Sitting at the window booth, minutes after getting some good food, Gabriel found himself digging through his satchel for one specific book. Evergreen, a book his grandma had supposedly started decades before he was born. Having stolen it from his father, who never cared for anything but himself, Forest was curious. He had yet to read it, but at present it felt like a good idea. He had never been close to her, but he was curious none the less. After all, she was supposed to be where his sister got her looks, he got his love of reading and writing, and so on.

Opening the book, he cringed. "Poor woman, what happened to you?" The print was messy, scribbled without purpose or point. It was like a broken pattern of verbal sketches, like rambling so intense it was nothing but the ramblings of a broken woman. "Grandma, please say that this is not my future." Absently, he stroked the ring she gave him after she died, the only thing he had of hers beyond the book he stole.

Only, as soon as he touched the ring, a literal shock of warmth shot into his fingers, like a burn. "Shit!" He cursed softly, looking wildly at the ring. He felt the warmth sink into his body, pumping into his blood and into his heart. "What was that?"

Shaking his head, he looked up back at the book, and what he saw startled him.

Elegant writing in place of the chicken scratch, collected, intricate and powerful. It was perfectly legible and he could hardly look away. "What is this?" And so he read ahead.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

To whomever finds this, be you my blood or not, I hope it finds you well.

My name was Sue in life, and I always wanted to be a witch. To use the craft to free myself of my emotional issues, of the horrors that plagued my mind, but I failed. So I leave this to whomever needs it, in hopes that your future is better than mine. it contains magic, witchcraft specifically. All I learned throughout my life is contained in here, the meager magic I managed to develop.

Start at the beginning, and go to the end. It will not make you a master, I was heavily isolated throughout my life, and I could not gain all I wanted to but I managed to create this work with the idea of passing it onto a deserving host. My sons, my grandchildren, someone. That they could use it when I failed to, would mean the world to me.

The ring is the decoder, it and your passion allows you access to my knowledge. Use it well, and you will have the skills you need to get yourself started.

I pray that your time on earth, harnessing my work, betters all for you and that one day you find the peace I never did.

Yours in life and death,

Sue Marshalls.

Stunned, startled and terrified, Gabriel looked at the journal. "This is... amazing. I never could have guessed... I have so much to read about, but finally someone of my blood actually helps me matter. It's about time."

And he read and read and read, for the next two hours, learning all he could...

Never realizing how it would change his life or prepare him for all that was to come.