I stared at the paper but mostly the key. I didn't want to get involved but having the key with me didn't seem to be my ticket out.

I went over to the mirror and had my back to it.

It was nerve-wracking. Having the key kind of pushed me to the edge of believing it was all real and I knew if I check it out again and still see the mark on my back, it would be concluded.

I took a deep breath and loosened the first two buttons of my shirt. I lowered it slowly to expose my back.

I let out a soft disappointed sigh.

It was still there.

I thought it through.

I have to go to a forbidden forest filled with dangerous monsters who feed on humans, find Kathryn who could be anywhere in the forest, get the five gems which I have no idea where I'm supposed to find them, and stop the boss whose heart is slowly beating from fully awakening while we protect the second mark, and finally shut the door keeping the monsters in. Easy.

Like hell!

So long as monsters are included, I don't even have to give it a second thought.

I didn't know what sort of monsters he meant but as long as I could remember, which is practically my whole life, monster meant monster.

So I decided. I was too weak for something like that. Adventures weren't my thing so I knew someone else would be better off than me.

But the issue I had at the moment was the key. It was right in my hand and if the old man had asked me to give it to his grandson, it is definitely to be used on their journey.

I had to give it back.

I got down from my bed and went down to the living room. Aunt Beatrice was gone.

I had one problem. I didn't know the way to the nursing home. I sighed as I went back up to my room. I took out my phone and quickly dialed aunt Beatrice.

"Alex"

"Aunt Beatrice!" I said a little louder than I had meant. I had to keep my cool.

"Someone sounds energetic this morning"

I chuckled nervously and got straight to the point "I need to get to the nursing home but I don't know the way"

"You want to come here? Are you sure about that, you didn't have such a great time here yesterday"

"you don't say" I muttered under my breath and then said, "it's okay, I can handle a few crazy. I had fun yesterday...you know. before that happened".

"Well I'm glad to hear that but then again you don't have to worry about having to deal with Mr. Westley anymore," she said and I heard her give a disturbed sigh.

"Aunt Beatrice, what's wrong?"

"Well. you see, I had to get to work early cause of Mr. Westley"

"why? What happened?"

Aunt Beatrice gave a Pause like she was thinking about letting me know.

Then she let it out.

"He's dead".

"What?!"

I found myself screaming at the top of my voice.

"Wow that was loud," aunt Beatrice said over the phone.

"Wait, you don't mean it does you? Nononononono no. He can't be dead!"

"I knew I shouldn't have told you. I thought you weren't going to like a man you had contact with dying the next day, it feels like a total bad omen. Just stay calm okay? it's all..."

Aunt Beatrice went on as she kept drifting far away from my point, but I wasn't bothered about that. He's dead? The old man is dead? Great timing.

I was just going to get the key back to him and tell him I didn't want to be involved in whatever was going on.

"So don't worry about it okay?" Aunt Beatrice said

"Huh?" I realized I hadn't been listening to her but I said either way "huh yeah, don't worry I'm totally fine now"

"Then that's great. Now about you coming here, how about I send–"

"Uh—on second thought I'll just stay back. I just realized I have to do something really important"

Yeah, like think over how my having a normal life had just vanished into thin air, I thought.

"oh. okay then" she stretched and then quickly added, "Make sure you have breakfast okay?"

"Yeah, bye" I hung up

How on earth was I supposed to return the key?

I looked at my pillow on my bed with dead eyes then I walked over to it like a zombie. I took it and stared at it, then I slowly brought it to my face.

I screamed like crazy.

All I wanted was just normal life.

I flung the pillow on the bed furiously and ran my fingers through my bed hair. I sat waiting for nothing in particular.

Then I looked at the piece of paper he had given me, lying on the bed. I took it and began to unfold the paper.

'If the address is just someplace I've never heard of the stupid key might as well be gone forever, I thought and wished it was somewhere I knew nothing about. I could use that as an excuse and not feel guilty for keeping the key.

I read the written address and I knew I was cursed.

I knew the street written on the paper. It was just a turn away from aunt Mille's house.

I dug my teeth into my right thumb real hard.

I guess it'll be stupid of me to call this a great summer after all that's happened.

                          +++++.

That night, while we ate dinner. I couldn't stop thinking about the key. I hadn't noticed aunt Beatrice had stopped eating and was now staring at me.

"Alex" she called.

"Uh?" I looked up at her

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, why?"

"You haven't touched your food"

I looked down at my plate of spaghetti meatballs and realized she was right. "Oh"

"Don't you like it? Or are you still worried about Mr. Westley?"

"No, it's nothing like that" with that I dug in and started to eat.

"You know you can tell me if anything is bothering you"

'That didn't go so well last night'.

Either way, I gave her a reassuring smile as we ate.

"Aunt Beatrice," I said as I picked at my meatball "since you're so into horror movies, how would you feel if you had a dream, and in that dream, someone gave you a key...to–something I guess. and when you woke up you found the key in your hand?"

she looked at me and gave it a thought.

"That would just be awesome"

I raised a brow at that reply.

"Then what if you were in the bathroom and suddenly you see a face in the mirror made out of the fog?"

"I think I would like to experience that," she said looking serious and I sighed. once again I felt stupid for thinking of asking aunt Beatrice.

"Why do you ask that?" she asked me and I sighed

"No reason"

I picked at a meatball and went silent for a while. Then I shot at her again "Have you ever been asked to do something you absolutely want nothing to do with?"

She gave me a look. I'm sure she was wondering why I've gotten all chatty when she's usually the one going on about something, but I couldn't help it.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Y-yeah, yeah I'm fine" I tried to throw a fork full down my throat but I couldn't get it to go down to my satisfaction.

"Well. I guess I have" Aunt Beatrice said and I looked at her.

"Back in high school, I became the school president out of my own will. My friends nominated me and made me run for it even when I had zero interest. That really pissed me off. I got mad at them for deciding that on their own without asking for my opinion"

'Tell me about it' I thought

"I knew I wouldn't be able to pull it off...well, that was until a friend had told me this. She told me 'it's alright for you to get upset at them, but did you also think that they had done that cause they knew you had the potential?' That made absolutely no sense for a moment, but later after I decided to go along with them I realized they were right. They had seen in me something I couldn't, an ability I hadn't realized I had and till this very moment I'm so glad I became school president"

'An ability they had seen that she couldn't?' I thought over to myself and tried to place myself in such a situation.

Immediately, I chuckled silently.

The only thing that could be seen inside me was my pathetic state.

"All I had to do was to be brave about it"

'That's one thing I know I couldn't do'.