Statement of a familiar book
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“A friend told me about this place. This is where people drop off their spooky tales right, and you save them from the things that stalk them? For like a price of shitty dreams or something?” The lady had been escorted in by Rosie to record a statement.
“That is one way of putting it. We investigate what you tell us, and contact you with follow up if you would like. We have a few papers for you to read ov-” Jon could taste something familiar in the air about her statement. But it wasn’t a statement yet, still just a seed of horror.
“Just hand them over. I don’t have a lot of time to bother reading the damn things. I know that they say. My friend told me something about after I talk to the archivist, You, I guess, that you’ll linger in my dreams all weird-like. She shared details when she told me about this place. Something about you have ‘stunning eyes’, so it’s not as bad as other things could be.” She took a breath to slow down. “And trust me, I got one of those other things.”
Jon was taken back a little bit, but smiled as he handed her the papers. He got verbal consent, but with the habit of paper trail, he didn’t want to go lax on it. “Alright. Thank you, Miss Murray.”
“Statement of Rebecca Murray, recorded direct from subject, 2nd of December, 2015. Whenever you are ready.”
“Right. So my brother passed away rather tragically a few years back. Its- I don’t believe the details are needed, but they do play a key roll in all this, so I'll get to it. It’s just hard to say out of context, ya know? I mean, he was my only sibling and while he was a pain in the but as siblings are, he didn’t deserve what happened.
“So he didn’t leave a will or anything, how could he have known, except while I was taking care of things in place of my mother -she was far too upset- I noticed everything looked as though he was prepared for it. All his bank accounts appeared to be settled, no outstanding payments on anything, all his items were already in storage, his flat lease expired days before the accident, it was like he was prepared to vanish.” She let out a nervous laugh.
“You can’t just plan that though was what I figured at the time. It left me unsettled, since what was he planning on? To be ready to vanish, then to die days after everything was set up for it. He couldn’t have known that the crane would fall, and he would be the only casualty. You can't plan for that kinda thing. You just can't. Least I thought at the time.
“It- I had nightmares for months afterwards. Completely unable to check out his things for almost a year. At this point it was maybe the summer of 2010? There was some paperwork I needed, I can’t even remember what, so I went to look through his things. There was a box of books, nothing of value, but there was a journal looking book. No title or anything except a note saying ‘do not read’. It looked like a beaten up dairy, maybe? So I opened it up to see if maybe it would have some sort of information about what he was thinking before the accident.
“That was when I knew I had made a mistake. On the first page, there was a quote that read:
Life is a current which cannot be fought. It is a march with one destination. You cannot cease your step, nor move your course, to one that skirts the journey's termination.
“Then below it was written: ‘You have already read too much.’
“I couldn’t stop though, and it was documenting all these horrible descriptions of death. I wanted to stop so bad, but then I got to the second to last part and saw the description of my brother’s death. In more detail than I would’ve ever wanted to know.
“I couldn’t make sense of it, then the next page had my own death in just as much detail.”
She looked like she was going to panic, so she paused for a moment.
“I- It was bad. But least it’s not going to happen. The entry changed every time I look. The first entries were missing dates, with some truly horrifying descriptions of endless landscapes of suffering as far as the eye could see. Each time I looked, the death changed, but it kept feeling like it was getting closer, but I have no way of knowing how I knew. Until a date showed up: 18th of October, 2018. Then from there, it would lose some 6 months or so.”
She reached into her messenger bag and pulled out two books. Both had been bound with rope as if it would keep them from opening. Jon’s blood ran cold at the sight of the one he couldn’t see the cover of, but Knew.
“I don’t know if this will help me at all by doing this, but the last time I looked, the entry for my death wasn’t gruesome, so I haven’t looked since. It simply said ‘8th of December, 2015. Become a guest for Mr.Spider.’ It didn’t make sense until this second book showed up in our donation bin at work yesterday.”
Jon stared at the book. So many thoughts running through his head, that if he wasn’t used to mentally multitasking terrors at all times, he would have probably freaked out externally.
