《Alit》 Day 1 6:35 am Monday morning an alarm goes off. Playing the local radio station Broncos 98.4. A voice yells up stair "Steven wake up or you''ll be late." as Steven pulled himself out of bed the radio host issued a severe thunderstorm warning for later that day Hey there bronco gents and bronco ladies, there''s a big storm headed our way so be sure to stay in between at least 4 and 5 pm. We will be sure to play all the hits you love and keep you updated. Steven performed his normal morning routine of showering, making toast, and rushing off at the last minute. "Steven you forgot your backpack" his mom yelled as he drove off. Running into school at the last minute he realized he forgot his backpack and ran back to his old, beaten up station wagon. Realizing his backpack was not in there he hears the bell ring from outside. "You''re late Mr. Tannen, looks like you''ll be spending after school in detention" his home room teacher Mr. Stiff said sternly. Steven sulked to his desk defeated. Luckily he sat next to his best friend, Marcus, who seemed to always have to provide him with an extra pen and paper."Where were you Saturday, man, I could have used a wingman at Gus''s party," Marcus asked even though he knew the answer. Gus and Steven never got along, a grade school spat had evolved into Gus tormenting Steven every minute he could. "I couldn''t make it" Steven was being short. "Next time you''re coming with me," Marcus exclaimed, "there are like a hundred people at his parties he will never notice you there." "Mr. Hanson if you are going to talk through my class then you can at least answer the question" Marcus slumped back in his seat as he was not paying attention "That''s detention for you too then" as Mr. Stiff gave a smirk he couldn''t hide. The bell rang and the class full of students flooded out into the hall "Hey Tansticles get over here" Steven heard from behind. It was Gus and his crew. "I thought I told you to move schools," Gus barked while his goons cheered, "but another day and you''re still here, what do you think guys? Usual punishment?" His crew cheered on and agreed. Together they pulled Steven into the bathroom where they beat him. They forced him over to the toilet and tried to dip his head in but Steven resisted. Gus socked him in the stomach and he submitted. Right before he went in the bell rang for the next class. "Same shit if I see you here tomorrow, Tansticles" Gus and his goons left the bathroom. "Steve, where were you?" Marcus asked as Steven walked into class late. "Oh, never mind¡­ Gus happened didn¡¯t'' it? I''m sorry I don''t help but if I do, they''ll just torment me too." Upset but slightly understanding Steven just went to his desk. After Mr. Stiffs class the rest of the day was simple. English class, lunch, calculus, then philosophy. 4 more hours and today is over Steven thought before realizing he had to spend an hour with Mr. Stiff. Before he knew it, he was already in his last class, philosophy, with the oldest teacher in the school Mrs. Swarts. She was a feeble old lady with a mind like a diamond. She could make debating points on anything the students brought up and always shown she knew how a debate would end. She was never wrong. "Next Sunday is Halloween, class so I am assigning a project for you all. This week you are to find a news article that makes you think and question from the past, anytime will do but the older the better. After we present, I will pick one to discuss in detail next week." The final bell rang at 3 and while all the other students poured from the building Steven and Marcus sat in Mr. Stiffs room for detention. The two sat on opposite sides of the room as was Mr. Stiffs policy. "As you two seem to enjoy being here after hours I don''t see any harm in giving you the extra work you asked for" grimaced the power hungry teacher. "If you two don''t have this worksheet done by tomorrow morning, I will see you back here." Their time was almost up as they heard thunder from outside. Reaching for his umbrella Steven before realizing his bag was still at home. The two said their goodbyes and split ways running to their cars as rain came down. Marcus drove off while Steven started his car spr-putt-putt the car started smoking from under the hood. The car didn''t start and shown no signs that it would anytime soon. Steven waited in his car to see if the storm would let up. After an hour it was still coming down strong. I only live a mile away I can make it Steve convinced himself. He gets out and makes a dash in the direction of his home. Wind, rain, and thunder and lightning played like an orchestra. When He realized he couldn''t see more than a foot in front of him and his directionless movement was useless, Steven found the nearest tree to take refuge. Soaked and tired he realized he forgot the worksheet in his car. He ran back as fast as he could but when he got there his car was gone, the entire parking lot was now deserted.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Standing in the rain, lightning struck the ground 4 feet away from where Steven was standing. He took off running as fast as he could to find anything to hide under. In the distance there was a flash of what looked like purple light. Running towards the location he sees an old gazebo next to the woods that connects his home with the town. While taking rest he sees a lockbox that looked to be a hundred years old rusted all over except where what looks like lightning hit to break it open. In it was a note and something wrapped in newspaper from the 1800''s. Unwrapping to find a black candle and a black match he looks at the note. It read: DO NOT LIGHT THIS CANDLE THE PERSON WHO SETS THIS CANDLE ALIGHT WILL BE SUBJECTED TO THESE RULES
  1. THIS CANDLE WILL BURN FOR ETERNITY UNLESS USED
  2. THIS CANDLE WILL GRANT THE PERSON WHO LIGHTS IT WITH UNNATURAL LUCK
  3. IF THE ACT OF "LUCK" HAPPENS FOR A SITUATION THAT WOULD NOT BE HUMANLY POSSIBLE UNDER NORMAL CIRCUMSTANCES, THE CANDLE BURNS.
