The Little Black Book Of Death

By Jackson Stark

Max and Beau were best friends, had been since the day they had met. In many ways, they couldn’t have been more different. Beau was popular and very good-looking. He was a great athlete particularly in baseball and was looked upon favorably by almost everyone. Max… Max was just different, he was very introverted and soft-spoken. He wasn’t disliked by any means most people seemed to not even know he existed. He was always scribbling in his notebook or had his nose in a book. The two had almost nothing in common, except for one thing, they loved to be scared. Whenever a new horror film was out they were always there opening day and would usually see it multiple times in the cinema if it were a particularly good film. Most of all they loved explored local legends and urban legends, especially if they involved the supernatural or murder. Their favorite being that of the story of Doctor Bartholomew Booth of Oakridge Asylum. Doctor Booth had been a Doctor of Oakridge Asylum during the early 1900s and infamously used the patients of his asylum as guinea pigs in his experiments. Some say he was trying to master the secrets of the brain, others say he was a warlock using the patients as sacrifices for his evil spells. Whatever the reason hundreds of patients lost their lives under Doctor Booth’s Blade. Before the police could arrest him Booth went on a rampage killing all the patients on the eastern wing before putting a shotgun barrel into his mouth and pulling the trigger. According to legend Doctor Booth’s spirit was trapped in the ruins of the old asylum on the outskirts of town, and more so his journal lay hidden somewhere, and inside it were all his secrets and allegedly the secrets of his dark powers given to him by the devil himself. No one had ever found the journal, most never dared to enter the ruins, Beau and Max hoped to change all that.

The two decided to set out to the asylum that Saturday. Beau had recently gotten his driver’s license and could now drive them as it was a bit too long of a walk. Beau pulled up to Max’s house mid-morning in his brand new cherry red dodge challenger. Max’s house was a very modest one-story house. It was just him and his dad, his mother had died two years ago. They had always struggled to pay the bills but Max and his dad always seemed to endure. Max knew Beau’s family had more money than him. Beau’s parents were both lawyers with their own firm and money was never a problem. It didn’t use to bother him, at least until they started high school. Max and Beau had been inseparable since the first grade, but lately, Beau was never around. They were at that transitional period in their lives that we all get to, after all, they were in high school now. It took some convincing to get Beau along for this expedition, but for Max, this was an obsession. For Max the legend of Doctor Booth wasn’t just a story, it was an obsession. He had spent hours and hours reading every book, article, and essay on the subject. He didn’t know why the story fascinated him so much, it spoke to him in a way he couldn’t explain. All he knew was he needed to find Doctor Booth’s journal.

Max walked up to Beau’s challenger, as soon as he opened the door he could smell the awful sweet smell of Beau’s vape and hear the pounding of some top 100 song he didn’t care to listen to. “Hey, bud ready for our big adventure?” Beau said as he raced out of Max’s driveway. “Ready as ill ever be man!” Max yelled over Beau’s sound system. I didn’t see you at the game the other night man, thought you were coming man?” Beau seemed hurt as he said this. “You know I hate going to the games. All your friends don’t want me there, that’s obvious plus seeing you show off isn’t exactly my idea of a fun time.” Max said to Beau as he turned down the blaring stereo. “Where’s this all coming from man?” Said Beau. Max leaned back into this seat afraid to tell his best friend how he really felt. “Every since we started freshman year you’ve been a distant man. I hardly ever see you and when I do you’re hanging with your teammates and I feel like the odd man out. Beau took all this as if he had been hit with a bag of bricks. It was true he didn’t spend as much time with Max as maybe he should have, but they had ended up in different social circles as time had gone on. Beau turned off the radio and said. “I didn’t know you felt this way man, I’m really sorry man but I’ve just had a lot on my plate lately. School, the team, people are noticing me for the first time and it’s just overwhelming me, dude.” I’m sorry if I made you feel left out but come one man!” He playfully slugged Max on the shoulder. “We’re finally gonna explore the asylum!” We’ve been talking about doing this since 6th grade.” Max faked a smile and slid back into his seat. He knew Beau was just humoring him. He knew that Beau wasn’t really invested in this trip. The truth is They had been drifting ever since the start of the school year. They hardly ever saw each other, no more weekend horror screenings at the multiplex, or late-night research sessions on Doctor Booth, Beau had simply lost interest, but not Max. For Max finding this journal wasn’t just some silly adventure, it was all that mattered to him. If he found it in his eyes he would finally be someone, and maybe save his friendship with Beau in the process.

