Nathaniel Chronicles: The Curse Of Evergrand

||This is only the first chapter of the three currently made and of the many more to come. Also, the format is as if Nathaniel had written it wihtin a journal. So now...let's read his journal together.||

Through out my whole life, I've always wanted to write something special. Yet, not once was I able to figure out just what to write, where to begin, or even where to lead up to. That is until moments ago, so...let's begin with some of the simple stuff. My name is Nathaniel. Nathaniel Crow. I've never really understood why my last name had to be Crow, but I can't really change it at this point. It would require paperwork and that's simply too much of a hassle.

Now that you know my name, let me tell you a bit about myself. Where I come from, it's a small village within North America named Evergrand. I would love to tell you where, but...you don't need to know where it lies. It's nearly impossible to find on any map. No one else needs to come here. It's such a dreary little place. Where most places have Spring and Summer, we're not blessed with such loving and warm embraces from Mother Nature. As I said, it's a dreary little village of ours.

In our village, it's fall all year round. Whatever leaves our trees grow, they always turn to a crispy brown, orange or yellow. It's just like the trees were always thrown into despair, not ever having the hope to be as green as they should be. It's like the trees have given up on every shred of hope and have forever decided to be that beautiful combination of brown, orange and yellow for the rest of their lives.

While I say that it's fall all year round, we do have our form of winter. It lasts for Six months instead of three. Half the year we have nothing but fall, then the other half is plagued by our winter. When someone says winter, people tend to think of snowmen, winter coats, snowboards, and the crunch of snow under your feet on a cold winter's day. For the people of Evergrand, our winter is six long months of miserable rain.

For over two hundred years, there hasn't been a single record in Evergrand's history of there being a single sunny day during winter. Each and every day, little Evergrand is plagued by rain during our six month long winter, which is what makes it such a dreary place. Did you know that Thirty-five percent of all deaths in Evergrand occurs during the long winter months of Evergrand? And that Ninety-five percent of those deaths are accidental drowndings?

Here in Evergrand, not very many things are around to keep us stimulated, and even more so when it comes to life. Evergrand isn't free of the concept of death and everyone is aware of it and even accepts it. It isn't uncommon to see a death reported in the local paper, no matter how young the person is. During winter, anyone and everyone can die, no one is free from death in this time. Many have disappeared because of the floods that occur each and every year. Especially my little Sister, Isabella.

She was a sweet little thing. Only Six years old and she had to be taken away from us so soon. It's such a bother, but...as I said, no one is free from the clutches of death in this village. Naturally, we're a rather small community. It's rare for someone not to know the name of others, and even more rare if you think for a second that news wouldn't travel in such a small community such as ours. As cold hearted as that sounds, it's more than just a slice of truth.

In this community of ours, I could say that a good portion of the people are religious, but religion doesn't really matter in this town. No matter how much they pray, no one's safe from drownding during winter, and even they know that. So because of that, we luckily don't have any religious fanatics within the community. I've never really met one before, but it honestly would be rather annoying to be around a religious fanatic.

People would probably stereotype our little community into that kind of community that helps out one another. The kind in which a friendly neighbour will always be nearby and willing to lend a hand. That is something that doesn't exist in Evergrand. Here in Evergrand, the people are just as miserable as our six months of winter. The people of the community say that the land in which Evergrand lays is a cursed land forever shrouded in darkness and misery.

I would say that anyone who even came to visit our dreary little village would even come to agree. While there are the few energetic people here and there, the few who aren't affected by the miserable atmosphere, are usually the ones who end up drownding. Even with how miserable of a place it is, there are absolutely no criminals within our community. I guess no one's ever found the point in doing criminal deeds when the village already suffers enough. Especially when they know they're not safe from the rain.

While the village itself has a horrid atmosphere, there are small places that have somewhat happier atmoshperes. Those are the places in which lighten the moods of some of the community in order to make the small village life more bearable. The local school has a somewhat decent atmosphere. They keep the atmosphere up in order to keep the misery from consuming the learning process. It's to help the students have a somewhat healthy learning environment.

The only other places in which the environment isn't as miserable is the local café and the library. The Café keeps the atmosphere lighter so that the villagers can at least try to enjoy themselves, even though they live in a rather difficult village. And as obvious as it may be, the library's atmosphere is kept rather calm and somewhat relaxing. It's the one place in the whole village in which silence can actually be achieved.

In the library, peace and quiet is always there. When in a village that one only hears the sound of rain buffeting the houses, the vehicles and the streets for half the year, peace and tranquility is something that everyone enjoys. So don't expect to find one of those kinds of people who just blabs away in the library without a care in the world for the peace of others. The loudmouths are the kind of people that don't ever really show up in these parts.

I think I might have went on a bit too much about sad little Evergrand. I haven't really even begun to speak about myself. Hah, it's a bit weird. I finally find the time to write about myself and I even know how to do it, but yet I spend a good amount of my time writing about this place. Just how weird is that? Well, it's about time I move on from the village talk and get to what you're here to read. You're here to read about my life, not the history of Evergrand.