  4. IF THIS CANDLE BURNS OUT THE PERSON IN POSESSION OF THS CANDLE WILL DIE.
  5. IF THE USER DIES BEFORE THE CANDLE BURNS OUT THEN THE CANDLE IS RESET AND FREE TO FIND A NEW SOUL TO LIGHT THE CANDLE
Written on the letter seemingly unrelated to the first:This candle does not want to burn out and will actively try to save itself from so. DO NOT LIGHT Steven laughed it off as the storm started to let up. Gus has been pulling pranks to try and get him to leave school for a while but none of them were ever this clever and thought out. He was surprisingly impressed. Darkness fell as Steven was walking through the woods to get home. Soon though it was pitch black under the thick brush of the trees. He knew these woods but that didn''t do him any good as he can''t see. Lost, Steven became desperate, convinced this candle was some dumb prank with some elaborate scheme. He takes the match and strikes it on a tree, but nothing happened. He tried on a rock and the ground but could not get it to light. He goes to clean off the tip and as soon as he rubs his thumb on the head it sparks. A very read flame he thought as he lit the candle. Burning a faint purple, the candle lit up the woods. Just as he had hoped it would, but it didn¡¯t'' matter. When he did, he realized he was already by his house almost out of the woods. Running into the house he makes a mess of mud and debris inside the door. "I was worried sick about you Steven James Tannen where the Hell have you been?" His mom screamed. As he walked in dripping with water. He saw his sister and father at the table about to eat dinner. "Hurry up and wash up we are waiting on you" demanded his mother not mentioning the lit candle he was holding. Once in his room he tried to blow out the candle. The flame didn''t move even as he blew harder and harder. Chalking it up to tiredness and fatigue he gave up and set the candle down which then rolled over off his desk. Quickly, Steven noticed and tried to grab it as it fell onto a stack of papers in his trash, but nothing happened. He stared, confused on what was going on, the candle was on the papers, but the papers wouldn''t burn. He hovered his hand over the flame to realize it wasn''t hot, in fact it was cool to the touch. Still believing he must have hit his head or stayed in the rain too long he set it on his shelf where it couldn''t fall and went to dinner. "Mr. Stiff called to tell me you got detention again" his mom said with a strict tone as his sister Stephanie snickered. "Dad, I will find the car tomorrow and get it back, can you drop me off at school on your way to work?" Stevens father stares at him confused, "if it''s broke in some way you shouldn''t have driven it home." Confused Steven asked what his father meant "I mean it''s in the driveway." Rushing to the window he saw his Oldsmobile outside "But it, it, was at school and then just vanished" he said as he sat back down in disbelief. "You''re going to bed early, mister, you''re clearly coming down with a fever" said his mom as she excused herself from the table. It all makes sense, he thought, I have a fever. I must have fell asleep in my car and drove home sometime after running through the woods was a dream, the candle was a dream. But when Steven got to his room, the candle was still burning, on his desk where he had originally set it. It looked to be a bit shorter but he was done with the day and all of this nonsense, so he just got ready for bed. Before he went to sleep from sheer exhaustion his mother came in his room "now be sure to set you''re alarm" She mentioned nothing about the lit candle in his room. "Can you blow that candle out for me," he asked. His mother walked over to him to feel his forehead "You need to go to bed right now. I''ll turn the hallway light off if you need but I don''t have a candle lit in the hall" She was unable to see the candle, or at least unable to notice is. His last thoughts before he drifted away were to set his alarm, but before he could he was already asleep. Day 2 6:35 am Stevens alarm goes off. Strange, as he couldn''t remember setting it. As he gets out of bed, he notices the candle is still lit with a drop of wax on it''s side. Going on as if it''s not there, he gets ready for school and rushes out of the house leaving the candle on his desk "Steven, you forgot your backpack again" his mom yells as he drives off. Arriving at school late he remembers his backpack is still at home. When he gets out of his car, he looks in the backseat and there is his backpack I guess I put it in last night he thought. When he picks it up the candle is under it, still lit with another bead of wax. Unable to grasp this strange reality he hears the bell ring and runs in. "Mr. Tannen look who is late ag..." beeeep the principal comes on the overhead speaker "teachers disregard the bell just now, it went off a minute early it is now reset and about to ring at the correct time" Mr. Stiff swallows his words, "Well, the bell rang, but do you and Marcus have your worksheets?" He sits at his desk in the front of the class. "Well Mr. Tannen, it seems I owe you an apology, I didn''t even notice that you set it on my desk." Steven sits there thinking there''s no way he could have done it. Marcus must have known and did mine too. As he opens his backpack to pull out a notebook, there''s the candle, lit in his backpack with a third bead of wax. Mr. Stiff turned the mobile chalkboard around to reveal the words Pop quiz. Not having time the night before, he was unable to review his notes before. Throwing out his best educated guesses he hears the little wind-up timer on the head desk go off bbrrriinngg "Okay pencils down, pass them to the front" Mr. Stiff collected the papers. The entire rest of class Steven was unable to focus and kept thinking about all these strange situations. The bell rings and he leaves the class. "Hey tantescles, what did I say about showing up, what do you say boys, the usual?" Cheering, they grab him and pull him into the bathroom. Gus lets loose a hit to Stevens face and at the exact moment the principal walks in "Mr. Mulch! In my office now!" Steven avoided a beating. As he arrived in English class Marcus is there waiting, "Steven did you rat on Gus?" "No, the principal happened to see him hit me," Steven smirked. "While in the hallway I heard the principal say Gus was going to be suspended until Monday next week" Marcus replied. A whole week without Gus. What luck. Finally, it was time for his last class. Sitting there waiting, Mrs. Swarts enters the room "Okay everyone, pull out your articles" Steven got nervous and looked for anything he could use when he remember that the candle was wrapped in an old newspaper. Sure enough, when he looked in his bag there it was with the candle next to it. Before he was able to read it, he heard Mrs. Swarts say "Mr. Tannen, seeing that smile as you pulled out your article must mean it¡¯s pretty good. I would like for you to go now." "My article was written on..." Steven scrambles to read it as he''s presenting, ¡°October 31st, 1898 [his eyes widened as he read the date] His luck ran out is the title of the article.