Open Not

            Do not read

“If you are stubborn enough not to follow my warning then that’s not my problem anymore. As you read these lines you are already opening the gate of the most impossible world you could hardly think of. But beware! As you open this gate, you are also putting your life into a serious danger. But I guess I can help you, at least, in extending your life as you go along with this journey. Well, luckily I had already surpassed all those crazy things that almost killed me that you will also experience too soon. And oh, let me tell you that you’re reading this booklet not by chance but by choice. You are one of the chosen ones. You are the next one who will step on my shoes so good luck chosen one.”

“Total crap!”, Angelica spoke the words with some flavour of sarcasm as she read the note.

She was in her grandfather’s old house for a vacation. She was only thirteen years old with almond shape grey eyes that compliment her olive black hair. She was slim with a big personality residing in her character.

It was already midnight and everybody in the house were sleeping but she couldn’t. So she got flashlight and decided to explore the old house. As she walked along the dusty corridor, her flashlight caught the site of a narrow corridor. It was like another branch of the corridors that led to a hidden part of the house.

The hair at the back of Angelica’s neck slowly rose like a magnet was placed behind her. But a strange feeling started to build up inside her. Something in that corridor seemed like pulling her to get in. So she let the strange feeling brought her to that corridor. As she got inside, she saw a stair connected to a small door which she thought would be enough for only one person to pass.

Angelica went near the stairs and gradually raised her feet alternately to start climbing. When she was near the small door, the strange feeling seemed to get stronger that it felt like it was pushing her to get inside the secluded room. When she was already inside, she could not stop her hair from rising and felt goose bumps all over her as the cool wind brushed every inch of her body and told her to explore the room.

She panned the flashlight all over the room and she had the feeling that the room was some sort of a storage room where old and damaged things were dumped. The whole area was stinked with dust and some rotten objects that she could hardly point her fingers at. She decided to stay for a while and looked at those several years old things.

She saw piles of boxes and books situated at the very corner of the room. She felt like something in that area was pulling her to come near. So again, Angelica let her instinct to lead her to get close to that area.

She picked one book from the pile and read the title. Her heart jumped out and fell flatly on the floor and immediately picked it back to its original place because the piled books collapsed and produced a bang. She was brain struck when she found a small silver box with a padlock hidden behind the pile of books.

When Angelica pointed the flashlight’s direction to the box, it radiated a silver light for about two to three seconds like telling her the indication that the box some kind of a magical thing. But maybe it was just simply the effect of the flashlight, she thought. Angelica picked the padlocked box and blew the dusty profile of the box. Then she found a note written on the cover that says, “Open Not”.

“Open not?! How could anyone not open this box if the key itself was stuck on the latch?”, Angelica said with a smirk on her lips.

She opened the box by twisting the key back-and-forth until the lock clicked. As she opened the box, she saw a booklet. Well, honestly, it was not so nice of a booklet to keep, I swear. The pages were almost rotted and smelled dusty, paper dust I mean. It was just a small booklet as a mini-notebook that you could see nowadays and the paper were thick in its color brown complexion.

When you look at it, you could really see the resourcefulness of the owner because the edge of each page was visibly torn and bound together by a fiber string. The cover said, Do not read.

“Oh my, it’s almost a hundred year old staff. Cool.”, she read it with amazement twinkling in her eyes.

She doubted why her excitement with her newly found pocket book was unexplainable though her hair were standing, expressing their harsh protest. Angelica opened the booklet and found the first page. She read the first paragraph which she thought to be some kind of a warning but she also found it to be some kind of a joke. (If you still don’t get it, then you better read the first part.)

Though Angelica found it ridiculous, her instinct was so persistent in telling her to continue reading. When she was about to flip the page going to the next side, a thing behind her tumbled down and made a graceful crash on the floor. When she turned around, she found an ancient looking and a weird looking bicycle.

Angelica closed the booklet for a while and placed it back to its box. She faced the bicycle and examined its features because something was really strange with the bicycle which she wondered, why it concerned her a lot. Angelica directed the flashlight toward the bicycle and her forehead violently crumpled and her eye brows intently met. She found wings on the bicycle’s wheels, very small but very white wings. How these wings did maintain its snow white complexion and perfect features in spite all the dirty stuffs around it? She also wondered how a bicycle could possess wings. How did the inventor of that bicycle thought of putting wings on the wheels?

