The Peculiar Jonathan Mathers

I had never been one to believe in the supernatural. If you had asked me weeks ago, heck if you had asked me even a day ago I would have confidently told you there was no such thing as ghosts or vampires. I used to laugh at horror movies that involved creatures that go bump in the night, but now I didn’t even know if I could watch horror movies ever again. And if I did I knew I would spend weeks afterwards wondering, which ones were real and which ones weren't.

It all started with a little black book. A mysterious black book that appeared on the sidewalk during my daily walk. If I had known what would follow me taking that black book I don’t know if I would have done it. After some consideration I realized this statement, however, was untrue. I would’ve done it again, I would take my new paralyzing fears every time. This little black book brought me $20,000 dollars. $20,000 dollars that changed my life for good. The world opened up before me, opportunities I never thought possible were now in my reach. Finishing my art degree, a backpacking trip in Europe, maybe even moving out of my cramped apartment. At the time I wasn’t sure what I would do, but I would forever be grateful I tripped on that little black book.

Everyday felt the same. I would wake up, eat breakfast, and go for a morning walk before I had to go to work. I felt as if I was on a rope being pulled roughly and slowly through the motions. I hadn’t really been living, I had been surviving day to day. Then one day, a stinging pain caused by me zoning out while on my walk ripped me fast and clean from my cyclic life. I looked down to find the book staring back up at me. I had contemplated leaving it there, but something kept telling me to pick it up. Curiosity got the best of me and I bent down to pick it up. I opened it to see if anything was inside it. On the inside cover I found the words if found return to Jonathan Mathers, and what I assumed to be Jonathan’s number written out in a fancy cursive. I knew I shouldn’t have looked through the pages, but I was intrigued. The pages were filled with his loopy cursive. They started in a different language, but as the pages went on they changed to another language I didn’t recognize followed by what looked like old English that slowly progressed to modern day English. I closed the book and decided it was my goal to track down the owner. Of course, that adventure would have to wait until after my waitressing shift.

Normally working my 8 hour shift at the Starry Daze would exhaust me, but that day I was exhilarated. I could feel the blood pumping through my veins as I rushed home. I snatched an apple from my kitchen counter and plopped into a chair. Taking a big bite out of my apple, I slid the book over towards me. I had left it on my kitchen table to ensure I wouldn’t lose it. I figured the smartest thing to try first would be to call him, so I pulled my phone out and dialed his number.

“"We're sorry you have reached a number that has been disconnected or is no longer in service. If you feel this is in error, please check the number dialed, and please try again." the typical voice informed me.

I decided to try it one more time, and double checked that I dialed the correct number. I received the same response and placed my phone down. I frowned a little trying not to let myself get frustrated. It was my first attempt, there were other ways to find someone. I picked my phone back up and typed Jonathan Mathers into the search engines. There was a load of results, so I tried to narrow it down, by typing in Jonathan Mathers, Milwaukee Wisconsin. I assumed if he had lost his notebook here, he most likely lived around here too.

My eyes widened as the results quickly loaded. The very first one was a link to Jonathan Mathers' Obituary. Upon clicking the link I discovered that he had passed away a couple days ago. At the very top was a picture of him smiling. His hair was a bright blonde that almost looked white hair. He seemed young, maybe a couple years older than me. Disappointed I couldn’t give the book back to him, I scrolled down to see if he had any family listed I could give it to instead. Unfortunately, there was no one listed, so the book was to remain with me.

After that I held onto the book for a couple more days, before curiosity got the best of me again. I pulled the book out of the drawer I hid it in and started to flip through it. My first time flipping through it I had missed one tiny detail. He had written dates. Dates that couldn’t possibly be correct because they started in 1702 and went through 2020. I slammed the book shut and pushed it away from. It was probably just a joke, but I didn’t want to think about it. People couldn’t be immortal.