¡± Steven looked up at Mrs. Swarts who looked interested, "Mr. Jefferson¡¯s incredible luck has seemed to run out while on chase from the police. Found dead in a building just outside of town only days after the robbery." There on the front of the page was Mr. Jefferson and his family. "Is that all it says?" Mrs. Swarts asked while Steven tried to find anything else related on the cut out newspaper "Well, that is interesting, I¡¯ll give you until Friday to find out more information because that is not enough for full points, but for now we have to move on" relieved he was able to present what little he did, Steven sat back in his desk while other Students presented.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. 3 PM the final bell rings "We will continue this tomorrow class make sure you have enough material in your articles. Mr. Tannen, can I see you for a moment?" Mrs. Swartz asked, "may I see the picture on that article?" After glancing at it for a few seconds she says, "I love this small towns history, but I haven''t heard of the surname Jefferson in it. The daughter in this photo though, Sally Jefferson, she looks exactly like the grand daughter of my mom''s old friend from the nursing home. When I would visit my mother before she passed there was an elderly lady named Sally Dune that would always show pictures of her grand children from across the country. If you just showed me this photo, I would think it was her grand daughter." Leaving school, Steven had no idea where to even start looking for more information on the article, so he headed to the local library. Getting there he asked the librarian where they keep the old town newspapers "I don''t believe I''ve seen a boy your age asking about where the old newspapers are," the old nice lady said, ¡°all of the old papers are down in the lower level.¡± There, the only archived article that came close was a girl who looked vaguely similar to the man''s daughter, Sally Jefferson. Sally Dune sees her husband off as he heads to fight for America, the article headlined. There was nothing about any Jeffersons¡¯ that had lived there. In fact, it seemed any articles before 1900 were sparse and/or incomplete. Heading back up stairs he asks the librarian why that might be. Puzzled, she suddenly remembered "There was a fire around that time that destroyed half of this library they were probably destroyed in the fire. The Bronco Gazette might have them in their archives, but you''ll have to look tomorrow because they close in 5 minutes." Steven at a loss headed home. Steven got home and went to his room to do homework. He pulls out the candle to examine it. A few beads of wax on the sides but all in all, the candle was basically the same length as it was. He still was in disbelief about all of this. How long was it when I started? Is it the same length? How long is it now?Getting a ruler, he made a note that it was about 9.75 inches in length. Not knowing what to do about this odd candle, Steven made a plan to look at the Gazette archives for any articles that might help him learn more about it as he already needed to head there. There was a knock at the door "Steven you have a visitor," his mom said as she came and got him. Going down the stairs, there was Gus standing in the doorway with his father "My father drove me here to say I''m sorry," Gus said unconvincingly. Steven stayed silent until his mom finally chirped up "Steven Tannen what do you say when someone apologizes?" Reluctantly the words "It''s okay" left his mouth. "Sorry about the inconvenience, Mrs. Tannen. Gus is having a get together this Saturday and we would love to have Steven" Mr. Mulch said as they left. Steven looked out the window as they drove away to see Gus staring him down with eyes of pure anger. Snapping him out of his daze his mom said, "now that they''re gone what was that nice boy apologizing for. Did you antagonize him to do something?" Staring in disbelief that his mother would think that he told her everything Gus has done. "Well I''m glad he came and apologized. I think it would be a good idea for you to go to his get together Saturday to mend things," his mom continued "for two parties ever to get along, they both have to find a way to see eye-to-eye." Ringringring the oven timer broke the tension in the room signaling dinner was ready. "Now hurry up and wash up" his mother said making sure she got the last word. At the table his sister Stephanie was flaunting a perfect score on her recent test, "Steven have you even seen a number this high? 100 percent, I bet you didn''t even know it was possible to get that" Steven stayed silent as he knew any conflict would only cause detriment to him. "May I be excused?" Steven asked. "You barely touched your food" his mom said in a quick response, "but if you aren''t feeling well over what happened earlier, I''ll put it in the fridge for later." Back in his room Steven took out his notebook to review the days material along with the day before. Realizing he got all the answers wrong on his quiz his stomach started to knot. Laying down, Steven sets his alarm and closes his eyes for the day. Day 3 Steven opens his eyes and it is 6:50. He slept through his alarm by 15 minutes. Groggy and still half asleep he hears his mom rush up the stairs and barge in his room "Steven at this point you''re going to be late. Get out of bed, get dressed and go!" Steven rushes to get ready. He throws on clothes and throws the candle in his bag (he knew if he wanted to know more about it he would have to have it with him). Out the door and speeding to school he is already late. He got to school one minute after the bell rang and ran inside straight to his desk. As soon as he sits down Mr. Stiff walks in "Sorry I''m late, class, my car took a minute to start." Steven opens his bag to look at the candle and sure enough a bead of wax is dripping down. He reaches out to try and touch the hot wax but as soon as he did it cooled instantly. Where did this candle actually come from? At lunch, Steven sits next to Marcus, "Marcus, I would like to ask you something" Steven opens his bag, "What do I have in my bag?" Marcus stared confused at what he was being asked "Um is this a trick question? Well, there''s a couple notebooks, the book we are reading for English, a couple pens scattered throughout, and what looks to be part of a newspaper. Why are you asking?" Steven sat and just shook his head why can''t he see it he thought as he just responds, ¡°Have you been to the gazebo by the woods?¡± Marcus could see something was bothering Steven and just shook his head saying ¡°No, why?