Disclaimer: I don't own Evangelion or any characters, situations or anything related to the series. I also do not own 'The Twilight Zone' or any of the wonderful plots associated with it. I own myself, and the book… unfortunately.

Neon Genesis Evangelion:

The Book, My Curse

By Ravenheart

I'm driving home from work one night, and traffic was heavy as usual. I'm hoping to be home around 7 that night, but that didn't seem possible at this point. So, I turn off of the road and into the parking lot of a familiar outdoor type strip-mall to just take a look in some of the stores while traffic has a chance to settle down. But as I drive past the front of several stores while looking for a parking space, I note that there's a new bookstore here. The name was cheesy… something like 'The Writer's Block.'

Anyway, I figure they might have something I'm interested in, so after I find a space, I walk over to the store, open the door, and walk inside. The interior wasn't very surprising or unique, if you've been in one bookstore you've been in them all, but there was a fairly large selection of books here.

"Welcome to my store sir, my name is Marcus, just let me know if you need anything." I turned to look at the man speaking to me, and I was surprised by how unsightly this man looked. Long, scraggly white hair, crooked teeth, and slightly buggy eyes. Tall and thin too, but he seemed nice enough… well polite anyway.

I nod to him and start looking through the shelves of books searching for familiar authors or titles. I find a few books that might be interesting, but not really interesting enough for me to buy. I put back the last book I was looking at and start to make my way to the door since I didn't find anything I really wanted to buy.

"Sir, leaving so soon?"

I turn to look where his voice came from and I note that he's standing in the doorway marked 'Staff only' "Yeah, there were a few books I saw but I wasn't really interested enough to want to buy them.

"Oh, that's too bad… But I think I may have something back here you might be interested in."

Now, I may be fairly young, but I know when something stinks. "Ye-ah, sure. If you really got something for me, why not bring it out here for me to look at…"

"Hm… Okay." And with that he turns and walks into the back room and a few seconds later, he returns with a brown leather-bound book in hand. When he gets closer, he holds the book out for me to take. "Here you go."

I take a closer look at the book without taking it from him. I notice that the book has no obvious title or author marked on either cover or its spine. If anything, it looks more like a person's journal than anything else. "You want me to buy a journal?"

"Not just any journal… Most people write about what's happened to them, and what they want to happen to them in their journals, but it's still up to them to make those wants happen. It's not like that with this book."

"So you're telling me what? …That this book will turn whatever I write in it to reality?"

The clerk holding the book out for me to take smiles his broken grin and chuckles. "Something like that, yes."

"Hold on, is it that or is it something else?"

"Think of this book as a genie of sorts. Only with this genie, you get as many wishes as you can fit in its pages. There are a few rules though… One: if you try to write something in this book that contradicts something else you've written, the most recent thing you wrote will vanish from the book and not be granted. And two, you can't wish for more pages in the book, another book like this or for the pages in the book to be erased."

"That's it?"

He grins again: "That's it."

"Well, if that's all there is to it, and this thing will give you whatever you want, then why are you giving it to me?"

"Let's just say that I have no real use for it since I already have everything I want or need." Again with that smile.

Against my better judgment, I take the book from his somewhat bony looking hands and open the cover. For a moment, I could have sworn I saw the words 'take the book' written on the first page, but after I blinked it was gone. "So how much do I owe you for this?"

He shakes his head slightly still smiling that unsettling but still friendly smile. "No, that particular book isn't in my inventory so it wouldn't be right of me to charge you for it… Think of it as a gift for being one of my first patrons.

With a rather odd feeling in the back of my mind, and the book in hand, I make my way back to my car and continue on my way home. Once there, I toss my coat over one of the chairs in the living room, and let the book fall on one of the cushions of the couch. I put an instant dinner in the microwave, and when that's done I take it to the couch, pop in one of my Evangelion DVD's and start watching.

As I watch, and start to identify with Shinji a bit like I usually do, the book somehow draws my attention. I get the idea in my head that the guy back in that bookstore was an awfully bad con… he didn't even manage to part me from any of my money. But there was still that nagging voice in the back of my skull that kept asking me 'What if it's real? What if it's real?' Shaking my head, I get up and grab the book. I locate a pen and I open the book. "I am going to prove to myself that this is just a book. It's not my fault that guy at the bookstore is a kook." And with that, I start writing:

'I want to know what the Eva universe would have been like if I were one of Shinji's close friends.'

I put the pen down, close the book and look around. No smoke, no magical glow, no portals… no nothing. It really is just another stupid book.

With that, I toss the book in the garbage and head off to bed.

And that's when my life took a sharp left-hand turn into what could very well be The Twilight Zone.

TBC…

Let me know what you think of this idea… it's just a premise, lots of directions this can take, but I figured I'd test the waters.

For those of you who are worried about it… No, I'm not looking to make myself into a perfect pilot, hook myself up with any of the Eva ladies, or anything self-serving like that. I'm just not that kind of person.