Foretold

*Knock *Knock *Knock

...

*knock *Knock *Knock

"Hello?! Is anybody there?!"

The man was standing outside of an old antique store. It was dark, the streets were empty, and a warm wind loomed in the air. He was told to by a mysterious woman to retrieve and bring a special item requested of him at this location at 8:30 P.M., on the day of the Summer Solstice. It was already long past the meeting time, but there had been no sign of anyone in the shop keep. The man's patience began to wane.

*Knock! *Knock! *Knock!

"I have your delivery! If you don't come out and take it, I'll be keeping it for myself!"

The man had no intention of keeping the item, however. He knew that an item of such mysterious circumstances could only bring disaster. He was greedy, as is the nature of a thief, but more than that, the man was cautious. Besides, he had already been paid a hefty amount to retrieve the item. The earlier remark was simply a provocation to lure out his mysterious client.

...

"Okay! I'll be leaving then!"

The man turned around and walked away from the storefront. He made sure his footsteps were very loud as he stomped on the wooden steps of the shop. After reaching street level, he turned his head back at the store, hoping that his actions would elicit a swift response.

...

The man turned around and continued on his way, frustrated and embarrassed by his futile attempts.

"What a load of ---"

*creak*

The man jerked his head. To his surprise, the door had opened, but only just a smidge.

"Who's there?!", The man yelled.

...

The man took a deep breath and slowly paced himself towards the door. Is this an invitation?, the man wondered to himself. He knew that the door was definitely locked before, and there was no feasible way it could've accidentally opened by itself. The man grabbed the old brass doorknob, and pushed lightly.

"Hello?"

The man peeked his head in through the door's opening. It was dark. The windows were boarded, so not even the moonlight could reveal what was in the room. He slipped the rest of his body through the door's crevice. As someone so cautious, this might not seem like the best option, but he did not fear the dark, nor did he think anyone was in the room with him. The floorboards shook and screeched when stepped upon them. If anyone had been there, he had no doubt that he could detect their presence. He reached into his right jean pocket, and took out a lighter. He carried the lighter in his right hand at arm's length, and used his left arm to feel out the room.

The room was big, but it was so cluttered that only narrow walkways remained. The detail that stood out the most to the man was the smell of mildew and the unhealthy amount of dust that had built up. There was so much in fact, that the man had to lock his tongue to the roof of his mouth to avoid sneezing. From what he could tell, the room was filled with mostly bookcases. All of the books had leather bindings. The man picked up a random book from a shelf and held his lighter to it.

#24

12/22/1934 - 6/22/1935

M.L.

"This one is labeled from 4 years ago...", The man whispered to himself.

The books all looked the same as this one . None of them had titles, and they were all labeled with consecutive numbers and dates. There must have been a couple thousand of them stacked around the room.

*Flicker*

The man looked past his right shoulder towards the noise. A lamp was burning in the distance. The light outlined a a hallway that led to back room in the store. The man was startled. The fact that he had not heard someone step into that hallway was extraordinarily strange. He wanted to leave, but-- something about the light drew him closer... and closer... and closer to its source. The lamp sat suspiciously on the floor in the middle of the hallway. Behind the lamp, there was a door.

*Fidget* *Fidget*

*Creak*

The door was heavy, and it let out a high pitched screech as the man pushed it open.

"Whoever is there, stop messing around."

The man picked up the lamp and crept through the doorway into a connecting room. It seemed to be some sort of study. It was small, but almost empty. Compared to the room earlier, the study was clean and organized. At the back of the room there was a large, wooden desk, and a chair that was cushioned, and covered with red felt behind it.

*Bang!*

"Uwahh... Who's comes forth?! An Intruder?!"

It was a male voice .A dark figure rose from under the desk, hitting his head in passing. The man let out a gasp and jumped backwards, also dropping the lamp from his hand. He scrambled to the ground to pick up the light and held it up to the shadowy figure.

"W-who are you?"

The man stood up and retreated to the door.

"You're the one who broke into my home. I should be asking you that."

The dark figure paced towards the man. He wore a black, hooded robe that concealed his appearance. The floorboards in the study were squeaky, but he made no sound as he walked on them. His movements were fluid and gentle. The only word that came to the man's mind was, 'Inhuman'.

"Wait! D-don't come any closer!"

The dark figure kept treading ominously towards the man.

"I didn't break in! I swear. really. I was told to meet here to deliver an item tonight. There was this woman and--- Oh! here it is. I'll show you!"

The man reached into his left jacket pocket and displayed item.

"It's this book, right? I was paid to steal it and bring it here."

The book was tightly bound in black leather. A black lace strap laid over the book's opening to conceal its pages.

