Aarya Bhatta
In a town full of myth, music, and magic, the strange silence that leaped over Wolfhaven was certainly peculiar. Not a single bird sang, the streets were empty, not a person in sight, and the sky was very cold and misty. As Lana walked around her hometown, she suddenly heard a haunting melody that gave her a strange feeling she couldn’t describe. She looked around, but not a thing was in sight. Thinking that her brain was messing with her, she rushed home. The comfort of her home, located on the far west side of town, made her heave a sigh of relief. Her parents’ car wasn’t in the driveway, which meant they weren’t home. Weird, she thought.
However, she was glad to be home alone. Now she could play all the loud music she wanted without getting screamed at.
This particular day made her miss her brother, Jim, more than ever. She had grown up listening to a collection of vinyl records that Jim owned and treasured. This is why she was a huge music lover, especially of the old hippie music from the '60s, '70s, '80s, and '90s. Jim had been a huge fan of music and had exposed her to the mystical world of rock and metal when she was just a little girl. They would spend hours jamming out to their favorite bands and singing along to the lyrics, much to the annoyance of their parents. But everything changed last year when he unexpectedly passed away in his room. Lana was devastated, and the loss of her brother left a void in her life. She missed his passion for music and the way he would get lost in the melodies. She also missed their late-night discussions about different bands and their songs.
She walked into the warmth of Jim’s room and started to play his favorite album, ‘Nevermind’ by Nirvana. Music was the only way she felt closer to him. As Lana started rummaging through his things for the thousandth time, a strong force started to drive her toward the bookshelf. In the middle of her search, her eyes caught something peculiar. She found a book that she had never seen before. The cover of the book was red. ‘Key to Heaven’ it read in small writing that Lana almost missed. She recognized the writing to be her brother’s, and as she went through the book, she found a key inside. Confused as to what the key could be for, she suddenly remembered the storage room Jim had always kept locked. She had never been inside it, and no one in the family knew where the key was. She hesitantly tried the key, and to her surprise, it worked. The strong force was back, and it drove her inside quicker than ever.
Inside the room, there were shelves upon shelves, filled with thousands of vinyl records from different artists, including her brother's favorites. “You are good Jim, very good,” she said to herself, in shock of what she was seeing in front of her. She started to explore the room, and it felt never-ending. The weird force was pulling her even stronger this time, to a dark corner of the room. All of a sudden, her eyes were drawn to a small box on the bottom shelf that said 'Do Not Open' in bold letters. Lana’s curious mind got the best of her, and she opened the box anyway, finding a mysterious CD inside. Just like the book she had found, the CD cover also had the same words ‘Key to Heaven.’ But this time it was not her brother’s writing, and it certainly was not written with a pen. It was written with blood.
Shocked and horrified, Lana let out a scream. Something tempted her to play the CD anyway. She was even more shocked when ‘November Rain’ by Guns N Roses started playing. Maybe this is just a funny prank Jim planned for her. Maybe that wasn’t blood but some red paint that was used for their Halloween decoration. However, her short-lived relief soon turned into confusion, and confusion into horror, as the room began to spin, and before she knew it, she was trapped inside the CD.
Confused and scared was an understatement to describe how Lana was feeling at that moment. Inside the CD was a room with floating music notes, song melodies, other CDs, and vinyls. Then something unbelievable happened. Jim was walking around the room. Jim, who had passed away two years ago in front of her own eyes, was wandering around like a soulless ghost. She could see him, but couldn’t interact with him. He didn't speak or even look at her, he just walked around the strange room, which was now turning whiter and brighter every second.
Lana thought she must be hallucinating, but it all felt too real. She couldn't touch anything, but everything was there in front of her. Out of the blue, the same melody that played a while back when she was out in town started to play again. Her heartbeat was rising faster than ever, and then she walked towards the direction of the sound. It led her to a small, golden music box. A music box that looked exactly like the one that her brother gave her on her 9th birthday. A feeling of dread washed over her as she reached out to grab the music box and opened it.
“AHHHHHHHHH,” she screamed out of terror as a giant, scary Reaper emerged from it. It had a black cloak on and had the creepiest face you could ever imagine. Just when she thought things couldn't get any worse, a dark, ominous tune filled the room. The Reaper got closer to her and said, “First the brother, now the sister. How perfect,” he said with a creepy grin. Seeing the confusion, terror, and nervousness in Lana’s face, the Reaper revealed that her brother had made a deal with him before his death. Just like she had, Jim had also been trapped the same way and found the Reaper, but he couldn't bear not seeing Lana again. In that case, he had given his soul to the reaper in exchange for the chance to reunite with Lana one last time in this mysterious room. Hearing this Lana started to hysterically cry out loud with tears streaming down, having gone mad with what she had just heard. ‘What is happening? Is this a really bad nightmare? Am I dying?’ she started to wonder again. Not a single word could be uttered by her. She was horrified to learn that her brother had been trapped in this strange musical world, and now, she was trapped here with him. She couldn't leave, and her brother couldn't leave either. They were both prisoners of this twisted deal.
Out of little sympathy, the Reaper gave Lana two choices. She could stay in the room with her brother for eternity, or she could take her brother's place and go back to the real world, never to return. Lana thought long and hard. She couldn't bear the thought of leaving her brother alone in this eerie world, but she would rather have him back home even if it meant she would be missing. Making the ultimate sacrifice, she switched places with him.
“Holy cow, what was that dream? Scared me to death!” said Jim as he woke up, confused as ever and realizing that it was just a silly nightmare. Or was it?
