Book of Memories

Thunder drummed throughout the night sky as lightning danced at the sound of music, rain poured a glass of water to each sewer drain in the city of Babylon. While a mere boy gets chased down by a group of gangsters from school, he runs towards me at a fast pace grabbing my wrist. He yanks me from my spot, forcing me to leave my umbrella behind. My mood began to darken as my body began to tremble from the cold water splashing away at my feet. This idiot. 

“Must you always drag me into your mess?” I sighed. 

“Well, aren’t we a package? After all, we’re twins.” He slyly smiles as his eyes squint at me. The nerve of this guy! Snatching my wrist from his grasp, I began to run faster than him as he followed from behind. Down an alleyway, I spotted an empty dumpster for us to hide in from the gangsters. We got in the dumpster, closing the black lids as we heard shouts coming down from the alley. 

“That wasn’t so bad, now was it?” Luca chuckled. I scoffed and rolled my eyes, causing him to burst into laughter as he combed his wet brown hair. I smacked him to keep him quiet, worried that the gangsters were still around. Footsteps echoed through the alley, coming towards our way, the black lid to our dumpster opens. I felt my breath hitched, my heart pounds wildly in my chest, Luca’s green eyes widen as he stared at my grey ones.

A burgundy hardcover book fell from the sky. After hitting Luca’s head, it plopped down in his lap. I recognized that book, it came from the Library down the street, it was the book with blank pages. I never really understood why Babylon Library would have such a book with no story. I noticed that Luca stared at the book with curiosity, “Don’t bother. It doesn’t have any lettering in that book.”He scoffed at me. I felt my eyebrow twitch in annoyance as I smiled at him. 

“Book of Memories,” he whispered. It was like he was in a trance by the gold lettering of the title as he brushed his hand across the hardcover. Luca opens the old burgundy book as I sigh, he frantically flips through the blank pages, bewildered. He stopped once he reached the middle of the book. His eyes widen in astonishment as I frown at his expression.

“Hey, Lily. Take a look at this.” He beckons me forward. I crawl towards the book, to my surprise, there are words written across the white page. It wrote: The past is behind, learn from it. The future is ahead, prepare for it. The present is here, live it. - Thomas S. Monsoon. The book began to glow brightly, blinding me for a few seconds, suddenly Luca and I are standing in water that came up just above our ankles.

I stumbled backward, baffled at my surrounding. There is no color, the water is grey, the sky is grey, everything is grey. I looked around cautiously, there is nothing but water stretching in the distance. Wait. Where’s Luca! I turn around, Luca is standing in front of three holograms that read: Past, Present, and Future. He brings his pointer finger to his chin, tapping as if he is deciding on something.

“Which one should we choose?” Luca asked. I choked on my saliva, coughing wildly. What is he crazy?

“WHAT ARE YOU CRAZY? DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHERE WE ARE?” my voice echoed throughout the quiet sky. He stoically stares at me quietly, he slowly walks towards me, smiling. Luca snatches my wrist and runs toward the hologram that says Future. 

“WAIT. HOLD ON. YOU HAVEN’T ANSWERED MY QUESTION!” I yelled.

Suddenly, everything became dark. A hologram appeared right before our eyes. It read: Memories of the Future. What caught me off guard was the memory of Luca and me, but it was a memory that I never had. It showed Luca in a light blue floral shirt with khaki shorts, sitting in the passenger seat laughing with his friend Sami, who was driving. I was in a light blue off the shoulders sundress, talking with my friend Millie in the back seat. We were all on our way to a bonfire at the beach for senior year. I had gotten a miss call from our father, I pulled out my phone, the screen brightens reading it: May 8, 2012, at 6:30 pm. 

That’s when it happened. I couldn’t take my eyes off the hologram, all I could do was stare in horror as the car swerved into the left lane, rolling down the cliff. The grey honda civic plunged into the water, swallowed by the vast ocean. Water filled the car at a rapid pace, two dead bodies floated, one unconscious, while I was awake pounding hard on the glass window trying to break free from death. The hologram cuts to a funeral ceremony, people dressed in black filled the church, grieving. Our pictures of ourselves stood at the front of the pedestal, while our family lined up, each laying white roses at our casket. Then it goes blank, bringing both Luca and me back at the dumpster in the alleyway.

My body trembled as I hugged myself. I closed my eyes as tears fell. 

“T-There’s just no way. That isn’t real. Tell me those memories aren’t real,” whispered Lily. Luca stood quiet, he didn’t know whether to believe the phenomenon or reality. He jumps out of the dumpster, turning around he offered his hand to his sister with a reassuring smile.

“Come on. Take my hand,” Luca offered. Lily opens her eyes, looking up at Luca. How can he be this calm? She looks at his hand and noticed that it was slightly trembling, he grabs his wrist to make it stop. Lily takes his hand as she hops out, they start to walk down the alleyway in silence.

“We need to do something, Luca. We need to save Sami and Millie.” Lily stopped in her tracks as she looks down at her red converse.

“I know,” Luca said. He didn’t know where to start, to him it was a dream that he will soon wake up from. 

***

“Alright, we have two days to save our necks,” Lily stated as she sits on the brown couch next to her brother. “How shall we proceed, Luca?”

“We need to change Fate. For starters, we can’t attend that Senior Bonfire and we need to prevent Sami and Millie from going, the problem is how,” sighed Luca as he stared at the ceiling.

