You
receive a letter at your workplace from a high school classmate, who is now in
prison. “I know I’ve caused you a lot of grief,” the letter says, “but there’s
something I need that only you can get for me. Don’t tell anyone about this.”
_________________________
How did she even get my work address? I thought to myself, still reeling
from the shock. I didn’t need to read the rest of the letter to know what she
wanted from me. There really is just one thing that we both share- a secret
that should’ve followed us both to our graves.
I
forced myself to continue reading anyway. I needed to know why she did this,
and how she got into this mess.
“I know we agreed back then to not
talk about this, but I was recently involved in a prison scuffle. I know the
signs; I know what’s coming next. If I’m not careful I would probably be
another casualty real soon. But you can help me, Leslie. You know how. I’m
begging you, if you can find room in your heart to forgive me, then please,
help me out with this.”
The
first thought that came to my mind was that she must be very desperate to be
asking for this. But I can’t just risk everything for her; I can’t just walk
into a grave without anyone noticing me. Plus, this could definitely be another
of her games, except that this one could end up very badly for me. Very, very
badly.
I
had to proceed very carefully then. Scout the area for a few days first before
making my move. As I was planning all this it hit me. When did I even decide to
help her out? After all she did to me, she deserved being in prison. I mean,
what’s prison compared to a mental institution halfway across the world?
I
considered my options, but found that I was too panicky to be able to think
straight. I considered paying her a visit to find out what exactly is happening
before deciding whether or not I wanted to lend her a helping hand. But can I
risk it? If she really is in trouble then I might just land myself in hot water
too.
But
before I knew it, I found myself sitting in my parked car at the Keynes
Cemetery in the middle of the night. I don’t know what made me do it, but I
kind of acted on a whim. I was just sitting at home by myself doing the dishes
when the thought of heading to the cemetery came to me, and before I knew it, I
couldn’t get it out of my head.
I
tried to calm myself down as I looked out the window. It looked like a calm
night, and I was sure that there was nobody around, I had drove in a circle to
check beforehand. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.
Am I really doing this? I thought. My mind brought me back
to more than a decade ago when Julie and I were the best of friends. We did
everything together. Needless to say, she was the wild one and I was just
mostly tagging along. While she got me into trouble a couple of times, they
were all minor scuffles. Until the night we came to Keynes.
And
of course, having the luck that we did, on that same night a group of people in
long, red robes with a hood were conducting a ritual of sorts. At first, I
thought that they were just a group of crazy people who believed that they had
the power over the Earth’s elements or something like that.
Julie
and I hid and stayed quiet. When they left, we went to the spot where they were
standing, and found just one thing- a black box. And Julie being Julie, she took
the box. We ran away after that. When we went home we opened it and found black
powder inside. Not knowing what it was, I sprinkled some on Julie. She
immediately went into a trance and I could tell her what to do. It was like
mind control.
Realising
that this wasn’t something we could fool around with anymore, we decided to
bury it, and keep it only between the two of us. I was terrified that night,
because I know just how powerful this thing can be and wanted nothing to do
with it, whatever it is. But now, of course, Julie needed it to get herself out
of trouble.
I
got out of the car, trying to be as quiet as possible.
‘Finally,’
a voice said. ‘I was getting bored, Leslie.’
I
was stunned. ‘Julie?’ I said.
It
was her. She stepped out of the shadows. How did she get out? What is
happening? I was beginning to panic. Obviously this was a trap. Julie wanted me
here. But for what?
‘What
do you want from me?’ I said as Julie came closer to me.
‘Oh
you’ll find out soon enough,’ she replied. ‘But first we need to take care of
something.’
And
the last thing I remember was her blowing the black dust towards me.
No comments:
Post a Comment