Living in fear

Can one object contain more secrets than the person telling them.

The moon was red in the sky, casting a red hue on everything making it look as if the Earth was bleeding. Stefan still hadn't returned and I was starting to worry about him. I walked outside to get wood for the fire, I remember that this was how I had been bitten in the first place, I glanced around cautiously, looking for any shadows lurking where they shouldn't be. I hurried inside with the fire wood in hand and rushed to the fireplace.

Hours past and he was still not back. Walking up the stairs I collapsed on the bed and fell asleep. A sudden bang woke me from my sleep and glancing around I started to rub my eyes. Another bang came from down stairs and I jumped off the bed and hurriedly ran down the stairs, there in front of the fire was Stefan; he looked as if he had passed out. His body was covered in blood and his clothes were torn. He was shivering uncontrollably, grabbing my coat I placed it over him, his skin felt like ice. The fire was going out; the only heat surrounding him was from my hand touching his shoulder.

It felt as though I had just fallen asleep when the sun shone through the curtains. It was a dark and cold morning. Stefan was still on the ground near the now dead fire; I put his arm around my shoulders and took him up to bed.  After I walked down stairs, someone was knocking on the door. A man stood on the other side holding a mysterious black box.

‘Give this to Stefan,’ he thrust it into my hands before running off, not giving me a chance to reply. I put it on the table ready for Stefan when he woke up. It had cursive writing on the lid, I could only just make out what it said, it was addressed to The Cursed One. I opened the box to find a locked book that looked as ancient as the box that held it. I heard a noise coming from upstairs, it was Stefan, he was awake I put the book back in the ancient box and shut the lid. His footsteps down the stairs echoed throughout the room.

‘Stefan,’ I yelled ‘We need to talk,’ he left me there standing next to the table as he walked outside. What is with him? I looked for a key and found it on a chain, attached to the door knob. I unlocked the book, and found three names written in the same delicate writing that covered the top of the box. I read the first page aloud to myself, Bill Grant, Anna Fender and Stephan knight. The lost ones titled the page. What did that mean? Were they names of people who had died? It didn't make sense, Stephen was still alive. Unless the book spoke of another Stephan. The next page was an account with dates. It read Alex Smith, but that’s my name. It had stuff like the date Stephan and I met and more things like that. Is this for real? Stefan doesn't even know my name let alone anything else about me. I just don’t understand how my name can be in a book that I have never seen before.

Author's Note

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