The Blackwish Book

It seemed like another ordinary day for the young William Blackwish.

Brushing teeth, showering, putting on clothes, eating breakfast, going to school, and seeing his grandparents after has become an ongoing tradition.

A proud American household is where he spent his youth. Born in the boom of the roaring 20's, the keen thirteen-year-old only child already knew about the workings of the stock market, investing in his future college education, and inheriting his family's precious secrets. These were especially pertinent, seeing as his parents could not actually inherit them.

William discovered this the hard way when he overheard his grandparents one day as they openly discussed his parents' unprecedented double suicide. They did not know that he heard every detail of the gruesome passing. The tragic part is that William believed his parents when they lied to his face before. His grandparents rationalized mom's and dad's disappearance as a "business trip", but he could tell when his family lied.

At only thirteen, William already knew something he was not supposed to - with the death of his loving parents came an inevitability in the course of future events. He felt it, an irrational pulsation through his bones, when he overheard the words: "he needs to be prepared for his inheritance". And so prepare he did. Thrown into tragedy, he now had to grow up quite quickly.

Something remarkable resides in him, seeing as he has never cried. Even at birth, his parents were astounded that the newborn William did not shed a single tear or make a single noise. He did not cry now either, though any normal 13-year-old boy would have found such information devastating. Furthermore, he began speculating in his bedroom about this 'inheritance'.

He began keeping a small journal, writing down every time his grandparents mentioned critical information. He called it The Blackwish Diary, and underlined important words, like "inheritance" and "future". This gave him hope.

One day, while William was away at school, his grandfather Mortimer randomly found the diary. He was, to say the least, stunned and saddened. However, William's grandmother Agatha seemed relieved. She took this as a sign that he was ready for what they called "The Blackwish Book".

William was not happy to know that his diary was discovered. However, when they said he was ready for the inheritance, that unhappiness became pure unbridled elation. He apologized for keeping the diary from them.

"Are you ready for a new episode in your life?" they asked him in unison.

He nodded his head awkwardly, since he could not know what to expect.

Mortimer started. "Your parents wanted you to have this book."

He hands William a black, ominous-looking book with no title.

Agatha immediately follows. "They have also entrusted twenty thousand dollars to you, but they told us very clearly what you must do with it."

She presents a large suitcase, also black, and as she opens it, countless bills fall out. She shows William a bill that looks different from the others.

"This is your key to the future."

Confused, William observes the bill and sees it has the same black coloration as the book. He intuits that the bill, marked with a 27, must go on the twenty-seventh page. He did not know how he had this intuition.

A flash of light emanates from the book.

"Who hath called the Blackwish Giver!?" a voice yells out.

His grandparents were dumbfounded. They did not know that this book contained a mystical secret. To them, it was merely a historical ornament.

William was a brave sort. He immediately yelled out loudly: "I did! I want to know my family's secrets! I want to know how to invest this money!"

The voice becomes more emphatic this time, as though it's only acknowledging William. It shakes him to his very core.

"Then you shall know their secrets and learn how to invest the money in your possession. But, as with all Blackwishes, there is a price."

Before William could inquire into what this price was, his grandparents began to feel a pull at their feet. It was like... black ivy vines!?

"No!!! This was not supposed to happen!!!!!!"

As they both cried out, William stared blankly at the book.

It had seemingly become fully conscious, and its eyes stared into William's soul. (He is not a bad person.) is what the book thought to itself.

(He must learn to live with his mistake in the best way possible.)

Though William is a stoic sort of child, he now realized exactly what he did.

With his first wish having been granted, centuries of memories poured into his mind about the nature of this godforsaken black book and its origins.

The book now spoke to him telepathically.

{Before you contemplate all this, please consider the rules of using me:

*Rule 1: You cannot wish for material wealth, status, or immortality.

*Rule 2: Every wish has an unknown cost.

*Rule 3: No wish can be taken back once invoked.

*Rule 4: The effectiveness of the wishes depend on the spirit of the wisher.

*Rule 5 (final): Every wish made reduces the wisher's lifespan by half.}

{Do you have any questions?}

William did not know if he could speak to the book telepathically, so he decided to write something down in it, using the sacred family pen.

[What have you done to my grandparents????]

Immediately, the book looked to crack a small smile, though barely visible.

{They were the closest source of spirit for fulfilling your wish. I simply used their souls to fulfill the conditions of Rule 2. They are now in my world.}

Although he was very flustered, William quickly wrote another message.

[What about my parents? I heard they committed suicide. Is it true?]

Now the book's smile turned into a grim expression.