“I mentioned it to my friend, hoping she would tell me I was being silly, cause I mean, it’s just two books, but she sent me to you instead.”
Rebecca looked to Jon with a face so tired and begging for help.
“Statement ends.” Jon didn’t take his eyes off the book as he continued speaking.
“You’ve found yourself in the possession of some rather dangerous books. Tieing them up was a good idea.”
“Yeah, I’ve had the one I got from my brother tied up for about 2 years now. And the other, was soon as I could get rope.”
“Mm. We can hang onto these, keep them locked up.” Jon doesn’t want to lie to her about her safety in the matter. If the books really want to claim someone, they have about as much power as an Avatar would. The fact it was Mr.Spider, and being delivered right to Jon, he was almost hoping this was a message rather than a death sentence for her, since both the End and the Web could be considered allies in preventing the Watchers Crown. So he continued to withhold that she might still end up dying on the 8th. If anything she could have a short ignorance her brother was denied. “They shouldn’t be bothering you from now on. We will do some follow up just to make sure and contact you around the 9th with anything we find, or don’t find.“
“The book says the 8th…”
“I know what it says, but long as it’s in my possession, contacting you on the 9th will not be a problem. I must warn you because of the nature of these entities, you will most likely read them in your dream, but they will have no power there, no matter how real they seem. It will not be every night either. So might be a few days until the first dream. The worst will probably be on the night before and after. I can make sure I’m there so you know it’s a dream.”
“Somehow hearing you say that, while it sounds absurd, its calming to know that I’ll have a way to know when it’s just me having a nightmare. My friend wasn’t kidding when she said her nightmares were better than the alternative. Do you need any more information from me?”
Jon smiled. “No. We should be all set. Do you need anything else from me?”
“Um...Maybe? What would have happened? With the other book. I didn’t open it cause I didn’t want to know…”
“You wouldn’t have been able to close it. And the other book would have gotten the date wrong.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah.”
“Well. Okay. Um. M-my contact information is there, and I look forward to hearing from you on the 9th. See you around?” She tried to joke a little at that last part, but it came out as a choking sound rather than a laugh.
“I suppose you will. Here is my card in case you need anything. It has my personal number on it where I can be reached anytime. No time is too late. Martin will see you out while I take care of the books.”
As if on cue Martin knocked on the door before entering, with the Marshal riding on his shoulder.
“All wrapped up? Marshal was waiting by your door.” Once Martin got close enough to the desk, the kitten jumped down, rubbed on Rebecca’s hand, requesting pets.
“Yes. Would you lead Miss Murrey out? I’ve got some things to take care of.” Jon glanced to the books on his desk.
Martin nodded. “Right this way.” Rebecca got up after the little headbutt from the kitten and followed Martin out.
Jon waited till the door was closed to exhale the breath he didn’t notice he was holding.
“Well. Never thought I’d see this again. Plus the addition of the Book of the Dead.” Jon’s curiosity was on fire. He was planning on waiting til the 9th to investigate either books, to make sure they are tied and kept from Rebecca, and it if was a message from the Web, surely the Mother would’ve known that and wouldn’t fight it. If anything he was also expecting a visit on the 9th, but if not, he was going to greet Mr.Spider. Jon was certain of that fact.
But the Book of the Dead. What would Jon see when he looked? He knew he wasn’t beyond the reach of the End. Even in the future that was true. What would it show him if he looked?
The first entries she mentioned interested him. The ‘some truly horrifying descriptions of endless landscapes of suffering as far as the eye could see’ sounded like her original death was going to be after the Watcher’s Crown. Then if he had any doubts, the first date showing up. 18.8.2018. The last time ‘time’ had any meaning in Jon’s memory.
Does that mean he is set to fail? Or was it simply a way for the Web or the End thinking they are clever and sending him an annoying coded message. Or maybe it was that they didn’t know the importance and wanted to have Jon fill them in?
“Fuck, it’s not like my email isn’t posted on the damn website. This can’t just be a coincidence, can it?” Jon leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling for a bit while his brain flooded with information and the room filled with static. The Marshal purred on Jon’s lap.
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