The travelling Notebook

About two months ago a friend of mine - we shall refer to him as Dan for privacy - told me about a shabby looking notebook he found during a walk along the town's outskirts that caught his attention among other garbage. Dan was always into tresure hunting while walking around areas unknown to him. ...and by treasure I mean trash most of the time. I really never shared his excitement about it and when we were out together had to stop him from picking up random junk every now and then. My attitude only made it more hllarious to him of course, but this is besides the point.

Dan called me just after his walk to talk about the notebook (yea, first thing he had to do after coming home was tell me about his "amazing" find) and sent me a photo he took. My first thought was that he could have just as well thrown it into the trash considering how it looked. Either it was a few decades or even one or two centuries old or it was handled really badly. The cover and pages curled along the edges and the pages had a distinct yellowish tone to them from what I could see. The notebook looked to be leatherbound, but could have been fake. Nothing too special about it really. A plain dark brown color that nicely hid some of the dirt on it and some decorative shapes. I think it was supposed to be a sun. Was hard to tell.

Expectingly waiting for my opinion on the phone Dan poked in "Well? What do you think??". I really didn't know what to say about the pile of paper that was maybe once a nice notebook, so I simply asked "Is there anything written in it?". "There is!" Dan replies in an excited manner "Buuut you don't get to know till I got through all the pages. Hah!" "...that's okay." I simply replied. I wasn't too interested in some stranger's notes. "This will probably take me a while. I'll get back to you when I am done reading through it." he replied. "Go nuts. I know you will." I chuckled and said our good byes and that was it for a moment.

In best case that would be the last I heard about that collection of moldy paper I thought. Dan will find something new soon enough. Maybe something actually interesting like some old gold coin he once dug up...

The next days at work were very busy. Did some extra hours and went to bed right away when I got home, so I had no contact to Dan really and he didn't message me either. I didn't think about it much really. Considering how messy the notebook looked, I bet it was really hard to read some parts of it. It may have been sitting in the rain even.

About a whole week later thoguh I was starting to wonder. I called Dan but got no response, not even on the weekend. Met my other friend - name shall be Alan - in the meantime. Talked about this a bit and mentioned that is was a bit odd, but he just told me I was worrying too much. Could have visited family. What do I know?

More than a week was unusual though, so I decided to call his sister - We shall call her Susan - and asked her about her brother. She said she hasn't heard anything from him and told me she would stop by his flat later, since she was in the area anyways.

I heard nothing back until late at night. My phone rang just when I was about to go to bed.

"Yes? Who's there?" I mumbled sleepily, not having checked who was calling. - for privacy reason I will refer to myself as Z from now - "Z? ...I-I found Dan." Susan's voice was a bit shaky. "Is something wrong?" I asked as I was slowly waking up, feeling something was wrong "I... err... brought him to a hospital." she was struggling with where to start. I didn't talk to her much ever but she was normally pretty calm and unimpressed by most events. "Hospital? What happened? Is he okay?" while asking this I already got out of bed and started putting clothes on "He err... the nurse says he'll be fine..." I paused in my actions "Should I come over? Do you need help?" I was unable to cope with the situation properly really. "N-No... I... I'll call you tomorrow." she hung up.

I didn't even know WHICH hospital she was at, so there wasn't really much I could do... Dan's phone didn't seem to be powered. No answer. You can guess I didn't sleep very well that night.

The next day after a very unproductive day at work, I decided to call Susan first. She picked up. "...yes?" She seemed a bit calmer than yesterday. "This is Z. Are you free to talk?" "Sorry, I got caught up here. Can we please meet at Dan's place?" that was easily more than an hour away with your usual traffic "Is that important? I'll be pretty late" "Yea, I need to show you something. See you then." She replied and ended the call.

Alright then... Off to the other side of town.

Once I arrived at Dan's place Susan was waiting for me outside the apartment building. Judging by her clothes she wasn't at work today. She held a plastic bag with what I assumed was the notebook Dan sent me a picture of several days ago. We greeted each other.

"So what's up with Dan? Did he get hurt during one of his trips?" I started asking "Sort of" Susan replied and opened the door with a spare key Dan once gave her.

We headed up to Dan's apartment and didn't speak until we arrived in Dan's room. Susan opened the door to the apartment and entered. I followed and clsoed the door. Inside the one room apartment Susan walked over to the table and dropped the plastic bag on it like someone would drop a bag of stinking garbage. "When I got here it looked like he just dropped everything and left." he started talking and sat down, leaning her head against her hands in thoguht. I sat down on the other side of the table and waited for her to continue.

"Lights were on, computer running, wardrobe open. As if someone rang the doorbell and he had to rush over to answer." she forced a smile, just for a moment. It faded immediatly. "The car was gone, just like him. He never drives unless he has to. Didn't answer the phone either, so I got up here to check. ...of course I was nervous... as you... probably noticed" she was clearly uncomfortable that someone heard her in that state. I refrained from any comment or reaction and simply listened. A few seconds passed.

