Story Disclaimer: This is a short piece I started a few months ago. To be honest I have slightly lost interest with this story so I am posting what I have. This story has some clichΓ© and corny elements but it is a fun "story universe" to work with. PLEASE comment if you like/dislike this story, if enough people show interest I will flesh it out a bit more! : )
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My name is Mike Piaggio and this is how my life changed:
"Looking for anything specific?" The woman behind the counter asked.
"Nah, just looking around I guess." I replied, smiling. She smiled back.
The store was a small used book store. It smelled of old paper and dust. I was actually looking for anything books related to the medieval era but I hadn't felt like explaining my interests to this random woman.
To my surprise the "History" section was quite large and I spent ten minutes silently browsing the books with my eyes. A small green book caught my eye. It was titled "Weapons of the Ancient Germanics". Military history was of an interest to me so I picked it up and opened it. It was dry and felt old, the date in the bind claimed it was from 1878. It was mostly text but there were also some black and white drawings that especially fascinated me.
"Will this be all?" The woman asked as I handed her the book.
"Yes."
"11.43." She replied, smiling and taking my $20 dollar bill.
At home I put the book on my bookcase and forgot about it for the next few days as I struggled to finish a few essays for my college classes.
The next Monday I was in bed reading one of the books for my classes. I was soon bored and put it away. I picked up the old book I had bought and sat on my bed to read it.
The first few chapters were quite boring and I found myself skimming pages. After a few more pages I came across a weird chapter. The paper seemed older on these pages and the text was a different font.
"Take Heed, You Who Reads This" It said on the top of each page. The writing seemed to be ingredients for something.
Is this a section of recipes for food?
I thought to myself, now intrigued.
The first recipe was for something called "Unsichtbarkeit". The text was hard to read but it looked like this "object" was made by combing some elements, a piece of hair and a drop of blood into a small rolled up bundle. Thre drawings accompanied the recipe. The first showed a man holding the small "Unsichtbarkeit" bundle in his hand. A script next to the hand said "squeeze". The next drawing showed nothing and the final drawing showed the man once more, holding the bundle in his hand.
Under the middle drawing was written: "Do not fear if the token is lost while transformed, you will return to normalcy in twelve hours time."
What the fuck could this be for?
I thought to myself.
The second recipe was something called "Herrschaft" and was made with some elements mixed together, water and castor oil. The images shown with it were very weird. The drawings depicted a person smearing this cream onto two chairs. In the next sections of the drawing, two other people (a man and a woman) sat on the chairs. In the final slide, the two people who had sat in the chairs were shown embracing and kissing. I was now intrigued and reread the sections over and over again. The recipe also described that the "balm" could be most effect by "smearing on the undergarments, directly coming into contact with the orifices."
What the hell is this about? Is it some kind of old Germanic ritual being described here? What does it have to do with the rest of the book...
I turned the pages a few more times and found that the section ended abruptly and a new one began. It was clear these "recipe" sections had been added to the book after it had been printed. The paper they were written on seemed just as old as the book so I knew it wasn't a modern addition due to vandalism at the used book store or something.
I read the book a bit more and then went to bed, my mind still thinking about the recipes.
My next day at university went by normally and when I came home I opened the book again.
There is no way these recipes are real. They must be mythical or something...
I was still fascinated and I decided to try and make the first recipe. Over the next week or so I found the needed materials at a local hobby store and Thursday night I said goodnight to my parents and closed my bedroom door. I pulled the materials out of my backpack.
I had a small felt bag that I had used to carry an expensive compass and decided to use it as the bundle. I put the elements in the bundle (they were in a small rock-like forms) and put a few of my hairs into it also. I then pricked my hand with a pin and dripped a few drops of blood into the bag. I tied it up tight and squeezed it in my hand.
Nothing happened.
Why the hell did I even bother to do this? I'm an idiot.
I thought to myself.
I put the bundle down and picked up the book again.
This is just some occult crap some idiot must have put in here a hundred years ago. And I fell for it. Whoever put this in here would be laughing at me if they knew I had fallen for their joke a century later.
I held the bag again and kept reading the book. I squeezed a few more times, once again nothing happened.
What does this word, "Unsichtbarkeit" even mean?
I thought to myself, deciding to look it up online to find its meaning.
"
Unsichtbarkeit" I said to myself, hoping to remember the word.
My heart fluttered and at first nothing seemed wrong as I looked at the screen. Then I looked down to look at the book and find the word's spelling.
"Huh!" I called out in an animalistic cry of horror.
My body was gone. My arms and hands were nowhere to be seen. I jumped out of the chair, almost tripping and stood up.
"What the fuck." I said to myself, I couldn't see my hands in front of my face.
Am I dead? Did I have a stroke or some shit like that.
My heart was racing and I was terrified. I ran into my bathroom.
There was nothing in the mirror. I touched it and felt the cold hardness against my fingers. I could
feel
the mirror and my mind knew my hands were touching it but I couldn't see them.