One second, one minute, time slowly passed, but the book kept buzzing without a hint of a stop.
The flustered Vincent raised his trembling hand. As it approached the book, he felt as if a force started pulling his hand. The trembling hand soon touched the closed book. As this happened, the vibration mysteriously stopped.
"Just what the hell is happening? " Vincent said while sweating bullets with a puzzled frown. He closed his eyes, took a few breaths while trying to calm his nerves.
Vincent removed his hand when he felt a little better by this strange, scary situation. The book suddenly opened up by itself. From it shone blinding light as if a trap with a flashbang attached was inside.
It was so bright that the room became white, like a lighthouse shining in the night. When the light faded, Vincent was there no more.
Trisha was drinking a cup of tea when she saw her kitchen sink sheen in a blinding light. She quickly turned her head as her eyes instinctively squinted.
From the balcony glass door entered a light brighter than the day, even ignoring the dark curtains. The room lit brightly from the mysterious light.
Tessy was sleeping in her room, and asleep, she remained.
This sudden light sent a shiver down Trisha's spine while in fear, her fingers locked. As they trembled in fear, the cup in her hand fell by a sudden fright.
"Vincent!, Ohh no... don't tell me... " Trisha regained control over her body as the memory of her husband resurfaced. She rushed to the balcony in panic, but no one replied, no matter how much she shouted.
Such loud shouting woke up a few people, one of them was Tessy.
"Dear, what's wrong? " Old Tessy wiped her eyes. Soon she noticed Trisha panicking and continued, "What's happened to Vincent? Does he need something?"
"Vincent... light... disappear... like Kevin... I need to check! " Trisha could barely speak as she scoured the cupboard for the master key.
It seemed she knew something she never mentioned to anyone.
Trisha found the master key and quickly bolted to Vincent's apartment door. The door opened, but Vincent didn't answer.
Trisha quickly looked inside. The living room, the bedroom, and ending with the bathroom. But, Vincent was nowhere to be found.
The living room had a hot cup of tea and food heating in the microwave. It was as if Vincent mysteriously vanished or abducted.
Trisha fell on her knees as her red eyes rained a storm of tears. The book took someone dear to her yet again. She started to blame the book, which she thought was previously safe.
A memory from a year ago resurfaced as clear as if it was yesterday. On the day Kevin was found dead in a mysterious way, Trisha saw the stained glass on the library door illuminated by a bright light.
Trisha thought it was the sunlight reflecting on the glass. She entered the library with no idea of the actual source. On the table was a large assortment of finger food as that day, Kevin was going to give his wife a sneak peek of the book.
Instead of a cheerful private event, it turned into a tragedy. Kevin had become around eight years older, was riddled with scars and wounds not made from any regular blade. Under him was a pool of green blood, and what it seemed animal fur stained green.
Trisha also noticed something else. The book he wrote was in front of him. It seemed different, it looked older, and its pages mysteriously aged.
Later the special hospital lab picked Kevin up, but she never mentioned the book to them, hiding it beforehand.
Trisha thought a secret message might have been hidden inside. Unfortunately, no matter how many times she read the book, no hint could be found.
Later she kept the book locked up in a safe while reading the book from time to time. She thought the book was safe, but now it wasn't so.
This was the memory currently echoing in the panicking Trisha's mind.
Was Vincent going to return old and dead?
Was Vincent coming back at all?
Trisha's heart could bear no more and fainted from such devasting thoughts.
Tessy entered worried by Trisha's worrying actions. She thought a thief might have entered, but instead, she found Trisha lying on the floor.
The ambulance arrived, and the police as well. Many months later, Trisha would recover from the mild heart attack.
Vincent was later registered as a missing person by Old Tessy as she took care of everything while Trisha was recovering in the hospital.
Tessy thought Vincent would return one day. She remained hopeful, but Trisha knew the sad truth. What happened to Kevin might happen to him.
The library was later rented to a close family friend because it became too hard to maintain for the old Tessy.
*Unkown Place*
Vincent opened his eyes, but he could see nothing. He moved his head from left to right but soon felt as if he had gone blind. Only pitch-black darkness was in sight. If his eyes were opened or closed, Vincent didn't know.
Suddenly a bright white light covered his whole view, and then darkness returned. His five senses suddenly returned from this strange occurrence.
Vincent could now see his raised hands. As he lowered his head, two legs came to view. Underneath his feet was pitch black. If he was hovering or standing, he couldn't know.
The most important question remained, how could he see himself within all this darkness? It was a place devoid of any light, but he could see his body and clothes with no difficulty.
Vincent felt like a character placed on a black background. He tried to walk forward, but he could only see his legs move.
'This is a dream, right? I must have read the whole book and forgot to sleep early. Yes, that must be it. If I pinch myself, I should wake up.' As these thoughts passed through his head, the panicking Vincent pinched his cheek.
"Ouch... that hurts, wait, I can hear myself! " Vincent felt pain from his cheek, but soon his voice echoed multiple times.
