"When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, fear not, for I am the First and the last"

~Revelation 1:17

Bybeech Town : Year 1992

Painful!

How painful!

My head hurts so badly

A gaudy Dreamworld of murmurs and endless muttering instantly shattered. The sound of lightning and rain had awoken Timothy from his deep sleep. A sharp headache pierced his head in similar fashion as to how a needle pierces cloth, no, it was more like a knife being forced tight through his temples ravaged by a twist.

Ouch...

In his stupor, Timothy turned to look around to his now unfamiliar surroundings and in that moment it all came back, the dreadful memories that he wished was only a dream.

His family had to move here to a different town because of his father, he came here because of what he called "better opportunities". The home that he had been living in since birth was now no longer his. It has now been replaced with a different house, in a town that was foreign to him.

"Hmm, it seems that I have truly left. What choice do I have now than to make the best of my current situation? I would assume that it wouldn't be difficult to gain friendship with others here in Bybeech Town."

Not too long ago, Timothy was still living in Snowspell village, speaking with his friends he had known from his childhood, laughing and sharing the last of memories they would experience together for a very long time. But now he was in strange lands, miles away from his companions, completely isolated in a small community in the middle of nowhere.

"This place feels dead, uneventful and bleak. Even with the presence of the houses, the hills feel empty devoid of any life. Why did my father have to move here for work!? My mind is incapable of accepting this!"

"My friends, school and even my enemies. My whole story took a shift in an instant because of my father's selfishness. Why did mother agree with him? Are we really that poor?"

Timothy got up out of bed to observe his new surroundings. Skillfully stepping over and avoiding the tremendous amount of luggage he had brought, Timothy paid keen attention to his new room.

The decrepit - befouled room entered Timothy's eye sight. Poor wooden furniture painted dominantly in dark-brown colours. Large and ancient, but beautiful curtains partly hiding the big, scratched window. Outside can be observed a poorly trimmed garden, with a small almost withered tree in the middle of it. In the center of the room laid a large bed with the legs made of partially rusted metals and a lot of clean pillows, with an assortment of bed covers on it.

His new room was impressive in its own right, that is however ignoring the odd carpentry choices of strange symbols and inverted crosses which seemed to be a reoccurring theme throughout the house.

"The wooden floor isn't as noisy as my old room, while it has that strange old house smell, it is more spacious than my previous room. Avram and Codrin would have loved the space here, the sleepovers would have been legendary!"

His thoughts tracing back to his friends, a sheet of sadness blanketed Timothy's mind again. His mood was at its lowest, nothing could brighten him up. His previous crying held attest to that. This also coincidentally was the origin of his headache. His previous excessive crying impacted him in more ways than one.

The silence was suffocating, arriving in strange lands where no companions are makes you a lot more aware of the silence in the world. However, this night's silence seemed to be Timothy's only friend.

Basking in the moonlight of this town and thinking about the possibilities of his new life, Timothy calmed down. The weather mirrored him, also calming its state. The lightning and rain stopped and the moon light shown brighter than before.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

"This is not the end to life, even though this town exudes a dreadful aura, there seems to be a certain charm to this place's quietness."

Timothy cracked his window and took in the view of his new home, Bybeech. Shadows shrouded over the hills, creating landscape images of demonic-like strangeness. The smell of cedar whistled through the atmosphere, the source being the forest filled with cedar trees enclosing Bybeech. Sounds of howling winds seem to continue on endlessly, carrying with it a spine-chilling cold. The endless number of cottage-like houses in this scene only added to the oddity of it.

Looking at his new community, Timothy truly wasn't impressed, in fact he was slightly terrified. Nevertheless, his goal hasn't changed, he desired to make new friends.

"Hmmm, this place is something straight out of a horror movie, how do people even live here? Even I have my moments where I yearn for silence but this is substantially different than simple quietness," Timothy whispered aloud.

"If truth be told, quiet isn't enough to describe this place. It's as if it's missing life entirely, as if even silence has been silenced."

"I'll think about it later. Let's try to get in some dinner."

Timothy's exited his room and entered the pitch-black world of darkness in his stairway. As Timothy walked down his new home's wooden stairs, the noise that was reverberating from it seemed to be endless. Creek after creek, his presence was now aware to all entities in the house, both alive and undead. As could be expected, his mother appeared.

"Timothy, is that you? Have you finally cheered up a bit?" His mother asked unceasingly.

He frowned a bit.

"Somewhat." He replied solemnly.

She pulled him into a hug as she said, "I know that your upset with me and your father, I'm sorry if you feel betrayed, I just want what's best for us."

"Don't worry I'm fine. I've, understood the situation at hand and I've come to realized this is probably for the better. For now however some dinner could do me good please."

As they separated there hug she replied. "Let me share it out for you, I'm glad you're feeling better."

Timothy's mother walked into the kitchen to share his food, with her porcelain white skin, dark hair and ocean blue eyes, she exuded an aura of youthfulness. She was a true mother to Timothy and it was her utmost goal for her son to be happy.

"Mom, this house is very creepy. The old European style gives a feeling that it's rejecting modernity almost entirely. The strange symbols all around the house seems bizarre," He said while she prepared the bowls, "the cobwebs are countless and everywhere creeks. This house is probably haunted."

"Your being paranoid son, while I also sense the feeling of emptiness in this place, it's nothing a little cleaning and tidying up can't solve. Just eat your dinner and go to bed, don't forget to wash up." She said as she walked away.

"Alright mom, maybe your right. I just might be paranoid."

Timothy devoured the bit of soup his mother had made him, while it wasn't any type of fine dining. It was healthy and he was filled.

Timothy continued to observe his surroundings, it was pitch black. The only source of illumination nearby was a kerosene lamp that was on its last legs of light. Taking up the lamp, he went on a small exploration of the living room.

No secrets were hidden from him now, for every crevice and corner in the room was within his sight as long as his flame was near. Interestingly something caught his attention, and that was a small door in the corner of the room, sealed off shut.

"Hmm, I didn't notice that earlier? What's it for? Is it like a safe used to hide money? What could possibly be in there."

Timothy silently walked forward towards. Arriving at the small door, he realized that it was locked shut. But the lack of access didn't end his curiosity. For he had picked up a few skills in the art of lock picking from his delinquent days hanging out with his friends.

"I'll have to use to use some tension wire for this, the goal is to loosen the springs in the lock. Allowing for a gap in movement inside the mechanism. I never knew this would come in handy, thanks Avram your wisdom continues to help me from afar"

Timothy raced for some tension wire in his luggage, plenty was there in storage as he had packed virtually everything he possibly could when he was coming to Bybeech. Arriving back down at the tiny door at light speed, Timothy made his first attempt. He carefully placed the tension wire in the keyhole and prayed for success. With his skill fullness, it was only a matter of time before the door was open.

The door opened with a creak, with it's opening came a pungent smell. It was suffocating to Timothy, quickly covering his face with his shirt, he looked to observe what was inside the tiny doorway space

Inside the doorway was a simple book, the book was pitch black and embroidered with strange like patterns and possessed an iron buckle to keep it bounded. It was titled "The Book of Melvin".

"Hmm, what is this book? Why would a book be stored in this place. It looks to still be in great condition, yet it's been here for God knows how long? Let's see the what's inside."

Sweating excitedly in anticipation for what was to come. Timothy slowly opened the book to view its contents. Inside on the first page was strange symbols and words beyond his comprehension. Among these symbols though, one stood out to Timothy the most, the recurring theme that he had seen throughout the house, the inverted cross, but this time it was crimson red, oozing fresh blood.