Three days had passed since Sir Deathwing had discovered the strange book, "The Book of Silence". With everyone in the household not knowing where the book came from or how to even open it, Deathy gave up, trashing it. However, a certain puffball made it very difficult to get rid of it, but Deathy finally felt relief with it gone. He felt as if he could finally relax without having to worry about it anymore. In fact, he had completely forgotten about it.
As the sun slowly settled down behind the horizon, Sir Deathwing made way under the covers, sleeping next to his lover. Without hesitation his eyes closed, but instantly reopened when something sharp pricked his side. Growling, he turned to angrily face his daughter.
"This better be important Madison."
She nodded, smiling. "It is! It is! Look! I got the book open!"
Immediately, he glanced at Mid Knight, relaxing when he saw she was still sleeping peacefully. Being as quiet as he could, he guided Madison into the library, carrying a candle for light. Madison definitely opened the book alright. The cover went up without hesitation.
"How did you manage to get it open? Wait, where did you even find it!?"
Madison giggled, narrowing her eyes.
"I followed the dumpster truck you threw it in! No way was I letting something this exciting get thrown away!" She said triumphantly, patting her chest. "Agodea and I were chasing each other, but I accidently dropped the book in the pond. When we got it out, the cover wasn't stuck anymore!"
He sighed, placing his hand on his head while shaking. Just when he got the book out of his mind it already came crawling back. He took it from his daughter, staring at the cover thoughtfully.
Do I really want risk whatever tales this book has? It must have been sealed for a reason! But now it's open…and I can finally find out just what this book is about!
"Alright Maddy. We'll keep this book, for now."
She nodded, her chest bubbling up with excitement and curiosity. Deathy flipped the cover, revealing dozens and dozens of pages. He decided to read the first page aloud to Madison, but not so loud that it would wake the others.
"It is May 19th, 1985. The spell hasn't done much for me. Sometimes the ground shakes, sometimes the glass of windows break. Why? Why is what I wonder. But, with my partner lost, I'll have to find out for my own. I've decided writing in this book will help me regain my memories if I ever lose them."
He stopped, shaking his head.
"It seems like a-"
"Keep reading!" Madison interrupted, curiosity still glittering in her eyes.
Rolling his eyes, he continued, "Today, however, was quite scary. I met a mysterious creature. It was black, but I couldn't tell its shape. It was on all fours, had blood red eyes, and fangs sharper than needles. However, the strange thing was it only appeared in certain areas. Because of this fearsome creature, I haven't been able to leave this frightful town. My only hope is…"
Madison tilted her head, curios to why he stopped reading. Deathy flipped through the rest of the pages, finding nothing but blank pages.
"That's all there is. The rest of this book is blank." He said.
"Blank? That's really all there is?" She asked in disappointment.
"Afraid so. But it's late and we should really be heading to sleep." He replied, heading back towards his room.
Madison, excitement gone like water down a drain, walked to her room as well.
"Oh, and Madison." Deathy called over his shoulder. "When I throw the book away tomorrow, please don't chase any dumpster trucks for it again."
That made her giggle a bit, nodding.
"I won't!"
A thick fog covered the atmosphere, threatening to blind anyone who walked into it. The winds whispered softly as if it wanted to send chills down someone's back. Specks of snow dotted the land, crunching under the puffball's footsteps.
"H-Hello? Anyone here?" She cried out, shivering.
There was no answer, so she continued walking around, unable to see any buildings or house until he got close enough to them. With her body getting colder and colder, she decided to find a place to keep warm. But not in this city. It would be far too dangerous. Unfortunately for her, this town was not the only place left eerily and abandoned like this. She had traveled for years, only to see nothing.
Grrr…
Easily startled, the puffball turned around, seeing a large dark figure loom over her. She gasped, instantly breaking into a run. The figure gave chase, running into buildings and stumbling over dead tree stumps.
Suddenly, she sensed she was being watched, only for a few moments.
That…that means…!
"Help me! Whoever you are! Please!" She cried, not knowing if it would help the situation.
She continued running, never stopping for a breath. If the creature managed to catch up to her, having help wouldn't even matter anymore. The mysterious figure continued to screech in agony, its eyes locked onto the puffball. Who knows when their game of cat and mouse would end?
"I can't believe there was nothing else in that book…" Madison complained, trudging over to the trash.
"Perhaps they just never got around to finishing it. But your dad's right, it's none of our business. I'm shocked you two decided to keep it after it mysteriously appeared here in the first place." Mid Knight replied, her eyes closed.
"Haven't you heard that idiom? Curiosity killed the cat!" She said, smiling. "I guess I should throw this away now…"
Mid Knight nodded, clearly thinking about something else.
With her distracted, Madison decided to take one more peek into the book, flipping through the pages. She reread the previous part her father read, noticing something different.
New pages!
Already, the excitement bubbled up in her chest, not hesitating to read more of the book. With so much excitement, she didn't even care how the new pages got there in the first place.
My only hope is to be able to escape.
February 10th, 1990
Success! The creature has collapsed, I can finally bust out! However, I feel each and every day getting scarier and darker than the last. I've met another monster, one that looked exactly like me! I was quick to conclusions, thinking the voice I heard was another person to save me. I will call this creature, "The Shapeshifter.