¡± "No reason, after school want to come check out that gazebo with me?" Steven and Marcus planned to meet up at the end of the day. At the end of the day, Steven and Marcus start walking towards the woods by the school. After a couple hours of trying to find the gazebo Steven finally finds where the gazebo was. It was right here he thought as he was showing his frustration. "Is this a joke, man? Why bring me all the way out here when I could be home right now watching TV?" Marcus said attackingly. Staring at the empty site, Marcus walks back on his own as Steven seemed to be unfazed by anything he was saying. Right here, I sat on a bench inside of it right here. Is the lockbox still around? What is going on...? Walking back to his car Steven decides he need to head to the Bronco Gazette before it closed in an hour. Arriving at the old worn down building that has always housed the towns paper sat a sign outside Halloween dance Saturday October 30th. Come to the high school at 9pm for fun no matter the age. If you plan on entering the costume contest be there before 9:30 to sign in. Walking in the building he sees a man typing away on a typewriter. Steven rang a bell at the desk to get his attention. "Howdy there young man, are you here with the next big story? Perhaps you want to try your hand at writing a few articles?" Steven awkwardly shook his head no and asked if they had archived papers he could see. "A young man interested in history is a beautiful sight. Follow me." Steven and the man walked to a back room that was filled with boxes and a staircase. "Every paper now back to 1930 is up here and before that, all the way back to when we opened in 1890, will be down the stairs. Now I hope I can trust to leave you here alone? I''m the only one in and need to stay by the desk. Come get me if you have any questions or need help." Steven walked down the stairs to a cold dark room filled with spiderwebs and dusty boxes. Looking around he found a box labeled 1890-1900 [opening it came with a cloud of dust that has been building up for decades.] Thumbing through, he finally came to October 31st, 1898. There, on the front page was the same picture he had in his bag. He takes out the paper and a notebook to write down the full article for class. His luck ran out Mr. Jefferson¡¯s incredible luck has seemed to run out while on chase from the police. Found dead ??in a building just outside of town only days after the robbery. On the run for two days Mr. Jefferson was found dead ??in a shack in the cemetery. As of now it is not clear how he died but more importantly the fortune he stole has yet to ??be found.Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. That¡¯s it? Steven thought to himself. Putting the article back in the old box. He pulls out November 1st, 1898 to see if he could find anything. Flipping to the obituaries he sees October 31st, 1898 Willis Jefferson died from causes unknown at this time. Before his death Willis was known by ??the town as the ''luckiest man in the world.'' From every drawing to every coin flip has always seemed to be in his ??favor. Willis is survived by his wife Cynthia and his daughter Sally. From up top he hears the man yell "Okay kid, we close in 5 minutes time to wrap it up." Steven quickly puts the papers away and starts walking up as he bumps into another box that falls to the ground. An article slides out to his feet. On the page are a list of wedding announcements and he sees: Charles Dune and Sally Jefferson are set to wed this Saturday. thinking about that and the article about a Sally Dune seeing her husband off to war he suddenly put the two together. At home his mother was on the phone with their neighbor "...oh we will talk about it later he just walked in..." Steven ignores what he just walked in on and asks if he could use the phone. Flipping the thin town phonebook, he finds the number for Geraldine retirement center (the local nursing home) he dials the number and after a couple rings someone picks up. "Geraldine retirement center this is nurse April" "Yes, is there someone there by the name of Sally Jeff...er...Dune... Sally Dune?" "Mrs. Dune does not accept calls anymore, but visiting hours are 2 to 4 tomorrow, is there anything else I can do for you?" Steven thanked her and hung up the phone. Later at dinner Steven asked his mom what she was talking about on the phone earlier "Mrs. Smith called to say she''s noticed some strange behavior from you. Like outside you stare at your hand for long period of time with nothing in it and at night she can see your shadow staring out of the curtains with a purple hew around it until three in the morning. What is this all about?" Steven felt his temperature drop and let out a shiver, "I was.. uh.. just getting fresh air, may I be excused?" Without an answer Steven ran upstairs to his room. "That boy better not be on drugs." Up in his room Steven paced back and forth. He couldn''t get the thought of a shadow in his window out of his head. Am I sleep walking? How can''t I remember it.... was.... was it even me...? Siting down at his desk he takes the candle out of his bag. For the first time since finding it he felt this strange ominous presence. At first this candle was something he refused to believe in but now seeing all of these strange coincidences and reading about Mr. Jefferson he was convinced something was going on. At his desk Steven pulls out the rules to examine them one by one. 1. THIS CANDLE WILL BURN FOR ETERNITY UNLESS USED It hasn''t gone out so far. 2. THIS CANDLE WILL GRANT THE PERSON WHO LIGHTS IT WITH UNNATURAL LUCK I have been having some luck but was any of it ''unnatural''? 3. IF THE ACT OF "LUCK" HAPPENS FOR A SITUATION THAT WOULD NOT BE HUMANLY POSSIBLE UNDER NORMAL CIRCUMSTANCES, THE CANDLE BURNS. So far I''ve only seen beads drip. 4. IF THIS CANDLE BURNS OUT THE PERSON IN POSESSION OF THS CANDLE WILL DIE. Does this mean if I keep getting lucky it will eventually kill me? It seems unlucky to have found in in the first place. 5. IF THE USER DIES BEFORE THE CANDLE BURNS OUT THEN THE CANDLE IS RESET AND FREE TO FIND A NEW SOUL TO LIGHT THE CANDLE Does this candle even want me to get lucky? Steven sat up thinking about everything he just read when he remembered the other message. This candle does not want to burn out and will actively try to save itself from so. DO NOT LIGHT It was too late as he had already lit the candle. But what does it mean by the candle does not want to burn out? ¡­will try to save itself? What does that even mean? After pondering these rules over and over trying to figure out anything that will give him a clue Steven falls asleep at his desk from pure exhaustion. That night waking up from the discomfort of being at his desk he takes off his pants and gets in bed. Laying there he couldn¡¯t help but feel that someone (or something) was watching him. Ever since Mrs. Smith said that, I am probably just paranoid that she is watching. Closing his eyes one last time for the night he falls asleep. Day 4 6:35 am Hey there broncos and broncettes don''t forget next Saturday is the big Halloween party. Costume contest will award prizes for the scariest, most creative, and best couple costumes. Be sure to get there early to hang out with the crew over at 98.4. Steven gets out of bed exhausted. His muscles sore, maybe I was tossing and turning all night? Walking over to turn on the light Steven looks at the candle. Suddenly he remembers the dream he was having last night; A cold dark room, walking around stumbling to find the way out a voice can be heard I told you not to light it. "What do you mean, who are you," I told you not to light it. "What can I do?" Murmurs on unintelligible words ring in his head with one thing he remembers hearing clearly .......false panel....... Steven couldn''t remember anything else. Fake panel? He knew there was more to that but as hard as he tried to think of it, the more faint the dream became. At school waiting for class to start Mr. Stiff walks in, "Okay everyone I''ve graded your quizzes come up and grab them." Steven see''s his name on a paper on the head desk. 102% every question