A Western Tale

The Discovery (Prologue)

You always hated staying at your grandparents. The smell of Old People haunted you. Not to mention, the food you had there was nothing short of old fashioned and dated that left a lingering smell on your breath.

Maybe that's why your parents left you there for the holidays? To torture you? Or maybe your just stuck-up and too comfortable with the new age of technology, you insist you aren't, but you have been told so many times you started to think it yourself.

That's why when your grandparents left for an evening dinner, you decided to have a look around the house, and see if you could find out what life really was like back then. What you would find, would date back long before your grandparents, into the age of outlaws and cowboys, but not your traditional western tale.

You looked around in drawers and countertops, only to find picture books dated no earlier that 1969, not exactly the time period you were looking for, but intriguing none the less. That's when it hit you, all your old things are in the basement at home. Maybe that trend continues here?

Disillusioned, and totally consumed by a goal to prove them wrong, that you could live without the comforts of today, you opened the basement door. You were instantly hit by a light gust of mold smelling... wind? You continued anyway. The old light bulb didn't seem to work, so you pulled out your phone flashlight and took a look around, so set on finding something interesting, you forgot to acknowledge your own ignorance.

You must have spent what felt like hours down there, nothing but old sports memorabilia and furniture, that was until you noticed a seemingly perfectly cut concrete slab, this intrigued you. You got down on your knees and uncovered the slab, it was heavier than you thought, and was cold to the touch. When you lifted it out of place, you noticed nothing but cobwebs and dust, you sighed in dissatisfaction, and began trying to replace the slab.

That was until the glimmer of something metallic caught your eye. Fearlessly, you pushed layers of cobwebs and dust aside, coughing from the polluted air. That's when all became clear, a lockbox. This is exactly what you were looking for. You examined it, noticing it was dated 1874, and your heart skipped a beat. Finally something interesting.

The lock was stiff but you managed to get it open, inside was old papers, receipts and pictures, but underneath was the real treasure. It seemed to be a Journal, leather in nature and somehow heavy. You picked it up, placing it beside you before you returned all of the other things to their previous and natural position.

You headed to your bedroom and sat waiting to open it. A sudden feeling of reluctance came over you, and you had second thoughts about even reading what was inside, despite this, you continued. The first page featured the name "John Cox - Resident of Fort Worth." Your town? This was exactly what you were looking for, and you eagerly turned the page again.

This is where the terror began.