{Yes. They wished for you to be a special child. They had an idea of what I was capable of, from their grandparents. But they did not understand Rule 2 or Rule 5 very well. That is why, after making many wishes, their lives were over much sooner. I know when any person is fated to die.}

The book did not express this sentiment happily. It almost seemed to show remorse, as though it was forced to do this by design and not by choice.

{I'm sorry that you discovered me under such unfortunate circumstances.}

William, in all his 13 years, never had a reason to cry. He was the most resilient, self-certain, masterful child that had ever blessed the U.S. He was able to handle many extracurricular activities at once, and scored so well on proficiency tests that he was accepted into the most elite high school.

But he now cried, helpless and alone, because this book was his only friend.

{I can feel the sorrow of your thoughts. Let's try to find some peace now.}

He straightened up and looked around. No sign of his grandparents.

The diary seemed to have disappeared as well.

[Did you absorb my grandparents and diary?"]

The book looked at him intently.

{Yes, they are now part of my reality. That is why I can feel your thoughts.}

[Do you have a name?]

{I am usually referred to as Blackwish.}

[How old are you?]

{The book you are now writing in is several hundred years old. But my soul is much older. I come from a time where there was white and black magic.}

[How do I know the "unknown cost" of my wishes?]

{It is not possible. Your family, the Blackwishes, came from a tradition of mystical gamblers. They risked everything they had to get so much more.}

William now looked to Blackwish with a saddened expression. He appeared quite hopeless in his room, alone, no living family to discuss this with.

[You mentioned white and black magic. Does that mean there's a family called the Whitewishes? Do they have different rules for their book?]

{Indeed. You are very perceptive for your age. The Whitewishes realized early on how powerful the black book is, so they tried to create their own. This became Whitewish, the book that did not punish the wisher.}

[You granted me the wish of knowing how to invest my money. I seem to either want to put it in a bank account to give to my children, or I want to invest it all in the stock market, especially in cars, radio, and steel.]

{Do you know what will happen to the stock market?}

[Yes, in 5 years and several months, maybe around the end of October, it will all collapse. I know the exact time when I have to take out the money.]

{Don't you want to help other investors before they lose their life savings?}

[If I make a wish that the stock market doesn't crash, that will change the course of events. That could cause something much worse, I think.]

{Why don't you wish for a business?}

William suddenly had a thought: Blackwish is cursed with asking him to make wishes. Every time he has a wish fulfilled, Blackwish is closer to breaking free from a curse placed on him. He knew this because of his recently discovered knowledge of the history. He needed to find the Whitewishes if he had any chance of preventing disaster from happening.

{I can feel your distrust of me, Sir William.}

[No, I am a Blackwish. I can feel it in my blood. But I want to meet the other clan. I now have a feeling that there are many forces at play here.]

Blackwish smiled.

{You are truly the chosen one, you know that?}

[Funny, my parents used to tell me that. Did they hear it from you?]

{Probably. I would talk to myself sometimes. They wrote in me so much!}

William's mood has significantly improved. For the first time in ages, he has made a friend. He was cautious of Blackwish, but optimistic.

[I've decided. I'm going to invest all my money into saving your victims - those who have been affected by you or the other wishing books.]

{That is an ambitious idea. Though I do wonder what you'll do with me?}

William knew that his only friend was also a dangerous tool of destruction.

[I'm going to make one wish, and one wish only.]

{Very well.}

[I wish that you would not hurt any more victims with your wishes.]

Blackwish smirked, as though he had been mocked.

{Are you trying to twist the rules?}

[Is it against the rules?]

{Technically, no. But for such a heavy request, I must apply a heavy cost.}

Suddenly, the suitcase full of money vanished into Blackwish's ether.

[I knew it. The greatest cost to me is the one of being good at something and not being able to use my resources. But you miscalculated, Blackwish. Now that the money is in your world, my family can use it to bargain.]

{Why should I care about some pieces of paper?}

[Did you forget the black bill?]

As William expected, Blackwish suddenly became frantic.

{No!!! So this was your plan all along, hmm? You knew how I'd do it, because we share the same blood. You knew I was going to deprive you.}

[Yes, and now you will leave my family alone.]

William had outsmarted the accursed black book.

Though there could be no more wishes, his family was free. And, with this special bill, they could escape the ancient dark book.

{It was... your great grandfather who infused this bill. He predicted an eventual uprising of mystical energy, quite close to the nation's doomsday. You truly have his wit and goodness of character, William.}

[I wish for your possessed soul to lay itself to rest.]

The cost for this was Blackwish itself.

And that, my friends, is how William Blackwish became a hero.

The Blackwish family was united once again, free from the curse of the book. And the money was intact too. William wrote one more thing.

[Time to invest in steel.]