THREE YEARS, 2 MONTHS AND 9 DAYS PRIOR
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"Bring him to me!" Uttered a hoarse, raspy voice- slowly, as if each word brought dull pain. When the voice heard no answer, it spoke again, louder than before, 'Bring him to me!".
"Bring him to me!" The cold voice shook with anger. "Bring him! Bring the boy! Bring him to me! GIVE ME-" Screams the voice in frustration, scaring the few fish which flicked away from the shipwreck as fast as they could, which turned out to be not fast enough. Slowly, each of the three fish began develop a horrible stench, which was normal for this area and so did not bother them. However, they didn't notice a dark, flaky patch appear on their backs; in fact they did not notice the rot until it was too late.
"BRING ME MY CHILD! BRING THE BOY!" Screamed the voice still, but not loud enough to carry up to the surface, where a red rowing boat passed over, and the laughter of a boy and a man could be heard.
Ceasing it's persistent screams, the voice sounded as if it's owner was smiling when it spoke- however a cruel smile rather than kind, the kind of smile that would send a shiver down your spine, rather than warm you.
"The time has come... I cannot wait any longer... THE TIME HAS COME!" Cackled the voice as the sea seemed to begin to hum with anger, or perhaps simply longing.
Screams replaced the laughter. The voice's owner reached up to grab something, anything of the boy, and dragged him downwards, only to find it had the man instead.
Only this wasn't just any man, the voice was filled with recognition as it whispered, "Traitor..." and slits the man's throat with it's claw. Crimson joins the salt water in a rough sea where moments before there was calm.
"No..." Whispered the voice as it watched the boy swim away, into the safety of the cove, in between the headlands where the voice could not reach him...
"NO! NO!" Screamed the hoarse voice in agony.
"NO! NO! NO!"
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PRESENT DAY
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Owen jolted awake in bed. He had been dreaming; he tried desperately to cling onto it, it was underwater? Was there someone screaming? No, it was gone, he couldn't remember. Turning over in bed, he let out an annoyed sigh. How annoying was it that he was woken so early? His phone buzzed, he reached over to grab it and... oh, it was 11am.
That's far too early for a Sunday! Buzzing again, the phone in his hand regained his attention. A text from his sister was grinning up at him from his lock screen, it read: 'i know you're awake get up'. A follow up text then appeared, 'or i will drag you out of bed'. Tapping on the message and entering his passcode, he replied, 'whats for breakfast', knowing that she'd simply tell him to make his own.31Please respect copyright.PENANAfiIiaiRf9k
Surprisingly, the reply read, 'bacon + egg if you get up off your lazy butt within the next thirty seconds'.
Grabbing yesterday's clothes from the floor by his bed and shoving them on, Owen left his phone on the bed without reading a final message that had appeared without his noticing. He wandered down a short and cramped hall to the kitchen where he could smell bacon. Elisabeth was standing over their stove, dishing out fried eggs onto plates. Owen almost did a double-take; she had messy hair, was still in here pyjamas, and looked as if she hadn't slept at all.
"What's wrong?" He spoke, alarmed.
"What? I haven't even said anything yet?" She replied, pushing past him to get to the lounge where they'd managed to squeeze a table big enough for the two of them.
"You're normally all... dressed up, and perfect! Wait, what did you mean by-"
"Aww, you think I'm perfect, Owen? That's so sweet!" Elisabeth dodged his question, which seemed to work.
"NO! No I don't," He exclaimed with horror as they both sat. Owen began shoving food into his mouth while Elisabeth looked at him with distaste.
She cleared her throat.
He looks up in confusion, "Wmhat?" He tried to speak.31Please respect copyright.PENANAYn1YskyISb
"Can you just finish your mouthful? Actually, no, don't - I need to tell you something." She replies, nervously. Reverse psychology, though not intentional, worked and Owen finished his food and looked up at her.31Please respect copyright.PENANA8tYdBg4wor
"I've been offered some work experience..." Elisabeth began before pausing.
"That's... great?" Replied Owen confusedly.
"... It's six hours away." She finished.
"Ah."
"Yeah. My friend has offered to drive us, and we can get a hotel over there for, well it's three days long you see, and-"
"-You're asking me if you can leave me by myself!" Owen realised, "OH that's amazing! Uh, fine! I meant fine, that's fine! When is it?"
"It's tomorrow," Replied Elisabeth anxiously, "And it's four days, so five nights, with a day of travel so I'll be gone for about five days."
"What is the thing that you're doing again?" Asked Owen as he resumed tucking into his breakfast.
"Just going to a presentation thing." She said vaguely.
This was great news for Owen; he could now puzzle out the notebook without any interference. He started to make a plan in his head, he could run down a soon as she left, take the notebook from the tree...
Panic hit him. Why had he left it IN the tree? How stupid can you get? Someone could find it - or it could be eaten or stolen by an evil gang of squirrels or something!31Please respect copyright.PENANA9dzYLm9Qns
Or more realistically, it could have gotten wet or damaged. He had to get to the book now. He couldn't go back to the life before the book, he simply couldn't! What if it was a message from his dad?
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