I left the book alone for a couple days before opening it again. This time I decided to translate what he had written. The first language I found was Romanian. He went into depth about how his body felt like he was on fire, he begged for death to come, but it seemed like it never did. Soon after, he wrote about how he could no longer go in the sun. I chuckled at that, I was all too familiar with vampire lore. This dude must’ve been some weird writer, who was really committed to his vampire bit. I put the book away for the last time after that. I no longer had interest in reading his vampire fiction.

Days went by and I stopped thinking about the book. Until the fateful day $20,000 came my way. I had just returned home from work, when I heard a banging on my door. I opened the door to a young man with white hair. To my surprise it was John Mathers in the flesh.

“You’re dead”, was the first thing that blurted out of my mouth.

“Can dead people knock on doors?” his voice had a slight accent, but it was almost all gone now.

“Well no, but I-”

“Clearly I’m not dead then, I’m here for my notebook.”

“I saw your obituary. Wait, how did you even know I had your notebook?”

“Please can I just have my notebook.”

“Not until you answer my questions”

“Fine, can I atleast come in?”

I nodded and gestured for him to enter, but he just stood outside giving me an awkward smile. I returned the smile and waited for him to enter.

He leaned forward and whispered, “You have to give me permission to enter”

“Oh god, you’re really committed to your whole vampire bit huh?”

He laughed, “Yeah you could say that.”

Giving him permission, he quickly entered my house. I shut the door behind him and led him silently down my hallway to the kitchen. A sense of dread washed over me, but I pushed it aside. I offered him a seat at my table and dropped the book in front of him.

“What kind of weird story is this?” I asked watching to see how he would react.

“Ah, so you read it?”

“Only the first page or so. I’ve always found vampire stories dumb.”

This caused him to break out laughing. He clutched his stomach as his boisterous laugh filled the room. I glared at him, I didn’t appreciate when people made me feel stupid.

“Sorry it’s just,” he paused almost as if deliberate whether he should tell me something. “Vampires are real.”

“You’re not funny.”

“No, really I swear I’m telling the truth.”

I spent my whole life mocking the supernatural, and I would’ve spent the rest of it if it hadn’t been for John Mathers. There was something about him that compelled me to believe him.

“Okay if you’re a vampire how come you can go in the sun? And what do you drink? Human blood?”

“I have a sun-blocking necklace given to me by a witch” he pulled a golden chain out from underneath his shirt. “And I don’t drink human blood, strictly animals.”

“I’m sorry you’re expecting me to believe that not only are vampires real so are witches.”

“I’m not expecting you to believe anything, I just want my journal back, but yes any supernatural entity you can think of is probably real.”

“Bigfoot?”

“Yes, Bigfoot is real.”

“I really wanna believe you, but I can’t.”

“Can this convince you?” He smiled big, showing his gums and in a quick motion his canine teeth were covered with two long, sharp teeth.

If I hadn’t believed him before I did now. There was no other explanation. I was speechless. All I could do was nod my head.

“Now I’ll just be taking this if you don’t mind.” He reached over to take his notebook, but I quickly pulled it back.

“Wait just a second. You can’t drop a bomb like this on me without giving me something in return. You’ve changed how I’ll see the world forever. “

“Fine, what would you want?”

I shrugged. I didn’t think I’d get this far. I thought he was gonna say no. He groaned and pulled a big wad of cash out of his pocket.

“It’s like $20,000. Will that do?”

My jaw drop, he rendered me speechless yet again. I just nodded, trying to form words, nothing would come out. He acted as if $20,000 was a casual amount to offer someone, let alone to just be carrying around in your pocket. He dropped the money on the table and grabbed his book. He left without a word. I never saw him again, but the thought of him was always hiding at the back of my mind.

In the end I used half of the money to finish my art degree. I went back to working part time at the Starry Daze and took most of my classes at night. Two years later my degree was finished and I officially graduated. In celebration of not only graduating, but landing a job at a well-known animation studio I took a trip to Europe. At the last leg of the trip I found myself staring up at a looming castle. The looming castle was none other than the Bran Castle, better known for inspiring the description of Dracula’s castle. He never did tell me how he knew where to find me or his notebook, so I figured I’d just drop by his family's house and see how he likes that.