The Little Black Book

Time is not a thing here. Everything that has happened in the town of Liverston has left everything untouched. The town is silent. The air is still. The forest surrounding the town whispers of the sins that have unfolded. Travelers who wander through these woods often don't return but the ones who do. Further the intrigue that surrounds this mystifying town. Some say it doesn't exist others say to find it you can't seek it out. But finding it isn't the hard part. It's leaving that drives those who wander in it's halls mad.

Sarah Peters is a girl with auburn hair and piercing blue eyes. Has always believed if you want something hard enough. The opportunity will present itself. Her older brother Paul is quite the opposite. An opportunist at best. If he wants something he takes it. By the time he was 16, he had been expelled from all the schools in the state.

Sarah was walking through the halls of her high school. School had finally let out after an excruciatingly long day. Before she reached the exit. She remembered she had left her English textbook in her locker. After a light jog she returned to her locker. Entered the combination and opened her locker. She grabbed her textbook. But right before she shut her locker a silver binding caught her eye. A little black book sat in the locker one she had not seen before. She picked up the dark book. The title read 'The Liverston Events'. Of course, this intrigued young Sarah. She slid the extra book into her bag and left the school.

She arrived home and started her homework but the book jabbed her mind with questions. Where did it come from? Liverston where is that? What happened in this town? As she was falling into this rabbit hole of intrigue her brother Paul tapped her on the shoulder waking her conscious. "Sarah I've been talking to you for five minutes. What are you thinking about?" Paul asked. "Hmm oh, nothing." Paul knew there was more to this than nothing. "Come on Sarah tell your big brother. You can trust me." Sarah knowing her brother knew better than to let his true nature take this from her. "Really Paul it's nothing." Paul shrugged and walked away. Sarah turned to her book bag and pulled out the little book. What is Liverston? She played with the silver binding. She flipped the cover open and in black ink, the first page read 'Wary one should be when reading the accounts of this town.'

Before she could read further she felt the book be lifted out of her hands. "Well, what is this," Paul asked. "Paul give that back." Sarah protested. Paul ignored her as he mocked the warning on the first page. "Oh, Sarah what is this." "The Liverston Events." Paul's face awed in gleeful shock. "No way Liverston the town of dreams and nightmares. This book is the telling of the events that drove this town into the realm of myth. How did you find this?" Paul asked. "It was in my locker. What is Liverston?" Paul couldn't stop shaking. "Your locker how peculiar. Liverston is a mystery, it's not on any maps anywhere. Some say the town is a blessing others say it's a curse. Nobody knows what happened there. And those who do are in sanatoriums due to the madness it induces."

They together flipped the page and felt their bodies get cold and light. The next second they passed out. After what felt like hours Sarah felt a drip on her cheek. She woke up on a road surrounded by trees. Next to her was Paul who had just woken up. "Where are we?" Paul asked. "I think a better question is how did we get here," Sarah replied. Together they got their bearings and walked down the quiet road. Over a hill was a wooden sign that read 'Liverston'. "No way," Paul said in pure astonishment. Sarah stood there in disbelief. Paul ran forward. "Paul slow down," Sarah yelled to her brother.

Further ahead was a derelict town. The air heavy with mildew. As they arrived in the town it was unclear where to start. Sarah searched her bag for the book. As she opened it the wind howled around them. And the pages were ripped from its binding and flew away. All that remained was a torn page and it read.'October 3rd, 1836, I lay awake and listen to the wind howl through the trees outside my window. The crickets chirp the owls hoot and the wolves howl to the moon. The town had a meeting tonight to discuss the newfound riches in the mine.' The page was torn and Sarah had to stop reading and decided to keep the details about the riches hidden from Paul knowing how her brother would react to this newfound knowledge. "Hey, Paul let's go check out the town hall and see if there are any clues on how to get out of here." And off they went to find the town hall.

After a few minutes, they found the town hall. As they entered a wave of dust pummeled them. After a coughing fit, it was clear this building has been empty for a very long time. They walked up to the podium and found a second journal entry. 'October 6th, 1836, the town decided to sell the riches found and invest it into the community so it could survive the upcoming winter. I detest this and believe it should be boarded up and forgotten. Greed lies in the heart of every man and woman.' The page ends abruptly again. "Hey, Sarah check this out." Paul said as he held a key that read 'Liverston Tavern.'

Arriving at the tavern it took a few minutes to get the door open. Sarah walked around the bar where patrons used to sit. On the bar was another entry. 'October 15th, 1836, not 10 days have passed and the town has changed so much. This once close-knit community has grown distant and defensive of its claim to the mine. The mayor has been bought off by many citizens of the town to have their own ideals passed. Even my lovely wife Mary has fallen to other vices and ran off with another man. But I dare not fall into despair and I will not partake in this sinful behavior. God save us all.'

Under the entry was a key that read 'Workers house.' As they walked to the worker's house the sun was waning and twilight would soon be upon them. And they knew that would be a very bad thing to happen. Sarah opened the house and it was full of beds that were all torn to shreds. "What happened to these beds?" Paul asked in horror. "It was probably a bear," Sarah replied the uncertainty wavering in her voice. Lying on the ground was another entry. 'October 24th, 1836, The mine collapsed and the gold was cut off. Many were injured and some worse. The mayor locked himself in the town hall not taking accountability for the mine collapsing. Since he cut corners to save money. The townspeople are rioting and ruining this once fine town. I know this winter nobody will be surviving.' The page had the mine key attached to it.

"Enough Sarah what is going on? You are hiding information from me." Paul said. "Paul if I tell you please promise you won't do anything drastic," Sarah begged. "These entries we have been finding. Have been telling the story about what happened to this town. They discovered gold in the mine but the greed drove everyone mad. I was afraid it would drive you to do something crazy. I'm sorry." Paul stared at her obviously hurt by this. He grabbed the mine key and ran off. And locked the door behind him. "Paul what are you doing," Sarah asked in a panicked tone. "Since you believe I am such a horrible person. I'm off to take the gold and leave you here" Sarah heard him run off. She thought there has to be a way out of this. She looked over at the window. The boards on the window looked decrepit so she kicked out the boards and ran after her brother.

The town was swallowed in a realm of twilight. The town felt too quiet. When Sarah heard ghostly cries from the woods surrounding the town. She never ran so fast in her life. She finally arrived at the mine's entrance. Inside was the glow of a torch. She knew it was Paul. She approached Paul "Paul I'm so sorry for judging you and jumping to conclusions." "Don't be you were right I would have done that. I read the final entry and it made me realize just how bad greed can be." Paul handed Sarah the final entry and it read. 'October 31st, 1836, the town is empty and everyone has scattered. I too am leaving this dreaded town. I leave this note as a reminder of what greed can do to one. I pray whoever finds this does not fall into the same trap this community has. Sincerely Edward Collins.

As Sarah placed the final page into the little black book she felt her body get heavy and suddenly there was a thud Paul had passed out. Sarah soon followed. After what felt like an eternity they awoke on Sarah's bedroom floor. Paul checked his watch it was the minute from when they passed out. Sarah looked at the journal and the words on the cover were a beautiful shade of gold. They couldn't believe that they were back. Paul pulled Sarah into a hug. " I'm so glad we're okay Sarah." Sarah just cried in joy.

Sarah knew they couldn't keep this historic book to themselves. And decided to give it to the local museum. Who thought it would be best to reward the young citizens with a check for 20,000 dollars. Sarah and Paul let the museum keep their money. They already learned their lesson with greed.