“Leave it to me. I can come up with something,” said Lily as she got up from the couch with a determined look in her eyes.

“I’ll leave Sami and Millie to you, leave the rest to me,” said Luca. 

“What are you going to do?” Lily glanced at him. He was tapping the edge of his phone on his chin as he stared at the white ceiling. Luca grimaced at the thought of Lily finding out his extreme precautions for Fate.

“No need to worry,” he responds meeting his sister’s gaze. She could never know what he was thinking no matter how hard she tried. Lily nodded his way, she then exits the living room going to her bedroom. 

***

Day 1:

“Lily went to Millie’s house,” I glanced at Zachery as he typed away on his computer. He always seemed to be curious about her for some reason. 

“H-how is she? W-will she be going to the Bonfire?” Zachery nervously asked as he looked my way. I glared at him, “Can you find the owner of these license plate numbers or not?”

“Y-yes. I already found the owner. Why do you need to find the owner?” Zachery went back to work as he searched. I remember what happened yesterday, I remember the small details that Lily couldn’t pick up, it was the license plate numbers I saw in the rearview mirror. A man in a Ferrari, driving in the opposite direction swerved into our lane, hitting the back of my honda civic, causing us to plunge into the deep water.

“Why do you ask so many questions?” I lean towards the computer screen, catching a glimpse of the owner and his address. As I thought, he looked familiar. Good thing I took the initiative. I felt myself smirk, this is going to be easy. I waved goodbye to Zachery as I left his house. Zachery works for the DMV, he’s a co-work of my Father. I get into my car and head to Mr. Wright’s residence, the CEO of TechCrew Corps. I think you know where this is going.

A few hours later I arrived at Mr. Wright’s house, going toward the huge black gates that block my path to the driveway. An intercom goes off saying, “State your name and business.”

“Zachery Hills, I have a delivery for Mr. Wright, it’s quite urgent,” I say into the intercom. The gates open letting me pass through. Huh, that was easier than I expected.

I pull into the driveway, coming to stop in front of no other than the man himself, Cairon Wright. He stands before my Honda Civic with his arms crossed, glaring at me as I step out of the car.

“Hello, Mr. Wright,” I walked up towards him slowly. 

“Who are you? What urgent business must you discuss with me privately?” he sternly asked. 

“My name is Zachery Hills, I didn’t come here to have a conversation, I was asked to deliver this to you, Sir” I handed him a yellow envelope that I prepared on the way here. “I must be going, I have other matters to attend.” I excused myself before he got a chance to ask me more questions about the contents of the envelope.

As Luca left Mr. Wright’s residence, Wright begins to open the envelope. He reads the contents of the letter. It wrote:

Mr. Wright, on May 8th it would be in your best interest to stay home. If you don’t it would be quite Scandalous if the world found out… 

Behind the letter were photos taken of him having an affair with another woman. Mr. Wright became indignant at the thought of someone threatening his career. He wanted this person found and to do that was to come in contact with Zachery Hills.

***

Day 2:

“How is it coming along with Millie and Sami?” I asked Lily through the phone as I drove, heading towards Crescent Woods. 

“Well it took quite a while to convince Millie without raising suspicion, but she agreed. I just need to talk to Sami and then we’ll be good to go. How’s everything on your end?” 

“Everything’s going well. Alright, I’ll see you later, tell Dad I will be coming home late.” I ended the call as I made my way towards the exit of the freeway. I made my way down a path through Crescent Woods. After thirty minutes of driving into the woods, I hopped out of the car. I opened the trunk to take out gasoline and the clothes everyone wore that day. I set the clothes inside the Honda Civic, pouring gasoline on top of the clothes as well as the front seats and top of the car outside. 

I grabbed the matches from my pocket and set the whole car on fire. Changing Fate isn’t easy but this should at least change our destiny. Flames roared as the stars danced the night way, Luca called an uber to bring him home. He was worried that his drastic measures weren’t enough to escape the clutches of death.

***

“We need to go back,” Luca held the old burgundy book towards me with a determined look in his eyes. Is he out of his mind?! I closed my eyes, pinching the bridge of my nose as I sighed. 

“N-no. We can’t, we can’t go back,” I shook my head disagreeing with his suggestion. Nothing good comes from that old book. 

“Why not? What are you so afraid of?” he presses further, throwing his arms around in frustration.

“BECAUSE! BECAUSE DEATH ISN’T SOMETHING WE CAN ESCAPE FROM!” I yelled at Luca as tears swelled in my eyes. I sit down on the couch, sobbing into my hands. He stays quiet as I hear him come closer towards me. He pats my head as if saying sorry.

“I’m sorry, but I need to know.” He proceeds to open the old book, it glows brightly, blinding me. I open my eyes, only to find that he vanishes without a trace.

Luca comes face-to-face with the three holograms once more, he proceeds to the Future hologram as his heart pounds wildly with each step he takes. Once he made his way to the Future hologram, it goes dark and the memory plays. The evening casts long shadows against the trees, orange painted across the sky as four figures in the distance dance in the meadow as music roared. Luca realized it was his sister and his friends dancing alongside him. He notices that it was the meadow he used to go to when he was a kid. Tears swelled in his green eyes as he smiled proudly for he has escaped death.