The False Book of Darkness: Chapter 1

Rude Awakening

You know that thing where you forget what you were supposed to be doing after you passed through a doorway? It's as if every sense and meaning just slips away, leaving you wondering why you were there in the first place. What's worse was how often the answers just linger at the tip of your tongue.

As frustrating as it was, I was used to it. It was just something I had to deal with on a daily basis, melding in with my daily routines, but never did I expect to deal with it on a much grander scale. "Where the hell am I?" I whispered as I stood at the edge of a pier, staring dumb founded at the oil platform off in the distance and the glittering wrapped around it.

Why was I out here, and why was it so cold? Shivering, I pulled at the coat I found myself wearing as I desperately fended off the cold evening breeze. The last thing I remembered was just going to bed before… what? I couldn't remember anything.

I could remember my name and everything. I could even remember myself rolling in bed just moments ago, unable to sleep before I just opened my eyes, now wide awake. There was just nothing in between, a blank gnawing at my mind. Lifting my aching hands up to my face, I paused as I noticed how small they were. These weren't my hands.

Slowly, I backed away, staring at the slender digest in incomprehension. This doesn't make sense, nothing did. The strange sights around me, the din of the faceless crowd, and even the scent of it all was just wrong. Where the hell was I and more importantly, what the hell is happening?

Heart racing, and struggling to grapple with the strange situation, I didn't notice the foot traffic before I was sent sprawling across the ground. "Hey watch where you're going," an angry voice shouted, their voice coming out grating and distorted as their shadowy figure loomed over me.

With wide eyed terror, I scrambled back, flinching away as their form wavered and danced before my eyes, their eyes leering and their claws reaching out, like giant monsters straight from my worst nightmare.

Unable to make sense of it all, I did the only thing that made sense; I ran. It was all too much, with my mind screaming as every shadow and light morphed into unknowable shapes. This was just a dream, it was all just a dream, so I ran as far my legs could take me until I couldn't

With a yelp, my legs gave out beneath me, sending me sprawling on the cold pavement of the deserted street, tired and exhausted as I kept questioning myself. "This has to be a dream right?" I laughed half hysterically. How else couldn't I even recognize my own voice?

So there I laid, my breath coming in shallow as the cold wrapped around my tiny form, robbing me of what little warmth I had. I needed to get up. With the wintery chill of the evening leaving my teeth chattering and my breath coming out in white puffs, I forced myself up, not wanting to turn into a popsicle even in my dreams.

Everything ached, but I was safe. There was no one in the street, other than the muffled sound of cars off in the distance and my own footsteps as the reality of the situation slowly sank in. This was no dream, but a waking nightmare.

With the shadows growing stark, and the night growing colder, I kept walking, lost in the streets and my own musing. Had I died? Was this hell? No, it wasn't any of that as my eyes lingered up to the broken signage that hung over one of many boarded up shops lining the streets.

"Brockton Bay, huh?" I chuckled as my eyes glanced at the crude symbols of the gang that ruled these streets, "Seems like my luck just ran out." Of all the places I found myself in, it had to be here. Still, I could have been worse

"At least it's not Warhammer," I laughed as I kept walking in a desperate bid to keep warm. I could worry about the details. Right now, I just need to stop myself freezing to death and finding shelter sounds good, but how?

The police sounded like a great idea, but I could end up searching the whole night. Camping under a nearby bridge didn't sound like a good idea either, and begging help from the homeless was a toss up between genuine help and a bad time.

Desperation, however, would quickly set in as these unappealing options became more reasonable. I just need to warm up, even if just for a night and the alley seems inviting. At least there, I'd be protected from the bitter winds.

So against my better judgement, I stepped inside the endless corridor that stretched before me. With only the scurrying rats and cockroaches as my companions, I stalked the empty alley, unsure at what I'd find.

Would there be a bloodthirsty killer or even a cape waiting for me? All I'd find, however, was darkness and I greeted it like an old friend. Maybe I was finally dying and these were my last thoughts. At least it was peaceful, like slipping into a dream.

It was now no longer cold, with the sound of the city being a distant memory. There was just silence as the light of the city grew behind me. Soon even my own thoughts grew silent as I stopped and laid down. Was this how it feels to die? To no longer feel anything and just be?