"So while I was trying to figure out where he could have gone... I checked his PC, but there was nothing. Some random game still running. No browser history to check. ...But he left his GPS here. I knew he had one. He has good orientation only until he sits in a car. ...I checked the last targets on the device. There was an adress that looked odd, because it was litterally in the middle of nowhere." she sighs heavily

"Take your time." I reassured her and she nodded. "I caled the police about a missing person case and told them about the adress before I made my way there as well. I don't know how, but I was at the place first... no idea hw fast I drove. There was nothing really. There was an old, long abandoned farm house and a barn as well. I ran over there, calling out for Dan. Only had my phone as a flashlight. I don't know how long I searched. When the police lights approached I just entered the barn adn found him on the ground there."

I frowned in surprise "...in the barn?"

Susan nodded "He was unconscious, cold and his right hand was all bloody. I screamed in panic, getting the attention of the police. Things went quickly... Ambulance came. Dan was alive and they took both of us to the nearest hospital. They said I was suffering from a shock. ...at the hospital they said Dan's finger was wounded badly and likely got infected but otherwise he would be okay. I convinced them I was fine, but made sure to take a week off work..." she pauses again.

"While the police were busy I found this thing here..." she pointed at the bag "Something told me I should take it. ...Dan told you about this thing too, I guess?" I nodded "He was super excited about it. ...but why did you take notebook? Shouldn't you have given it to the police or something" "I don't know!" she states in a louder tone, covering her head with her hands. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" I quickly apologize. "...can you take this thing please? I don't want it near me." Susan says quietly, almost crying a little "It just keeps reminding me." "I... okay. Maybe I'll find some clues in there as to what the hell happened. If not, I'll make sure the police can have a look." Susan nodded. The room was quiet for a while. "We should go home now." I finally said. Susan nodded.

I took the notebook with me and Susan and I both went on our ways. I didn't tell her, but this conversation we had gave me goosebumps.

It was late, so I didn't touch the notebook until the next day. When I finally unpacked and opened the moldy book, I made sure to take pictures of all pages to be able to write down later what they say. I added my personal thoughts in triangle brackets here:

---

Entry 1: "Surprise! You are cursed! Boooooo! I don't even know why I write in thsi little treasure here, but I even got me one of those oldschool fountain pens. Was told they are best for old paper. <Who told you THAT?> No extra ink though. We all know I won't write here long. Aaaanyways, apperently I had too much of a drink and ripped out the pages that had text on them. Can't find them either! Totally sucks. Sorry guys :( But hey, not all is lost! One page survived my love for a good drink adn that page hints to an actual place not toooo far away from here. So I'll check that out."

Entry 2: "Well, Bummer: Some boring old ruins is all this freaking book took me to. Might have a look around, but it's still too close to a main road to have anything worth looking at =/" <Strange to read from him>

Entry 3: "I went back to the farm house. I believe I didn't mention it to be a farm house last time. I don't know what it is, but I kinda like it here. The place tells its own stories."

Entry 4: "I know I can't stay here for too long. My visits must become shorter and less obvious." <Something is changing...>

Entry 5: "I have to leave before they arrive, but others must know where find safety again. ...if only I had some more ink..." <The pen is getting visibly dry>

Entry 6: ... <Contains a pair of two numbers smeared with what I can only assume is a bloody finger due to clear fingerprints>

---

I had absolutely no idea what to make of this and while I stared at the pages in confusion, smelling the ever so faint coppery scent of blood, my phone started to ring. "Hello, Z here." "Hey, this is Susan. I just wanted to ask if you are doing alright." I blinked in surprise "Umm... yea, I'm fine. Any news about Dan?" "They won't let me visit yet. They said he should rest properly before getting confronted with what happened." "I guess." I simply answered. "Well... I'll see if I can visit tomorrow maybe." "Sounds good. Have a good night." "You too." I knew she didn't want to hear about the notebook.

The next day I went to buy some thing after work. "Maybe I should get me something to write down any clues I find." I thoguht to myself while walking through the aisles. Looking through the selection of pens, there was one that particularly caught my eye: An oldschool fountain pen in a fancy black. I took it with me, tellng myself "Might even use the notebook. It's junk anyways and there's plenty empty pages."

I had my items scanned and had a little chitchat with the cashier who noticed the pen "Oh, are you a writer?". I chuckles and denied "No, but I heard these kinds of pens are good for old paper." the cashier smiled and shrugged "I wouldn't know.".

When I got back home I looked at the notebook again and slowly got lost in thought, wondering what could have made Dan end up out there while I slowly moved a page back and forth, tugging it gently.

I must have fallen asleep during my thinking progress, but the alarm clock woke me up early enough. When I got off my chair I stepped onto paper "What the... oh no!" I exclaimed. In my dozy state I ripped out one page after another and continued ripping them to smaller shreds... impossible to read only of the entries anymore. ...well, at least the last one was still there AND I was smart enoguh to take pictures. Still, giving this to the police would be absolutely useless now...

