When Emi and her twin brother finished university, they both got jobs in the same city. Emi was secretly hoping that her brother Colin would ask her to move in with him. She dropped hints for weeks about different things she thought would look good in a new apartment, asking him questions about what kind of apartment he was looking for, watching homemaking shows on the television. Finally, he either got the hint or arrived at the conclusion himself.
"Hey Emi, how would you feel about buying a condo together? We could share equity while we pay a mortgage instead of paying a landlord, we could decorate however we wanted and..."
Emi had stopped listening, and was already eagerly agreeing. Her cheeks burned with embarrassment, but she was excited to have him near her again. She knew that it was inappropriate, but she'd always had a crush on her twin, as much as she tried to hide it. It had been torture the last four years, only getting to see him on holidays and vacations. Knowing that they'd be sharing a space all to themselves, that she'd get to see him every day, to smell his scent in the living room, to laugh and joke with him over dinner, like an old married couple...
"Yes, Colin, I'd love to."
The condo that they found seemed perfect for them. It was at the high end of their budget, but their parents promised to help out if they ever needed it. Emi had a huge room and a private bathroom for herself, Derek had a nice room that caught the sunrise in the morning, and they agreed to split the third bedroom as an office. There was a decent living room, so they could have friends over, and a half-kitchen half-dining room that was just large enough to be comfortable rather than cramped.
"Is there anything we should know?" Colin asked the Realtor. "Like why it's so much cheaper than other condos in the same building?"
"There's one thing, but it's kind of weird. The last person to live here was only here for about six months. She said she heard voices in the walls at night. Started trying to sell it basically as soon as she moved in."
"Spooky," Emi said.
"I wouldn't worry about it, though," the Realtor told them. "Nobody else on the floor has said anything of the sort. I knew the guy who lived here before her as well, and he never mentioned anything like that."
With the help of their parents and the knowledge that the previous owner was trying to sell fast, Emi and Colin put in an offer lower than asking price, firmly in their budget, and only a couple weeks later were able to move in to their first home together.
Emi felt giddy as she and her brother unpacked their new home. She decorated and organized as much as she could while they went, filling the kitchen and living room and bedrooms. Colin seemed surprised by how into the house-making she was getting, but went along with it as he moved and unpacked boxes.
The office they would share was the only thing that distracted them. As they started loading things into the closet, they discovered a small door.
"I've heard of these in old houses," Emi said. "Back in the fifties, everyone would have a card table, so they started building little card table spaces next to the closet for storage."
"Is this place really that old?" Colin asked, bending down to peak into the small storage place. He moved his hand inside and gripped something, tugging on it as it stubbornly refused to move.
"Did someone leave us a card table?" Emi asked.
"I don't think so," Colin said, pulling hard as the object finally relented and popped out, as if summoned by Emi's voice.
They were both slightly confused to find a large and ancient looking leather-bound book with a small lock on it. Colin tried to pull the book open, but the lock stood strong.
"Hmm," Colin said.
Something about the book gave Emi an eerie feeling, vibes that she couldn't quite articulate, something scary, yet inviting at the same time, like an old pair of scissors in an antique shop.
"I don't think we should mess with it, Emi," Colin said. "At least not today."
Emi searched his face, wondering if he was feeling the same thing she was, and concluded that he probably was.
"We can put it in the old trunk," she said.
"Yeah," Colin said. "We'll call around to the local colleges or universities tomorrow, see if anyone might have a skeleton key, or maybe just want to take it from us."
"Yeah," Emi said. "It's just a book. Nothing to get freaked out by."
By the time they finished unpacking, the sun was starting to set, and they were starving. They ordered a pizza and ate it from the coffee table, watching a scary movie on the television. Thoughts of the odd book faded as they distracted themselves. Emi moved close to Colin and put her head down on his shoulder, and Colin put his arm around her, resting his hand on her shoulder. Emi smiled at his touch, thinking about how she could get used to this.
When the movie finished, they went off to their own bathrooms and finally to their own beds. Emi took off her day clothes and changed into a pair of panties and a t-shirt, before sliding beneath her comforter to savor the way her twin brother had held her.
That should have been the end of the day, but as she began to drift off, Emi heard a voice calling her name. It was strange -- there was one dominant voice, surrounded by echoing swirling whispers. It seemed to be coming from far away, but she thought it must be close as well, muffled by something, yet still clearly audible in her mind. Her eyes stopped closing, and she sat up in bed, listening for the voice cloaked in whisper. Then she realized what it must be.
The wooden floors of her bedroom were a little cold as she stepped back out of bed, the hallway dark, the living room full of shadows. She found the old trunk in which they'd put the ancient book, and lifted the lid, peering down at the tome.
"Emi," the book said clearly, the whispers echoing in her mind. "You came for me."
Her hand moved down into the trunk, then hesitated.
"Please," the book pleaded. "Don't hesitate. I won't bite. I couldn't if I wanted to."
Emi's fingers reached down and took the old book, lifted it, then dropped it on the coffee table next to the pizza box from earlier.
"I need your help, Emi," the book said.
"What help?" Emi asked aloud, wondering if she might be losing her mind. "How could I possibly help you."
"You must have noticed my current predicament," the book said. "I'm trapped in here. I need you to release me."
"You're... trapped in the book?"
"Exactly," the voice said. "I've been waiting for centuries for someone who was sensitive enough to the supernatural to hear me, someone who might be kind and powerful enough to release me from this prison."
"How?" Emi asked. "How were you trapped in a book?"
"I was cursed," the voice said. "I was engaged to a woman who I loved dearly. But before we could marry, it was discovered that she was a witch. The town gathered together to chase her away and burn her property. She came to me and begged me to go with her, as her husband. But how could I? I couldn't help the rest of the town hunt her, I still loved her after all. But I couldn't be with her either. So I sent her away. In her fury at my trepidation, she took my consciousness and sealed it away in this book. I've been here ever since."