It was peaceful, but it wouldn't last as I heard a small whisper. It was soft at first, but as I strained my ears, I heard their desperate plea, echoing in the dark. "I'm so alone…"

Concerned, I called out, "Hello?" All I'd see as I opened my eyes, however, was darkness along with my own form weightless over the abyss. Still, despite my lack of form, I could feel the and so would they as I felt something stir in the dark.

"Who's there!" It called out, their voice warping and crackling like static and needles dancing across a blackboard. Like a cornered animal, I could feel their anger radiating outwards, making me falter.

I should hide, my mind whispered, that I should make myself scarce as I felt their presence just in the distance. Despite this, I knew I couldn't turn away. Reaching out, I shouted, "Just take my hand!" For as much anger as they held, they still couldn't hide their longing.

Desperately, I reached out for them, and for a moment, I thought they were gone before a voice called out, "Are you… my master?"

Alarmed, I shot up, finding myself inside of a warehouse of all things, hidden in some knock amongst the boxes scattered about. I must have somehow walked as I found a nearby door laying ajar. Just as I was about to crawl out, I froze as I heard footsteps.

"This can't be real right?" Said a man, their voice laced with disbelief and just a hint of fear, "It all just had to be all tinker tech bullshit." What the hell were they talking about? It couldn't be some powerful tinker tech or something, right?

"Well whatever it is, it's our key to getting on Lung's good side!" said another, their voice filled with greed and malice, "We finally got his damn book working… however we did it?"

With curiosity winning out, I peeked out, but I wished I hadn't as my eyes laid upon the writhing darkness which lay chained in the middle of the room. "No… that can't be" I whispered in horror as I felt the very malice lingering around this book.

"I'll go tell Lung," The half forgotten voice of the gang members guarding called out from the distant door just out of sight.

"Like hell you would!" Their partner shouted as a scuffle broke out, "You'd hog all the credit!" I couldn't care less for their squabble as I felt drawn to the artifact of immense power, one whose very presence was palpable in the air.

This shouldn't be real, or anywhere near where I was now, but like my very presence here, its presence was undeniable and it wasn't shy in making itself known. "My Master," Its voice whispered, almost lovingly, sending shivers of fear down my spine. That… can't be right.

"No," I whispered, remembering how this should play out. "You weren't supposed to be awake!"

"But I am," It answered as the the world melted away, replaced by fields of blackened, corrupted flesh and towering pillars lined with demonic eyes, "And it's all thanks to your heartfelt plea~"

Now, I stood alone, and at the mercy of the being bound to me by my own hands. "You freed me after all with your blood," They whispered as the ground before me parted, revealing the body of a blue haired teen laying over the cursed tome, bleeding all over it and the pavement. With my heart racing, memories soon came unbidden.

The pain, the agony of being pieced up by the knife tearing to my side. I could remember everything, all of it. I was going to die. "But I won't let that happen," The book whispered as a shapely form wrapped around my body.

"So long as I am with you, I will make sure you have nothing to worry about~" They promised as I felt something wriggling beneath my wound, burrowing deeper into my core and knitting the hole left behind by the edge of the knife over my heart, "I'm going to save you so rise and shine, my master~"

-x-x-x-

With a scream, I bolted up from my bed, sweating all over. This wasn't my bed, nor my room, but I felt… fine. I didn't feel in pain, nor could I feel the corrupting miasma of the book. Even the crawling sensation beneath my skin was a distant memory.

"It's just a dream?" I asked, my heart still racing. I was still not back to my own body, but at least things were looking up as I found myself in a room of blue.

Hand clutching my chest, I grimaced. It felt so real though. The pain, the feeling of my life flood draining and that cold. "It's all just a dream…" I whispered, relief flooding my form.

I might be stuck in someplace not my own, but at least I was so I thought as I felt warm arms wrap around my form as a shapely body press against my back. "I'm afraid it's very much real, my master" The Book of Darkness whispered as her sweet melodic voice echoed down my very core, "Just like how I'm real"

With my heart pounding, and dawning realization of what I had unleashed, I stood there frozen, tensing as she lightly bit my neck. "Now master, tell me your deepest desires and I shall grant you," She whispered, her voice promising pleasures that I shook my resolve.

Whichever deity had answered my plea, all I asked now was for mercy for I don't know how long I could last with this demoness's temptation.