DEADLY ATTENDED

CHAPTER ONE: The Book

Ronald entered during the darkest part of the night, around one in the morning. Due to the terrible traffic on the way, the journey had taken longer than he expected.

He was breathing heavily.
His shirt was slightly wet from sweat, and his eyes kept moving from one side of the street to the other as though he believed somebody was following him.
He opened the door and walked in.
The door suddenly shut behind him by itself.
Ronald froze.
He turned around slowly.
For several seconds, he stared at the door.
He walked in a little, and step on a plastic bottle drink Grayson drank earlier.
The bottle made a loud sound.
Ronald jumped.
"Ah!"
Grayson immediately came out of his room.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing," Ronald answered quickly.
Grayson looked at him carefully.
He knew something was wrong.
Ronald walked past him, holding a strange long notebook tightly against his chest.
He went into his room and closed the door.
He placed his back against it and breathed heavily.
Then came a knock.
Ronald became petrified.
He stared at the door.
"Who... who's that?" he asked, his lips trembling.
"It's me," Grayson replied.
"What do you want? Stay away from me. I told you!"
"Why would you say I should stay away from you? I'm your friend. Your closest friend. I'm almost like a brother to you. When did we start concealing matters from one another? Talk to me, Ronald."
Ronald looked toward the strange book.
He quickly hid it behind his bed furniture.
He opened the door.
Grayson entered.
"You came in acting strangely. What's wrong? Explain to me."
Ronald sat on the edge of his bed.
For a moment, he said nothing.
Then he thought about it.
There was no reason to hide the matter from Grayson.
Whatever he had seen was frightening.
Perhaps telling his friend would make things easier.
Ronald finally began.
"On my way home, something happened."
"What happened?"
"I saw two boys."
"What kind of boys?"
"Young boys. Seventeen or eighteen. They looked almost exactly alike. I thought they were twins."
Grayson frowned.
"Twins?"
Ronald nodded.
"I saw them through the side mirror of the vehicle."
"What were they doing?"
"Walking toward the vehicle."
"And?"
"Blood was coming down their faces."
Grayson's smile disappeared.
"They were calling my name."
"What?"
"They kept saying, 'Ronald.'"
"Could anyone else hear them?"
"No."
"Did the driver hear them?"
"No."
"Are you sure?"
"I'm sure."
Ronald swallowed.
"I thought I was dreaming. Then one of them threw something into the vehicle."
"What?"
"The book."
Grayson stared at him.
"What book?"
"The one I brought here."
Ronald pointed toward the bed.
Grayson walked over and pulled the strange notebook from behind the furniture.
He placed it on the bed.
The cover was old.
Dark.
Almost black.
Written boldly across it were the words:
DEADLY ATTENDED
Grayson stared at the title.
"What kind of name is this?"
"I don't know."
"You said the boys gave you this?"
"Yes."
"What happened after?"
"When I reached a certain point and got down from the vehicle, the same twins appeared again."
"Where?"
"Near the road."
"What did they say?"
"They said, 'Take it or you leave it.'"
Grayson shook his head.
"That's strange."
"I thought the same thing."
Ronald opened the book.
"The first words inside were exactly the same: 'Take it or you leave it.'"
He turned the page.
"'Take' was written in front of the word 'Live.'"
He turned another page.
"And 'Leave' was written in front of the word 'Dead.'"
Grayson became silent.
"That's why I kept the book," Ronald continued. "I'm not ready to die."
Grayson suddenly burst into laughter.
Ronald looked at him angrily.
"Why are you laughing?"
"I'm sorry, man. But listen to yourself. You're telling me two ghost twins gave you a book that decides who lives and who dies?"
"They weren't ghosts!"
"You said blood was coming from their faces!"
"I know what I saw."
"You were probably tired."
"I wasn't."
"Maybe you were scared because of the traffic and your imagination took over."
Ronald said nothing.
Grayson picked up the book.
"Let's see what is inside."
He opened it.
The first pages contained names.
Hundreds of names.
Some were written in a red section.
Others were written in a green section.
Grayson frowned.
"What does this mean?"
Ronald moved closer.
"The red section..."
He pointed.
"Those are dead students."
Grayson stared at him.
"How do you know?"
"I don't."
"Then why did you say that?"
"Because I've seen some of those names before."
They continued reading.
The green section contained names of students who were still alive.
The red section contained names of students who had died at the university.
Some had died years ago.
Some had died recently.
Then Grayson stopped turning the pages.
His face changed.
"Ronald."
"What?"
"Look."
Ronald moved closer.
At the bottom of the final red page was a name.
RONALD ADEYEMI
Ronald's heart seemed to stop.
His name was there.
Under it was a date.
The following Friday.
Ronald stared at it.
"That's three days from now."
Neither of them spoke.
The room became completely silent.
Then the lights went off.
Both boys froze.
A voice whispered from somewhere in the darkness.
"Attend..."
Ronald looked at Grayson.
"What was that?"
Grayson didn't answer.
The lights came back on.
The book was gone.