The key of the mysterious book

The next morning, at the first bell of her alarm, Valentina sprang out of her bed and dashed into the bathroom.

Without wasting any time, she completed her morning routine and came out of the bathroom in just 10 minutes, while wearing nothing but a bathrobe.

She hastily opened her cupboard took out her favorite denim midi dress and put on her black gladiators.

After getting ready she ran down the stairs and took an apple out from the refrigerator and kissed her aunt Anne on her right, who was standing in the kitchen, and said,'' I'm going out for some urgent work, I won't be doing breakfast today, I will try to come home by afternoon, so eat well, love you.'' and ran out of the house.

But soon came back in and dashed up the stairs, which made her aunt furrow her eyebrows so she called out her name and asked her,'' what happened now? Did you again forget something,valy?''

In reply, she heard the sound of heavy footsteps and soon Valentina appeared in front of her eyes, who was running down the stairs in haste as if there is an anaconda running behind her while holding an ancient hardcovered book in her hands,

Due to her running so fast on the stairs, she stumbled on the last third stair in a descended order, and the book was also tossed in the air and fell to the ground.

She was about to fall face first on the floor but got saved luckily by Anne who caught her in time.

Then Anne's eyes moved towards the book that fell on the carpeted floor of their house,

She first made Valentina stand back in her place, who was already staring at the book with wide eyes and then moved towards the book to inspect it, with furrowed eyebrows.

But before she could touch that book, Valentina lunged towards the book and picked that book up from the ground and said,'' Thanks aunt, gotta go, Take care.'' and gave her a cheeky smile at the end.

Anne was now suspicious, since last night, that Valentina has been behaving so out of character, so distant, so secretive, and what was that old dusty book in her hand about?

She felt that there was a need to have a good conversation with her on this matter, after all, Valentina was a responsible girl and Anne trusted her, she would accept her decisions, but she should not hide things from her now, this behavior of valy didn't sit well with her and Anne was now worried.

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Valentina was now on the road,walking while clutching the book to her chest tightly while reciting under her breath !,'' Oh ghost! please don't kill me,I am not taking you to some priest ,I'm just going to put you back in your place ,I beg you ,don't haunt me ,I understand your feelings ,You are one good person ,I can see you trust me too ,because when I woke up I wasn't dead ,I didn't have a single scratch on my body ,trust me ,i am a trust worthy person ,I wont ditch you ,library is still 20 min away ,please dont kill me ,while I'm on the street ,I don't want to die ,I mean life sucks ,but still my aunt would become lonely ,if I died.What happened to you ?Why did you died?Not all ghosts are bad ,I must say. Oh my god!Wait a minute ,are you by any chance an angel.Umm can you give me some signals ,if possible .''after saying all this she got silent and tried to observe the surroundings in order to identify any signal .Only then she noticed that she was in the market now ,and her voice was not low anymore ,she realized she had been talking too loudly all this time ,owing to the weird stares she was now receiving from the people in the market ,They all were looking at her as if she was crazy ,some kids were even laughing at her.

On noticing this ,red crept up her neck ,she immediately bowed down in front of them out of embarrasment and ran away ,after coming at a good distance away from them she sighed,''phew! hmphh!now I know you are a ghost only ,angels dont embarass kids like that,'' and puffed out her cheeks.

Library was at a distance of just five minutes now and she remained dead silent the whole way,not uttering a single word.

Soon ,she found herself standing in front of the library ,she could not see any traces of mrs fitzgerald through those window-glasses ,so she opened the library door and ran straight towards the historical romance section while looking around carefully ,trying to see fitzgerald ,whether she was there or not.

She reached the historical romance section, immediately put the book back on the shelf, and said in a cheerful yet low voice,''Welcome home!Mr ghost .''and turned around while sighing loudly but gasped out loudly when she came face -to -face with the fat lady who was looking at her with raised eyebrows,''Valentina?What a pleasant surprise ,Have your entrance exam results yet?"

Valentina could feel the sweat lining up on her forehead but maintaining her calm composure she said as normally as she could,''Ms.Fitzgerald ,Good morning ,Umm no ,the results will be out by next month hopefully ,I'm still free ,but not entirely free as I am working on some extra art activities ,they keep me busy along with my job.''

