Chapter 01

Discovery

              A room full with nothing but books from the old times to books of the new century, shelved orderly and alphabetically organized. Hard covers to soft leathers of any color decorated the Mahogany shelves with wonders and mysteries. Waiting to be read by any curious minds, these books are ready for the picking. Belonging to a family of 3 along with their Butler and 20 servants, and yet this library only has one constant visitor. The one and only son of the richest couple in United States is a lover of books from fiction to biography or from mystery to horror. He would find himself lost in suspense of a story or in a joy of another. Ever since he knows how to read, this place has been his play ground and companion whenever the Mr. or Mrs. are out on their usual business trips or meetings. Though enrolled in a very prestigious school, he had no friends for he finds them less adventurous compared to the books he love.

              With his parents’ absence increasing over the years ever since he was 5 years old, other than his books, his middle aged Butler took care of him and gave him anything he needs. Even a warm hug he desperately needed when his mother isn’t around to give him one. A friend he can talk to or a father he can learn from, that was the role of his Butler in his life. 12hours or a day was all he can get when his parents are home. But even then, he would find them either in front of their personal laptop or calling through their encrypted phones. Successful they maybe in running the biggest organization in the world, but they fall short to be the parents he desired them to be.

              Here he is, a familiar situation, alone spending his birthday. A birthday wish was all he got from his parents. Thousands of miles away from them, a phone call and a cheque to buy anything he wants was all he got. Each cheque they sent to him almost every birthday since he was 5 is in his secret stash that only he knows. He has enough cheques to pay for his own tuition fee in college plus a luxury condo and two fancy cars, and there’s still a lot more he can save. His parents still failed to give him what he wanted most, their presence.

              “Happy 15th Birthday, Nathan,” Nathan said almost sarcastically to himself while sitting down on his favorite red leather arm chair. This chair was the chair his mother or father would sit in whenever they would read to him a story.

              Running is fingers along the soft leather as he sighs and thinks to himself, “What should I read to myself in this joyous birthday?”

              He made his way towards his favorite section in the whole Library, Mystery. A section he finds both intriguing and exciting at the same time.  Loving the suspense it builds and how uniquely solved each cases are. And he finds himself smiling while scanning through the shelves. But something unusual is amongst the section he loves, a book he never seen before in all his years in this library. Drawn by curiosity, he can’t help but to reach and withdraw the Mysterious book from the Mystery section.

              Examining the book as his feet walks itself towards his favorite armchair. The book in his hand was different from all the books he had ever held or read. Sitting himself on his chair with the book in his hand, he can’t help but stare at its cover. The color of the cover changed from one color to another. When he discovered it, it was dark but when he starts to walk to his chair, it turns to red. And now just he sits comfortably in his chair, the book changed color to blue. The title of the book seems to change in color as the cover changes.

              “Libro Cantus,” Nathan reads loud enough for him to hear in Latin, “Book of Spells,” and saying in back into English translation.

              “What’s a book like this doing in that shelf?” Thinking to himself as he opens the cause of his curiosity.

              The first page of the book looks blank except for two lines of words. The first one reads, “Read for safety:” and the other one was a language he did not recognize. It was not Latin like the title and it wasn’t any other language he knows like German, Korean, Spanish, Indonesian, Chinese, or even French.

              “A…Akiium…” He stops himself midway because after attempting to read the words, the first word of three vanishes from the page and before his eyes.

              Deciding to continue and see what happens, he attempted another try, “A…Ao…Aotrem..” and this time the second word disappears from the page.

              “Ma…Macae…” Just he finished the words, the page turns completely blank but something else appeared almost a second later as it reads “Learn for Safety,” and those words disappear the second he finished.

              Again, curiosity gnaws the back of his mind and without any further ado he flipped the pages at random. Just like the first page, the words he sees are unfamiliar from any languages he had known. And yet beside these words are actually English words that he does understand.

              “Destroy?” he cocked an eyebrow as he reads