At the End of the Book

“You know, I wasn’t quite sure how it’d all come to this point.” I needlessly thought to myself while I was slowly losing consciousness face first in a pool of my own blood no less.

“What a horrible day, must be a Thursday.” More needless thoughts while I started reflecting on the events of the past couple hours and how it’d come to arrive in this situation.

The day unfortunately was a Thursday just to set the record straight. But it started like most days. I woke up got out of bed dragged a comb across my head. Then readied myself for another day at the shop.

Now this isn’t really important to the day ahead it makes it all the more strange when you consider my day starts at 4am and on this fine Thursday at 4am as I’m heading out the door I would happen to trip over a little box simply wrapped on the doorstep. I know the from the night before that this box wasn’t there. I had let my dog out just before locking up for the night and waiting for him on the porch and it wasn’t there last night.

I picked it up staring at it curiously. It had my name addressed in plain simple neat letters on the parchment wrapped around the box. I paused in thought deciding whether I should open it or not. Well obviously, it was addressed to me and after thinking on it for a minute or less I rightly unwrapped the parcel.

This is where you’d think it’s got to be a prank or maybe a million dollars but to my fortune it was just a small black notebook. Nothing fancy about it in all actuality it seemed cheap not even a spiral bound notebook. I fanned through the pages rather quickly and noticed one page with a little bit of writing on the back cover.

“Don’t go to work, they’re waiting for you there,” that was all the little note had read. With eyebrows furrowed all I could think was.

“what is this? This seems like something stupid to write and leave on some one’s doorstep for a joke,” and as I thought that another writing caught my attention where there hadn’t seemed to have been writing before.

“Ha, you think this is a joke, but be warned that if you go you won’t see tomorrow.”

All I could think was this just seems ridiculous I have to go to work, I need money I need hours and I don’t have any more time I can take off right now. On cue another line in the book caught my attention that also didn’t seem to have been there as I had fanned through the book minutes before now.

“If money is what you’re worried about you’re covered for a good long while now,”

I read over the words and kept getting more and more curious as to what to think and on cue appearing right before my eyes on the same page it said.

“If you doubt, Check your account,”

Without much of a second thought I figured I’d play along with this prank. I pulled my phone from my pocket and logged into my account and checked my balance. I dropped my phone and the sound of it hitting the wooden porch could be heard echoing in the nearby woods. The balance I had read in the account before dropping the phone in shock was $2,366,753.59.

There’s no way the most I’d probably ever had in my account at anytime was ten grand or slightly better and that was on a great year. In shock I lowered myself to the ground. This was the moment my dog Cas decided he was curious enough to wander on over and see why I had been standing at the door for what to me felt like an hour or more but for him was roughly 5 minutes.

I just starred in disbelief at Cas for 20 minutes. I then decided that I should first do something responsible with the money I had just received and pay off the majority of debt I had accrued in the short span of life I had so far lived.

A couple hours later and maybe fifty thousand dollars and change later I was sitting flush and decide I’d go buy something nice for myself.

Maybe if I’d thought about it then and not now, I might not be slowly blacking out on the floor. Because what had I decided to do with that money you ask? Well obviously, go buy a dirt bike that I’d slowly been saving money to purchase one in the future.

This is where my folly was without thinking and without a second thought I went to the motorsports shop that was… You guessed it right down the road from my work. The one place I was told to avoid. Yeah, I basically drove past there waving a big orange flag saying here I am if you’re looking for me.

At this point though I’m stupid I just got a bunch of money for nothing and it was time to do something selfish after doing the responsible stuff. I purchased a bike that was more expensive than the one I intended originally and filled out the paperwork loaded it up and away I went.

It must have been somewhere during this time that I began being followed. It went unnoticed for quite a few miles outside of the town but there was a vehicle that seemed to stay roughly 20-30 yards behind me within plane sight. Whenever I switched lanes to pass or to make a turn if there was a vehicle that came between its line of sight and me it quickly sped up and passed the other car or changed lanes in a relatively quick fashion. At this point I was starting to remember what the stupid black notebook said.

No matter how good of a driver I thought I was in my own head they were better anything I could think of they had thought of and without the ability to lose them it was just a matter of time until they caught me.

I realized then that they could wait, and I couldn’t. I made the decision to drive home and let come what ever may. I reached home parked and started walking into the house. I went in called Cas and started petting my dog until a knock came at the door.

“What do you want,” were the only words I could say at the time. They had already gotten the door open and were starring at me sitting on the step with my dog.

Without them saying a word they had pulled a pistol and shot me. Thoughts ran through my head but before all went black, I heard.

“Sorry Sir, that’s just business unfortunately your name was down in the book and once it’s written no matter what you might have done it was your time. The black book you received is to make your final day… Exciting.”

With the final word of exciting, consciousness faded and I knew no more.