Rose fitzgerald just nodded her head and asked ,''Well what brings you here ,so suddenly? ''

''W-well Aunt I am studying about ..uhmm that ...what was I saying ...Yes! I'm studying about psychology of money ,so just came here to search for some books related to that topic .''Valy said while stuttering.

Rose chuckled lightly and said ,''well,What made you think that you can find this type of book in historical romance section ?.''

Valentina clenched her teeth due to her own stupidity.

She can't even lie well!

She chuckled sheepishly and said,''Yes I know ,I was searching for you ,Only you have the register where I would have to sign ,In order to take that book with me .''

Rose raised her brows as if now she has finally believed her and said,''Yes !You are such a responsible girl valy ,many kids just take the books without signing on the register ,I have lost so many of my favourite books because of my and their carelessness.''

As if I just didn't steal that book from her library yeasterday ,she thought in her mind and just nodded her head at Rose while smiling softly ,

Soon she got her desired book and after signing in the record keeping register ,she was about to leave when she was stopped by rose's voice ,''Valy wait!''

On hearing this she turned around and saw rose looking at her while holding a small medim -sized book in her hand ,it was dark forest green in cover .

Rose said,''I read this book ,I liked it ,I want you to give it a try ,It's interesting ,hope you would like it.''

Valentina nodded her head and took the book from her hand while saying,''for sure ! Ms rose!''

Soon she walked out of the library and soon reached home .

She walked in and saw her aunt sitting on the couch while reading a magazine ,so to grab her attention she said ,''Estoy en casa hermosa'' [I'm home beatiful].

On hearing this her aunt raised her head up and looked in her direction and saw valentina leaning against the wall looking at her in a flirty way and said ,''te ves deslumbrante como siempre''[you look ravishing as always] and winked at her flirtatiously and then she seductively removed her gladiators and walked towards her seductively while swaying her hips and removed her rubber band from her hairs and let her hairs on loose.

Her aunt simply just shook her head and thought in her mind

My stupid valy is finally back.

And just played along with her tactics.

So she just said in a feeble scared voice ,''no te acerques mas ''[Don't come any closer]

Valentina on hearing this just groaned in a masculine way and while loosening her imaginary tie she said,''no puedes detenerme estoy ilegando''[you can't stop me ,I'm coming ''

And pounced on her aunt who just shrieked loudly and spanked valy's butt and said,''You are getting more mischievous day by day ,now get up and take a bath ,I will set the table''

Valentina who was still laying in an awkward position on her aunt who was sitting on the couch in a sitting position while clutching her magazine tightly to her chest ,just laughed loudly and got up while saying,''yes aunt after all,solo tu puedes satisfacerme''

Her aunt just shook her head at how mischievously she was behaving and mouthed 'go' to valentina which valentina obeyed.

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Valentina loves to learn new languages ,It's her dream to travel the whole world and communicate with people in their own language ,she doesnt want to hire a guide for that ,she wants to learn the traditional dances ,their culture and mix up with people ,so she loves to study and explore more about them ,She being here In Italy ,wants to visit spain ,she is fluent in that language ,along with that she has a good command over french and turkish.

She was always an exemplary student in her school and was extremely spontaneous ,just like Abriella ,Their views matched a lot ,everyone has that freaky or innocnet side in them which they rarely reveal ,valentina and Abriella were comparatively more mature than Calista but still they would try to stay as goofy as they can infront of their mothers in order to make their mother's day full of laughter and not let them think about their past. That's why Valentina behaved like this today.she knew her aunt was worried because of her distant behavior since the past two days,so to normalize and cheer her up ,she acted like that.

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Soon the tables were set .

They both had their dinner where Valentina told her about the book that Rose gave her and the book she herself borrowed from the library ,

She still didn't tell her aunt about that book.

After dinner she came up in her room and opened the windows ,

It was her habit

she just couldn't sleep with windows closed.

She then sat on the bed and opened the book given by Ms.rose .

