An Encyclopedia of the City's Legendary Forgotten Histories

If I could change one thing it would be... Well that would be telling, how about we go back to the start. 

I live in a quiet town in the middle of Scotland. Saying nothing ever happens would be a lie, we have a usual amount of crime and news stories but it’s not super interesting, nothing that I would even bother telling you about. One day that all seemed to change. That’s a bit melodramatic. What I mean is that one day my life changed, the town didn’t seem to change at all, just my perception of it. I found out a major secret that would honestly blow your mind. But I’m getting ahead of myself once again (it’s just so interesting).  

Let me introduce myself. I’m Paige Williams, 21. I would be in my last year of university if I bothered to go. I stayed at home and worked in the family bookshop instead. I love writing and learning but I hate schools and tests and pressure to achieve greatness, so I decided to stay home and not worry about all that, run the bookshop whilst my parents travel the world and write a little bit on the side. Recently I’ve been inundated with writers' block, however. When you live in a small town and very rarely leave it you find yourself running out of interesting story ideas. So, when I say I’ve been writing on the side what I’ve really been doing is staring at a piece of paper with a pen in my hand sighing as I struggle to form even one sentence, and find myself relieved when a customer walks through the door, or I get a phone call from someone as it means I don’t have to think about how much of a failure I am at writing. So everything that has happened in the last few months couldn’t have come at a better time, I was so close to giving up writing and just focusing on the book store. In fact, I had given up and started tidying the bookstore when I found the book that started it all.  

It was a warm autumns afternoon, the leaves falling off the trees getting blown about in the wind and stacking up at the door to my store meant every few hours I had to go outside with my broom and push them away so customers knew that we were open. Not that that would make much of a difference. The last few days had been painstakingly slow, a customer ever few hours would be an overstatement. I don’t know what was causing this lull in shoppers, but it was beginning to take a toll on me. With my parents away on the other side of the world and Mary off sick for the week I was the only one in the whole bookstore. This wouldn’t be such a big deal if I was able to think of a good story idea, but due to my complete lack of creative ideas I was sitting waiting for someone to come in. It was around 3pm when I had had enough. I left the till and checked that the camera was working so I could keep an eye on the store from out back, and went to sort out the old books. Now when I say old books, I mean books that we’ve had before my Dad was born, back when my Grandad and Granny were running the store. For some reason we never got rid of them but they’ve also haven’t been on the shop floor in years. I remember when I was a little girl coming in and picking up a book that was so clearly ancient, it was tattered and falling apart, and I took it to my Grandad and asked him why it was on the shop floor, (usually we would throw a book in that bad of a condition out, we could never sell it) but for some reason it was priced up and on a display. I still remember to this day the story my Grandad told. He sat me down on his knee and told me the story of the tattered book.  

Well Paigey my grandfather Timothy Williams, you’re great-great-grandfather, opened this book shop in 1894 when he was 25 years old. It was doing well for many years as this was long before computers and smart phones and this was the only book shop in our little town so everyone would come here to buy a book. Timothy used to say it was a few years after my Dad was born, so roughly around 1902, when this strange looking man walked in. He was hunched over as if he was in his late 80s but his face put him at no older than 30, he was wearing a long dirty black coat in the middle of summer and his hair was scruffy and grey. Everything about this man was odd. As he tottered around the shop barely looking at the books on display my grandfather kept one eye on him. He hadn’t had any cases of stealing and he wasn’t going to let that start then. After a few minutes my Granny walked over to the man with my Dad in her arms and asked him if he was okay and if he had found what he was looking for, or if he wanted help. This seemed to have startled the man as he quickly shuffled over to my Grandad at the till and handed him this badly wrapped package. He said “look after this book. It holds great power and can do tremendously bad if left in the wrong hands” and then stumbled out of the door and was never seen again. Once the strange man left my grandparents stood looking at this package and gently open the string holding it together. The paper fell open and revealed this book. Tattered and old even then. The title read ‘An Encyclopedia of the City's Legendary Forgotten Histories’. (Now you can hardly make out that title it’s so old and faded.) The book was then put in the back of the store and forgotten about for many years. It wasn’t until my Granny had died (in 1942) and my Dad and I were cleaning out the store as he was taking over it from my Grandad, that we found the book. Immediately drawn in by the dark energy surrounding the book my Dad stopped what he was doing and found my grandfather and he told us both all about the book. Shocked and slightly worried about the story my Dad also left the book in the back of the shop but this time in a security box. Once again, we both pushed it to the back of our minds and forgot about it. A few years before you were born I found the book, it somehow looked older than before but still just as creepy. This time I decided to put it on a shelf in the store, I thought that maybe someone would be fascinated by the book and want to buy it for themselves and it would finally no longer be our burden. However, 10 years later, to today, it’s still sitting in the same place and not one person has picked it up or asked about it. I still wonder if the book is special at all or if the old looking young man was lying to my Grandad.  

After that we took the book down along with many other old and worn books and put them in a pile in the back of the shop, intending to throw them out but for some reason it never happened. Until this autumn day. When I picked up the ‘Encyclopedia of the City's Legendary Forgotten Histories’ I decided to put it aside to read later. I gave up with tidying the old books pretty quickly. It was a very boring task and I would rather sit at the till and read. So I took the book to the till and sat once again and waited for customers, this time whilst reading rather than staring at a blank page.  