'No, this can't be real. Wait!... I remember! I touched the book of heroes and then... I woke up here.' Vincent organized his thoughts as the memory of what happened resurfaced.
Moments later, once again, his view was filled with a bright white light. Soon darkness returned, but this time the book of heroes hovered in front of him.
"You thing!... are you alive? Can you hear me? " Vincent felt he had no other option but to talk to the hovering book.
'1, 2... 10, 11... 59, 60. Nothing... Will I be stuck here?' Vincent counted to one minute as he questioned his current dilemma.
Vincent gulped and quickly gathered his courage to touch the book. Other than to wait, he had nothing else to do in this weird and frightening place.
His hand drew closer as it approached the book. A droplet of cold sweat trickled from his forehead down to his nose. As his face trembled with fear and doubt to touch the book, the droplet fell swallowed by the darkness of the bottomless ground.
It disappeared with no trace to be found. One thing was clear. Vincent never heard the droplet touch the bottom as if it disappeared.
The index finger finally reached its destination. As the book was barely touched, the book's title glowed blinding bright. It shone like a beacon in the night.
The book suddenly opened, and a paper cut injured his index finger. Vincent sucked the wound in fear of an infection, but soon he felt an unbearable heat.
Vincent wiped his forehead a few times, and that's when he noticed. On his paper cut wound, green blood oozed from his finger.
"Wait, what's happening?" Vincent panicked and violently shook his hand.
A tiny droplet of green blood landed on the book. Pages started flipping without a hint of a breeze to move them. It felt as it was alive.
The last page of Kevin the Hero story was flipped by itself and then stopped. On the new page, an invisible force was writing letter after letter. That was the only explanation the bewildered Vincent could comprehend.
After a while, the letters stopped. The letters were strangely written in Kevin's handwriting. Or the same writing the book was written with. A few words were written in a system like format. Most were unknown, while others personal.
Vincent became scared as he could feel a cold shiver running down his spine.
[Name] Vincent Agius
[Race] Human / Mutant
[Age] 25
[Trait] ???
[Class] ???
[Stats] ???
[Book registered Vincent Agius as the seventh Hero.]
[Body scan complete. Body change starting. Chosen mark ready.]
[Starting world transfer now.]
When he read the last line, the strange feeling of warmth drastically increased. Instead of summer heat, it felt like he was standing next to an erupting boiling volcano.
Vincent couldn't take it anymore. He lost consciousness, fainting in this mysterious unknown place. How long he stayed there, time couldn't tell.
A memory was manifesting itself in front of the fainted Vincent's eyes in the form of a dream. It was something he was present for yet never saw.
Vincent could see this memory from afar. As if watching from a spectator's seat. He didn't have a body, or it was invisible to him. He couldn't see his new circular form glowing green, shaped like a ball of light. A soul or a wisp could be the most accurate description.
The memory began from the day which ruined his life. It was the moment when the infectious fog dispersed, and the people went insane.
Vincent could see the people changing, mutating into different beings before their enraged self succumbed to the mutation and died. In those few minutes, these mutated beings attacked anything in sight.
Vincent felt strange about this memory because he fainted at that time. He couldn't possibly have seen all this. The book was most probably showing the most crucial memory in Vincent's life from his subconscious.
"Vincent, my boy, please stay awake... *cough... " His mother said, coughing while holding the twelve-year-old Vincent on her growing soft bird-like feathers.
"Don't worry mama... *cough... Vincent is still breathing and... *cough... he doesn't look sick like us. " His father, with great difficulty, checked Vincents breathing while coughing green blood.
*Roar
*Graaaa
Two mutated crazed people approached the family. One set its sights on his father while the other raised its brows and stared at Vincent.
One with the scales rushed for his father but slipped and fell. The other saw the fallen mutated person, raised its brows, and rushed to attack it.
"Just what is happening... *cough... is this the apocalypse? " His father took a few steps in fright.
Soon he heard his wife cough a ball of feathers as she moaned in horrible pain. His personality quickly changed. No matter what, he had to save his family.
His father looked around. Nearby he saw a broken one-way sign. He rushed for it and quickly picked it up. His father returned beside his family and stood guard, holding the sign with a firm grip.
"It's not your fault my dear boy... *cough... we were going to bring you here even if you didn't promise us... *cough." His mother said while she gently caressed his head.
"Mama is right. Don't blame yourself for what happened... Ugh. " His father fell on his knees, vomiting a mouthful of green sticky blood.
*ROAR
The smell of blood appeared to have attracted the attention of many. Six more mutants approached them. The one that ignored them before to attack the fallen mutated person now had its eyes set at them.
"Don't worry Vincent... *cough... I will protect you. " His father stood his ground, brimming with courage. The wish to see his family safe fueled his strength to do the impossible.
"Mama will protect you. " His mother hid Vincent under her body while the mutants kept approaching, drawing closer by the second.
However, before the first hit landed, the memory abruptly stoped. What happened was now known. His parents protected him till their last breath. That's how he survived.
To Vincent, this was a vivid dream. A repetition of a memory he could never have seen.