1 An Unusual Find

I closed my laptop with a sigh and stretched out my neck with a satisfying pop. 

When I'd gotten out of school and into university I'd thought the days of homework were behind me. All the stories I'd heard from my mum and dad painted a picture of non-stop partying and having a good time. In my experience, it was just a lot of hard work. 

I glanced at my phone with bleary and shuddered as I saw it was already 7 AM. 

Okay, so sure, my literature assignment had been so much hard work because I'd left it to the last night and had to pull an all-nighter to get it done and submitted but that was beside the point. 

I leaned back in my chair and swivelled away from my desk. The soft glow of the morning sun illuminated my kingdom of clutter. Clothes were scattered in heaps on the floor, posters of the newest fantasy game adorned the wall, and the crumpled duvet of my bed seemed to call out to me like a siren. 

I sighed again and shook the thought from my head. If I went to sleep now I'd ruin my shattered sleep schedule even more. I was going to need to last until the night came around again. 

On the plus side, that assignment had been the last one of the spring term that I needed to submit. Now I was finally free to read the books I wanted to read instead of the ones that were assigned to me by the class. 

Yes, I'd just gotten done reading one giant book and writing a high-level analysis of it and now I already wanted to read another. I was well aware of how silly that might have appeared to people who didn't read at all. 

The fact of the matter was when I wanted an escape there was nothing better than sitting down with a good book to lose myself in. 

My phone vibrated and went off with a ding. 

I swivelled back around to my desk and grabbed it, a notification was present letting me know a parcel had arrived at the front desk of my uni halls accommodation and I should go and grab it whenever I had the chance. 

I cracked a grin through my fatigue. It was as though the universe had been listening to my thoughts.

 I'd pre-ordered the new fantasy book from my favourite author, Crandon Handerson, a few months back and had completely forgotten that it was going to arrive on the submission date of my assignment. 

The perfect present for a job well done. 

I stood, pulled on my trainers, and deliberately avoided looking at how bloodshot my brown eyes were or how messy my dark black hair was. 

I made my way through the halls of the accommodation block as quickly as I could. It was early enough in the morning that I didn't expect to run across anyone I knew, and I certainly wasn't in a state to stop and chat if I did. 

I made it down to the lobby without incident, but there was no way to get around talking to the receptionist who dealt with all the parcels going in and out of the building. 

She was a short woman in her mid fifties with greying hair and big owl glasses that sat low on her nose.

I was sure that she'd probably seen a lot worse than someone who'd pulled an all nighter to get some work done but I couldn't help but feel judged as she peered over the desk at me. 

"You look a bit worse for wear, long night?" She asked with a knowing smile. 

I grinned back, suppressing the sliver of awkwardness that had dogged me all through high school.

"I've had worse. Just had to get some last-minute work done," I explained. "I uh, had a ping from the system. There's a parcel for me?"

I put my phone on her desk with the QR code showing. She glanced at it, grabbed the scanner that she kept on one of her shelves, and zapped it.

Within a few seconds, she'd read the information, grabbed the parcel and put it next to my phone. 

Well, it might have been longer than a few seconds, and I might have dozed off where I was standing. 

"So what's in the box? Something special?" She said. 

I shrugged, "Oh not really, just a new book is all." 

She nodded sagely at that, "Well, make sure you have some rest before sinking into your next assignment, you really do look ragged!" 

I chuckled awkwardly, thanked the receptionist from the book, and scurried back to my room. Fortunately, I didn't meet anyone on the stairs or in the hallways. I'd already had enough embarrassment for one morning. 

Back in my chair at my desk I grabbed a pair of scissors and sliced through the tape holding the parcel closed before pulling out the book. 

I'd been waiting for this one for a while, it'd been a couple of years since the last book in Handerson's main series and I'd been dying to see what had been happening in the world of Alerion.

But before I could open the book something caught my eye, a shimmering golden glow nestled in amongst the pages. 

"What on Earth…" I mumbled to myself. 

It was a bookmark. A bookmark with strange etchings up its length and ornate patterns that I didn't recognise. A bookmark that glowed bright gold with an ethereal light. It almost looked… magical. 

I hesitated before touching it. Magic didn't exist in the real world, I knew that, but every instinct in my body was warning me that this thing could be dangerous. 

Every hair along the back of my arms stood up on end, which was ridiculous because it was just a bookmark. 

I sighed and pulled the thing out of the box anyway, and that was when everything went black.