The Little Black Notebook

There is no escaping fate. It crept behind the living and consumed their every moment before it killed them. The mood was somber as we stood under umbrellas with rain battering against the black shields. The mournful cries of the family resounded in his ears but they were drowned out by the ringing in his ears. Donavan stood closest to the closed casket but he felt the furthest away. The priest had finished his speech what felt like ages ago and now stood silent with his eyes lingering on the casket. Donavan knew the priest had been close to his grandmother and cursed his parents for forcing the grieving man to say goodbye with the words of a god neither of them believed in.

The funeral drew to a close and Donovan found himself unable to comfort the priest, for he feared his words would only wound the old man further. "Good riddance the old hag's dead, I've been waiting for my inheritance for too long!" Donovan clenched his fist as his mother cheered to the words of her brother, had they no respect for their mother who now lay dead and cold? "The lawyer is in the church waiting for us. Come now, let us go see what fortunes she has left us." Donovan didn't follow his family inside and remained with the priest.

Donovan lost track of time, he had long ago closed his umbrella and let the cold rain drench his clothing, it helped push down the rising emotion in his chest. The priest had spoken soft words of parting to the casket before he walked back into the church but that had been a long time ago. "Donovan Smith?" Donovan turned to see a man holding a briefcase. "My name is Peter Williams, I was your grandmother’s lawyer. I'm sorry for your loss but there is so much I need to discuss with you." Donovan grimaced at the man’s words, he hated the phrase sorry for your loss. He hadn't lost anything.

The man lead him to a covered structure where his grandmothers grave was still visible and watched the man set his briefcase down on the table. "My name shouldn't be in the will Mr. Williams." The lawyer continued to pull what looked to be a well-worn black notebook out of his briefcase. "You were not included in the first will Mr. Smith. Your grandmother was a very smart woman and wrote a second will which made the first will Void. You are the only person named in her will. A sum of $20,000 along with this notebook is the only thing your grandmother owned for she sold everything a long time ago to prevent her children from acquiring her life's work."

Donovan stood stunned as the lawyers words passed through his ears. “Why would she give me everything?!" The lawyer tapped the notebook before grabbing his briefcase. “The money has been wired to your bank account. I wish you a good evening Mr. Smith." Donovan could only stand there speechless as the lawyer walked into the rain and towards the line of parked cars. He didn’t even speak of the notebook. Donovan stared at the leather and found it was almost drawing him in but a crack of thunder pulled him out of the trance. Donovan shook it off and shoved the notebook into his jacket before making his way to his own car.

Weeks passed and Donovan found he had forgotten about the little black notebook, His family had completely cut him off once they learned Donovan had gotten the sole inheritance. Donovan knew it was only a matter of time before it happened, they had wanted him gone a long time ago but it still left a bitter taste in his mouth. The family considered him a curse because he wasn’t as smart or dyslexic but his grandmother never thought so, she called him her miracle. Donovan grew up estranged with everyone but his grandmother who spent most of her days teaching him things not even her children knew. These things Donovan wished she had left to her children.

Donovan left his family and moved to an isolated cabin in the woods of Colorado. He spent his days hiking and exploring the land while slowly spending the money his grandmother had left. As the days passed, Donovan started hearing a voice. It kept calling to him, drawing him to the little black notebook he had tossed in his nightstand. It wasn’t until the voices became unbearable when Donovan had enough and took the notebook into his hands.

When Donovan opened that little black book, he didn't know what he would find. He pondered what it could contain; a diary, drawings, letters of love to a hidden lover but what he found made his head swarm with confusion. The book was blank, not a dot of ink on its yellow pages. Donovan flipped through the book when a page had caught his thumb and drew blood. Donovan stared at his thumb and marveled at the small drop of blood, the page had felt sharper than a blade. He watched as the drop suddenly rolled off his thumb and onto the yellow pages and Donovan could only stare as that drop of blood started slowly slid down the page.

The Little black book came alive and words written in crimson scrawled across the paper within seconds in a language Donovan couldn't read before a burning sensation filled his hands and Donovan dropped the book with a yelp and gripped the heated flesh. The pain seemed to grow worse before a chill swept through his body. Donovan fell to his knees gasping before falling to the floor. He felt his eyes roll back before he was knocked unconscious but Donovan could swear he heard that voice murmuring in his ear but he couldn’t make out the words.

Donovan was roused by the feeling of heat beating down on his back. He slowly blinked open his eyes and stared at the blades of grass tickling his nose and face. He pushed himself up and marveled at the landscape around him. The land stretched as far as the eye could see with mountains touching the clouds in the distance. “Where am I?" Donovan could only whisper to himself, he must be dead. "Welcome to Orn, the world of Worlds, where there are no limits. Everything you see here is your escape from the world you live in."

