An Ancient Inheritance

It had been two days and fourteen hours since his last meal.

“Whatever you are thinking right now, stop it. We are almost there.”

“Can you explain to me how fasting is going to make me great again?”

“You would find out as soon as you step out of the house in 10 hours. If you aren’t satisfied with the results, you can do whatever you want afterwards.”

He took in a deep breath. His patience had never been tested this much. Now all he had to do was figure out a way to distract himself from his voracious hunger. Memories of the past few days came to him.

“Is there something you find funny Jack?” Julia interrupted his thoughts. He caught himself chuckling at his misfortune. “Have you already moved on?” She asked.

Oh please spare me the theatrics. Jack thought. He often found his little sisters' self righteousness irritating.

“It’s funny the things you remember about someone after spending time with them. I was with him at the very end. The last thing he said was how much he missed all three of you.” Jack responded, not bothering to see their reactions. He couldn’t help it. What the hell was she implying with that question?

“I would have made it if I could. I....” Jack said.

“I didn’t think it was that serious,....” Peter interrupted.

Jack watched in satisfaction as his siblings got defensive about their absence when daddy was sick. A small victory.

“We are all saddened by the loss of Old Bill. He was a close friend and a colleague. Now is not the time to bicker about the things we can’t change. It should be a time to become closer as a family and decide how to move forward with his legacy” Alex offered, silencing the room. Even though he was just the family lawyer, he and dad were good friends. He had gone above and beyond to find medical help. “If there are no further questions, I would take my leave, feel free to reach out to me in the future if you need something else.” He continued, looking around the room searching. His gaze touched Jack and rested there for a moment.

Jack could see the pity in Alex’s eyes but he gave no reaction. His siblings now regarded him with a serious look.

“You worked with dad on the farm the past couple of years. How would you like to continue? I don’t know the first thing about tilling the soil” John offered. “Of course you would be paid a good salary. All I want is to leave it in good hands.” he added, leaning forward.

“Why would you work on the farm? Surely you would prefer to manage the family business. Much more comfortable. We can split the profits. I’ll take seventy percent and the rest is yours.” Peter interrupted, leaning back.

“Daddy has barely been on the ground for a day and you are already discussing business. You disgust me!” Julia said. “Come on Jack let's leave these heartless idiots so that we can mourn in peace.”

Say what you wanted about his siblings. Jack always appreciated their directness. He raised both hands and spoke.

“Thank you for your generous offers but I have personal things I am working on ”. Jack could feel stares of confusion aimed at his back as he slowly stood up and walked away. It was quite simple really. Pride and self pity wouldn’t allow him to consider their offers.

When he thought about it, Jack wondered if he had already lost his mind. He was putting himself through this because a book told him to yet he looked at beautiful calligraphy appear on the empty pages of a book that lay on the table before him like an invisible hand wrote the words.

”Three hours left.”

Was that supposed to encourage him? two days and twenty one hours. The remaining three hours felt like a lifetime away. So close and yet so far away. Why had he trusted the words of this book? Was it the denial that his father had betrayed him and left him with nothing? If this book was right, then the opposite would be true.

He had left the windows open and the cold from outside had gotten in. Not that it really mattered anyway. He lived in a basement and it was always cold. He took off his clothes, replacing them with dry ones then he kindled the fire place, covered himself in a blanket and rocked back and forth on his chair. He held the black book in his hand and stared at it. The book cover shone black in the light of the fireplace like it had just been made. However, the pages were brown and looked like they would crumble if they weren’t handled gently. The edges of the pages were tattered and broken like they had been eaten by a mouse. He was tempted to throw the book in the flames but he held his impulse. He sighed and opened the book.

The first page was empty. Paper dust rose as he flipped the pages to find whatever hidden massage his father had for him but he found nothing. The only thing he inherited from his father was a book with empty pages? He dropped the book and laughed at himself. Hot tea would be great now. Maybe he could sell everything he had, finish school and eventually... What the hell? He leaned towards the ground and stared at the book as words appeared on the pages of the book.

“Why are you laughing?”

“Uhh. Well...because” Jack stopped himself mid-sentence. Was he responding to the words in an old book? He had a headache. He had a little alcohol but definitely not enough to hallucinate. For the first time he noticed how dark the room had gotten.

“Uhh. Well because... What? I warned your father about this.”

“You warned him about what?”