February 18th 1990
I've learned the mistake I've made with my spell. In order for the healing process to work, one must resonate with its nightmares. This can involve pain, distress, fear, and major depression. I've encountered all of these emotions, but staying strong has helped. If I stay strong a bit longer, I may finally be able to get rid of these nightmares once and for all.
May 5th 1999
After a long struggle…I've managed to break free from this awful nightmare. Though many years have passed, once I returned home, time was still normal, like nothing had passed. Part of me doesn't want to, but I shall edit my spell. If I can get it to work properly, I can help save people from the nightmares of their past that still haunt them.
I've been able to keep this journal…I'll make it into a book. A book no one should read or see until the process is complete. That way, it doesn't fall into the wrong hands. Just in case though, I've made it to where powerful, older puffballs cannot read or see it. I'm still working on preventing younger puffballs and children from reading this as well, but that seems to be the hardest part. Oh well. What's the worst kids can do? They won't be able to find it anyways.
That's when Madison realized, all the pages were filled. Words, words that weren't there before. They were all there in the same old handwriting. Perplexed, she walked over to where Mid Knight was sitting, tapping her shoulder.
"Hey Mid! Before I toss this…c-can you read to me what you see?" She asked, trying not to sound suspicious at all.
Mid Knight sighed, reopening her eyes. She received the book from Madison, flipping the cover up.
"It is January 19th, 1985." She began. "The spell hasn't done much for me. Sometimes the ground shakes, sometimes the glass of windows break. Why? Why is what I wonder. But, with my partner lost, I'll have to find out for my own. I've decided writing in this book will help me regain my memories if I ever lose them."
"What else? Please? I'm just confused a bit." She asked.
Mid Knight narrowed her eyes, her grip on the book became tighter.
"About what? You can read can't you, Madison?"
She flattened her ears, gently kicking the ground.
"Yes, but I'm testing something okay! I just need you to read this."
Sighing once again, Mid Knight continued reading with dull eyes.
"Today, however, was quite scary. I met a mysterious creature. It was black, but I couldn't tell its shape. It was on all fours, had blood red eyes, and fangs sharper than needles. However, the strange thing was it only appeared in certain areas. Because of this fearsome creature, I haven't been able to leave this frightful town. My only hope is…"
She stopped, confused. She flipped through the rest of pages just like Sir Deathwing had done, seeing nothing but blank pages.
"There's nothing else here to read, Madison." She said, returning the book to her. "Now, can we please get rid of it? You seem awfully attached to it."
"Of course. Dad told me to anyways." She said casually, tossing it into the trash before quickly retrieving it from the can's foul stench. "And someone should really take it out, it smells." She added, giggling.
"You're positive you know its location?"
"Yes, we've already located its location. Luckily, the spell has not been seen or spoken."
"Wonderful. Go fetch it then. If you return empty-handed, you'll wish you had never returned in the first place."
"O-Of course m'lady..."
I'm coming for you, stranger. Such power should not be in the hands of a foolish person. Especially not my power, and most importantly, my secrets.
"Goodnight Mom n' Dad!" Madison cried before quickly shutting the closet door.
She ducked under the covers, pulling the book and a candle on a candle holder out. She lit it up, heart pounding to read more of the mysterious book. However, before she could continue reading, a finger prodded her side, causing her to flatten her ears in anger.
"Not now Agodea, I'm busy!"
"Busy with what?" He asked.
"Reading."
"You like to read?"
"Shut up. This book's important."
"Important enough for me to get in on it too, right? No wonder you've stopped randomly going to places."
"Agodea! Seriously! Be quiet!"
"I just want to know what you're reading!"
"A book. Now shush!"
He rolled his eyes in annoyance.
"No shit, Sherlock. I mean what kind of book? Title? Author? Cmon' give me details."
Frustration building up inside and worrying their parents would hear their little bickering, she answered him with, "Only if you don't tell anyone. And I mean don't. Tell. Anyone."
He nodded, pretending to zip his lips together. Sighing, she pulled out the book from its hiding place, explaining to him what it was.
"That's why I've been so secret with it. Though they can't read it, we can! And, I really want to find out this book's purpose…something about it lures me to it."
"Well, if we can both read it," He began. "Then tell me what's happened so far. Maybe we can figure it out together."
"Good plan. So what happened so far is the main character, you could say, is lost in some strange, creepy town. They were being chased by monsters! But after a few years, they escaped." She exclaimed. "What I don't get is how this book got here."
"You said Dad found it, right?"
She nodded.
"Maybe it has to do with him? Connection-wise?"
She shook her head in disagreement.
"Adults, older puffballs, can't read this. All they can read is the first two paragraphs, the rest appears blank. I know cos I showed it to the both of them."
The two sat in silence, staring at the book's plain, dull cover. They decided, instead of predictions, the only way of finding the true answer would be to read the full book, which would require sneaking it around and not acting suspicious.
"It's the only way we can crack this book out. I don't want Mom and Dad getting angry cos we're keeping this, especially since they want to get rid of it so badly."