ʙʟᴀᴄᴋ ʙᴜᴛʟᴇʀ: Book of Mystery

Prologue

A girl was running down a narrow road with a sandwich in her mouth. Looks pretty strange, don't you think? But for someone who is late for a prestigious institution, it's normal.

POV Valerie

Today is an ordinary day. I got myself ready and went to have breakfast. It's winter now, and I know it's cold, but I still put on tights with a skirt. I didn't really worry about shoes since I have only one pair for all seasons, but the asphalt was suspiciously wet and slippery today. I'll have to crawl if I twist my ankle.

The journey to college took quite a lot of time. And I, being such an "organized person," that even the Lord Himself laughed at my attempts not to be late.

Looking at the time, I realized there wasn't as much as I thought, so I shot out of the house like a bullet. My family lives in a private house—father, mother, sister, and our younger brothers—cramped but happy! Within the family, they call me Valeria.

The bus ride took an hour. Waking up at six every morning has become a habit.

I entered the classroom. You know, for all the time I've been studying here, I haven't made any friends. Well, the girls are acquaintances, but I wouldn't call them friends. And so it went until ninth grade—I didn't know what a real friend was.

However, I made friends outside of school. We often spent time together, went for night walks, so I was happy.

After classes, I was rushing home, looking forward to my mom's cooking. But no one was cooking anything at the moment.

— I'm home! — Silence, but then a response came from the parents' room.

— Yes, yes, I'm coming! Mom came out into the hallway.

— Mom, haven't you cooked anything yet?

— Hmm... No, why? You still have an hour to get ready and leave...

—Damn! — I swore, nervously rubbing my knuckles.

— What's wrong?— Mom asked, heading to the kitchen.

— Idon't have time right now; I have to run!

— What? But how...— Mom didn't have time to finish as I dashed into the living room to change.

I grabbed money, headphones, my necessary things, and my sheet music.

So, let me explain. Soon, I have a piano exam, and then I'm going to a friend's place for a week to celebrate New Year and Christmas. I wanted to eat because food is everything to me, but if I miss the exam, I won't get the scholarship, which is important!

So, resigning myself to my fate and saying goodbye to my dear mom, I ran to the bus stop.

— Hello! Sorry for being late!— I burst into the hall. Several pairs of eyes immediately looked at me.

— Do you have a valid reason? "Hmm... let's say yes. I didn't eat." — Very valid...— I muttered, sitting down at the piano.

I've been drawn to music since childhood. I have my own songs, compositions, many teachers have praised them. Well, so far, by "many" I mean just a few. My vocal and solfeggio teachers.

While my fingers played, I enjoyed the beautiful sounds coming from the instrument, closing my eyes at particularly emotional moments. No one knew the author of the song, but it was very old, so the English decided to make it a folk song, which is quite strange.

It wasn't passed down orally; it was found in archives. Judging by the date, it was written in the nineteenth century.

England, the nineteenth century. I wonder what it was like there? My curiosity about this era began when I watched the anime "Black Butler" at thirteen. Quite an intriguing start, don't you think?

Now I no longer watch Japanese films and anime, but "Black Butler" will forever remain in my heart. No matter how long I live, my love for it never fades year after year. The melody was quite long, I learned it accordingly, but the efforts were worth it. When my hands lifted from the keys, the first teacher was already evaluating my performance, and the second began to praise me. Thanking them, I calmly left the room.

The corridor was silent, and snowflakes sparkled outside in the dark. Most of the kids had already been picked up from classes. Yes, yes, classes ended early today. Gathering all my things, I left the school and headed to the bus stop. Finally, I could relax, two weeks at a friend's place, celebrating Christmas and New Year.

I decided to go to the store, buy cookies and cappuccino. My friend had never tried this drink, so today I would surprise her.

So... Very strange, but I stayed in the store for quite a while, and now I need to find Wi-Fi. I don't know where my friend lives, so Google Maps to the rescue. I'll look it up in advance to avoid trouble later.

***

Whether it was long or short... the minibus finally arrived, and people started complaining to the driver, saying, "Why are you driving so slowly?"

Well, I agree, standing at the stop in the cold and snow for almost an hour is not very pleasant. The driver turned out to be kind and friendly, which was surprising. From his story, I learned that there were traffic jams and a terrible accident somewhere, which is why the bus was delayed.

And so, I've been riding the minibus for about an hour now. Yes, the city isn't the capital, but it still takes a lot of time to get to the right place.

Looking at my watch, I was horrified. I had promised to be at my friend's place by nine at the latest, and it was already half past ten! Damn, she's probably worried. I called her. The number was out of the coverage area. How strange, she usually always answers calls, and nothing has ever happened to her phone. What should I do?

— Final stop, — I heard. The conductor shouted it, which meant it was time for me to get off. In the end, I headed towards the shops, where at least there were some people. After asking for the address and wandering around for about five minutes, I realized I'd had enough. It was time for the holy navigator.

***

Who knows how much time has passed, but the black sky eloquently spoke of the deep night. Navigator, schnavigator, more like a crappygator.

To be blunt, I got lost.

At night, it's much colder than during the day, and to make matters worse, it started snowing. So, here I am walking in a blizzard, can't feel my legs, and the windows in the village I stumbled upon are dark... Something seems strange, but I push the thought away. At least the streetlights are working. Every other one, but they're working.

Not a day, but pure luck.

I took out my phone again, hoping I could reach my friend, but no. Right before my eyes, the phone died.

A minute passed... another... And I realized I was doomed. In a super strange way, I found a spot where there wasn't much snow. Sitting on the cold street for quite a while, I started to feel sleepy, and soon I slipped into darkness. Or maybe it wasn't sleep? How could I fall asleep in such weather?

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again I want to say sorry if the translation is not accurate~

The author is Russian speaking and translated all this writing with GPT chat, I hope everything is clear