the city's hall 'there has to be someone in the building and this place was the most important because it had to deal with most city problems' pulled the brake and came to stop I got off the bike and began to walk towards the buildings entrance.
City hall was a colossus building in the front of the building there were three great columns that held up a great slab or marble that extends out providing shade for any citizen near the front door and inside where the front desk is. Now after the earthquake the building still stand but part of the roofing has collapsed and there were smoke coming from the hole that was in the roof and one of the pillars have fallen and along with it part of the marble slab that it held up.
I pushed the doors opened and found nobody screaming or alive. I went over to the front desk to find that the person that was suppose to help anyone that came in was now on the floor with a stone sticking out of the head.
There was also a puddle of blood that surrounded the head where the stone had crack and embedded itself in the skull. I continued to walk further into the building and could fine no one there were some corpses that were though out the building but they were either crushed to death or only parts of them were found.
I finally reach a long hallway that was at the end of the building. I began to slow down considering the horrible smell form the burning corpses that was on the building. I began to walk and I started to see giant picture frames that portraits part of the city from the lake to city hall itself.
I finally reached the end of the hallway and could tell that this was the administration room. I opened the door but it was soon stuck, there was something that was blocking the door from completely opening. I pushed harder but to no avail. I gave up on opening the door and began to make my way towards one of the portraits.
I picked up a stone and threw it at the glass, which shattered and made a huge mess spreading shards of glass on the surrounding area. I picked up one of the shad about the size of my hand. I then found a dark colored sheet of paper lying around and held it against the glass making the reflection more clear.
I took the makeshift mirror and put it through the door way to find that the reason the door was stuck was because there was a pile of rubble blocking the way and there was no one there that were still alive they were all crushed from the roof collapsing.
I exited city hall and sat on the stair way thinking to myself 'How could this had happened I remember coming home from the hospital still upset about Dan then…that's it the black book!' I ran for my bike and went through my belongs and could not find the book I began to panic, I got on the bike and rushed home hoping that my house was still up and I'm able to get the book to fix all of this.
Then as I was rushing down the street on which my house was on I ran into a strange looking butler. The butler seemed to be unmoved by my rush so I pulled on the bike brake and my bike came to screeching halt.
"I warned you," came to voice of the dark butler. I could not put my figure on it but this guy looked extremely familiar. I didn't know what it was about this guy but he sent chills up my spine. "I told you to be careful on what you want and be careful on what you do but you did not heed my warning," said the butler again.
It finally hit me 'This is the guy who gave me the black book' I thought to myself and as if he could hear me I answered "Indeed I did there is nothing I can do about that but you must know the limits of this book surely from the young boy who perished, the boy named Dan yes?" the butler asked as he produced the book out of thin air.
I was amazed but did not want to think about what he was trying to say "I don't know what you mean if that cursed book of yours can do this then how can it have a limit?" I asked him trying to ignore what was the truth.
"Don't be foolish BOY you know what I'm talking about" the butler then opened the book and a streamline of words came out and it swirl around in the air before starting to reorganize themselves into coherent sentences.
I finally realized what I was looking at it was the things that I have wrote.
I looked back at the butler and he pointed towards a certain area were the words were glowing but they were glowing with a dark aura as if they wanted to kill me.
"Right here the book responded with a NO so out of anger you wanted revenge on the human society" stated the butler his vice seeming to echo in my head.
"This book can not undo what it has done and can not bring back the dead you know this because you tried to but you still were upset and you used this book out of anger for the people that did not help the boy" responded the butler more calmly but coldly.
I was beginning to get a bad feeling in my gut "I will not kill you so do not be afraid but I will punish you, you will continue to be punish until you can understand what one is meant to do with power" the butler stated as he started to walk towards me.
"No stay away…" I said in barely a whisper. "Please go away…" then the butler was now right in front of me I backed up only to trip over a rock and fall back.
"You will continue to walk until you have learned," stated the butler as he put his hand on my face. I felt a burning sensation and screamed out in both pain and agony I could see everyone that I wanted to hurt and everyone that I had killed with the book.
