Into the Night

{New} Ch. 10 : Good Grief

Calla held the book like he would a crying baby. Not wanting to have it near him, yet dropping it was out of the question. He opened the book and turned to the left most page since an odd question plagued him. Who in their right mind would publish this?

"Really, Random House?"

With that question answered he returned his attention to the room that would be his for the school year. The doorknob had a layer of dust coating it, but he went ahead and turned it. It wasn't the worst thing to touch him that week.

Years of neglect made it difficult to open. It had an awkward feel, as if it didn't want him in there either. At least, not for long. The room would be his for the school year. After that, who knew?

Calla sure didn't.

The room hadn't been prepped for his arrival. Much like the Red Lobster gift card, his aunt had forgotten about it entirely. There was a mattress, but it was propped against the wall. Across from it was a red mahogany desk and an empty bookcase. It wasn't much, but it was a start.

Clouds of dust took to the air when he tipped the mattress over. He held his breath, plugged in two phones, and fell backwards on the sheetless bed. Given the recent news, he doubted that he'd be able to fall asleep. He opened the encyclopedia, eyeing the phone of the recently departed. Wondering if maybe he should just throw it away...

"Snap out of it," he whispered. "You hardly even knew him."

Charlie's dead phone turned on and Calla couldn't help but pick it up. At first he wanted to hear his voice one last time before throwing the phone away, but then he wanted know the person that he lost.

"I'm sorry," Calla whispered to the phone.

He didn't know why he said that, he couldn't have done anything to save him. He was helpless. Yet the guilt remained a sour taste in his mouth.

"You didn't deserve any of this. I shouldn't have been so... rude on the bus. You just wanted my number and I-"

The screen flashed on to reveal a lock screen.

"Why the hell do you have a lock on your phone?"

He tapped 1,2,3,4,5 and just in case.

It blinked red and said he had three tries left.

"You've got to be kidding me..."

His pointer finger hovered over the screen.

"I should throw it away. It's not mine. "

As if disagreeing with his own mind he reached for his phone to google if there was anyway to bypass the lock screen. It said no, but someone in the comment section said to clean the screen before giving it back to the boyfriend then suddenly asking to make a phone call. Then they devolved into a political debate seemingly unprovoked.

Just when he was about to comment his own opinion Charlie's phone vibrated. He picked it up to see a text message had been received and that it showed on the lock screen.

"They're lying to me. This is a sick joke. Text me back. Call me back. This isn't happening. You can't be... "

The rest of the text was cut off; he'd have to unlock it to read the rest.

"I'm not the only one mourning you, am I?"

It blinked with another message.

"Dad hasn't spoke since he found out. It's just like when mom died. I don't know if I can handle this again. I can't. I can't ha-"

He had a sister. And he was reading a moment so intimate, such an invasion of their privacy, that it made him feel like garbage.

"Neither can I," he said shutting off the phone.

Calla returned his attention to the encyclopedia, crossing his legs in front of him, he laid it out before him. As most would have done, he tried to flip to a random page. Except it would open that way. Very much like a book with a secret compartment the pages were glued together. He turned to the only page available.

It read:

"Welcome to Lily's Guide to the Paranormal. Right now you're probably wondering to yourself, why are the pages glued together? "

Or how come I'm currently hearing this inside my head. Don't worry, thanks to the advancements in modern day enchantments-- you're about to experience the information inside this book instead of thumbing through it like someone who hasn't watched the magic school bus. Find yourself someplace to lay down in the next thirty seconds and enjoy your journey into the world of the paranormal. Countdown beginning.

Thirty. Twenty-nine. Twenty-eight.

"You're kidding me... "

I'm so not kidding. Twenty-six.

Calla tried to drop the book, but his hands were frozen to the cover. A heat coursed through the tips of his fingers, up his arms, and across his shoulders. The words typed on the pages began to glow red and lift from the pages in plumes of smoke. A faint hum like the beating of a fly's wings came from the block of pages. It grew until all that was all he could hear.

As the countdown approached zero the room began to blur like turpentine erasing an oil painting. The colors blended together into blob. And as the room melted around him, a prescription strength numbness spread as well.

Five. Four. Three.

From the darkness came small explosions of color like pixels on a television screen. Little by little they created an impression of a waiting room. As the number approached zero the image sharpened.

Two.

One.

Calla blinked once and he was no longer in his room. Standing before him was a very familiar face except she wore a black blazer, had her hair tied back in a bun, and there was a large sash across her chest. It said, "No.1 Tour Guide," and there were dozens of novelty buttons around it.

"Welcome to the paranormal tour! I'll be your guide and author, Lilian Black. I'm here to introduce you to the variety of monsters that populate this world and their history."

"Yeah, I know. I'm your nephew."

Tour guide Lily stared blankly at him before smiling widely.

"Due to safety protocol three, otherwise known as the "existential crisis protection" I'm prohibited from acknowledging the fact that I'm not the original. My memory of this moment will be erased in the next three seconds. In the future you are advised to refrain from mentioning- "

Her sunk down, her eyes fluttering. A second passed before she rose.

"Welcome to the paranormal tour! I'll be your guide and author, Lilian Black. I'm here to introduce you to the variety of monsters that populate this world and their history."

Calla didn't know how to respond to that.

"Nice to meet you?" He greeted tentatively.

"Likewise! Now let's get started, shall we?"

*