After work I had another with Susan, told her I was fine. She said she visited Dan, but he was sleeping with a pretty big bandage on his hand. After the call I paid Alan a visit. I just needed someone to chat with about some other things. When I got there he was at his computer seemingly doing something with maps. So I asked him what he is doing.

"Learning some stuff about cartography and GIS. Could be useful for some future projects." he explained. I was quiet and watched for a while, when something caught my eyes "Say, what are those numbers there?" I pointed at the screen. "Those are coordinates. You know: Latitude and Longitude." he answered and prepared to close his project. Something clicked in my head "Wait a moment." I quickly called out and grabed my phone, moving to the picture of the 6th entry and showing it to Alan "Are these coordinates? Can you show me where that is?" "Hm?" he stared at my phone for a moment, then tapped some keys "Right there." Looking at the screen, it centered a spot on the map that was in fact somewhat close to where I worked. About half way a small path split off the main road to a village. I couldn't see more though. I checked google maps and compared the maps as much as I could until I was able to pinpoint an adress. "...what are you even doing? And what was up with that red painted paper anyways?" Alan finally asked. "Don't worry about it. You helped me a lot here though." I answered and smiled "Err... you're elcome then." The rest of the evening was somewhat eventless.

The next day, right after work I went tp the adress. On the way, Susan called. I called her back once I arrived and told her about my discovery: The coordinates brought me to the remains of an old library in the village. Seemed like there wasn't enough budget to demolish it. It was only blocked with some warning taped. Susan was not as excited as I was though. "Why would you even go there?! You could get hurt!" I assured her I would just have a quick look and then leave again. I wanted to know if those coordinates had any significance.

I remember entering the strcuture. I took the notebook, which I had in my pocket the whole day, out and the fancy fountain pen as well. I started writing down where I was and what I saw. The building wasn't large, the dusk light barely got inside and the village was sleepy enoguh that noone came by during my visit. Before I noticed it got dark outside and I went home. Only when I arrivd I noticed 2 missed calls from Susan. I guess I was a bit too absorbed...

The next day came. Work was the usual business and I headed... not home. Not really thinking about it I returned to the broken down library. There must be something I have missed. I scanned the floor and walls carefully, listening to their stories. Time blurred and I hardly remember the time outside of work.

When I received calls during work from Susan she would beg me to stop going to some stupid ruin and get rid of the notebook. As much as I wanted to listen to her, I just had to go back. I needed to report everything in a sort of trance, fiercy writing without actually saying anything, feeling the pen's thirst increasing with every stroke.

Finally the smooth gentle dancing of the pen changed into painful scratching, unable to produce another word for me. But I had to let everyone know.... before they come and lead them to safety. Nervously I nibbled on my finger...

"If only...

I had...

some more ink..."

...those were my words before a slap across the face dragged me back into reality. Frozen and stunned, it took me a moment to come to my senses and see Susan in front of me, breathing heavily with tears in her eyes.

"STOP!" she yelled right at me, a first tear rolling down her cheek. "JUST STOP!" she slapped the pen out of my hand, ripped the notebook out of my grasp and toosed it into the darkness. "I TOLD YOU TO GET RID OF IT! But... you j-just didn't listen!" she started to cry.

Slowly recovering, I looked at my hands. I was clearly close to biting into my finger. Susan stopped me from ending like her brother. I didn't know what to say, I had to focus on fighting this weird urge to get the notebook back. I grinded my teeth "We have to leave." Susan nodded quickly and dragged me off to her car as I had trouble making myself walk. We would get my car anotehr day...

I slept at Susan's place that night and she locked all doors and windows to make sure I do nothing stupid. I called work the next day, told them I couldn't come in for a day... Eventually Susan told me that she was finally able to tell Dan what happened and he immediatly told her that she has to stop me from going to that library again. Luckily Dan and Alan know each other and Dan already knew about Alan getting into Cartography. It was Alan he helped Dan before who also found coordinates in the notebook... Alan is to this point still clueless about what happened. He will surely be shocked.

The next days, Susan came with me to work to be sure I "so nothing stupid". Well, she was right. Day 1: I turn towards that village instead of going straight to work. He calls me out on it and we get back on track. Then she does driving. Apperently I told her to turn (to get to the library) and she just told me to shut up.

It stopped when the weekend came and we were comfortable enough to get my car back. All went fine, but we agreed to have calls just to be sure.

About a week later on saturday I was at home, watching some local news, almost having managed to force the memories out of my head, when something was annouced on TV: "The small village of XXX may be the place of an utmost unexpected discovery. The long lost archives of the XXX library, formerly part of a larger structure that was destroyed during war times, was always a local myth, but now it seems that a single book has submerged from the ruins dispite several investigations in the past. Professer XXX from XXX institute personally examined the notebook a group of wanderes found and says that it is - even thoguh most of the text has faded due to exposure to weather - most likely an original piece that is over 150 years old. Professor XXX was eager to talk about this find and the fountain pens that were made around that time. Presenting his favourite modern fountain pen he explained that people tend to say these are especially good to be used with old paper like the notebook in---"

I turned the TV off and let out a quiet "oh no...."