All the children and family I had destroyed, all dead and I was the only one left…
Chapter 11: I Walk Alone
The surrounding neighborhood was quiet there was not a noise but for the gently breeze that blew through the trees. There was no one to make a sound for they were now all dead corpses lying about covering the streets no one was going to get their mail and no one was going to make breakfast. For who would read the mail and who would eat the food.
All was dead but one. Trace lay on the cold street in the early morning air. There he laid quietly sleeping dreaming about all of those he had killed, Trace thought back to when he wrote those horrid words that killed everyone that was around him.
I woke up feeling a throbbing headache, I rubbed my eyes to clear my vision and found that I had slept out on the streets. I got up and brushed myself off. I looked around and found my bike exactly where I had left it when I meant that butler…THE BUTLER. I began to search myself to see if I had any injury on my head or body. 'What the hell I felt extreme pain and blacked out but not a scratch or cut but I still need to get home' I started to walked over to my bike when I noticed that on my suitcase was the black book that the butler had given me.
I picked up the book and examined it the outside appears to be the same; I then opened the book to find that there were white pages just as before. I sigh thinking about what the butler had said 'It can not undo what it has done and it can not bring back the dead' "So I can't bring back the world to what it use to be and I can not bring back everyone that I killed.
I put the book in the suitcase and started to go home but was in no hurry everyone was dead so who would be waiting when I get home? I continued down the street that my house was on.
I saw the house that belonged to the Griffin family 'They always liked to enjoy the sun as it goes down on Sunday when the whole family was together' their house was partly collapsed and one of the front windows was shattered. 'There is no one now to watch the sunset or rise' I looked away and focused on the road that I was on, not that there were any car to run into.
I finally arrived home and stood the bike up and began to untie the ropes that kept the suitcase on. I got my suitcase off and walked towards the front door. 'Didn't mind to lock the door' I thought to myself as I turned the doorknob realizing that I did not lock the door after the earthquake.
I began to walk upstairs avoiding the part of the stairs that had crack not wanting to fall down. I got to my room and put my suitcase on the bed and sat next to it thinking about what had happened over the last two days from the event that Dan was killed to the event where everyone died then to the weird butler that I meant in the road.
I thought about all these events, I concluded that there is no point in staying here. 'There is nothing holding me here but…No I will go on there is nothing left time to go see what's available first I need to get all the items I will need.'
I got the black book and pen thinking about all the things I will need. After thinking thinks over I need nothing but a means of travel so I wrote…
This morning a sport car is in my driveway in perfect condition with gas.
That was all that I will needed, I set the book down on top of the suitcase. I began to think about all this and that it was still noon. 'I don't need money because there is no one to charge me. I don't have to live here, but I would like to go back to California to the coast' I began to clean up my room.
I pulled the light that had fallen from the ceiling and threw it in the hallway making sure that it did not block the walkway. I then focused my effort on the television and put it next to the lights also making sure that it doesn't block the path.
I went towards the hallway closet and got out the vacuum. I pulled it back to my room and vacuumed the dust and dirt that had fallen on the carpet making sure that it was good enough for one last night here.
After I had finish vacuuming I took a glance around the room making sure that it was clean and all. After I was satisfied I pulled the suitcase off the bed and onto the floor I gathered the top layer of the covers on the bed leaving only the bottom two layers, which are the thin cloth and a fluffy blanket.
I then grabbed the two pillows and went out to the hallway and slammed the two pillows together producing a small cloud of dust. I brought the two pillows back in the room. I placed the pillows on the bed and began to wonder what to do now then a thought came up in my mind.
