Our story begins down in Merrillville. A small town in Ross Township, Lake County, Indiana. The population is 35,246 residents. Merrillville is located in the East-central portion of the Lake County area, in the Chicago metropolitan area. Merrillville became the most populated town in Indiana, as Fishers in Hamilton County was converted from a town to a city.
At the town's local library, some people were coming and going, renting or returning books in their own time, all the while with browsing around to see what there might be on the shelves of the library, whether non-fiction, romance, horror, or out of the ordinary. Among one of the people in the library looking through the books was a young man.
This young male is about 18 years of age, with pale white skin, short jawline-length brown hair, and cobalt blue colour eyes. He stands 5ft tall, whilst his body is skinny, has broad shoulders, lean legs and arms, while he has lean muscles. He is currently wearing a pair of black boxer shorts, as well as a regular black short-sleeve shirt. This boy's name is Braedey Martin.
Braedey is a kindhearted being. He's somewhat of a quiet person, since he's not as outgoing. He is not one to talk to girls, unless they're his sisters or mother. He struggles in self-courage, but he's thankful for his parents to provide support. He's a bit of a reader, but all the while, he has some issues with making friends.
Braedey hummed to himself, looking at some books of machinery, as well as different cities around the world, along with other such books. So far, he has read a fair amount of them. However, he's gotten a little bored as to what to read now.
"Man, there are some alright books here in this place, but I'm really looking for something new." Braedey said to himself with a sigh, now putting the books he has read back on the shelves, all the while making sure they were in their rightful places. "I just wonder if there is a new story or book to take a look at." He mused to himself.
Braedey began to walk through the aisles of many shelves, looking around at the many books that are there. He did see some that caught his attention, but none seemed to peek his interest. He sighed to himself, as he walked along. But, as he was about to leave the aisle he was in, he suddenly caught the glimpse of what might be something made of gold.
Braedey turned to look over, and he could see some kind of lightly tanned book cover. He reached over to pick it up, now seeing the front cover has a starry sky for the front, while there's the image of what looks to be the Catherine Palace, all lit up and vibrant, and the title of the book in gold. It read '𝐴𝑛𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑎'.
'Is this... the retelling of the movie or the real story of the Romanov family?' Braedey thought to himself in curiosity.
Braedey has read about the execution of the Russian Imperial Romanov Family in 1910's when he was tasked to do a history report of the family. He wasn't too sure about it, since others in his class got better people to do a history report about, but he had learnt a lot from doing so. It was when Emperor Nicholas II, his wife Empress Alexandra, and their five children: Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia, and Alexei, were all shot and bayoneted to death by the Communist revolutionaries under Yakov Yurovsky in Yekaterinburg. It was a tragic way for the family to be killed.
'That was a horrid way to go.' Braedey thought to himself, looking at the cover of the book. He ran a finger along the name, noticing it's bevelled and stands out a little from the cover. He also took note that there is no author on the book. 'Odd. No author, yet this book looks like its been made to be desirable. Maybe this is worth my time to read.' He thought to himself. With that on his mind, Braedey took the book over to the front desk.
"I'd like to make a purchase of this." Braedey asked, gesturing to the book with his hand.
The woman at the front desk eyed the book with slightly widened eyes, then turned to Braedey. "I would advise to take caution with this book." She whispered to Braedey, much to his confusion. "This book has been considered to be supernatural, and that has been around since 1945." She added.
"What?" Braedey asked in surprise to her. He looked at it in bewilderment, then back to the woman. "What is there about this book? What of the author?"
"The author is anonymous. There's been no record of the person even existing." The woman explained to the brunette. "It's almost like they vanished into thin air, never to be seen or heard from again."
"Whoa..." Braedey said to himself in surprise of what he's just heard. "That's... something else. What else is there?" He asked.
"I'm afraid that's all I know about the story of this book and how it came to be. And the fact it came from either Ukraine or France, and been translated to English." The woman added in.
"Very well." Braedey acknowledged to her. He turned to the woman. "I guess I'll go ahead and buy this one." He asked, and the woman nodded in understanding.
With a quick purchase, Braedey got the book, and he headed out of the library. He walked out, now walking up to where a blue bicycle was, got on it, and he rode off for home. All the while, his mind was lost within his thoughts about what he's been told, while wondering what could be deep in the pages of the book.
'What that woman told me might be a warning or so, but I won't know what might be there until I take a look inside the book.' Braedey thought to himself, heading off down the road to travel off for home.
~*~*~
A two-storey luxury house sits nearby a quiet hill not too far from the town a few streets away, with an amount of land all around it, with fresh short green grass all around it, the grass having been cut just a few moments ago. A series of flowerbeds surrounded the nearby the stairs/ramp up to the front porch, containing red roses, violets, lavenders, and fresh ferns with them. The house has what could be a wood style on the exterior, along with dark grey stones on sections of the walls, and with white-picket fences all around the front porch, and with white pillars.
Braedey rode up on his bicycle up the driveway towards the house, approaching the driveway and coming to a stop. He puts the bike away, and he walked off into his home, approaching the kitchen, all the while with his new book in hand. He hasn't had the chance to take a look at the book yet.
'I wonder what this book has in store for me to take a look.' Braedey thought to himself, looking down at the book with curiosity in his eyes. 'I mean, will it be the history of the royal family, or something else?' He asked mentally.
"Braedey. What do you have there in your hands?" A woman's voice spoke up, getting the brunette's attention, as he looked over to the kitchen to see who was there.
