Magic Black Book

The item sitting on her countertop gave her an ominous feeling and whether that feeling was something based upon her own intuition or based upon media circus from two years prior, she wasn’t sure. Taking a drink of her coffee she contemplated the legitimacy of the book. Was it possible for it to be real? Shaking her head, she set her cup down and made her to the living room to begin tidying up, picking up the toys that had been strewn across the floor due to her youngest. A smile crossed her face for a moment as she recalled last night’s adventures.

Continuing with her chores she went from room to room, organizing and cleaning before finally returning to the kitchen for a small break to begin her monthly budget, hoping her job loss wouldn’t cause her to fall too far behind on her monthly payments but as it stood with the present job market, she would be approaching collections territory. Taking a deep breath, she calculated her funds carefully hoping to be able to afford food for the month without relying on her mother.

The book sitting on the countertop caught her attention and she looked between it and the papers in front of her, chewing on her lip, contemplating the book once more. The media had been in a tizzy when the book surfaced. A lot of things happened during the incident, a lot of claims of a black book randomly surfacing and people utilizing it for various things. It had mostly become an issue due to the amount of death’s that occurred that year due to unnatural causes.

Pushing her chair back she stood, cautiously moving towards the book. Humanity often repulsed her with its greed and destruction but the worst that occurred was the murder of fellow man. She could never tell if she fit in with those people, even with her desire for money. It seemed like greed however she just wanted to live comfortably, no debts, a savings account for when she retired, to be able to give her kids things here and there like a vacation and to be able to pay for their college so they didn’t have to suffer because of the greed of this world. Not once did she want to live extravagantly just modestly. She didn’t need fancy cars, a mansion just enough to live without stress.

Standing before the book she stared down at it, wondering if it could really help her. She reached for it, pausing in hesitancy as she couldn’t recall any consequences for using the thing. She weighed the pros and cons of that notion briefly before grasping the book and lifting it off the counter and bringing it to the table where she had been previously.

Taking her seat once more she calculated all her debts, estimating pay off amounts and totaling any bills she was behind on, cringing at the number before her. Taking in a ragged breath she opened the black book and lifted her pen.

“Alright, magic black book” she flipped it open to a blank page. “let’s see if you really work.” Writing down what she wanted she stared at the blue inked words on the page. “Twenty thousand should be plenty to get me started and get this stressful nightmare off my plate.”

Closing the book she laid the pen down on the table, thinking over what had happened, if there were any details about how fast things occurred. After waiting for ten minutes, she unlocked her phone and clicked on her bank app, disappointed to see the amount remained the same as before. Closing the app, she set her phone down and rose from her seat, picking up her bills and notices, mentally chastising herself for believing in such nonsense.

Finishing her daily chores, she then began her daily job search putting in a minimum of five applications. The time came for her to pick up her youngest daughter, the drive always made her heart ache as she thought about her oldest and the situation, she had ended up in. As she stood waiting for her daughter to leave the building, she thought back to the black book in her kitchen, making a mental note to hide it somewhere as the last thing she needed was for one of her children to find it and write something in it that could lead to a disaster.

Giving a bright smile to her daughter when she saw her, she took her hand and guided her to the car, asking about her day. Once home she began her evening routine, helping her daughter with homework, cooking dinner followed by spending some time with her daughter before bathing her and putting her to bed. Once her daughter had fallen asleep, she cleaned up and sat down on the sofa, the black book coming to mind. Pulling her phone from her pocket she glanced at her bank app, hopeful that it was true but reluctant to believe it would happen. Clicking on the app she entered her pin, closing her eyes in anticipation of seeing what she hoped would be there.

Peeking an eye open, she jolted, staring in disbelief at the number in her bank account. She breathed a sigh of relief, swiping at the tears on her face. It was real and she could finally get herself somewhere. Standing quickly, she rushed to her bills and pulled them out, contemplating which on to pay first the next day. She placed them in order of payment, wanting to make sure her utilities were paid first before she tackled her bills, along with her mortgage. She paused looking for the book, spotting it on the counter. Could she pay off her mortgage too?