'The night that I lost Dan did I end the world…' I began to think about what I wrote; I knew that there was no point looking in the book because it won't be there. 'I could make to book fix all the underground lines but wait…the butler said that the book can not undo what it has done and if ever one on the planet died then who will report it…I could ask the book for a complete report on the current state of the world but then again that would take a while to read so what now…'
I began to think of anyway for me to know the current condition of the world without doing too much reading but any other way would require the book to undo what it has done, then an idea went to my head. 'There is nothing for me here and I know that every one is dead so I can go see the current condition of the world'
With that idea in my mind I laid on the bed thinking about what to do tomorrow. I slowly drifted off to sleep hoping that I was not alone. 'Please don't let me be alone I'm still human and as a human I can't stand the idea of being alone' I finally began to understand what it means to come together to build a community so as humans we don't stand-alone.
I woke up next morning feeling rather uncomfortable. I realized that I had not showered and that this is going to be rather annoying if I can't shower. I got up and went to the rest room that was in the hallway hoping that the water still worked. I arrived at the sink and turned the knob. There were no water "Great," then an idea came to me even though I didn't like it 'I could use the water in the toilet tower, it is clean because it is not in the bowl itself yet. But still the idea of using toilet water is disgusting…' I decided to do it anyway.
I went over to the toilet and used the water to wash my face after I did I used my t-shirt to dry off. As I looked down to dry my face a shard of glass reflected my face and something that was disturbing…my right eye was white as if I was blind. I began to panic "What the hell is going on why is one of my eye white?" I screamed then on the same shard I saw the dark figure that was the butler. "I took one of your eye sight to punish you but this is only the start, I wanted you to still have your sight to see the damage that you have done" and with that the butler faded back into the background.
"Hey you give my back my sight I want it back PLEASE!" I yelled at the shard. But it was use he was gone. 'Well I can still see so that is find but my right eye…no I must move on this is my punishment for what I have done' and with that I went down the stair avoiding the crack in the stair that might collapse if stepped on.
I reached the kitchen and looked down at the kitchen and the chaos that had occurred but did not regret it 'Those that did not help me should di because if they can't even help those that are in trouble they can never help in a community' I began to look through the mess that was in the kitchen looking for any kind of food that I can eat that I do not have to heat up or cook.
I was able to find a book of crackers and a warm can of soda 'Not a breakfast but it is still food that can get me through the day' I pulled one of the chairs that were in the dining room and pulled out of the shattered glass covered area in the diner. I sat down and opened the can of soda taking a sip and putting it down next to me. I then opened the box of crackers and pulled out one of the bags and opening it. I pulled out a cracker and stuffed it in my mouth savoring the slight salty taste of it.
I swallowed the dry food and could feel that the cracker had absorbed a good amount moister in my mouth so I went for my can of soda. I took another sip and continued on with my small breakfast but it was more of a snack then a meal.
I finished my 'breakfast' and stood up with the can of soda I still had some left so I decide to take it and go towards the front to see the car that the book had produced.
I got to the front door and opened it. In the driveway that had not yet cracked was a nice red sport car. I walked over to it and looked inside. On the driver seat was the key and the passenger side was the manual. I opened the driver's door and got the keys then headed back inside.
I went back upstairs and got the suitcase. I went back downstairs with the suitcase in hand and went back out towards the car. I used the key to opened the trunk and put the suitcase in the back. I saw that I still had plenty of room for me and that I might need more than this.
I went back into the house and looked for more things that I might need, after looking things over I decided to bring with me the knife set 'I might need this to defend myself in any case of running into any wild creatures or crazy survivors…if there is any survivors' I thought to myself.
I brought the knife set back to the car along with the black book, a tool set from the basement, some water bottles that I had found in the kitchen, and some food that will last and don't need to be cooked.
I got in the car and started the engine; I backed out of the driveway carefully avoiding anything that could cause the car any damage. Then when I have had completely backed out of the drive way I looked back at the house that I had lived in and am no abandoning it.
"Sorry pal but I can let you stand there will be nothing to tie me in this city." I got out of the car and opened the garage door. I pulled out the bottle of five-gallon gasoline. I went upstairs and began to spread the gasoline around. After I had used up about half I went back downstairs.
I started with the family room then worked my way towards the diner. I then went to the kitchen and worked towards the living room. After I had used up all the gasoline I went back upstairs because I had forgot to get the lighter in my room.
