I didn't write this.
No, it's not that I stole it from somewhere. I didn't even plan to plagiarize this story. It's just that it was handed to me under strange circumstances and my idiot self decided that this was an adventure of a lifetime.
My name is Reigl and this is my story.
Everything started the way it usually did. If this was a random movie, the scene would show a girl in a hoodie walking towards school or towards a house. Or walking towards wherever, so long as it showed that a story was starting.
Well, for me, it was in my room. Pan camera. Lights check. Action.
Music blasted in my ears as my phone croaked out the songs in my playlist. The light was dim but I continued studying anyway. I've got a test in this subject and the professor wasn't exactly the best out there.
Rain slapped the glass of my windows, the sound enough to set me squirming with dread. With that downpour, it's going to be hell going to class tomorrow.
I sighed. The sky had turned dark long ago. The clock on my desk read 10:30. Ugh. So much to do, so little time.
That's when a spark of light flashed through my window. I shrugged. That's just lightning. Thunder would follow like it always did.
There was no thunder.
I frowned. Weird.
I groaned and massaged my temples. I should be focusing on the syllabus and not on the goddamn thunder.
Something thudded on my door. Oooookay. That was weirder. Was I in a horror film? I eyed the lights. No flickering.
Come on, whoever's looking at my life up there. If you're going to put me in a movie, put me in a fantasy world with magic and fluff! Real life was enough of a horror already!
Of course, like every idiot in a horror film that always died first, I got up and yanked the door open. Seated on the welcome mat was a box. Weirdest.
I should have just left it there. Looking back, I should have just closed the door and continued studying and living my normal, boring life.
Instead, I picked up the box and shut the door. I looked at the shipment details. There was no return address. There wasn't even an address to tell me where it's from.
I set it to a thud on my desk after shoving all my study guides to one side. Heavy. Whatever this was, it's a lot.
My trusty cutter, the one that got me out of several scrapes including stabbing someone's eraser, ran the length of the taped package. Now, why was I doing this? Answer—I didn't know.
Maybe it was curiosity. Or just the simple excitement of receiving something from online shopping.
God, I hope this wasn't anthrax.
What I found inside, in retrospect, was worse than anthrax.
Journals stacked on top of another. Not just your ordinary Cattleya journals. These looked like the ones you see in a sorcery movie that contained the secret to immortality or a hidden recipe for mass destruction.
Did I get any? No.
I picked the topmost journal. It was as big as my laptop and as thick, too, with a dried leather cover where strange symbols were either burned through or pressed into. Okay, things were definitely turning for the weirder.
I flipped to the first page and something dropped out. Oh. The secret to immortality.
No. No. Far from that.
I threw the journal back to its box and bent over to pick up what fell. It was a sealed envelope. I flicked it to its other side. Of course, no mailing address.
One thing to do now. Ignore and leave out in the rain until disposal men come.
Nope. I took a pair of scissors and tore the envelope open.
Inside was a yellowing paper folded. I squinted. Was that...ink? Dear Lord.
I took the letter out and flipped it open. I recoiled. Ugh. What kind of handwriting was this? This was worse than my doctor's. The parchment, like the pages of the journal, was crinkly and thin like the cucumbers in my fridge.
The loopy fontwork was the first offense. The next was the fact that the entire letter was written in ink. It made the letters jump out at my eyes like the shark from Jaws.
It was like everything was designed to turn a normal person away. First the mysterious arrival, then the heavy-ass box, and finally, this weird Tolkien letter.
Still, like the not-normal person that I was, I began reading.
And I regret it. Not back then. But certainly, now.
I looked back at the journal pile. There were six inside. Six stories. Six events. Six things to transcribe and disseminate.
I went back to the letter again. It was asking me to get the stories in every way I could because apparently, this world was in danger. From what, you ask? Well, I didn't know, too. Apparently, there was this ancient evil about to attack World Beyond and that the story started from these journals' contents.
The letter told me that it was my sole duty to protect the journals and their content from other forces that might be after it. I laughed. Who would be after these junk?
I got my answer then and there.
Now, I am on the run for my life as creatures from children's fairy tales come alive in my neighborhood and chase me around until I can escape. It had been my dream to write something that would change my life but not like this.
Not like this.
I am now writing this on a bus going away from my dormitory. My fingers are still shaking after having barely escaped a demon crossed with a grandma raging at me like a loan shark. It is a good thing that I am able to grab my laptop and a few of my clothes.
I just need to finish this. I made a mistake. A humongous cake of a mistake. I look back at the point in the road fading from my view as the bus peeled off in this dictated direction.
There is no going back no. I am really doing this. I'm scared. Will I make it through? Am I strong enough?
I don't have a choice.
I took on this challenge. I must finish it. Because I'm not a quitter.
Besides, I only live once. I prefer to live it by helping the world in any way I can. Even if it is against a "great evil" threatening to plunge this world into destruction.
So, dear reader, what you have now in your hands is the product of my sleepless nights filled with running for my life, cups of 3-in-1 instant coffee, and frozen meals from the nearest 7-11.
What you will read is not for the faint of heart. The letter warns me of hardships. Someone wants to keep this knowledge contained. Some want it for themselves. Read on at your own risk.
Understand with your own eyes what the great evil is. Join me in this journey that I so mistakenly took. I hope that you are not making the same decision as I did.
If you can turn back, do it now.
Once you continue, be ready for retribution.