was answered correctly including a bonus one. Looking through his answers he can''t remember writing any of it. Putting the quiz into his bag he sees a sticky note After class we need to talk -Mr. Stiff. Class ends and as everyone heads into the hall, Steven hangs behind as Mr. Stiff closes the door to his room, so it is only the two of them. "I don''t know how you cheated but I know you did. You''ve never scored anything close to that and those answers are too perfect. I have a make up for you with new questions. You are to come in at lunch and take it." In the hallway Steven was angry. He didn''t cheat but he also didn''t write those answers. Do I try and see of the candle will bring me luck again? Do I just take it so no more of the wax burns? Walking to class he felt as if everyone was looking at him. Everyone he walked past seemed to be laughing or pointing. After too much paranoia he ran to the bathroom to look in the mirror. He was so angry he had tears and didn¡¯t even notice. During lunch Steven heads to Mr. Stiffs room. "Steven I will have my eyes on you. You have until the end of lunch." After a few minutes of guessing (for the second time) Steven raises his hand to let Mr. Stiff know he is finished. "I am going to grade it with you right here," Mr. Stiff says as he walks over. Steven looked down at the test and it was completely blank. None of what he answered was on it. In a panic he looked back up to try and ask for more time but it was too late as Mr. Stiff had already grabbed it from his desk. Mr. Stiff stared at it for what seemed like an eternity with a dumbfound look on his face. What is he waiting for? Is he thinking of how he''s going to scold me for handing in a blank test? "Mr. Tannen, I am honestly speechless. You got them all right again. Sorry I doubted you." Steven sat in silence as Mr. Stiff handed his paper back to him. All of the answers are filled in. In my hand writing nonetheless. When the final bell rang Steven headed straight for the nursing home. Walking in he heads to the office desk "Hi can I help you?" a nurse asked him as he walked up. "I am looking to see Mrs. Dune" The nurse smiled at him and said, "So you know visiting hours end in an hour for nonfamily. She is in room 308 at the end of the hall." Steven walks down the hall and sees that a door is already opened. When he reaches the end the opened door was room 308. He walks in and sees an elderly lady staring out of the window. "I didn''t know him" she said as she continued to face the window. "Everyone that visits me now only wants to ask about him.. well, I''ve never met him." Steven was speechless he takes a couple more steps in and asked if he could have a seat. "Sure, sit down, it''s not often I see a new face, but I''m sure we are wasting each other¡¯s time" She turns around to sit down with him. "I only have a few questions I think I need answers to" "Well, ask away but as I said I never met him" "What have you heard about him? What can you tell me about him?" ¡°I don''t know much about him. My mother remarried not too long after he passed. That man was my father. Not Willis Jefferson." A few moments of silence go by when Steven breaks the silence, "One more thing. What did the article mean by His Luck Ran Out?" Mrs. Dune stares at him for a long time, "I asked my mother about that. Every time she''d always respond with Your father always said, you can find any answer at the library. So she never told me. To be honest I think she wanted me to forget about him and now¡­ now I can¡¯t ever have known him" A nurse came by to tell them it was 4pm and it is time to leave The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. "Thank you for speaking with me, Mrs. Dune" "I wish I could have been more of a help." She knew whatever he came there for wasn''t answered. Driving home Steven thought about what they talked about. One thing kept running through his mind you can find any answer at the library. On a whim, Steven turned around to head back into town and go to the library before it closed. Running in, he was trying to think of anything to give him an idea of where to start. He went to the biography section and tried to find anything relating to a local Jefferson. The only next place he could think to look was mystery/supernatural. He knew he wouldn¡¯t find anything on a Jefferson there, but he was looking for any mention of a candle. Over the intercom the head librarian announces they close in five minutes. Quickly taking out the books and flipping through them, the candle fell out of his closed bag. Making a thump that only he could hear. Picking it up, he sees one of the floor boards was slightly darker than the others. False panel¡­ is it a false panel? After forcing it open, half a dozen spiders ran out. Tucked in tightly was a notebook and a book about mythology. Both books didn''t have the library seal on it so he hid them in his bag and ran out. He rushes home to examine what he just found. When he gets home he runs up stairs to his room before his mom can even welcome him home. As soon as he gets in his room he closes the door and locks it taking out the books at his desk. The first one he opened was the notebook. If you are reading this, I pray it because chance and not luck. My name is Willis Jefferson, and if you are here about the candle, I am deeply sorry. Finding this candle, I thought was a blessing from God. I didn''t know what I was getting into as I lit it. I am sure you''ve seen my warning and didn''t take it. To be honest though, who would? It would sound crazy to me too. Before you read more, I suggest you make note of the candles length if you haven''t already. When you are done with that open the book I''ve left with this notebook and read the marked page. Steven Measures the candle and it is at 8.9 inches and then pulls out the book to hear a knock at his door. ¡°Steven it¡¯s dinner time. I expect you down there in 5 minute, young man. Oh, and no running off early tonight, it¡¯s family night¡± Steven is in a panic as he has finally made a step towards knowing more about it. How can I get out of this dinner Steven thought. Before he leaves his room, he tucks the book and notebook in the desk''s drawer. Every step Steven takes to the dining room he tries to think of excuses to get out. Every Thursday night after dinner the family plays a game and then watches the Thursday night TV movie on the local station. At dinner his mom asks his sister how her day was "well look at this Steven I got another 100%" Stephanie smirks at him and without a pause says back "I got 102% today". Stephanie sat back in her chair. "102%, Steven? That''s so great! It''s nice to see you taking an interest in school again." "What do you mean again?" Steven asks. "Well, lately you''ve been a little... distant. You barely eat with us and besides that, all of these altercations at ????school." Steven knew he couldn''t spill everything, they wouldn''t understand, so he just says "you''re right, mom I''m sorry. I wont try to get out of family night..." After dinner the family heads to the living room. "Tonight I thought we could play spades, Steven would you like to be my partner?" His mom asked. I don''t think I''ve ever been asked by mom to be her partner. If it''s not guys versus girls, it¡¯s parents versus kids "sure mom I''d love to." Dealing out the first hand, Steven picks up his 13 cards. They go around saying how many hands they thought they could win. 2.... 