"Are you sure we should do this, Abdullah?" Oscar asked as they walked along a greasy footpath on Fifth Street.
"Dead sure." Abdullah replied. After a few minutes they finally reached the shop.
Abdullah slowly opened the door. A bell rang as they opened it. The shop was filled with almost the same things that were present in Abdullah's room.
There was a long reception desk in front of Oscar and Abdullah. Abdullah rang the small bell on the table.
"Who is it?" a voice from the end of the shop asked.
"It's Abdullah!" Oscar's best friend called back.
Mystic Dave appeared after a few minutes. He was wearing a long purple robe with a similarly colored top hat. Long white curly hair juggled down by his sides. He slightly resembled Dumbledore from the Harry Potter series but without the beard.
"Oh. Dear Apprentice. You have finally returned." Mystic Dave welcomed Abdullah with a smile.
"That I have, Master." Abdullah replied in an almost distinct tone of voice that Oscar had never heard before.
Abdullah motioned to Oscar to hand him the book. Oscar reluctantly handed it over.
"This book possesses special powers." Abdullah said placing it on the counter then opening it.
Mystic Dave stared at the title. "Yes, it seems to be possessed by someone named Samantha Nicole."
Oscar and Abdullah exchanged excited glances.
"You mean it's a ghost book?" Oscar asked.
Mystic Dave chuckled. "I was just joking, lads." He had a transatlantic accent.
"Oh." Both friends said in unison.
"Are you trying to prank me because April Fools is long gone?"
"No. Look." Abdullah told him.
Oscar took out a switchblade he had bought on the way over to Mystic Dave and slit the side of one of his fingers. The drops of blood landed, disappeared, and then turned into a handwritten sentence. Who are you introducing to me this time?
Mystic Dave's eyes almost popped out of the sockets. "I know what this is."
"What?" Oscar and Abdullah asked in unison.
"It's a diary of the dead."
"Diary of the dead?" Abdullah asked.
"Yes. People sign a signature to transfer their souls in a book after they've died." Mystic Dave continued.
"Why do they do that?" Oscar asked with his heart pounding against his chest.
"I don't know. I haven't tried it myself." Mystic Dave laughed at his own joke.
Both friends seemed to have lost their sense of humor.
"Because their souls can somehow be resurrected by a person with a pure soul."
"How exactly?" Oscar questioned.
"Ten bucks." Mystic Dave said outstretching his hand.
"What?"
"Five for the story and another five for what I'm about to tell you."
Abdullah checked his jacket for his wallet.
"That's okay. I'll pay him." Oscar hastily took out his wallet and paid Mystic Dave.
Mystic Dave thanked Oscar placing his fee inside the cash register. Oscar studied the table and saw a small portrait of an attractive woman with light brown hair holding a little girl who seemed to be five or six years old. She had the woman's eyes and hair color.
"Who are they?" Oscar asked Mystic Dave.
"My wife and daughter." He replied.
Oscar studied the background of the picture. A large train was passing on a railway track and the surroundings were filled with greenery.
"That looks like-"
"Germany." Mystic Dave said interrupting Oscar.
"Yeah. So they live there?"
"They're dead, Oscar." Abdullah whispered to him.
Mystic Dave didn't seem to hear Oscar's question. He was busy checking the money inside the cash register. He closed it and returned their attention to them.
"I'm not sure if it's certain but… they say if you pour your blood on the first page of the book on the night of the full moon standing next to the dead person's body you could…"
"You could bring them back to life?" Abdullah said.
"Yes but your soul must be pure in order to do it." Mystic Dave's green eyes flashed at Oscar.
A chill ran down Oscar's spine. This guy gives me the creeps.
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