After I got the lighter the gas fumes were getting thicker and I was getting light headed "Better hurry up and get out" I was now exiting the front door for the last time. I got the newspaper on the driver way and lite it making sure that I got it on flames. I went back towards the front door and looked inside the house.
"This will be the last time I see you old friend please don't take this personally but I can't stand the thought that you are here with out anyone taking care of you" with that I threw the flaming newspaper near a line of gasoline near me and it lite up the rest of the house. I walked back to the street in front of my house and watched as the house began to burn down.
After about five minutes of the house smoking and small flames the house is now fully one fire and I could hear some of the support beams crumbling down along with some other noises.
I got back in the car and drove off looking in my rear view mirror seeing the house still on fire 'There is no looking back as a human I must move forward there is no place left for me now'
Chapter 12: Last One
I began to travel on the road to the center of the city wanting to take one of the freeways that was there. As I went through the city I admire the chaos that had been brought 'The book did a great job of causing people suffering and pain' I finally reached the freeway and entered it. The freeway was clear but there were some cars on it but there was no one to drive the cars.
I was beginning to worry 'Am I really the last one?' I though to myself "Dam butler why could he just restore things back like the way he wanted he made the book right?" I began to wonder if it was worth going to another town to look for survivors.
"No I burned down my home everyone in the city is dead so what is there for me?" I continued on the freeway and was getting hungry. I looked at the digital clock on the car 'It's now one in the afternoon it is getting late and it's about time for lunch' I saw and exit about a few hundred feet a head so I decided to go there to look for a place to eat. I got off the ramp and continued on to the city that the road would lead me to but everywhere I looked it was the similar scene as back home where there were a severe earthquake that killed everyone. I came up to the shopping mall and looked around the parking lot.
'There are few cars and the building is only partly collapsed hope there is food I can't survive on only crackers and water' I thought to myself. I began to walk towards the building. I parked the car in the front of the mall itself hoping that there might be someone that was still alive in there.
I got out of the car and walked forth towards the main entrance. I opened the door because the electricity seems to be down 'Well of course it's down with a great earthquake it might have knocked out the telephone line, internet and the electricity' I thought to myself.
I walked through the door and made a quick observation of the surrounding area. It was not that bad most of the building was still standing and there were some lights that were still on.
I began to search through the mall hoping to find someone to talk to or at least keep me company. I went through the entire first floor and there were nothing but dead corpses some were even starting to rot from he heat and moisture from the desert sun.
I took the stairs and went to the second floor; I began to search the area when I heard a whimper from the sound of a living thing. I began to run towards the source of the sound 'Yes finally someone to talk to the silence is such a pain' I ran towards the source only to find that the sound only came curtsey of a doll that still had battery in it and it was crushed by a body of a young girl.
I frown at the sight that I saw 'This is not right I need some one…anyone to just look at or talk to…' I left he body and continued through the second floor every second that pass was another chunk of hope that was lost following the echoes of my footsteps and vanishing.
After I had finish going through every store and hallway in the mall there were still no sign of living humans only the sight and smell of rotten corpses that once happily walked through the mall.
I began to walk towards the coffee place in the mall and looked through the kitchen 'I could use something to drink I just need to relax and continue on the road towards the Californian coast line' with that though I found the café machine and started it up.
The machine refuse to start it won't even make a sound 'Stupid idiot the power is probably out here oh well…' then an idea came 'I can make coffee the old fashion way' I began to look for timbre and things that I could burn that would not produce a fowl smelling smoke.
After I had found enough of wood and paper to burn I brought it to the malls center where there was a clearing that people could hang out in. I began to stack the timber and paper so that it would catch.
After all that was done I began to clear the area. I wanted to enjoy my coffee without the smell and sight of rotten corpses to ruin the taste and scent of the coffee.
After I had cleared everything I started the fire and waited for water to boil, while I was waiting I pulled a table and chair close to the fire and got me some cream and sugar form the coffee shop. After the water had boiled I put the coffee beans that I tried my best to grind in the water and waited for the coffee to brew.