0.... 4... it was Stevens turn uhm, 13 everyone looked at him as he revealed he had every spade. "You dealt that to yourself on purpose. I''m dealing from now on" his competitive sister says. Once again Steven got every spade. "Steven if you are cheating you are going to be grounded" his father (who also didn¡¯t want to lose) said. After the 3rd hand is dealt, Steven sighs in relief. Half spades, thank goodness. A few rounds later Steven and his mom win with ease. After spades to pass time before the movie, him and Stephanie play a game of Yahtzee! Steven rolls his six die and got the numbers 1,1,2,4,5,6 well that wasn''t lucky he picked the 1 die to continue with. On his second roll he got four more ones. Steven says he doesn''t want to play anymore. I can¡¯t get that lucky, no one will want to play games with me again. 8pm the movie comes on. It was a rerun, but his family always stayed to watch them anyway. Unfortunately it being a movie he has seen, Steven wasn''t interested in it and ends up falling asleep on the couch. He wakes up to his mom shaking him telling him to go to bed. Thinking of nothing but sleep and how tired he was Steven walks up stairs and goes to sleep for the night. Day 5 Steven awoke in the middle of the night to the sound of something rustling around in his room. When he turned on the light nothing was there, but his room seemed a bit different. Everything was where it was before, but it''s almost as if everything was moved just a bit. Chalking it up to paranoia, Steven looked at his clock 5 am? when did I even go to sleep? He turns off the light and lays back down in his bed. Right before he fell asleep he remember the notebook. It would only be an extra hour of sleep. I''m going to read it now. He gets out of bed and walks to his desk. Remembering what the notebook said, he takes out the mythology book first. Gods, demons, and myths was the title. No page was marked in the gods so he looks through the demons no demons were marked either, that''s good, right? He flips to the unknown myth section and there he sees a page with pen scribbles all over it this must be it. The name of the creature was Shiungaii the only thing that it said about the monster is that it exchanges favors for life. The rest of the page was just a picture of he legend. A dark shadowy humanoid figure that looked like the legs were cut off from the knee down and what looked to be wings. Seeing that image he got chills and closed the book. What was that? Have I seen that before? Pulling the notebook back out he turns to where he left off. After seeing to measure the candle again, he does. 8 inches?! How did I lose so much? Frantically he continues reading what Willis left; Now that you''ve made note of the candle there are things you need to know;
  1. The luckier you are, the more it burns. Calling a coin flip right wont affect it, calling a coin flip right seven times in a row will make a bead of wax drop.
  2. The Shiungaii is watching you. In fact he is there with you now. The only time you can see it is when you are about to die or if it decides to reveal itself. This candle was a contract. When you lit the match you bled. This is you giving your blood and soul to it.
  3. There are ways to not be lucky that I''ve found. Covering your heart with one of your hands signals you do not want to give life for whatever you may be doing. Once you remove it though, it''s free to take when it can. How to get rid of it: The easiest way, is to kill yourself, but even if covering your heart, the Shiungaii will stop it. He lives off of your life. So this method isn''t as easy as it sounds, but it is the easiest. The only other way I''ve found to get rid of it are from old rumors in a book that references a creature that might be the Shiungaii (based on description of appearance and what it does) about transferring it to someone who has more life than you left. You might think younger, but it is based on life left and only the Shiungaii knows that. That is the only way it will accept the transfer. This is what must happen to transfer the candle based on the book. 1. The user must have less that 50 years left to live. 2. A third of the candle must be left 3. The transferee must have more life than the user 4. The transferee must be willing to accept This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. 5. The transferee must intentionally drop their blood directly onto the candle flame (as I am sure you¡¯ve found out other people cannot see it.) This will reveal the candle to them. 6. The Shiungaii will then decide if it will allow it The Shiungaii wants life, but it also wants the user to die.
This last part I wasn''t going to include. I was never able to do it. How to reset the candle. To reset the candle, you must take another¡¯s life. While doing this you must not be covering your heart. It also has to be intentional, so no accidents or self defense. I hope whatever you decide to do, you''re sagacious about it. "Stephen I hope you''re ready for school." His mom yells through the door. Not know what to make of all this new information he hurries up and gets ready for school and leaves. He didn''t finish reading the notebook but it was all too much. All day at school Steven was mentally not there. The entire day went by without him even noticing. Spaced out from tiredness and stress, before he knew it he was already in his last class "Mr. Tannen I hope you have more of that article to present" Mrs. Fritz says. Steven took out the notebook he wrote in and went to the head of the class, His luck ran out Mr. Jefferson¡¯s incredible luck has seemed to run out while on chase from the police. Found dead in a building just outside of town only days after the robbery. On the run for two days Mr. Jefferson was found dead in a shack in the cemetery. As of now it is not clear how he died but more importantly the fortune he stole has yet to be found. ¡°That is all the article says, but I''ve spoke with his daughter and found some other information and it sounds like before he died he was confronted with the idea to take another persons life.