Possession - A short Historical Fantasy

Possession

They are here. Banging on the door. Shouting at me from behind the oak. Profanities hurtling through the air. I look across at the book. The big brown book filled with secrets and hopes, filled with death and lies. The book that started this.

I push the chair against the door and take a look round the room. The simple yet homely decor has always drawn me in. Now it seems more like a trap. A place I cannot escape. The bed in the corner offered me comfort before; now it judges me. The desk is filled with evidence against me but none of that matters, they won't check. Stuffed in the corner of my desk is a flower. Master Baker gave me it when he was courting me only days ago. The petals have now withered away leaving only a brown stalk as though it has been poisoned. The bookshelf is stuffed with bottles and books. One book is more important than the others. I remember the day that I found it. Or should I say it found me.

I sat in the field next to Master Staple's farmhouse. The sun hung low in the sky, creating a luminous orange glow. The world seemed to stop, forever silent and peaceful. The lavender produced a fragrant potion, lulling me to close my eyes. Influencing me to take a nap. The bale of hay was my pillow and the warm summer air was my blanket soon I drifted into a serene slumber. I saw a man. He stood 10 feet away from me, beckoning. I stayed where I was, glued to the floor but then I saw his eyes. A raw pleading was echoed in them, an air of helplessness radiated off him. I got up from my bed of nature and took a few tentative steps towards the man. His outfit of brown looked much like the one Master Baker would wear when working Staple's farm.His clothes were covered in mud and marks that looked like scalds. His hair was a sinister shade of black matched with a devilish smile and hypnotising eyes. He broke into a run towards the stream at the bottom of the hill. I followed his motions and headed after him, skidding to a stop just before the earth gave away into water. I turned to ask what was wrong, why he had looked so scared but he was gone, no trace of him was to be found anywhere. In the grass, laying on top of the at long blades was a mundane parcel wrapped in cream coloured cloth. I was mesmerised but I could hear the squawking of a bird, cutting through my trance. I looked up to the sky to see a black crow flying towards me, straight at me.

I sat up and I was back at the top of the hill. A scornful crow judged me from the top of the hay bale. It was not unlike the crow from my dream. The sun had gone and the purple hued twilight had taken its place. I looked down the hill towards the stream and saw the cloth covered package emitting a dark aura, still perched on top of the grass as though it were floating. The pathway down the hill was overrun with plants making it hard to determine the way. I made it down the hill and approached the package, the glowing drawing me in. It felt heavy yet light at the same time, as though I was sharing the burden of the weight. I unwrapped the cloth, letting it tumble to the ground. In my hands was a big brown book with no inscriptions on the front. It smelt of lavender and dust, as though it had once belonged to a family but had been neglected. I opened it to a random page and felt the urge to read out the strange words etched into the paper. I felt the pages, they felt thick and feathery but old. The wind and the flowers were whispering encouragements, go on, read it, do it. Even though the words made no sense and I didn't know what they were, I knew how to read them, how to say them aloud. So I did. I don't really know what I expected to happen. But nothing did. I chuckled at myself for being so silly but I could feel the pull of disappointment in the pit of my stomach. I dropped the book where I stood and ran back up the hill.

They were still outside, not giving up. I could hear them shouting at each other, I felt that they were scared but I could also feel there anger. I looked around again, remembering my life in this house. Over there by the window, was where Master Baker had left me that night we stepped out. He kissed me on the cheek as he bid me goodbye. I thought he would be proposing to me, that he would make a fine husband and that I would have a few children. A life I know I will never get now. I remember when I came home from the market one day to find it on my doorstep, I thought someone had put it there thinking it was mine. I remember when I sat down at the desk and looked through the book, studying every page.