Obscuratus Anima

The Book of Dark Arts

Leah brought the book home and flipped the cover over. The introduction was written in old English, which she recognised immediately. While she read, she came across an interesting line, "To those whom hast suffered, let this book discover what thou human potential can be." Reading that one line made her realise that this book was dangerous. She knew that the moment she started reading this book, she would become captivated. This was because of her weakness of being unable to stop herself from dropping a book midway. Once she starts reading, she will complete reading it, no matter how uninteresting or emotional it gets. 

But this book was different. Though she felt it would have a mental impact on her, her desire to read it could not vanish. She flipped the pages to the first chapter of the book. The tile was written in some weird symbols she had never seen before. However, the content was in English, and she could read the content. Every chapter had something to learn from. For instance, the first chapter spoke about the night, how the moon and stars are hope and guide so many. The next one spoke about why it is necessary to criticise those who treat others inferior, and so on. Finally, she reached the last chapter, Chapter 12. Surprisingly, compared to the other chapter titles, this chapter had a title in English that read, 'The Art of Giving into the Darkness'. 

This chapter seemed interesting to read because it spoke about an alternate mind. The book told how one's mind could be manipulated, controlled and twisted according to someone else's will. It also asked if the readers understood what the symbolic chapter headings meant. Leah started thinking hard of a way to crack the code of the symbols. She then grabbed a blank page and a pencil and wrote the headings below one another. While seeing them, she figured out the solution. The titles formed a phrase, "Dark destiny or dark mind, thy choice for life.". Leah felt excited that she cracked the symbols. But then, her consciousness kicked in. What did that mean? Should she be afraid, or should she be brave? Does she want a dark destiny or a dark mind? And why can she not change that choice? So many questions left unanswered. 

Leah then noticed the bottom right of the last page had a few words written in a small font. She grabbed a magnifying glass and placed it over the page. After reading it, Leah went down from her bedroom to the kitchen. She was at ease because the book had a second part, which possibly held all the answers she sought. The book wasn't as dangerous as Leah thought, and she laughed off the title as unjustified. But if only she knew that the Dark Arts was not the first part but the second and final one, perhaps she would've avoided the trouble in the distant future. Leah could get the sweet scent of chocolate when she stepped into the kitchen. "Woah! What's the occasion? We usually never have chocolate unless it's a special day." Leah was surprised. 

The butler walked towards her and said, "Miss, your older brothers heard you have been chosen as the heir. They asked the kitchen staff to prepare your favourite chocolate desserts." "Haha. Those silly fools still do something so childish, eh? Well, not that I'm complaining. I live for chocolate. Please pass them my thanks and tell them to join Dad and me for dinner today." Leah began giggling. At quarter past 19hrs, the entire family sat at the dinner table. "It's been a while since we all sat down like this together." Leah's Dad, Rolan, said. "Bon Appetite." With that, everyone started to eat, and they spoke like a family. Leah's older brothers, Zac and Riven, had not been home in over two weeks, and she missed them deeply. Now, it felt like family.

The following day was a Saturday, and Leah wanted to go and search for the second part of 'The Book of Dark Arts.'. She asked the chauffeur to take her to the city library since there she would find the book. She was sure of it. When they reached the library, Leah went to the fantasy section and found a book titled, 'The Dark Arts Part 2- Face Your Darkness.'. She borrowed the book and headed back home to read it. But then, she realised she still had the first part with her. She didn't feel right to read the second part that was still there. So, she planned to read it only after returning the first part. She had to wait until Monday, so she found something productive to do. Leah had many hobbies, including dancing, gymnastics, writing, etc.

She decided to cook today for a change since it was the one thing she could never get right. Every time she tried to cook, there would be some blunder in the meal she prepared. Once, she put sugar instead of salt for seasoning. Another time, she put a whole onion to fry without cutting it. She had gotten the nickname 'Kitchen Joker' because of this. Not that she didn't find it funny when she was teased, but she was embarrassed, so she used to enter the kitchen only when no one was around. To save herself from the embarrassment of burning the dishes, she would always eat what she made and judge herself. She couldn't bear to let someone else taste her cooking. 

After many failures, Leah finally made the perfect caramel custard. She was delighted to eat something she cooked herself and hoped her brothers would like the custard. She wasn't sure whether her dad would have the custard because of his diabetes. She put the custard in the fridge to cool. She then began cleaning up the mess she made in the kitchen. She had a feeling that if she didn't leave the kitchen spick and span, the chefs would probably be crying their hearts out to her brothers when they returned. The weekend thus passed joyfully without anything too intense except for the laughter of her brothers after hearing the number of attempts on one custard.