The Little Black Book

The year is 2020 and what a year it has been. Between a global pandemic, economic crisis and a long list of natural disasters, there is a young girl in her early 20's who through tragedy has had an event of good fortune. Yes, you heard right, 2020 wasn't all bad for Bella. Okay, yes, her grandparents died in a tragic house fire caused by an electrical storm (she is very sad about this of course), but she was also left $20,000 in their will. Bella already has a list of ideas in her head about what she wants to do with such a large lump sum of money. However, before all the glitz and glam, Bella must attend to the legal side of things. Tomorrow she has been granted access with her family to search through the rubble of the burnt home, you know, for anything sentimental that may have survived.

The next day Bella gets out of bed, gets dressed in jeans and sneakers (she doesn't want to get ash all over her) and jumps into the car with her parents. It's not a long drive to her Grandparents' home, they only lived in the next town over. When they arrived and exited the vehicle, they all just stood there for a moment and glanced over at the rubble which was once a home. Bella even shed a couple tears. They then proceeded to search through what was left of the home, each taking a separate section to cover more ground. Bella took the front of the home where the master bedroom and living area were located and her parents took the back of the house where the remaining three bedrooms were. With tears rolling down her cheeks, Bella began to find photo albums where not one photo survived and crumbled in her hands as she tried to pick them up. At this point she believed that she wouldn't find anything that wasn't burnt to a crisp. In the corner of her eye however, she saw something shimmering in the sunlight. She walked over to it, dug it out and discovered that it was a locked metal box.

"I wonder what this could be?" Bella said to herself confused.

Blast it, it needed a key to be opened. Bella searched all over the place but couldn't find a key that opened the box. She shook the box next to her ear, but it barely made any sound at all. Perhaps the box was empty. Her curiosity was intrigued and there was no way she wasn't taking it home with her. She would crack that lock as if her life depended on it.

"Bella, come on darling, we're going now," Yelled her mother.

"Coming," Replied Bella as she ran to the car.

Bella jumped into the back seat and buckled herself in. Her mother turned to her and asked, "What's that you have there?"

"I don't know, I can't open it. I'm going to crack it open when we get home," She said.

As soon as they got home, Bella ran upstairs to her bedroom and locked her door behind her like she was on some sort of secret mission. Ten broken bobby pins later and the lock was picked. She opened the metal case and there it was, the single item in the box, a black book. Not the treasure she was hoping for, but it was better than it being empty. Little did she know, this little black book was more valuable than she first thought. After reading the first page, she soon realized that this book was her Grandfather's personal journal. Did she dare read on? I mean she couldn't truly honor her Grandfather if she didn't really know the true him, could she?

Bella couldn't help herself, she read the whole book front to back and then read it again because she couldn't believe the things that she was reading. He was mentally ill. Diagnosed or undiagnosed, only a mentally ill man could write the things he wrote. The dark thoughts, the hate, the betrayal. Bella hadn't only stumbled across his thoughts, but also his murder confession. It was all written there right in front of her. It wasn't the fire that took their lives, it was him, the fire was just a cover up. Without a second thought, Bella rang the police in tears, to tell them the secret that she had discovered. They already knew.