At first the book was like any other encyclopaedia, slightly boring and wordy. However, I knew it must get better so I read on. It wasn’t until the second chapter when I saw a word I recognised clear as day. ‘Kirkcudbright’. To a non-Scottish reader this may mean nothing but to me this was a big deal. Kirkcudbright was the name of my small, quiet town, so why would it be in this book. Of course I was compelled to read on after seeing that. How could I not?  

I didn’t look up from this book until someone walked into my shop. I thought it might be a customer so I put my book down ready to greet them, but it wasn’t. It was Jean, my best friend, from the café next door. Every Friday we go to the pub together after work and catch up. I always close up and meet her in her café as I get a lot less customers than her, but time flew by today as I was so engrossed in reading this book that I missed closing time and she came over to me to see what was holding me up. Quickly I shut the shop with her help and we rushed over to the pub so I could tell her everything, all about the book; how we got it and what I had read so far.  

Hours of chatting had passed and Jean was left just as gobsmacked as I was. The only words she seemed able to mutter being “Surely not. Not Kirkcudbright. Nothing exciting happens here. Surely not!”. I wasn’t the only one who couldn’t believe it. We eventually got kicked out as the pub was closing and made our way back to my apartment. Still talking about this book and who to tell next. We decided that I had to facetime my parents, find out if they knew.  

“Hello!” 

“Hiya darling, is everything okay? We weren’t scheduled to phone till tomorrow?” 

“Has something happened to the store?” 

“Hi Mum, Dad. No nothing’s happened to the store everything’s okay I just need to ask you a question Dad,” 

“Oh okay darling, I’m going to finish making breakfast and let you two chat” and off walked Mum. 

Dad and I were left alone. I didn’t know where to start. If he didn’t know this I can’t just spring it on him whilst he’s off enjoying himself, can I? But I can’t not say anything now. I have to. 

I must have been thinking for a while because Dad interrupts my thoughts, “Everything okay Paigey?” 

“Yes, no. Sorry Dad. I don’t know how to start this” 

“What is it?” 

“Well, do you remember that old tattered book that great-great-grandfather Timothy was given by that old man?” he nods “Well, I found it today whilst tidying when I had a quiet moment in the shop.” (I’ve not told Mum and Dad we’ve been really quiet recently, I don’t want to worry them) “And I decided to give it a read and I don’t know if you’ve ever read it or if Grandad had but I found something quiet umm, unusual? Yes unusual is the best way to put it I think” 

“Sorry, what’s unusual Paige? I don’t get what you’re talking about” 

“Yeah, no, sorry Dad. I’m waffling. Basically the book mentioned Kirkcudbright. Our little town. It wasn’t just a passing mention the book was all about Kirkcudbright. All about its long-forgotten history. About how it umm it used to umm” 

I stop for a second to try and think how to word what I’m about to say. Dad does nothing. He doesn’t interrupt or say anything, clearly understanding the gravity of the situation.  

“How it used to be quite important really. There was lots of different stories, many normal, nothing out of the ordinary but there was one story that umm kind of seemed a bit strange. Apparently our town used to be part of the Netherworld. Well not part of, it used to be the Netherworld.” 

“Netherworld? Paigey what are you talking about? You don’t mean The Netherworld?” 

“Yes Dad. Underworld, Lake of Fire, Netherworld, Heaven and Hell. And at first I.. I didn’t believe it. I mean why would I, but Jean and I went to the pub,” Jean pops her head round so my Dad can see her. 

“Hiya Jean” 

“and we sat talking for hours and we really thought about it and well, it makes sense. We live in Scotland, it’s not exactly famous for its heat but little old Kirkcudbright reaches heats that the rest of the UK doesn’t. An.. and we have lots of statues of a man that looks a little bit like I imagine Hades to look, oh and he has two black dogs reaching the side of his hips with him. Jean mentioned about the big lake. You know the black one in the middle of town, the one no one is allowed near because it’s dangerous. Well, what if that’s like The Lake. You know the Lake of Fire in Hell? It all adds up Dad. I know I sound insane but really think about it.” 

It’s quiet for a while before Dad says anything. 

“Paigey I didn’t mean to keep this a secret from you but I umm I actually have something to tell you. Our last name isn’t Williams. Well it is now but it wasn’t to begin with. Grandad Timothy the one who was given the book, changed it after he read the book. He was scared that our secret would get out otherwise,” 

“Dad? Dad what are you talking about? You’re making no sense. What do you mean our last name isn’t Williams? What would people find out? I thought Timothy didn’t bother reading the book?” 

“Well yes, that’s the story but really he did read it and ... Our last name was actually Ifrinn. Which means Hell in Scottish. And I get this is a lot to understand and I didn’t want to tell you until you were older, if I even had to tell you. But our surname was Ifrinn because well, it sounds ridiculous when you say it but, Timothy’s Dad was called um Hades and the statue you mentioned in town is actually him. And well, everything the book said is true. Kirkcudbright used to be the home place of Hades, and our family home Tartarum is Latin for Tartarus. And that’s it really. That’s the real story and I’m sorry I hadn’t told you sooner. Actually no, I’m not. I didn’t want to ever tell you, but I guess it just came out.“ 

Silence. Perfect silence. I couldn’t say anything. He knew all this this whole time and hadn’t told me anything. I’m speechless. 

“I’m sorry Paigey.”