I started my mp3 player and listen to some relaxing classical music, after the first two tracks it has been about five minutes and I got the pot off the fire. I put a coffee strainer on a mug and poured the liquid in the strainer. After most of the water has went through the strainer I pulled the strainer out and added the sugar and the cream mixing it and trying to relax while listening to the device playing it's music.
'Am I really alone why am looking for someone' I began to wonder to myself all these question getting lost in my thoughts and drifting off to sleep not even noticing the mp3 device being low on battery and the coffee getting cold on the table.
I woke with a start, 'What's going on what happened last night…' the events of last night began to flood my memory. From the time when I was hungry to the time where I made coffee 'I can't believe that I did this not all people in society is bad or wrong but some are but now I can't fix anything…what have I done?' I began to think things on a much deeper level trying to roll out my personal opinion and just focus on the human society and how each individual person depends on each other to grow or develop, but now…
I tried to push that though away but it keeps coming back. "Not getting anywhere with these, I got to keep looking there is always hop but things are looking a bit…" I stopped myself before I could finish 'No things can and will change I have the power to change realty and yet I can't just undo what I have done'
I looked back at the cup of coffee that I had left out and could not finish for I had fallen asleep before taking a sip, but now there was a bug in it and it ruined my desire for coffee. I turned to my mp3 player and it turned out it was dead.
'Better look for someplace to charge this thing,' I began to look around the mall there were still some stores that had electricity but most of them were dead. I finally stumbled upon a grocery store that still had power. I began to wonder around and came near a cash register. There was no one there so I plugged the mp3 player in and went back to the fireplace.
I began to put out what was left of the fire, which was just some amber, but I did it anyways. I then started to look for food in the mall. Deciding on the grocery store that I put my mp3 player to charge I began to walk back towards the place.
When I finally got there I went towards the dry foods aisle hoping to find something that was edible. I was able to find some cookies, crackers, chips, and some canned food.
I got me some canned food and crackers. I went back to the fireplace and realized my mistake 'Dam it I could have heated up the food but I had to go put out the fire. Now I don't feel like making a fire…great' with that though over and out I sat down on the chair and put all the foods that I was able to gather on the table. I took out a knife that I brought along with me from the grocery store and began to stab at the can.
After a while of stabbing the can I finally had damage the cans structural integrity to open it and pulled out the spoon in my pocket and began to eat.
Every one or two spoons of soup I would eat a cracker this helped kept the balance between dry and moist food. After I had finished I threw the can in the fire pit and began to walk towards the grocery store to grab my mp3 player.
After I had got my mp3 player I started to head back towards my car. As I exited the front doors my car was sill in the exact place that I had left if the day before. I used the key to unlock the trunk and began to shove the extra food from the grocery store into the trunk.
'Might need food on the road and don't want the smell of corpses while eating, with this I can always eat I the car' after I had put everything in the car I headed over to the drivers side and started the car's engine. The engine roared to life and I pulled out of the parking lot and headed back towards the freeway.
I finally reached the freeway and continued my way back to California's coastline where I would like to live. I continued on the road for a while and it was getting boring for me so I decide to hook up my mp3 player to the car and play some music.
I was now only eight miles form the coastline; I was humming with the tacks tune when I made contact with a bus on the road.
My whole body was jerked and I could feel major pain in my gut and head. I looked down and saw the seatbelt had tightened around my waist and jerked me when the impact occurred and the head pain was when I hit my head against the driver's wheel.
I got out to inspect the damage and as it turns out I had just totaled my car. "Great now how am I suppose to get to the coastline without a car. I don't want to walk in the hot sun but I'm really close to the coastline." I began to think things over and looked at the position that the sun was in. it was now about noonish and I could probably make it there by sun down.
