If you want to enter the mystery contest, just finish the mystery I’ve started below by entering your part of the story into a comment. The contest is open to all writers of any age and skill level. Have fun and take the story in any direction you like. None of the comments will appear until a winner is picked.
I’ll post the winner on Thursday, October 28.
The beginning of the story takes the form of a hastily written email complete with misspellings and awkward phrasing. Just finish the story by entering your text into a comment and make it as scary as you can!
Good luck.
Here’s how the mystery email starts:
From: stephipro31
To: [email protected]
Date: 10/30/2009 12:31 pm
Subject: I’m Don’t Know What to Do – Please Call Me!Jen, oh my god I really don’t know what to make of this or do. You must call me soon. Right away!!! I can’t believe this! Am I going crazy or is this for real? Anyway I guess I better lay it out for you as quickly and simply as I can.
Oh well… ok, so it was the other day, Wednesday I think, right after you told me on the phone that you would meet me for lunch at Mr. Pete’s and we’d go from there to the park. Remember I was in a hurry doing laundry? Well I got mad because the washer got stuck, you know how with too much in the load the spin thing goes all out of whack and wobbles until the whole thing just stops dead? That happened.
So I was all pissed and I had a pile of Jake’s whites in my arms and I was tripping over crap on the floor and his shoes and I tried to reach with my finger to push my coffee cup away from the edge of the dresser but it spilled and I got ever madder.
So I threw the clothes down and yanked his drawer open and it came all the way out of the whole dresser and made a big crack and it smashed my foot. Well after I stopped cursing and being all curled up on the floor holding my foot I tried to put the drawer back in place. But i saw a little package on the floor underneath where the drawer should be. It was wrapped in brown paper and twine. I picked it up.
This is really freaking me out, Jen. So anyway, I held the little package and then I just thought, ‘Who cares? I’m just gonna open it and if Jake gets mad well then he can do his own laundry for a while.
So I unwrapped it and it turned out to be a really old black book with a leather cover that smelled that way old leather things get in an attic you know? It was even crumbly at the edges and the spine was broken and the whole front cover was almost wiggling right off. But I opened it and it was filled with writing. Some in ink. Some in pencil that was faded.
The very first thing on page one said, ‘London is a town with much to offer me and it is with a sinking heart that I leave it, bound for Austria on the fourth, then on, several days later, to Sarajevo.’
That’s how it started, Jen. So I read that and then my finger went in the pages at the back of the book and there was this lump. I flipped to the back and some pages were all stuck together. Glued, Jen. Glued together to make a pouch. It felt like something was in there, so I tore it open and some pictures fell out. Four little photos. And then I picked them up and I looked at one which was of a woman in a black dress with a big locket on a chain around her neck. She was beautiful even though the photo was very old and hardly even there any more. I saw photos of two different houses lying on the floor. Just houses with lots of trees around them. But then I saw the fourth photo Jen. And oh god I don’t know what to do and I screamed. My body was shaking and I just let out a scream I was so scared Jen. The fourth little photo on my bedroom floor had a date written on it right on front Jen. 1897. That’s what it said.
And I picked it up to see it closer. I couldn’t breathe it was jake
can you help me now jen? I’m so scared now because it was him.
Now, continue the mystery by leaving a comment.
Editor’s Note: Here is the winning entry for the Mystery Contest!
********************
As I was trying to get over the shock of seeing Jake in a photograph that was dated over 100 years ago, I heard keys jangling against the front door. I hastily stowed away the notebook under the drawer to act as though I never seen it.
Jake came in with groceries and was acting all normal but I just couldn’t get the picture out of my head. Is he vampire? No. Because he walks in they daylight and all that and vampires aren’t supposed to be able to walk in the daylight, right?
But then what is he? And who was that woman. Did he kill her? Did he steal her soul or something like to live as long as he did.
I made excuses and told him that I had to go out but he seemed to notice that I was freaking out. He asked me what was wrong and I don’t know what came over me but I just kept shivering. I was so scared. I’m still scared.
Anyway, I barely made my escape and went to the library to search his name online for death receipts and all that. His name came up as being the son of this renowned scientist who disappeared mysteriously along with the rest of his family.
There are a lot of legends of speculations as to what happened to the family. One story tells an anecdote of how the scientist was actually childless and never produced an offspring for years and all of a sudden he had a son. People would have thought that he had adopted the kid or something but neighbors are saying that the child just appeared out of nowhere. Jake was kept a secret until his teens.
What the hell? Did this scientist do some kind of frankenstein thing? if so, Jake’s definitely not human. What the hell is he?
i was freaking out and quite literally almost peeing myself when there was a knock on the front door.”ahhh!” i screamed. i ran down the stairs and opened the door and Jake was there i screamed slammed the door and stood there. Jake called out to me, “Steph, whats wrong open the door.” “no. what are you?”
“what do you think i am, im a human idiot. now let me into the door, now.”
“no i found a picture of you from 1897, whats happening with you jake.”
“where did you find it?”
“In a parcel under your drawers, why?”
“nnnnnnnnnoooooooooooooo!!”
i love the story please post the rest
post the rest!