The title of the book was ,''The third level''

It was about a common man who was tired of his monotonous life ,precisely his brain was tired of the monotony of his life ,so it found an escape ,a third level ,while going through the subway in order to reach hos home ,he entered a third level ,He reached in 1894 ,a place so peaceful becase it was the time when the people their had not witnessed any world wars or anything,so he bought two tickets to galesburg because he so wanted to see that place ,but soon somehow he came out of the third level and immediately went to visit his psychiatrist friend named Sam who claimed that he was just sad and was missing his wife ,his life was going in a monotonous depressing way and his brain created this third level scenario ,It was nothing but a bullshit ,The man got convinced and accepted the reality ,one month passed and he hadn't heard from Dr.sam who was also his best friend ,one day ,he checked his mailbox ,which was written by sam ,where he admitted that he has reached that same third level too and he had enough money to survive there and he would be living in that peaceful time only .

valentina on reading this slammed the book on the table ,and got up and started marching here and there with her fingers in her hairs and shouted .

''it's night time ,she could have given me some good moral story but no ,she gave me this shit !Ahhh !Now how would I sleep ,Was it really a third level or some another world .''

She kept on marching in her room here and there ,and after getting tired she plopped down on the bed and sighed heavily .

Looking up at the ceiling she mumnbled to herself,''It's true ,that time must be so peaceful ,without any mobile addiction ,without any wars ,people must be so disciplined ,I am so addicted to alarm clock and they ...they were like genius,I also wanna go there man!''

Soon sleep engulfed her thoughts.

Next morning ,she got up and went to meet calista ,actually abriella ,calista and valentina planned to hang out today but something urgent came up and their plan got postponed ,calista had made a portrait of her mother and she had called Valentina home to see it and prepare for ms.fitzgerald's birthday which was just next week .She was going to complete fifty years of her life .

So Valentina reached Calista's house and knocked at her door .

The door was opened by calista who was munching on an apple.On seeing Valy she said,''Mom is not at home ,I want you to take this portrait to your home ,so that mum won't be able to see it .''And pulled valy in.

They both talked about anime movies and some another issues when Calista's phone rang .

it was her mum calling .so she answered it.

Turned out Ms.Rose had to go somewhere out urgently and a new set of books was to come today so she had asked them to come there and take care of the library.

So they both went there after locking the door.

Ms.rose was just standing outside the library and on seeing them she rushed towards them and said,''Take these keys ,I would be late ,Close the library at 9 and go straight to home.Valentina ,can you accompany her for the time being.?''she asked them

''Yes ofcourse aunt ,bye ,take care''' valy implored.

''you too sweety ''She said and went away.

Calista and Valentina went inside the library and Sat on a desk ,Calista yawned loudly and said ,''I am so damn bored''which got the attention of people who were studying in the library and they all frowned at her ,

Valentina's cheeks became read ,and she looked at them with apologetic eyes and then looked at calista who had palmed her mouth and was looking at her with big round eyes.

Valentina glared at her and then whispered,''Manners!Cali!''

Calista frowned and said in a hushed but dramatically angry voice,''Dont be such a party popper ,I have to stay mannered in front of my mom ,You know it's so boring ,now do i have to behave in a well-mannered way in front of you too!!''

Valentina shook her head and chuckled nervously and said ,''No! No ! Just chill !Stay wild!''

They both chuckled lowly .

Then calista went and sat on her mother's chair and becase it was a library and they couldn't talk much ,they both started playing games in their phones,soon valentina got bored and looked up at Calista who was already dozing off on the chair ,her eyes were filled with sleep and she was trying very hard to stay awake.

Valentina shook her head and went to check all the books and people who were still in the library ,It was just 2 pm .She was already getting bored so she just thought of reading a really good book .

She passed by the mythology section and soon reached the historical romance section ,Out of curiosity she went to check on that book again,Whether someone has borrowed it or is it still there?

She went their and saw that the book was still their ,she made a face ,she so wanted to read this book but Alas!It was possessed.

She turned when she heard the sond of chair screeching at a distance and in haste she collided with the same bookshelf and something of a hexagonal shape made of steel fell on the ground .She picked it uo and ran towards the main desk and saw a boy was standing there looking at calista with an annoyed face.

Valentina immediately stood in front of him and asked him ,''Yes ?How May I help you ?''

The boy looked at valentina from head to toe and said in an Unsure voice ,''It's my time to go home and I'm still not done with the book so can I borrow it?''

Valy said,''Sure ,have you brought your library card?''

The boy gave her the card and after they got done with the process ,Valy relaxed on the chair and looked at the hexagonal thing in her hand .

She twisted it and it took the shape of a star.