Excitement surged through her at the possibility of being able to focus on being able to just provide for her children and save money. She turned to the bills and wrote a note to pay for them first thing in the morning. She tightened her hand to calm her trembling, the relief was unbelievable. Turning to the book she picked it up and took it to her room, putting it in a secure place before climbing into bed, happy about the outcome.

The next morning when she woke, she began the day with a grin, hugging her daughter tightly because she knew of the possibilities for their future. After taking her daughter to school she drove home and began making phone calls. Her utilities were set, her car was paid off, the loan she had taken out to pay off her credit cards, her credit cards she ended up using anyways after her job loss –all of it was paid off. In the next twenty-four hours her debt would be gone and eventually her credit score would improve.

Opening her wallet, she took out her credit cards and cut them up. Determined to never use the darn things again she went through her apps and websites removing them from those accounts, so she’d never be tempted again. She would close the credit cards after her score had gone up. Looking at the remaining amount she wished there had just been a little bit more, but she could put it to good use and catch up on her mortgage payments as well. She called them up and arranged for the payment to be made.

Letting out a sigh of relief after everything had been addressed, she smiled broadly, a squeal of excitement leaving her. Moving to her computer she began her job hunt once more hoping to secure something soon though contemplating the thought of having the book help her. Shaking her head, she continued her search for employment before going through her regular routine.

The weeks passed and she was sure to use the book sparingly, only asking for enough to help her for a few months at a time, frustrated that the job market had diminished to very few jobs she qualified for or jobs that didn’t pay enough for her to live. She began to put some money away for her children’s’ college fund, hoping that whatever they decided pursue they’d be set.

Eventually she managed to secure a job and found life improving even further as she was able to save money for retirement, to take her daughter’s on vacation and spoil them with things here and there. Everything felt like a dream come true and she finally understood what happiness was, to not have financial burden and to feel secure with the future.

That is until her high came crashing down because of her narcissistic abusive ex. He wanted back in her life and tried to use their daughter to manipulate her again. She ground her teeth in irritation. She had fallen for his abusive tendencies before, convincing herself that he loved her, that she loved him to the point he had convinced her to marry him before destroying her very being in every way possible. Even after she had agreed to split with him agreeably, he messed with her more, dragging her name through the mud when they divorced furthering the damage to her mental health.

It took over a year of therapy for her to find some self-worth again and a year of specialized therapy for her to reprocess her life and heal more from her trauma. She had finally managed to find peace for herself, find happiness and as per usual he wanted to drag her down seeing her as successful as she was.

She steeled herself as she began to think over what she could do to take care of the situation. It was tiresome dealing with him, repulsive to see his pitiful looks as he pretended to want her and nauseating as he attempted to flirt with her. She wanted him gone. Needed him to just disappear so she wouldn’t have to deal with that and could just focus on taking care of her children and being the best mom possible.

Her thoughts immediately went to the black book. She couldn’t live with herself if she had asked for his death but was there some other way to get rid of him? She knew the book did more than just give money. What were the consequences for asking something this big?

Walking to her closet she opened the doors, searching for the security box she kept it in. Pulling the box from behind a shoe rack she opened it up, feeling her muscles tighten from seeing it. The book hadn’t felt this ominous since the first time she saw it. Taking a deep breath, she shook off the feeling, reminding herself that she felt this way simply because her actions were questionable and there was a lot of risk in what she was going to do.

Standing she grabbed a pen from her desk and sat down, opening the book to a blank page. Lifting the pen, her hand trembled as she brought it to the page, carefully writing as she had done so many times before. Closing the book she dropped the pen, feeling her heart race as her actions sank in. Closing her eyes, she tried to calm herself down knowing there was no going back from this.

Rising from her seat she stumbled to the bathroom to calm herself down, repeating in her head like a mantra that she wasn’t killing anyone. It would never come back to her anyways as no one believed in the book anymore. It had just become a myth. Leaving her bathroom, she entered her bedroom once more and walked to her desk to put the book away only to still as it was nowhere in sight.

Panic surged through her as she began to search for it, looking everywhere and nearly destroying her room and the house in the process. She stood wide-eyed as she recalled what had happened years ago. The book would disappear randomly.

“Oh” The word left her in a breath as she comprehended why the people had reacted as they had, that those interviews weren’t nonsensical at all.