The woman turned out to be Braedey's mother, Naomi Jane Martin. She is a lovely and beautiful young woman, with fair lightly peach skin, looking around 35yrs in age, with bright gentle blue eyes, and a pair of small red lips. Her hair is a golden brown that reaches down to her shoulders with a gentle flow, whilst two small strands of her hair framed her angelic-like face, and she also has a small red rose hair clip in her hair. She has a firm slender body shape with a slightly above average bust and hip size, whilst she stands 5ft tall. She is wearing a sleeveless firetruck red dress that reaches down to just below both of her knees, a small pearl necklace around her neck, crystal blue flower earrings on her ears, gold bracelets around her wrists, and she has on a pair of light leggings that hugged her legs gently.
"Oh. Hey, Mom." Braedey greeted casually. "I just went to the library and bought a book to take a look at. It just got me curious."
"Really? What is it about, exactly?" Naomi asked curiously.
"That's the thing. There's no writing on the back of it, let alone any signature or so of the author." Braedey added in, showing the front cover of the book. "It was strange, as if the person never existed."
"That is strange..." Naomi nodded in agreement, now looking at the book's cover. "What do you think it's about?" She asked.
"I don't know right now. I haven't had the chance to read it yet." Braedey shook his head. "My best guess, it could be either about the movie 'Anastasia', or about the actual events that had transpired with the Romanov family." He guessed.
"Well, I'm sure it will be a good book for you to read." Naomi commented.
Braedey then took note around the kitchen and the living room, and saw there were too people amiss. "Mom. Where are both Karen and Jessie?" He asked to his mother.
"Jessie is over at a friend's home for a birthday." Naomi clarified to her son. "Karen, meanwhile, she is with some friends for the afternoon. They'll be back home tonight." She added.
"Alright, then." Braedey acknowledged back to his mother, now walking off to his bedroom. "I'll be back in a little bit."
Once getting to his room, Braedey looked to the book he has in hand. He showed a small smile to himself, as he placed the book down on the table in his room, as he got himself cleaned up. As he did so, the book seemed to unlock itself with a small click, even though there was no lock on it, then the front of the book opened up onto a blank page.
A few minutes later, Braedey arrived back in his room, now noticing the open book, much to his confusion. He didn't remember opening the book at all. He looked onto the front page, and he saw what some writing there. It reads...
"On the wind, cross the sea,"
"Hear this song, and remember..."
"Soon, you'll be home with me,"
"Once Upon a December..."
Braedey thought about what that meant, and he realised that it was the lines to a lullaby. He looked to the words again, reciting them again and again in his head, thinking about what that really means.
"Braedey!" The brunette snapped out of his thoughts when he heard that voice. He turned to look to his bedroom door, and he saw his two sisters, Jessie and Karen.
Karen Janis Martin is about 22 years of age, has light orange skin, no thanks to her using well over so much fake skin tan products to give her that colour, has jet black hair done up in a high ponytail with a tied red ribbon, a pair of dull brown eyes, and she has a slim mouth. She has a slender hourglass body shape. She is wearing a pair of jet-black skintight pants, which are showing off her rounded legs and thighs, and she has on a yellow short-sleeve shirt with red lining around the collar and sleeve ends. She also has a handbag around her left arm, whilst she has her phone in her right hand, and she has on a pair of black high-heel wedge shoes.
Jessie May Martin is a young girl, possibly at only 9 years of age, with brown hair that is done up in some kind of French braid, cobalt blue eyes like his own, and a snow white skin tone. She has a very petite frame, only standing about 4ft 5in tall. She is wearing a bright blue sleeveless dress with special embroidery across the skirt and the front, the shoulder sections of her dress being in a dark blue, and she has blue ballet shoes.
"Oh. Hey, you two." Braedey greeted back to his sisters. "What's going on?" He asked. "And good to see you two back home so soon."
"Mom called earlier to say that dinner is almost ready." Karen explained to Braedey. "What have you been up to?"
"Just been looking at this book, although I'm thinking about something else." Braedey replied back, looking to his book. "Its just something I can't wrap my head around..."
"Well, when you finally put the book down, you should come down and have some dinner before it gets cold." Jessie said to Braedey with a small smile.
"I will. Don't you worry, Jessie." Braedey reassured to her, hugging his little sister, and Jessie hugged him back. "You two go on ahead, and please, go ahead and get your food. I'll be down to get some." He told them.
With that, both Karen and Jessie head off downstairs to go and get some dinner. Braedey looked down at the book again, then closed it up, and he headed out of his room to go ahead and have some dinner as well.
After dinner, and a little bit of family time, Braedey went off back to his room. He looked back to the book, then breathed a sigh to himself, as he picked it up, and he turned the page at the start of the book. But, as he does so, he saw what could be a golden glow coming from the very middle of the book's spine.
Braedey was about to call out, only for him to see that his hands were starting to become what could be best described as gold dust. He dropped the book onto his bed, as he stepped back in shock and horror, seeing his arms starting to fade away, only for the golden dust to flow into the book, like the book was sucking him in. He couldn't do anything or say a word, as he watched his form be turned into gold dust, and it's absorbed into the book, the book sealing itself shut, as the light in the bedroom goes out...
~*~*~
A/N: there we go. The first chapter of my 'Anastasia' story is done and complete. This will hopefully be a good book for all of you to read and enjoy, and I can't wait to hear what you all think of the story.