Well, as I said earlier on in all of this chicken scratch, my name is Nathaniel Crow. I was born September 5th, 1997. At that time, we were still a relatively small community. Of course, a community of no more than One Hundred and Seventy people would always be considered small. My Mother's name was Cassandra. Cassandra Rethendale. When I was born, she was working as a nurse at the local clinic.

My Father, Jordan Crow was a local man. He would help around the community in some way or another, and they would return his hospitality by paying him little amounts of money. At the time, my parents weren't married, and I of course wasn't really planned. I guess a good saying for that is that it wasn't really the right rubber. Yeah, the condom broke and well...I sort of just came out to say hello about nine months later.

While my parents were prepared to have me, they weren't really ready. Cassandra couldn't just suddenly stop working at the clinic as if it was something she could quit so easily, and Jordan couldn't stop helping out those in need. He was really the first to really care for the community to such a degree, and it's because of that in which most people did care for him. But, while most did care for him and Cassandra because of her line and duty, none of them really cared for me.

Everyone in Evergrand could tell that there was something different about me. It wasn't a physical defect, because I don't have Twelve toes, three eyes, webbed feet, or some sort of fangs. It was something about the way I was as a child I would say. When I was a baby, I showed little to no interest in practically everything. When I was interested in something, that interest only lasted for a short bit.

I rarely cried and I rarely smiled. But, my parents were rarely at home enough to even notice. I was more neglected as a baby that I should have been. A local woman named Vivian would take care of me while Jordan and Cassandra were out doing their work. As I said, they were prepared to have me, but they weren't really ready to be parents. I really can't blame them. If they did still have me, then I would completely understand as to why they neglected me the way they did.

Even as a child, I could barely feel emotions. The doctor said that it had to of been some sort of mental defect when I was born. Its never really been much of a problem, but it has been difficult to show any form of sympathy for those who have been lost. As a child, I never once really found true satisfaction in things. I didn't enjoy playing with toys, I wasn't very imaginative, I didn't have other children to call my friends, and I never once even had an imaginary friend.

Some would feel sad for me, others would be sympathetic. Yet, it wouldn't really matter. Others may feel sad or sympathetic for the solitude that had enveloped me at such a young age, but it wouldn't really matter in the slightest. I never once disliked being like this, I just accepted it without question. It's who I am and I'm rather okay with knowing that fact. It is possible for me to feel, but that in itself is about as rare as a citizen of Evergrand without an umbrella.

When I say that I can't really feel anything, I'm talking only about emotions. If I stabbed myself with a pen right now, of course I'd feel pain. Getting stabbed by a pen would frickin' hurt. The point is though, I have a problem with feeling emotions. I don't really feel happy, I don't really feel sad, and I don't really feel angry either. Its been like this since the day I was born. It's honestly like my body and mind and numb and shut away from reality. It's like I'm a single person shut off from the grasp of reality and being pushed into a void of fantasy.

It only seems this way, and I honestly can't make heads or tails of such a concept. It's a very troublesome thing, but not all that troublesome. Anyways, when I was young, Vivian would take care of me. She was like a Mother to me. She would come over everyday, spend time with me, and take care of what I needed as a child. Vivian was even the one who had taken me to my first day of school. Even at this age I was well aware of the concept of death.

At first, I didn't have a clue as to what death was like. I didn't know what it was like to look at the lifeless carcass of someone I once knew. I couldn't imagine it either. Which in itself was rather odd. While I wasn't very imaginative, I was very good at picturing things in my mind. When I pictured it at that age, I simply thought of it as if someone were sleeping. That was what I thought at first. Then, the first death occured for me.

In my pre-school class, a young girl named Emelia who sat at table across from me had ended up drownding near the school grounds. That morning when Vivian took me to Pre-school, we had ended up seeing Emelia's corpse. She was facedown in a rather deep puddle. Even now I still don't have a clue as to how she ended up drownding in that puddle, but I never did bothering listening at the time. The only thing that was on my mind was the lifeless corpse of Emelia.

The fact that every ounce of life had been sucked out of her, only to leave a petrified corpse that had become a victim of Evergrand's bitter sweet tears of misery. That was the first death that I had faced during that winter, and I only knew that there was going to be more and more deaths. But yet, no matter how many had died, not once had I felt conflicted in the slightest about them leaving.

At that time, as the faces around me only began to diminish in number, I couldn't find it in myself to even feel the slightest bit of sorrow for them. I barely knew them. I did know their names and they did try to be a sort of friend to me, but even then I didn't want friends. When I turned Six years old, people were finally fed up with how my parents had been neglecting me for so long.

Even when the authorities ripped me from that home, away from the people who were really my family, I wouldn't shed even a single teer. I could still vividly remember the flashing lights, the shouts from the next door neighbours as to how horrible of parents they were, the officers telling others to back away from the house. It didn't take long for my things to be gathered, so I was away from my parents in less than an hour. I could probably still imagine to this day the look of relief that Cassandra must of had.

