Aydem was awakened by a series of rushed heavy knocks, coming from the downstairs. Looking around, he failed to find Emine sleeping beside him. She was gone, her blankets pulled back.

The light in the room appeared pale, still dark but not as pitch-dark as midnight's. Even a faint whiff would let him enjoy the pleasant scent of the forthcoming dawn in the air. Unlike the night, when the burning smell of firewood was all he could sense, the dawn brought an appeasing aroma of freshness, like a fresh-baked bread, soft and squashy.

He pushed away the sleepiness to force his body out of the bed. Rubbing his eyes, Aydem saw the door left ajar, creaks coming from the other side, which would usually indicate his mother stepping through the staircase.

Aydem walked to the door, a slight push enough to open it for him to pass through. Standing upstairs, he looked down to see his mother, in her usual loose chemise, unlatching the locks to the main door of the house before partly opening it, providing a vague picture of the outside for him to see.

A figure of a human was standing outside before the entrance. From where Aydem stood, it wasn't easy for him to clearly observe the person's features or garments since Emine partially blocked the view. He could only see a floor-length lavender robe, coming with a hood that covered the figure's head and forehead.

"I apologize for coming this soon and disturbing your sleep, madam, but we have no other choice. I hope you understand."

The voice carried a soft pitch, one that fondled his ears like a breeze, and a melodious tone, tasting like sweets, yet it was bold, strong, and thick, which would imply it belonged to a man.

"Please, father! We're grateful for your help. Why don't you come in, have a drink and take a rest?"

"I appreciate your hospitality, but I cannot stay here for long. It's getting close to sunrise."

At that moment, Aydem noticed the man grabbing a hefty package, fully wrapped in rough paper, from beside the entrance, delivering it to Emine.

"This must be enough for a week or so. Please stay safe."

"May the gods bless you, father."

"I'll come back next week. Be patient and stay strong."

Emine closed the door after putting the package down on the floor. She then placed it on the kitchen table beside the hearth to the left of the hall, unwrapping the layers one by one, revealing about ten to fifteen breads and potatoes over the broad wrinkled piece of paper.

She seemed too focused on examining the breads to notice Aydem looking at her from the top of the stairs. While she calculated the amount of food they had, to see if it would meet their needs for the upcoming week, Aydem went back to her room.

Great, another week of eating dry bread and potato. Well, I guess it's better than starving. This life is getting even worse than my previous one.

Since Emine was busy downstairs, Aydem used this opportunity to further inspect the book. However, in the middle of flipping through the blank pages, when he held the corner of the sheet to turn it over, the sharp edges of the paper sliced his thumb's skin.

"Ouch," he moaned, releasing his hold of the sheet while still keeping the book with the other hand, "damn it! That hurt!"

Being distracted by the pain, he didn't realize the drops of blood falling over the book, forced by the gravity to flow down to the bottom of the page. It didn't seem to be a deep cut but still made him bleed a few drops every second, enough to redden the dark surface of the page, drawing a red river of blood in a pitch-dark background.

Aydem put the book on the bed, searching the room for napkins to clean his bloody thumb, which he found on the bedside, but no matter how long he held it over his wound, the bleeding wouldn't end, drops after drops still coming out through the papercut.

Wandering left and right in the room, while keeping the napkins tightly wrapped around his thumb, Aydem took a glance of the book before standing beside it. To his shock, there was something written on it in blood.

It's... it's in English...

That came as a surprise. This universe had its own language and literature, different from that on earth. He wasn't naturally born in this world but rather reincarnated. How could a text here be written in the language of another world? Apart from that, he didn't recall writing anything deliberately in that page using his bleeding thumb.

Aydem got closer to read the words, written in blood on the dark surface of the page.

"'Is... someone... there?'" he read what it said, in a slow, bemused sort of way.

It seems this book is alive, he thought. Aydem then looked at his bleeding thumb, his expression growing determined.

He put down his thumb on the page, right below the text, touching the smooth paper. Aydem then moved it around, like how one would write on a piece of paper. After a few seconds, he would stop touching the book, give himself a rest, waiting for the blood to come out, and once again do the same.

His thumb played the role of the pen, the blood working as an ink. Writing down in his own blood came to be tougher than expected, taking much longer time than anticipated.

When Aydem had finished writing in his own blood, a small word could be seen under the previous sentence, answering the question, "Yes."

He waited for a response, but nothing followed. "Perhaps..." he said, once again facing his thumb, before letting the blood drip on the page.

The drops started flowing over the black paper, some going along with the gravity and some moving against it, printing symbols in red, shaping words, and creating full sentences.

"Hi. Who... are... you?" the book said and Aydem read.

What followed was a conversation, between Aydem and the book, engraved in blood. He put down his name, Aydem, as an answer, but he didn't stop there, continuing with "Who are you?" even though the last words were pale in color, barely readable, unlike the first symbols, which appeared red-hot.

Before having a chance to let the blood drip on the page, the creaks of the steps took Aydem by surprise.

Oh no, she's already coming here.

Worried and rushed, he immediately hid the book under the bed along with the bloody napkins. However, before he could get back in the bed and pretend to be asleep, his mother entered the room.

"Oh, you're awake, sweetheart?" she said, a look of surprise becoming apparent on her face, but not lasting long as she put her gentle, motherly expression back on..

Aydem tried his best not to look suspicious or frightened. "Ah, yes, mom."

"I see. I'm sorry, sweetie," she said. "The knocks must have awakened you."

He nodded, trying to hide the bloody thumb under his left hand.

"Are you fine?" she asked, looking worried.

Aydem attempted to say, Yes, I'm fine, mom, but unlike what he expected, no words came out of his mouth.

What?! he thought, puzzled and confused.

Trying to speak those words once more, it ended in failure again.

What is going on?!!

To Emine, Aydem looked hesitant and unsure of what to speak, but of course, Aydem knew that wasn't true. He had prepared what to say and tried really hard to utter those words. However, it turned out to be in vain.

Getting closer to him, Emine noticed his weird posture.

"Aydem," she said, this time in a more serious tone, "you're not hiding something from me, are you?"

No, of course not! he tried to say, but no words came out of his mouth.

Just what is happening?!