The Sacred Book

As you and your grandmother walk arm in arm, leaving the graveside service of your grandfather, you have so many emotions and questions that overtake your mind. Your mind is spinning out of control, and you’ve experienced so much grief in your life. You can’t help but feel like it is all your fault. Your grandmother breaks your trance with a gentle squeeze on your arm. You look at her with a sly smile and lean your head on her shoulder. When you get to the car, you break the silence. “Grandma, is it Okay if Nick comes by tomorrow to help us bring the last boxes from the attic down?” Grandma smiles, “Yes, Alessia, Nicholas is welcome to come by and see you before you go to school, but I will put him to work.” She chuckles as she sits in the driver's seat. You pull out your phone and text Nick, “Grandma says you can come by tomorrow, but did you wanna spend the night ;)” Your phone vibrates with his response, “Of course, I’ll meet you at your window at 10:00.” As you pull into the driveway, your grandma turns to you and says, “Alessia, your grandfather and I are so incredibly proud of you for getting into Yorktown University. He would have loved to have been there to help you set up your dorm.” She takes a quick pause and her. eyes fill with tears. “Your parents would have been exceptionally proud of you for following in their footsteps, I wish they were here to see the incredible woman you have become.” You put your hand on her hand and shoot her a sly smile. You both head inside and change out of your funeral clothes, and meet up in the attic to finish putting the last of the stuff in boxes. Your grandmother moves an old chest, and a book falls to the floor. You go and pick it up. As you pick it up from the floor, you feel something pulse through your entire body and see a flash of light, knocking you to the ground. Your grandmother quickly comes to your aid, looking at the book, her face goes white as if she has seen a ghost. You struggle to get your words out, “Grandma, what was that? What is that book?” She looks around, as if to see if anyone is listening in, and leans in close and in a whisper, “I don’t … I don’t know how that book is here. Your father had it when they left, but as you know, nothing but their bodies were found.” You enter a trance again, remembering what happened to your parents. Your parents were two psychologists who were on their way to witness the execution of the man who murdered your brother. The details from the police report were limited, it said that their car lost control during an intense rainstorm on Route 70. The car was found in the ditch with both your parents bodies having succumbed to their injuries from the car crash. However all their case notes and luggage were missing. The police could find no evidence of foul play and left the case unsolved but closed. “Grandma, what do you mean that dad had this book in his possession? How do you have it?” You can feel yourself question your faith in who your grandparents are and the last 10 years that you have been in their care. She grabs the book away from my hands, inspecting it in every possible way she can, she notices the little lock on the side and smiles “I have a key for this!” she says, “Let's see if we can’t answer any of your questions.” She hands the book back to you, and crawls down the attic stairs. You begin to inspect the book, sliding your fingers along the spine and the leather design, feeling the lock when you cut your finger. “OUCH!” You bring your finger up to your lips but not before a single drop of blood lands on the pages of the book. Again you fall to the ground as a strong pulse courses through your body. Your grandma hops up the top step and sees you on the ground again. She comes to your side and lets out an audible gasp. “What’s wrong?” looking her dead in the eyes “Why does this book keep knocking me off my feet?” “Alessia, what happened?” she pauses taking you in like she has never seen you before, “Your eyes, they are glowing blue.” You quickly get to your feet and find a mirror, letting out a loud gasp you turn and raise your voice “Grandma, I demand to know what is going on. What haven't you told me about my parents! What is the purpose of this book? You pause for a second trying to regain some sense of grounding before you let your emotions take complete control. After taking a deep breath you continue in a calm tone “And why do you have it?” She moves towards you and takes your hands in hers and says “I don’t know what you think we are hiding, this book was always with your dad. He never showed me what was inside, he never told me about what was in there, but the book changed him.” She looks off in the distance, pausing for a long while before continuing “He found it when he was about your age, and when he brought it home and tried to open it, he said he felt a pulse radiate through his body and his eyes started to glow, like yours are now. It was almost like he gained the ability to sense and see things in the dark. The book only affected him, no matter how many times your grandpa and I moved it, or tried to read it, we saw nothing, it was just a beautiful leather bound journal with empty pages. He just seemed different, he seemed to know things, he had insight into things that happened in the past, and knew things that were going to happen in the future.” She pauses, looking hopeful towards you “He knew he was going to meet your mom because of that book, it's how they met actually.” She pauses again “but ever since the day your mom found out she was pregnant with you, he said the book stopped working for him. I think he just carried it with him, because he had for so many years, and it was a comfort to him.” Her voice kind of trails off, then she looks at you and says with a huff “As for how it showed up here I have no idea, but here is the key.” You reach out and grab the key from her hand, and give her a small smile. Your phone begins to vibrate in your pocket, and you snap back to reality realizing it must be close to 10:00 and Nick will be here soon. You lean across the boxes and give your Grandma a hug. “Thank you for telling me the truth - do you mind if I investigate this book a little bit more?” Grandma nods her head and lets out a small yawn. “We can talk more tomorrow. You hold the book in your hands ready to bring it down to your room, when you realize that the leather design has changed, on the spine instead of the lines, like you see on your really old books, it feels like a pattern. You turn on the flashlight from your phone and see that the book now says Alessia on the side. You tug your grandma back quickly and show her the spine of the book. She pauses and simply says “Interesting” and makes her way out of the attic. “Good Night Alessia, we can talk more about it tomorrow morning.”