¡± Steven say¡¯s hoping it would be enough. "Mr. Tannen, though you still didn''t present as much as I had hoped that last part intrigues me. The idea to take another persons life. While it is very morbid, it is also polarizing in some cases. I''ve decided that concept is what we will discuss next week. I know it''s not an article, but I feel the ethics of such an act should be touched upon while you all are still young, plus it is the week before Halloween so it fits. That is obviously not me telling you it''s okay, that is." Mrs. Fritz says as she continues to lay the plans out for next weeks class. Before she knows it the bell rings for the weekend. Steven gets home and pulls out the mythology book again. Staring at the picture of the Shiungaii he can''t help but feel scared. Knowing at that moment it was watching him. Maybe it is what he thought, maybe he didn''t know. then he noticed inside the back cover of the notebook there was an address 2234 N Willow Drive, Steven knew all of the roads in his small town, but didn''t know Willow drive went north of town. I will go there tomorrow to check it out. Steven goes down to help his mom with dinner "This is a nice surprise," his mom says, "I don''t think you''ve done anything more than set the placemats since you were a little boy." The two of them stood there while his mom stirred the pot of soup she was cooking and Steven washed and cut vegetables. Steven was quiet all of dinner, he didn¡¯t have much of an appetite all day and dinner was no exception. After dinner as he is heading to his room his mom says, "Don''t forget you have that nice boy Gus''s gathering tomorrow." Oh great, I forgot about that. Marcus always says there''s a lot of people maybe Gus won''t know I am there. Steven heads to bed dreading the next day. Day 6 "Steven it''s 9:30 you''re going to sleep your day away" his mom yells through the door, but Steven was already up. He barely slept a wink all night. Even the thought of taking another person''s life was too much. He knew he couldn''t spend his entire life covering his heart and he knew he couldn''t give this curse to someone else. There has to be another way Steven thought to himself, but he was at a loss. Here he was standing on a path he didn''t mean to end up on. Here he is searching for a way off, but the path just seems to be getting shorter and shorter with what appears to be a dead end. Steven walks down stairs and sees a plate of bacon that has been out for an hour or two. He grabs a few pieces I''ll need all the energy I can get today. Steven walks over to the phone and calls Marcus. "Hanson residence" Marcus''s mother answers "Yes, Mrs. Hanson this is Steven, is Marcus there?" Muffled Steven hears Marcus''s mom yell for him. "Hey, man what''s up," Marcus answers the phone. "Do you think we can head to Gus''s together? I still have to go..." Steven says disappointingly, but quiet enough to not upset his mother. "Sure man be here at 8 and we will head up." They hang up after making the plan. Steven gets dressed and walks out the door "Steven, where are you going?" His father siting in his recliner reading the paper asks without even looking up. "Marcus and I are going to hang out before Gus''s get together." Steven walks out the door. I have to be at Marcus''s at 8 that means I have time to find 2234 N Willow Drive. Steven heads to the library first to see if they have a map of the town. At the library Steven is able to see a map of the town at the front and just as he thought Willow Drive only went south of the town. "You''ve been standing at that map a while young man, is there anything I can help you with?" The librarian says while approaching him. Steven asks about North Willow and if there are roads not on the map "No this is the current map of the town. Everything you see is where it is supposed to be, well since the update about 60 years ago." Before the librarian closed her mouth Steven asks if they have any old maps. The librarian takes Steven to the local history section. "Right here you can find almost everything about this town since it was founded." The Librarian says as Steven rushes looking at the books. After an hour he finds an old book that dated back to the early 1900''s. Flipping through it he sees an old map of the town the town was a lot smaller back then. Checking it out he sees a Willow Drive going north of town. Excitedly he runs over to the current map to compare them. Okay, Willow Drive is here, then it looks like they made it dead end so it''s only going south. So technically once I hit the dead end I can just walk north. According to the current map, though it looks like there''s nothing but woods for miles. Finally arriving at the dead end of Willow Drive he parks his car and starts walking. Hours later he must have walked a couple miles. I don''t even know what I''m looking for, if I don''t head back soon I wont make it to Marcus''s in time. He decides to turn around and when he does he sees it. The gazebo?? Out here?? I just walked past there, It can''t be the same one, can it? Steven runs up to it and sure enough there was the empty lock box on the ground. Looking around the gazebo much more closely this time, but nothing is strange about it. He takes a look at the lockbox again. There it is Steven saw something etched into the bottom of the box he must not have been able to see during the storm on that unlucky day. He removes the dust over it to see the whole message but when he does it is only three words the light reveals.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. Steven rushes back to his car so he wouldn''t be late to Marcus''s. The light reveals what? What light? Speeding to get to Marcus''s on time he decides to try something. His small town only had 2 stop lights. Driving towards the first one, it was green, so Steven decided to cover his heart and the second he did it turned yellow then red. Just once is a coincidence. Driving to the second one from further away he covers his heart and it turns red. Still a good distance away he keeps his heart covered and continues going the speed limit towards it not slowing down. Once he was right in front of the light, he got ready to slam on the brakes if he had to. Right before he ran it he takes his hand off and it turns green. Drip. Marcus was driving to the party with Steven and he could tell Steven was nervous. "Don''t worry man, so many people go to these parties he wont notice you. Also, he spends most of the time during the party outside at the bonfire. Just stay in with me and have a good time. There is nothing to worry about." The two of them pull up to Gus''s house. A decent sized beat up two story house. They walk in the front door and right away Marcus starts conversing with other school mates. After a couple hours Steven asks to leave but Marcus didn''t want to leave yet. The entire time Steven stood by a wall and seemed to be trying to hide behind a small fire extinguisher. Right then Gus walks in to the house. "Tantescles? Oh I am glad to see you could make it. My old man wasn''t too happy about me missin'' school. That''s okay though because now I am going to teach you a lesson. The usual boys?" Gus''s minions cheered for the usual but Gus wasn''t happy with that. "Not the usual bring him to the fire pit where everyone else is." Steven is dragged to the fire pit. Marcus tries to pull the goons off but it''s no use. The students have formed a ring around the fire making it sure everyone could see what was about to go down. Gus''s goons threw Steven into the circle so it was just them. Backing away from Gus not wanting to get his ass beat in front of everyone Gus stops him. "Tantescles, I''ve been waiting to do this all week. I know you tipped off the principal. All week I''ve been thinking about how I wanted this to go down." Steven had his back to the fire and could feel that he wasn''t able to back up any further because of the heat. Gus wound his fist back and stepped towards Steven. Right before his fist made contact with Steven¡¯s face Steven stepped to the side as a natural reaction and made Gus lose his balance. Right then Gus fell face first into the fire. Frozen, Steven just stood there as everyone ran away from the scene and Gus''s screams filled the night sky. Steven ran back in the house to grab the fire extinguisher he saw