After a 40 minute drive that seemed to drag on the two parked the car at the old dilapidated gate, squeezed through the bars, and began the walk through the woods to the hospital. Beau not liking the awkward silence tried to break it by whistling the opening theme to The Shining as they made the trek to the asylum. “Remember that sleepover where we watched that for the first time?” Said Beau as he fondly looked back on the memory. Max chucked remembering it as if it were yesterday. “ We got so scared when your dad came in to tell us not to stay up too late just as Jack kills Halloran, we spilled the popcorn all over your bed and made your old man jump!” Max and Beau shared a laugh as they continued down the dirt path towards the front of the asylum. “Can’t believe how long ago that was” said Max. I miss those sleepovers. “We should do one after we’re done here,” said Beau excitedly. “We can pick up a pizza from Vanderbilts and watch something, I hear Daniel Isn’t Real is good.” Sure that sounds great man” said Max even though he knew it wouldn’t happen. They had had this conversation several times before, making plans that would never happen. At some point, Beau would get a text about a party or something with the baseball team or someone and he’d make a raincheck with Max. If Max had a dollar for every raincheck Beau had ever given him, let’s just say he would have a lot of dollar bills.

As they continue idle chatter about various other horror films they had recently seen they realized they were finally here. Words cannot describe the state of the asylum. It stuck out like a rotting wound around the surrounding area. The roof was almost nonexistent and the estate looked as if it had never had any color at all in its foundation. As soon as they stepped foot onto the property they noticed that the soil was different than the surrounding area, it was dead. The ground was as gray as the sky during a dangerous storm. The few trees that were still standing were long dead and looked as if the souls that had once inhabited them were trapped inside in eternal torment. A gargoyle long decayed but still intact was perched at the center of what was left of the roof, looking over the grounds like some demon lord.

“Just as creepy as the pictures in all the books, right man?” Beau said with fear in his voice and a slight stutter. “Yeah dude creepy as fuck.” Said Max, this wasn’t true. Max strangely felt no fear whatsoever, in fact, he felt comfortable as if he were about to enter his own home. As they moved towards the archway Max opened the backpack he had brought and removed the supplies they would need. Two flashlights, one thermos of water, his pocket knife, and a crucifix and container of salt, just in case. “Seriously dude?” Said Beau jokingly “Who do you think you are Dean Winchester?” Max threw a flashlight to Beau harder than one would throw. “Can never be too careful, stop fucking around and take this seriously.” Beau was shocked to see this from Max but relented and stopped laughing. “Fine, where do we start?” Said Beau. “According to all my research Booth had a secret office where he kept his most secret research data.” “If the journal is real that’s where it will be, supposedly it’s somewhere in the lower level near the operating room.” Max continued to explain and as he did he seemed to be in a trance. “It’s where he did the lobotomies and other experimental brain surgery.” “Let’s get to it!” His yell filled the entire room, as he made his way through the entry room and into the dark and decaying halls of the asylum.

As they made their way through the dark and dank halls of the asylum, a feeling of dread began to slowly make its way up Beau’s spine till the hairs on his neck stood up. He felt colder and colder as they made their way further into the halls of this cursed place. “How is it this cold?” Beau thought to himself. “It’s 95 outside and this place hasn’t had power in decades.”Along with the chill, Beau began to imagine what this place must have been like when it was open as they passed the patient’s rooms. They were called rooms but Beau knew better, this was a dungeon, and the rooms where the patients were locked away like animals waiting to be experimented on. “Hey man I’m getting a bad feeling here, lets get out of here and head back to my place,” Beau said with a slight crack in his voice. He could feel an evil presence all around him and the further they went, the more intense the feeling became. “Quit being a little bitch Beau,” Max said with a cold forceful tone. This shocked Beau as he felt he was not talking to his oldest friend, he was talking to a complete stranger, and he didn’t like what who he was speaking to. At long last, they made it to the entrance to the lower-level wing. The elevator was long out of use so they would have to use the stairs. The lower level wing smelled awful, words cannot describe it. It was as if they were smelling blood, human waste, and rotten food all at once. As they made their way down the stairs one step gave out causing Beau to lose his balance and fall. As he fell he suddenly heard voices, loud chaotic monstrous voices. The voices moaned whispered and cried out, but no word could be understood. Suddenly Beau looked up and saws something that made him want to cry out in terror, but no sound could escape his lips. He was staring at a horrifying pair of monstrous yellow eyes and a sinister smile with predator-like teeth. The entity whispered to him “This is your new home.” Suddenly Beau’s voice exploded in a blood-curdling scream, he was raving like a madman. Coldwater splashed across his face as he opened his eyes he saw Max looking down at him. “Must have been some nightmare, you were screaming like a banshee.” Said Max as he helped Beau to his feet. “What happened?” Said Beau as he started to come out of it. You fell down the stairs and banged your head up against the wall on the way down.” Said Max. Did you see them?!” Beau said frantically. “The yellow eyes? The smile?! It was the most horrible thing I’ve ever seen.” Max replied chuckling as he did. “Nah man you’re just talking head case delirium.” He was lying, he too saw the yellow eyes and smile, and it spoke to him as well.