I got out a water bottle and a box of crackers in the wreckage and also pulled out the black book. And began to walk towards the coastline…
I had been walking for about four hours and the sun was beginning to set, I had finally reached the coastline but what I saw was horrifying beyond imaginable…
Chapter 13: Regret
As I arrived at the coastline I was relieved that I had finally made it. But when I looked a shore the sight was burning my eye all I thought was why, why didn't that butler just killed me but let me leave.
What I saw was that the beach line was covered with bodies that where rotting and decomposing I both the water and on the sand of the shoreline. The smell was horrifying it was as if all the bodies wanted me to suffer and was doing so by burning my nostrils with their decomposing stench.
I kneed down on the ground continuously staring at the shoreline, I can't seem to remove my eye off the corpses and bodies that was lying on the beach. Then it was as if I could hear all their moans of pain and cries of anger. They were all focusing it all on me theirs cries all of them.
Their voices in my head 'my child…this is your fault…no…yours…no…fault…you…fault…this…did…you…
because…you…mom dad where are you…my family NO…IT"S YOUR FUALT' each word that passes the other was more power as it echoes through every part of my brain embedding the screams of each person forever in my memory.
"Please, please make it stop either way from madness or for real please I'm sorry make it stop, MAKE IT STOP!" I began with a whisper and ended yelling the end of my statement then the voices cease to echo out in my head. I was now panicking was I going crazy or is this punishment that the butler spoke of?
I did not care I just want to fix what I have done there is nothing the book could do. The butler stated that this book could not undo what was done by it nor could it bring back the dead. I could not bring anyone back anyway, the book killed everyone and it will not bring any back. 'No it was not the book's fault, it was my fault I was angry and I killed everyone by just writing, yes it is all my fault' I stood up and began to walk towards the shoreline trying after a few yards I began to step on the corpses that was washed up and I could feel their bones and flesh crunching and squishing under my shoe.
I had finally reached where the water meets with the sand and stared out towards the horizon. I could see all the bodies in the ocean and sea they were floating and the current was pushing them towards the shore. I could no longer stand the site of all the rotting corpses and looked away. There was a building near the road and next to the building was a bike. I walked towards the bike and began to pull it out of the rack.
I just then realize that the bike was chained to the rack 'Great now what…' I did not want to stay here anymore I could not stand the idea that I did all of this. I began to walk along the shoreline taking in everything that I had done.
After a while of walking along the cliff side I was still thinking about the entire thing that I had done. My family that I had killed the neighbors that suffered and possibly the whole world 'What have I done...' I thought to myself. As I continued along the cliff side I notice a big granite stone by the walkway then an idea came to me. I took out my black book and wrote down a list.
Tomorrow a chizzle and hammer appeared next to me…
I placed the book next to me and lean against the rock thinking about the day that is to come and what I'm going to do with it. As the sun slowly set and the cool breeze from the ocean greeted me I drifted off to sleep having no dream or thought having nothing but regret.
The next morning came and next to me where a chizzle and a hammer. I thought about it and picked them up. I began to carve into the rock that I was leaning on. I worked on the stone carefully carving into it and making sure that this stone will be able to withstand the test of time and will be a message to the people if anyone was still alive.
I worked through the morning and it was soon noon, the sun was beating down upon me not giving me any comfort as I work on the carvings in the stone. I ignored my growling stomach and burning neck 'I must finish this and I will not rest until I have' I thought to myself as I pushed forward and continued on with the carving of the stone.
It was now getting late and the sun was about to set. I had finally finished and stood up staring at the stone that I had carved. Making sure that every curve and line was neat and suitable for anyone. I was happy then I grabbed my book and began to walk east away from the sun.
'I will continue to look for anyone out there, there has to be at least some one left besides me…' I continued to walk away from the sun heading east to cross the whole country then the world just to find and see if there was anyone left, just hoping and praying. As the sun set and was about to disappear the image of the stone and the words that I had carved into it rang in my head and I began to cry to the thought…
"We are all human whether we be good or bad, we gather together to build a community and grow together. One individual can never be human they can only die so I put this down for the world to see and read…
Let Me Die…"
Special Thank You's
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