Another thing that caught her interest was the baton attached to the handles of the bicycle. The baton was at least two feet length covered with tiny pieces of eye prickling diamonds. At the end of the baton was a five peso coin sized diamond and on the other end was a bigger diamond encased in a gold ring and inscribed in another ring filled with pieces of shining shimmering diamonds. She wondered if the diamonds were real.

“How can they dump this such a wonderful baton in a rubbish place? I would certainly love to keep this.”, she said happily with her new toy on her hands.

Suddenly, Angelica remembered about the booklet. She picked it back and flipped it to the second page and started reading.

“As you go along with your new journey, your new battle, you should first find your weapon and your ride. You will know that it’s yours because it will surely fall behind you right after reading the first page of this booklet. So take care of it and don’t play with it because it will not only help you, but it could also destroy you. Do you have it right now? If you have it then you better brace yourself because the following minutes will surely surprise you.”

A creepy feeling started to jolt inside Angelicas stomach. She just could not believe the joke she was reading. She thought that joke was quite effective because it really made her spine chill for a while.

“OMG. I love this booklet it’s very funny. It seems so true. Whew, it made me sweat now.”, she convinced herself.

When she was about to pick up the silver box, she saw another hand from her back reached it. She felt like her soul went out from her body and ran to the heaven and asked Saint Peter to tell her that she was still alive and no ghost was trying to scare her. She leaped wildly and almost started an eardrum cracking shrill that would surely brought all the people in that house to panic. She faced her back and found the house caretaker’s son who happened to be her childhood enemy, Angelo.

“How dare you scare me to the bones Angelo?!”, she managed to say it in a hush tone.

“Sorry, I don’t mean to scare you.”, Angelo apologized.

“What are you doing here?”

“I heard a bang a while ago and I saw a flash of light outside my window so I guess as the caretaker’s son, it is my duty to check if there is anything wrong with the house.”

“Wow that’s so thoughtful. And how did you know I’m here?”

“I really don’t know that you’re here. I’m just checking. Wait,” Angelo was stammered for a while looking at Angelica’s baton. “How did you get that staff?”

“I just saw it behind me with that bicycle after reading this booklet. Why? Do you have any intentions of getting this from? Well you…”

Before Angelica could finish her speech, Angelo had already cut it. Angelo’s eyes looked at Angelica and the baton with a slice of fear glowing in it. He looked like he had just seen a very impossible thing to happen next to his eyes.

“Oh my God! This can’t be true. Impossible!” Angelo blurted.

“What impossible are you talking about boy? Can you further explain yourself? You’re getting me nuts.”

“Come on let’s get out of this place now!”

“What? Can you please tell me why?”

“Okay, you just got your ticket to hell Angelica. You are one of the chosen!”

“Chosen? Of what? Are you sure you’re okay? Hello?” Angelica said it in a matter-of-factly way.

“I’m deadly serious Angelica so don’t joke on this.” Angelo was starting to get a high pressure.

“Okay! Sorry. So tell me everything.”

“That booklet,” He pointed Angelica’s hand where the booklet was placed. “That indicates that you’re a chosen one. You are one of the seven teenagers who will fight against the forces of underworld. You’re an angel Angelica. You are going to die if you can’t defeat the evil forces. And that stick you are holding,”

“It’s not a stick, it’s a baton.”, Angelica interrupted.

“Whatever, that is the Winggard, that’s your weapon. And that bicycle that’s the Winggamot’s Cycle, that your ride. We better get out of here before they come.” Angelo ended his talk with heaviness in his tone.

“Really? So how did you know all these?”

“You better read that booklet you are holding before it’s too late for you and I’m an angel too. ”

“So you really are nuts. How did you invent this story? I know I look like an angel but I’m no angel at all. And who’s coming? The devil? Maybe your just sleepy or you just haven’t eaten your dinner that’s why your inventing these crazy things in your head.”, Angelica said and suddenly her mouth fell open when she saw a black winged man with a single horn on its forehead appeared just in front of them.

“Oh my God!”, Angelica cried out of panic.

“I told you,” Angelo replied and snatched a chain on his neck and it suddenly became a chain of diamonds with the mother diamond on its end with snow white wings flipping with eagerness while a huge white feathers rose from Angelo’s back.

“The battle of angels and demons has just begun.” Angelo said with a twitch on his lips and Angelica hiding at his back.

Liberzon Saidy G. Ngoho