She recalled the movie,''The mummy ''

This key matched the key in that movie a lot.

'is there a black magic book in this library she thought.

But soon dismissed that thought as she herself had oriented the library and didnt find any book like that.

Now that she recalls it ,can it be that the book needs a key to get opened .

But that day the book got easily opened ?

But it didn't opened the other time.

All of the 'buts' were roaming in her mind.

She looked at Calista who was still sleeping and went towards the old book and picked it up.

'forever ends with us 'The book read.

She turned the book and saw that the same pattern made on the key was also present there .

Why didn't she noticed it before .

This book ain't possesssed ,It was locked .

Fudging flakes!!!

She felt so embarrassed,all this while it was nothing but a theory that she made up on her own ,she should stop watching too much movies.

Ghosts dont exist!

She woke calista up and said,''Your mother;'s portrait is still at your home ,It would be hard for me to carry it at night as I will be so out of energy this time so go and bring that portrait here and I will take it from here to my home and then would come back .''

Calista nodded in the haze of sleep and went out of her library .

Calista arranged for a cloth and wrapped the book in a cloth and placed it inside a cloth bag present there and waited for calista to come back.

Soon Calista came back and handed the portrait to Valentina and said while stretching her hands,''ugh!my hands hurt!you sure you would be able to carry it by yourself?''

''Yes!'m stronger than you''Valy said and smirked at Calista who in response just rolled her eyes and then said while smiling.''gO!''

Valentina very carefully took the material to her home along with the book which she had clearly protected from calista's eyes.

Anne was still at home ,Valy ,on seeing her ,said,''aunt!If the lunch is ready than please pack it ,I will eat with calista ,pack for two!Ms rose aint at home ,calista must be also super hungry so please pack it ,I will take it to the library ,We will eat during the break and I might come late ,may be at 9;15?So dont wait for me to eat dinner ,I will heat it up by myself.''\

Anne said,''yes lunch is ready ,I will pack it ,what;s this in your hands ?''

Valentina who had begun to climb the stairs stopped and turned around and said,''It;s ms fitzgerald's present and Calista has made it by herself ,You are not allowed to see it ,because you will surely tell aunt about it,I'm gonna take the room's key with me .''

She said and moved up to her room ,while hearing her aunt shout like a kid,''This is not fair!You cant stop me!And You wont lock the room!''

Ignoring her she went in and placed the portrait on her bed and the book in her cupboard between her clothes .

And came out of the room and locked it and said ,''If we want to surprise her ,it must be kept as a surprise for you too,so patience lady!''

And took the lunch box packed on the table and moved out of the house .

She went to library ,they ate food and the day passed in a blurr.

Valentina was desperately waiting to go home.

They finally closed the library and Valentina on reaching home freshened up and immediately removed the portrait from the bed and placed it on her study table and pulled out the book from her cupboard.

She put the key in and twisted it and the book got opened just like a lock.

She could feel butterflies in her stomach.

She had finally found the key to this mysterious book.

On opening the book ,she saw there was nothing as such as content,Acknowledgemrnt ,

Just a page which read in an unknown language.

So she immediately got frutrated and turned the page to check the language this story was written in,

And felt relaxed when she saw the familiar Alphabets in it.

Then she again reached to that page and tried to read the language.

It was hard.

But still she read,''Thror woj dojy the historia la condemnety tu reploysa me''

She immediately googled it and found nothing .

So she ignored the page and moved ahead .

And began reading about the story.

Hi guys

Long chapter !

I know!

Whatever I wrote today will surely help you to connect the dots in the future.

You guys would be thrilled to know the meaning of the sentence written in the last.

Next chap would be long too and would be too much interesting.

SO if you guys want me to release it soon ,

Then I want 5 more followers ,wait,Is that you who has not followed me and is waiting for others to accomplish the task so that you can read further ,what if you are the one who is preventing the others from the achievment of the small goal given by me?

I want 5 more followers and atleast 7 more likes ,and I would post the next chap .

Ambroz and Valentina will meet soon.

I'm is so excited.

Are you guys excited too?

If yes then comment your views and tell me what you want to read in the next chap.

Since the chapter was long ,I would edit the mistakes whenever I will get time so please co-operate until then,and I love you guys .

Stay safe ,stay healthy

Warm regards

~Author Sylvie