Vivian ended up adopting me after the situation subsided. It wasn't until then in which I had finally learned her last name. Runestalk. Her name was Vivian Runestalk. Unlike Cassandra, I considered Vivian to be an actual Mother. Vivian was a gorgeous woman. While her mahogany hair was only down to her shoulders in length, she always had some sort of cute style for her hair. Her chestnut colored eyes were always filled with love, even though she knew that I was incapable of returning such affections. She saw me as a child of her own, which could only explain why she adopted me after I was taken from my parents.

Even though I was incapable of showing such affection, she knew that I cared for her and considered her to be my family. As much as it would be great to say that I loved her, I'll come right out and say it. I actually did love her, but I didn't know it until the day she was gone. Vivian and I were very close, and even others would say that I looked like I was her son. After all, we both do have the brown hair for it, but it was always my grey eyes that set us a part.

Heck, I remember a time in which she brought a real jerk of a man home. He had been trying to get her to go out on a date with him for a while, and she ended up getting sick and tired of his asking. So, she said yes just to shut him up. When he came back to the house and saw me sitting in the living room at the age of Twelve years old, he started asking just who she had "F****d" to get a kid. Of course, the fool was drunk and sodden in liqour. Probably came from the local tavern.

When I looked at him with these sweet looking grey eyes of mine and with the sweetest little tone too, I shut him up in seconds by saying, "Who said I was her kid? As far as you know bub, I could be her sweet little lover and you could be nothing more than a little toy. So why don't you be a good little sport and grab this sweet Evergrand lover another Root Beer?" Vivian found it to be absolutely hilarious and the guy was more than just a bit angered. Good thing about it was that she shut the door on him afterwards. We had such a good laugh about it afterwards.

He was just a jerk that Vivian didn't deserve in her life. I always did that for her. She would be a loving Mother at home and I would be the one to shoo off any sort of jerk that tried to become part of the equation. It was how we worked. She took care of me and I took care of her. I do miss those good old times, but they'll always remain as memories. The day I lost her was June 12th, 2011.

That was the year in which she drownded. When I had lost Vivian, I had lost a large part of myself. This was the first death in my life in which I had actually shed a few teers for. Once Vivian was gone, I really had no place to go. I didn't have friends because it was more than pointless to have them. Even though people were there and had always been there, there hasn't been a single one of them who could fill in any space within my heart. None of them could make me feel a thing. It's precisely why I never really cared when one of them drownded.

Since then, I was travelling between homes in the community. I was a foster child in need of a home, and none of them could really handle the fact that I was incapable of feeling emotions. They found it impossible to connect with me. So, while I was being tossed around from house to house, I would dive into the world of spiritual and supernatural books. Oddly enough, it was really the only thing that kept me interested.

Even more so, it was the only thing really filling the void that Vivian had left when she died. The spiritual and supernatural books I had found had been more than just informational, they had taught me how to come in contact with supernatural entities. Before I knew it, I was conversing with beings that had been alive for centuries and those who had even recently died. The experience itself was...rewarding.

I was able to get back in contact with Vivian once more. Even though she was gone from the physical world, she was still going to be there for me as a Mother, no matter where she was. It is through Vivian in which I had learned how communicate with other beings, and even more so set up contracts and even deals with them. To this date, the things most children would be afraid of are working alongside me as both partners and colleagues.

We handle our own business in order to survive. We do whatever we do just to continue moving forward. For three years I was tossed back and forth between those foster homes in order to survive, but now I am surviving. I never once regretted walking out on the last family I had, even if little Isabella did drownd. I walked out on the Clauren family, and I left Evergrand to its misery. Now, I just wander, looking for a place to call my own to this day.

I really can't thank Daniel enough, a boy who was also a victim of Evergrand's cruel curse. He had shown me these subjects before he had passed on, and because of him, I am able to stand where I am today with the colleagues I have. My name...is Nathaniel Crow, and I am a Contracter. A person who creates contracts with supernatural beings. The things that go bump in the night, the monsters under your bed, and the Boogeyman who hides in your closet.

These are the kind of things I make contracts with. Now, as I said. My name's Nathaniel Crow, and I am Evergrand's only Contracter. The village that is cursed with despair, not shy of death, and truly a miserable little community. Evergrand truly is a dreary little village. The two sounds that will forever remain within the depths of my memory are the sounds of the crunching of dead leaves under my feet and the constant pattering of rain hitting the ground.

That is the end of my small life story for the time being. I just may write again if I ever get some new material to write about. We'll see. It might have to take a bit of convincing to make me do such a thing again, but...it just might be worth it. The thing about it is, I started this and yet I don't know how to finish it. So, I think I'll just end this with nothing more than one simple quote.

"No matter where you travel in the rain, never forget an umbrella.The weather changes quickly, and if one is caught off guard, they may fall victim to the curse of Evergrand."