A Book of Matches

I can see kids playing in the playground and buying ice cream from the Mr. Softee truck. How badly I wish I could switch positions with them. "Mr. Collazo anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law", says the man in a black suit with black sunglasses, his partner who is driving is dressed in the same attire. The driver gives me a dirty look through his rearview mirror. "You still haven't told me what I've done!", I yell. The men stay quiet with disgust. I try my hardest to remember what had transpired in the past 24 hours, but my mind is a blur. "Come on think Andrew, Think". I remember walking into the bodega and buying a pack of Marlboro Reds. Wait, was it Marlboro or Newport? Why can't I remember?! I would check in my pocket to see but my hands are cuffed. If only I could slip one of my hands out silently I could check my pockets to give me some idea of where I've been.

I begin to squirm as non-detectable as possible. "Stop moving around back there!" says the man in the black suit. "I'm sorry it's just these cuffs are so tight!" I answer back disrespectfully. At this point, I'm going for broke, so I twist my thumb until the bone is completely out of the socket. "YES," I think to myself, now to get out. But once my hand is free these guys will notice and then I'm screwed, what should I do next? I look around the car for anything I could use as a distraction. There nothing on the floor but a bunch of old paper bags from fast food orders. I look behind me and I see a fire extinguisher. I could use this extinguisher I think to myself, but how? I ponder for a while, now we are passing nothing but woods. I have to think quick, "Is it alright if I take a piss real quick? I've been holding it in for hours" I tell the men. "Keep holding it, where you're going a piss is the last thing you should be worried about", the man replied snarkily. "Please guys I'll be quick, I guess I'll just have to piss on myself than cause I can't hold it any longer". "Alright fine, pull over!" The man told his partner angrily. Once they stop the car and unlock the doors I pull the fire extinguisher and flood the car with foam. I run out of the car going as fast as I can into the woods, not caring about any of the bushes or thorns. "Get back here or else!" I can hear them yell in the distance. It only makes me run faster. Finally, I reach a steep hill and decide I'm far enough to gather myself. I search my pockets and find my house keys, my phone, a pack of Newports, and my wallet. I see on my phone I have 44 missed calls from my parents and my brother. It was odd to me that I didn't receive any missed calls from my sister but at the moment I had to keep focuse on the present situation. I have a bunch of text messages and voicemails asking me where I am. I am so stressed I pull out my cigarettes and when I open them I sigh with relief because there's of matches. I light a cigarette and notice the book of matches has a strange logo on it reading "Vivaldi's Magic Shop". "Vivaldi's Magic shop?" I think to myself, but when or why would I go there? I was not perticurlary into magic I had no reason to go there. So I begin making my way back into town to go see If I can find some information about how I got the matches from there and try to shed some light on what happened the past day.

I called an uber to Vivaldi's Magic Shop, my Uber driver looked at me like I was crazy and I don't blame him, I looked like shit and had to keep my hand in my hoodie pocket to hide the handcuffs that was still stuck on my right hand. When I arrived to the store I see an elderly man inside sweeping the shop. I walk in and make eye contact with him. He looks at me for a moment then his eyes widen as if he figured out who I was. The old man ran away instantly to the back of the shop as I yelled for him to wait. He hid in the storage room and locked the door. I kept banging on the door to let me in. "Please sir let me in! I don't want any trouble I just need to know what happened the other day, I can't remember anything!" "Get away from me you savage" he replied. The wand is mine and you are unworthy! "What the hell...WHAT WANT?!" I yelled. "The wand my brother sold to you in exchange for your soul! how could you be so stupid?! I warned you not to grab it but you kept on insisting! Are you happy now?! Where are the Orators, why haven't they taken you to the Owl's den!? I step away from the door and think to myself...Orators, Owl's Den, my soul? What the hell is going on? "Please sir just tell me what's going on I'm begging you!" I pleaded to him. "there's no saving you son, you are on your own, and he is coming for you." he said ghostly. "Who is coming for me?" I replied. "Lucifer", he whispered. As soon as he said the name the lights in the store went dark and the day turned into night. I gasped and looked around but all I saw was pitch black. I start to feel around the room to see if I can find a way out of the store and then to my surprise I grab on to a wooden stick. I can feel the stick is molded and crafted and when I grab it I feel as If I am holding something that belonged to me forever. The stick started to glow a luminescent blueish white, It was a wand. I suddenly hear breathing right behind me. The air from the breathes is so strong it feels as if a bull is breathing angrily through his nose. "So you've found it," the voice said. I was so scared I didn't dare to look behind me, I was frozen stiff from fear. "Say the words", The voice tells me. I manage to stutter a reply "I don't know what to say". "Ask anything and It will be yours", the voice replied. At this point I know I am in the presence of something evil and far from human. I want to remember what happened yesterday. All of a sudden my mind raced back with all my memories coming to me at once. I remembered how I got into an argument with my sister and pushed her down the stairs through my rage. I remembered her neck snap and me feeling helpless and scared and running down the block where I found Vivaldi's brother asking me what was wrong and me explaining to him the situation. I remembered the brother offering me a wand and showing me its power to change what I had done, but it would come at a price. I remembered accepting the offer and grabbing the wand but before being able to make my wish come true being grabbed by two men in black suits. I remembered Vivaldi cursing his brother and locking him in the basement as he told the men in the black suits to take me to The Owl's Den where I would be far from the wand. "It's too much power for one man to bare" He had said.

"Now you see, they don't want you to save your sister. What they want is the power you possess ", said the evil voice. "I want my sister back!" I cried. "Then repeat after me, artuem cravosi plakeos". I look at the wand, then look behind me and see two red eyes, I am frozen but manage to mutter the words, "artuem cravosi plakeos". Time stood still for a moment, I see my sister in her bed alive and well as if nothing ever happened. I sigh with relief. Another moment passes, and I start to feel a fire rise from my feet. I see a statue of an Owl in front of me and below me are several men in red robes. The fire begins to rise, the wand pulls from my grasp, and my whole body is on fire.