“He was supposed to reveal me to his heir before he died to avoid a situation like this but alas we deal with the hands that we are dealt with. I guess he took the first rule a bit too seriously.”

“The first rule?”

“Only open the pages of this book when you are alone. I believe that was the one instruction he gave you about me. We are off to a great start.”

“Who are you? I mean what are you”

“I will answer a lot of your questions over your lifetime but the question of what I am is subjective to your interpretation of an old tale. A long and boring tale of magic, curses and penance. More importantly, we need to complete a ritual to transfer ownership of me from Willam to you.”

“Why would I want to own you?” Jack asked, still not sure if this was real or a hallucination.

“There are many reasons why, boy. Wealth, power, prestige, fulfilling your potential but I wouldn’t bore you with such trivial things. The reason you would want to have me as an ally can be summarized with a word; Destiny”

Jack considered the past day leading up to this moment and decided that it was very possible that he had lost his mind somewhere along all the events that had taken place. Fuck it. What is the worst that could happen?

“What do I have to do?”

“I am impressed by your decisiveness. That would be helpful moving forward. I will start with the rules.

Rule 1:

Reveal me to no one. Consult my pages when you are alone.

Rule 2:

Follow every instruction I give you regardless of your real or imagined fears

Rule 3:

You must groom my next inheritor in the ways I instruct you to before you pass into the void. Just as Willian groomed you for me.”

The rules were simple enough to understand and he always felt like dad was preparing him for something.

“Do you promise to abide by these rules?”

“What happens if I don’t?”

“You would lose all memory of me and I will select another heir. There might be some collateral damage.”

In other words there is nothing to lose.

“I will take you up on it. I promise to abide by these rules”

“Good.”

“Now what?”

“Your ascent to greatness.”

“Let’s do it”

Nothing to lose? He almost laughed at his naivety. Everything had a cost. Where had he kept that cookie again?

“One hour left”

He saw the words appear in the book but he couldn’t care less at this point. He stood up and the world spun around him. He was dizzy and his vision was blurred. He stumbled to a drawer and opened it. He saw it wrapped up in a piece of cloth. He picked it up. With willpower he didn’t know he had, he walked back to the table and placed the cookie beside the book.

“I knew you wouldn’t. Not the heir that I chose myself. I promise you. It would be worth it.”

“It better be”. His voice sounded croaked and weak. He almost didn’t recognize it. He closed his eyes and drifted into the embrace of dreams.

The hunger and the aroma of the cookie worked together to wake him up. Has anything ever smelled so delicious? Words appeared in the book.

“15 seconds. Hold.”

Jack had a blank expression on his face as he stared at the cookie that was laid on top of the table.

“10 seconds. Hold.”

Drool ran down his mouth but he didn’t care to wipe it off. That musty and soggy looking cookie looked as delicious as anything.

“5 seconds. Hold”

He reached out and picked it up. Four, three, two. He threw it in his mouth and ate it whole. He was right; nothing had ever tasted better.

“Now tell me why you put me through this torture”

“I would very much rather show you.”

Jack couldn’t remember a time when he was this weak. He would have to leave the house if he wanted to eat anyway so he stepped out. It was uncharacteristically dark. There were no lanterns that typified this time of the night. It wasn’t so early that kids were playing outside but it wasn’t so late that everyone was asleep. The streets were silent and empty. Where was everyone? Why is it so quiet? He made his way to the Inn hoping to get some food and ale. When he got there the doors were locked. He reached into his cloths, retrieved the black book and opened it.

“What is going on?”

“There is a pandemic going on.”

“A pandemic?”

“Yes, an ancient ailment. Too old for anyone in today’s age to recognize. In the past, close to the time of my creation, only the people who were too poor to afford food survived. The disease feeds on what you eat. It takes three days for it to starve and three days for your body to become immune. It also takes three days to kill a man after the first symptoms show.”

A chill went up his spine. This strange book has saved his life.

“Are you saying everyone is dead?”

“Not everyone, some people were too poor to afford food. Now seems like a good time to visit your brothers and sister don’t you think?”

“Are they alive?”

“No. Now there is only one heir left to inherit everything. Everyone your father owed money to is also dead. You are at least 9 times as rich as he was. You have a head-start to looting the dead. If you don’t, someone else will. As you can see, it's in your best interest to follow my instructions”

A few days ago he was mad that he hadn’t inherited the empire he had helped his father build. He was mad that all his hard work rewarded his siblings. Now he had everything. There was a bitter taste in his mouth