The dark figure reached out his hand and grasped the book. He was inches away from the man's face. He was completely covered in cloth. His body was wide, but slender, and his arms long, and limber. This only amplified his inhuman appearance. The man could not tell at all what the dark figure's intentions were.

"You found my script!"

The dark figure spoke in a joyful tone. He hugged the book close to his chest and backed away from the man.

"Huh?" said the man

"Oh, I am so sorry. Excuse my manners. Thank you so much for delivering my script."

The man was dumbfounded by the dark figure's unexpected cheerfulness.

The dark figure grabbed the hood of his robe and draped it behind his shoulders. He had a very thin face. His hair was dark and curly, and had bangs that covered his eyes. His skin was pale, and he had rather handsome facial features.

"My name is Mael. welcome to my home."

…

Mael stared at the man for a moment, and then continued.

"I'm sorry if I startled you. I swear I knew you were coming. It's just that..."

Mael took a long pause.

"Just what?" asked the man, timidly.

"You see, I've been unable to contain my excitement for this night, and ended up neglecting my sleep. I guess I couldn't escape my fatigue, because I ended up falling asleep right before our meeting time..."

Mael was embarrassed. He turned his back toward the man and walked to his desk.

"Hahahahahahaha"

"What's so funny?"

The man burst into laughter. Never before had he been thrown in such a loop. The tension the man felt since he arrived at the shop disappeared in an instant. Mael was concerned by the man's laughter, but never took his eyes off of the book. Mael flipped through the first few pages of the book, and observed them carefully, wearing a childish grin.

"I trust that my informant payed you the $20,000 in full already?"

"Oh umm, yes. she payed me when she gave me the job. It was odd really, paying up front like that. "

The man was still struggling to recover from his laughter.

"Well I did instruct her to do so. So I am truly sorry if my methods were off-putting.

Mael was fully immersed in the book.

"Anyway, you are free to leave whenever you'd like. Or, you can look around my home if you desire."

The man felt comfortable in this moment, maybe arrogantly so. He wanted relieve his curiosity to Mael.

"So what's so special about that book anyway? What's written inside of it?"

*Whoosh*

A strange wind blew into the room and sapped the lamp light.

Red eyes glowed in the darkness, staring daggers into the man. The frightening tension was back, and the man was frozen with terror.

"Oh? and why would you like to know?"

"S-sorry if I'm imposing. It's just that the book seems very valuable. Plus, there's been a lot of strange things happening since I arrived here..."

"Strange? Like what?"

"Well it seems as though the front door to your shop opened on its own.....And also there was the lamp that appeared in the hallway."

Mael took a match and lit a candle on his desk.

"Well I guess there's no harm in telling you now. Come and take a seat."

Just like before, the man felt compelled, and moved towards the desk and sat down. The man placed the unlit lamp on the desk to his right and opened the book to the first page.

*Knock *Knock *Knock

...

*knock *Knock *Knock

"Hello?! Is anybody there?!"

The man was standing outside of an old antique store.

"What is this?!"

The man read on. Everything he'd experienced since he arrived at the shop was written in this book.

"This is what I call a script. The interactions that have transpired on this night have been foretold by this book. The book that you picked up in the store was also one of many scripts."

The man wanted to say it was impossible. But the evidence in front of him left him speechless.

"As for the strange things that happened to you..... The script has the omnipotence to bend reality to its will in order to reach its desired outcome..."

"So everything that happened here to me, was the book leading me to this room?" asked the man

"Precisely!", yelled Mael

"Everything that happened and will happen in the script will lead to the owner's true destiny."

"True destiny.....-- Wait, why do you need so many of these scripts? Wouldn't one be enough?"

"How observant." said Mael

"The scripts only divine six months of time. Specifically, every time the Winter and Summer solstice occurs each year, the script in use loses effect, and a new one must be found."

...

The man sat silently in awe for a while. He kept reading and reading. He wondered what his role in this book was, and what the true destiny the script laid out for him was.

"Why does the script refer to me as "the man", when it uses your first name."

"The script only mentions the names of those it deems as major characters."

"What's that supposed to mea--"

"Could you read the next part out loud for me?"

Mael's interruption surprised the man, but he complied and read the next page...

"Okay..."

"While the man was preoccupied reading out loud, Mael reached over the man's right shoulder and picked up the lamp. Mael took the lamp, and"----------

"WAIT! NO! DON'T DO---"

*BASH!*

The study was filled with a harsh silence. Mael took a handkerchief cleaned the lamp. He took the open book from the table, flipped to next page, and observed carefully.

...

...

"Oh shoot! I got my line wrong."