First mysterious guest

Lionel had been apprehensive since the moment he had found the diary. He hadn't turned to the next page. The first page itself had given him nightmares for two nights. His nerves only relaxed on the third day when nothing outworldly had happened to him.

Biting his lower lip, he stared at the diary which now lay on his table. After he found it, all the strange noises stopped and the manor became silent again.

Though Lionel wanted to stay far away, his curiosity was piqued again and he couldn't help but want to find out what exactly the dairy contained.

Lionel didn't know who Eryndor Valkorin was. But since they shared the same surname due to him taking his maternal grandfather's, he assumed him to be his ancestor.

Straightening his body, he swallowed a gulp before he opened the dairy. This time, the words on the first page didn't affect him as much as when he stumbled upon it. Instead, it seemed like he was reading a fantasy book.

However, the next few pages perplexed him, terrified him even. There were strange markings and detailed descriptions for chanting a spell, drawing a talisman, and even catching ghosts. 

Lionel couldn't make a head or tail of it. But surprisingly, he remembered all that he had read, including the minute details and those that didn't hold much significance.

Though confused, he didn't stop turning the pages and reading the content and as time passed, he became invested in it. Lionel was intrigued by the different methods used to catch ghosts and for a moment, he wondered if it was written by someone with a creative mind.

'Maybe he wrote it to pass his time,' he thought and turned to the next page. 

By the time he reached the last page, Lionel remembered every word he had read. It was as if the diary was imprinted in his mind and he could recite everything he had read in it even in his sleep.

'What is happening? Why do I suddenly have a photographic memory? Am I blessed?' he pondered, his eyes staring blankly at the wall before him.

Brushing aside his peculiarity, he returned to the last page of the diary that was yet to be read.

Now that you have reached the last page, it means you have accepted who you will become in the future. Once you close the diary, your powers will be activated and you will start seeing things you have thought to be imaginary.

But there is nothing to fret about. You know how to handle those things. Be brave, be confident. 

Remember, evil can never prevail over good.

~ Eryndon Valkorin.

Lionel's puzzlement only increased and he scrunched his face in wonder.

"What is he trying to say? Why did he write such bizarre words?" he muttered and read the words again. 

Finding nothing significant, he closed the diary, and the moment he did so, the diary vanished. Startled, Lionel widened his eyes and stared at the spot where the diary had been previously.

'What the heck just happened? How...'

He almost screamed in fright when he felt a strange kind of warmth pass through him. His body started heating up and he felt as if his chest was about to explode. Even the air around him felt different.

A bolt of lightning flashed in the room. But Lionel had his eyes closed. So, he didn't witness the terrifying scene. He was in intense misery to notice anything else.

The pain was something he had never experienced before and Lionel gritted his teeth as he took deep breaths. However, the burning sensation only increased as time passed. It was as if someone was trying to pull his soul out of his body. 

Just when he was about to pass out in pain, the peculiar feeling vanished. Everything turned normal at once as if his agony had all been a dream. If not for his drenched shirt and a faint warmth in his chest, Lionel would have brushed it off as his illusion.

"What the hell just happened? What was that?" 

Lionel was utterly lost and he looked at the table, which was empty. An unbelievable notion sprang in his mind. But he shushed it off as quickly as it had come.

"I must have lost my mind. I must be imagining things."

Although Lionel tried to appease himself, he couldn't disregard that the diary had vanished before him. It was the undeniable truth.

Also, even if the burning sensation in his body had lessened greatly and he wasn't in agony anymore, he still felt a strange warmth course through his body.

Lionel couldn't decipher what was happening. Everything seemed out of place and there wasn't anyone he could look for to seek answers.

Surrendering in defeat, he left his room, pushing aside his thoughts for the time being.

It was already 8 p.m. and he was famished. He had survived on just a sandwich since morning. His stomach was grumbling and Lionel quicked his footsteps and reheated the leftover pizza from his lunch. 

To pass his time, he switched on the television and settled for a comedy movie. Although the story was lacking, the comedy was good. At least, a good time pass.

There wasn't much to clean. After disposing of the trash, he returned to the living room. His grandfather never liked to have servants or guards. So, there weren't any in the manor.

They only had a cleaning lady who would clean the house every Saturday and stock the refrigerator. 

Lionel too had become accustomed to it over time and had learned to do all his tasks. Munching on an apple, he slung one of his legs over the sofa arms, his pose utterly uncouth. 

He didn't care about his indolent sitting posture. But that didn't mean, someone else who was watching him for some time didn't.

"Tch, tch, tch, child, sit properly. Be dignified."

As soon as Lionel heard a sound from behind him, he screamed at the top of his lungs while the half-eaten apple dropped to the ground. His vision turned black and he broke out into a cold sweat while his heart pounded in fear.

"You...you...you..." His voice trembled and his throat was blocked, making him unable to speak coherently. 

Lionel was mortified to see a man who seemed to have walked out of a fantasy movie looking at him in annoyance.

"Did you have to shriek like a banshee? I thought my eardrums would shatter," he chastised, ignoring the poor man's obvious fright.

"Who..who.." Lionel's voice cracked and he stuttered with great difficulty. "Who are you?"

The man, who seemed to have aged gracefully and held the aura of a scholar, pushed his robes behind his back. 

"Let me introduce myself, Lionel. I am Eryndor Valkorin. You are my descendant. The diary you read today was written by me."