As they searched through the lower level trying to find Booth’s office Max’s sense became intensified, not in the general way mind you but in a way that can only be described as second sight. He became like a bloodhound focused on the location of the journal and all of the power and secrets that lay within. Max became drawn to a wall at the center end of the hall and without warning punched through it with one punch causing the wall to shatter. The spot Max had hit had been hollow, obviously left behind by Doctor Booth to his secret office. “What the… what? How? What the fuck man, how did you do that?” Beau said as he struggled to comprehend what he had just witnessed. Max came out of his trance and looked at his bloody hand in shock. “I, I don’t know. I just knew where it was and where the wall was weak.” Max and Beau entered the secret room, it was like something out of a horror film. The shelves were lined with jars upon jars filled with human organs and severed body parts. The walls were lined with what looked like ancient symbols that defied explanation and reason, and at the center of the room sitting upon Booth’s desk was a black medical bag. As Max moved towards it he could hear the voices again, and with those voices were the yellow eyes staring right at him and giving him that same sinister smile. “Open it, it’s yours.” Beau was now terrified beyond belief as Max once again became lost in a trance as he moved towards the black bag. “This isn’t fun anymore dude, let’s get the fuck out of here.” As he tried to reason with his old friend Max opened the bag and suddenly the room became as silent as the grave. Max removed its contents, a rusty syringe and stethoscope, a scalpel, and a black book with the initials B.B.B on the cover. Max could feel its power just by touching the book, suddenly he felt more powerful than he ever had in his entire life. “Max comes on let’s get out of here,” Beau said as he tried to reason with his friend. “Just leave it and let’s go home.” Max picked up the scalpel and turned to Beau. “This is your home Beau.” Max lunged at Beau like a wild predator attacking its prey. Beau managed to get out the way and began to run. He didn’t get far as Max chased him down and stabbed him in the leg with the scalpel. Beau cried out in pain and responded by delivering a punch straight to the side of Max’s face. “What’s wrong with you!” “I’m your best friend!” Tears ran down Beau’s face as he tried to reason with his friend. “I’m sorry I haven’t been there for you Max, I’m sorry I’ve taken you for granted.” Max stood his ground scalpel in hand and a blank piercing stare on his face. “I love you man.” Said Beau as he opened up to Max. “You’ve been my brother since first grade and I do miss the way things used to be with us.” People drift as they get older, but we things will be different when we get out of here.” Max’s grip on the scalpel listened as he listened to his friend’s pleas. “I know this isn’t you Max, its’s that damn book and this horrible place.” “My best friend isn’t capable of doing these things.” Max seemed to come out of the trance and walked towards his friend. “Just drop the scalpel and leave the book and let’s get out of here man.” Beau moved closer to Max. I need you man, I need you to be my friend again.” Suddenly a sharp pain arose in Beau’s abdomen. He looked and noticed the blood gushing from him and Max’s hand holding the scape. “Well, I don’t need you anymore.” Beau fell to the ground in shock and began to cough up blood as his friend walked away leaving him to bleed to death in the dark and cold asylum.

As Max exited the asylum the entity spoke to him once again. “The book is yours now, use it and serve me well and power will be yours.” Max smiled as he began the walk-off of the grounds and opened the book. “Let’s see what this thing can do.”

THE END