earlier and told Marcus to call an ambulance. Steven ran back to Gus and the thought occurred if I let him die, will the candle reset? The first part was an accident but me not saving him would be on purpose. Standing there in a trance Marcus comes running out "What the hell are you doing man, spray him!" he yells. Steven snapped out of it and got the fire out and off of Gus when the ambulance pulled up. They stabilized him and got him into the ambulance in what seemed like seconds then sped off to the hospital. Steven and Marcus were silent the whole way back to Marcus''s house. Day 7 Steven woke up early with his family to go to church with them. Every Sunday their small-town church is filled with almost the entire town. The pastor was late to the service and comes running in ¡°Sorry, everyone, I was at the hospital and one of our members is in critical condition. Gus Mulch needs our prayers¡± the pastor says while bowing his head for a prayer. Stevens family sat in the middle a few rows behind the Hansons. Marcus looked back at Steven to see how he was dealing with it. The message that day was about forgiveness but Steven couldn''t help but laugh at it forgiveness? Are all actions forgivable? There has to be a line. After church everyone gathers downstairs in the lobby for refreshments. The people always chat about the local town gossip. Marcus and Steven step away from everyone to talk alone. ¡°How are you feeling, man? What are you going to do if your parents find out you were involved?¡± Me? He was trying to beat me up and I dodged. This wasn¡¯t my fault and he deserved everything that happened.¡± Marcus backed away after not ever seeing Steven act like this. He was always kind natured and even cared about what happened to Gus. This wasn¡¯t like him. Steven walked away from Marcus not in the mood to talk about it. He knew he didn¡¯t do anything wrong and that Gus got what was long coming for him. Steven needed some air and told his dad he was going to walk home. After walking about a block from the church Gus¡¯s goons catch up to him. ¡°We know you pushed him in that fire on purpose and you better believe we will get revenge for him¡± they all gather around him so there is no place to go. Still while circling him they lead him to an alley no one would be able to see them in. Once they get back there, Gus¡¯s right hand man Roger pulls out a switch blade while the other 3 hold him down. They push Steven down while Roger hovers over him and places the blade to Stevens neck. ¡°You can¡¯t push me in a fire now, can you?¡± Roger says. Right before his blade touches Stevens neck, he freezes. After a few seconds the goons wonder what¡¯s going on. Right then Roger¡¯s face turns purple and he falls over slamming his face into the pavement. Steven now had the knife in his hand he could be my first offering he thought but instead he throws the knife down and runs out of the alley. After a few minutes of walking Steven gets to his road and starts walking down it when something in the woods catches his eyes. He began walking to it but whatever it was keeps moving further and further away. He starts running towards it when a hidden root trips him and he hits his head. Laying there Steven passes out from the pain. ¡­ Steven sits up from his bed and feels hazy. Everything around him is different, but he recognizes all of it. After a few minutes he hears ¡°Is everything alright, honey?¡± Freaked out Steven looks beside him to see a strange lady in his bed with him. White as a ghost Steven jumps out and is frozen in a panic. ¡°Willis did you have a bad dream?¡± The woman says. Did she just call me Willis? ¡°You haven¡¯t been sleeping well lately have you. I¡¯ll get up and make you your favorite breakfast. She walks out of the room and Steven turns and sees his reflection in the mirror. That¡¯s not me. Who is that? Willis? Steven looks around and doesn¡¯t recognize his surroundings anymore and walks into the living room to see the strange woman making breakfast.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. He walks over to the table and sits down. The woman who Steven now realizes is his wife brings over rice and jellied veal. Staring at it, Steven is able to eat the rice but lost his appetite looking at the jellied veal. ¡°Is there something wrong, honey?¡± the woman looks over at him. ¡°It¡¯s nothing. Just still waking up please forgive me.¡± Steven says as he walks back to the bedroom Searching the room he opens a drawer and there it is, the candle with only a little over an inch left. Steven jumps back at the sight of so little left. He grabs it and runs out the door. Running down the street he doesn¡¯t recognize his surroundings at all. The streets have the same name but the desolate town didn¡¯t resemble his in the slightest. At that moment the old town map comes to his mind. Quickly almost on instinct he runs over to Willow drive to check it out. Desperately he tries to remember the address. 1234? No 3224? No¡­ that¡¯s right! 2234! He takes off running north on Willow drive. Suddenly he sees this old shack with the address he was looking for. He knocks at the door of the building to no answer and decides to open the door. It¡¯s unlocked. Looking around the shack was dark. No windows were in it, nothing was in it in fact. Knowing he didn¡¯t have a flashlight or anything to get more light he takes out the candle and the entire room lights up in writing. All over the wall words in different languages could be seen by the candlelight. Finally, he comes across some in English. RUN. Get to the gazebo. Shine the light at the ceiling. Steven wakes up on the ground in the woods. Covered in dirt it started raining when he was out. It was dark already and he forgot why he was out there. Looking up there it was, the gazebo. Rushing over he takes out the candle and stands on the bench inside. Holding it up as high as he can he can make out faint writing but it isn¡¯t clear enough. I need to find something to stand on. Desperately looking around he sees a log in the distance. He runs over and picks it up but when he turns around the Gazebo is gone. He carried the log for a while looking but cannot find where the gazebo has gone to. It being dark he decides to return home. Arriving home Steven sees the police in his driveway. ¡°There he is oh thank goodness he is okay¡± his mom yells from the porch, ¡°Steven where have you been you said you were walking home after church and it is 9 at night¡­. Oh no your head is bleeding? Are you okay?¡± His mom told the police to disregard the missing persons. ¡°We might have to come back soon though. Gus Mulch says Steven pushed him in a fire and we will be following up.¡± Steven and his mom went inside. ¡°Did you push Gus into a fire¡± His mom asked but Steven was speechless who does my mom think I am. Steven just walked away to his room without answering. While there he pulls the candle out to measure it. 5 in a half inches?! Where did it go? When did I get lucky? Steven thinks back to the past couple days and narrows it down to Gus falling into the fire. This candle shows that I got lucky. I wonder what might have happened if it didn¡¯t stop him when it did. What if I covered my heart, what would have happened to me? Steven get¡¯s ready for school the next day and heads to bed.