Donovan turned to face his grandmother. "Grandma?" The woman smiled. "It’s wonderful to see you again Donnie." Donavan stood up and embraced her, happiness swarmed within his chest but the feeling felt foreign after seconds passed causing Donovan to pull back slowly. "You're not real, are you?" His grandmother reached up and pinched his cheek. "Boy, I'm as real as you! I left the living world to come here, a place where I'm not burdened by old age. A place I can live forever. Nothing can ruin this, not even if the book is destroyed." Donovan could only stare at his grandmother, something felt wrong but as he stared into her eyes the feeling faded. "How is this possible Grandma? This is...This is out of this world. Did I die in the real world too?" His grandmother laughed and Donovan could only smile, he had missed her so much. Right?

"No Donnie, You are just sleeping in the real world. The time difference in this book is amazing. You could spend years in here and only a few days would have passed in the real world. You can leave and come back at any time. You could even stay in here forever and say goodbye to your body. This is an escape from that cruel world we live in Donnie. You can do whatever you want here." Donovan frowned and stepped back. This was wrong. What were these feelings? Donovan didn’t miss his grandmother, he was ecstatic when she died. No one knew how she took his blood and muttered in the dark, claiming he would awaken Orn. "You are dead. None of this is real. Reveal yourself imposter.” His grandmother’s face went slack, her lips parted and drool running down her chin before a twisted smiled replaced it, teeth inhuman and eyes turning red and catlike. "Smart human. I feast on humans flesh.”

Terror gripped Donovan when his grandmother’s body twisted and broke, limbs breaking free of her body and changing. He watched the mangled form turn inside out and into a hideous creature with too many limbs that were thin and pole-like, each had a single claw that looked it could impale him head to toe. Its head was covered in red eyes that all reflected his paralyzed form, some leaking a black liquid that smelt like rotten eggs and death. Its mouth stretched wide with hundreds of sharp teeth ready to tear him to pieces. The creature emitted a terrible Scree-Scree noise as it moved towards him on wobbly legs, almost as if it was a newly born fawn but this creature wasn’t harmless. Donovan took off running when the creature started to gain its footing and start walking towards him.

The beautiful world around him disappeared and turned into a nightmare. The land split open and horrible trenches nearly swallowed Donovan. The mountains crumbled and crashed in the distance but Donovan could feel the ground shake with force from the impact. The sun disappeared behind thick clouds and it became hard to see but Donovan kept running, he had to keep running.

"Human, come out scree-scree. No harm." Donovan panted softly behind a thick tree as the creature searched for him. He had been running for hours now and he was growing tired, his limbs shook with exhaustion and felt heavy. It was if the creature never grew tired. Donovan peered around the tree to look for the monster but it was gone. "Found human.” Donovan's eyes widened in horror as he turned to see the monster right beside him, its mouth wide and ready to eat him. A set of clawed hands came from its mouth and grasped his wrist and lifted his thrashing body into the air before lowering him into the depths of its mouth and Donovan couldn't do anything to stop it.

Donovan jumped up when ice cold water was thrown over him and he sputtered. "What the hell Donovan? I've been trying to wake you for a while now! Are you really wasting grandma’s money on drugs? God, I thought that woman raised you better than this?" Donovan panted, had it been a dream? A sick twisted dream his brain had made? He stared at his hand and cold fear ran through him when he saw three claw marks on his wrist, though scarred over Donovan knew that book was an evil thing. His brother Christopher stood at the foot of his bed with a cup in hand.

"What's that book for?" Christopher asked and Donovan grasped the book before his brother could touch it. "Grab a lighter, meet me outside." Donovan grabbed a box of matches off his nightstand and rushed out of his room. He slowed his pace once he was outside and moved towards the fire ring. Christopher soon joined him and watched his brother frantically shred the book into pieces and throw it into the fire ring. He silently handed his brother the lighter but Donovan had already used the matches and they watched in silence as the pages burned and he could have sworn he heard faint screams escaping the pages. Donovan didn’t look up from the flames. “Go back to your grave Christopher. You do not belong in this world.”

Years passed and Donovan tried to forget the past. He returned to live with his family and carried his family to wealth where they now live comfortably. He married a woman and had many children, who in-turn, had their own children. He retired and spent his days playing with his grandchildren. "Grandpa! Look at this cool book I found!" Donovan turned around to see his granddaughter holding that cursed little black notebook. There was no escap-