u/Violentyn

Ever since I was younger I've known there was something wrong with my family. Every eldest sibling on my fathers side was gruesomely killed on their twenty-first birthday. My Great-Grandmother fell off a mountain a few weeks after having my father. My uncle crashed into a semi a minute after midnight. Theres no telling what hour it happens, just that it will. The only one who's ever managed to survive was my grandpa Ed.

Being the eldest meant I was the one who would be targeted next. So every weekend and break, I was sent to Grandpa Ed's house to learn how to prevent it. He explained a few things to me. If you hid the time out, 'It' would come for you. 'it' was a lanky creature that looked almost like a grayhound, if a grayhound was six foot tall and had no face,lanky limbs, and its stomach opened into rows and rows of sharp teeth. He explained that some members of our family had survived up to midnight the day after their twenty-first, But after they had been successfully 'safe', 'It' would come and tear them apart. Many chose the former of having a quick,random death instead of getting mauled alive for the slim chance of survival.

Grandpa Ed had his arm torn off by 'It', which is why his sleeve was constantly tied up. He showed me things. How to shoot a shotgun. How to make a salt circle. He had survived by setting the thing on fire, watching it burn alive until the day had passed. That was the rule. IF- and that was a very strong if- you survived, it would skip that generation and go to the next.

I spent the next few years dreading my twenty-first birthday and preparing. A week before my birthday, i sat with my sister and drank. She was headed off to year-long trip without electronics that night, meaning she would be too far to properly celebrate my birthday.

"I think I'm scared."

The alcohol made it easier to admit the fact. I was scared. I had been scared. Grandpa Ed had died two years before, but luckily it was in a hospital bed because of old age.

"Don't be." Lydia had replied, kicking my leg playfully. "Just remember what papa taught you and you'll be fine." I could see in her eyes that she was worried too. "But, if you do die, can I have your Nintendo? The new animal crossing is calling my name."

I snorted and pushed her. "Asshole." I grinned, looking at her. "Im not gonna die. Out of spite. And now I'm leaving you out of my will forever."

Lydia and me had talked for the rest of the night, but after that, I wrote notes. Not... Suicide notes, per se. Just death notes. A little morbid, but there was an 90% chance I was going to die in a week's time,sue me. It was random stuff. Good times,happy times. Stuff they'd get when I died. Lydia would get my Nintendo as she wanted. Only if i died though, and she'd have to pry it out of my cold dead hands. My boyfriend had gotten a letter too, as I had explained to him. He had begged to stay, but I couldn't bare the thought of something happening to him.

So I prepared. I got the salt. I got the flamethrower. I got a shotgun. I burned herbs and even consulted a local witch who specialized in curses. Hell, I even went on etsy and ordered sacred beads or something. Anything to live.

And so came the night of my twenty-first birthday. I had set an alarm that night for 11:50 pm. I ate a sandwich, grabbed snacks and the fire extinguisher, and locked myself in my bedroom for the next twenty-four hours.

Twelve hours passed with nothing. Silence. I watched TV to pass the time. But nothing. Absolutely nothing happened. No weird wires being exposed, no housefires, no It coming to my door. Nothing. After hour twenty, I had glanced at my closet.

There was a box peaking out. One I'd seen but never opened. My mom gave it to me a few weeks before. I crawled over and tugged it into my lap,glancing over it. It was simple. Covered in drawings. And inside it were letters.

I read every single one. And my heart began to clench as i realized what they were. Love letters from my mother. I scanned the pages. She was secretly meeting up with a man named Peter behind my dad's back. During the time her and my dad were married.

And then I realized something that made my blood go cold.

My mother and Peter were seeing eachother about nine months before I was born. Which would mean I wasnt my fathers child.

Meaning I wasn't the eldest on my fathers side like everyone thought i was.

Lydia was.

Ever since I was younger I've known there was something wrong with my family. Every eldest sibling on my fathers side was gruesomely killed on their twenty-first birthday. My Great-Grandmother fell off a mountain a few weeks after having my father. My uncle crashed into a semi a minute after midnight. Theres no telling what hour it happens, just that it will. The only one who's ever managed to survive was my grandpa Ed.

Being the eldest meant I was the one who would be targeted next. So every weekend and break, I was sent to Grandpa Ed's house to learn how to prevent it. He explained a few things to me. If you hid the time out, 'It' would come for you. 'it' was a lanky creature that looked almost like a grayhound, if a grayhound was six foot tall and had no face,lanky limbs, and its stomach opened into rows and rows of sharp teeth. He explained that some members of our family had survived up to midnight the day after their twenty-first, But after they had been successfully 'safe', 'It' would come and tear them apart. Many chose the former of having a quick,random death instead of getting mauled alive for the slim chance of survival.

Grandpa Ed had his arm torn off by 'It', which is why his sleeve was constantly tied up. He showed me things. How to shoot a shotgun. How to make a salt circle. He had survived by setting the thing on fire, watching it burn alive until the day had passed. That was the rule. IF- and that was a very strong if- you survived, it would skip that generation and go to the next.

I spent the next few years dreading my twenty-first birthday and preparing. A week before my birthday, i sat with my sister and drank. She was headed off to college that night, meaning she would be too far to properly celebrate my birthday.

"I think I'm scared."

The alcohol made it easier to admit the fact. I was scared. I had been scared. Grandpa Ed had died two years before, but luckily it was in a hospital bed because of old age.

"Don't be." Lydia had replied, kicking my leg playfully. "Just remember what papa taught you and you'll be fine." I could see in her eyes that she was worried too. "But, if you do die, can I have your Nintendo? The new animal crossing is calling my name."

I snorted and pushed her. "Asshole." I grinned, looking at her. "Im not gonna die. Out of spite. And now I'm leaving you out of my will forever."

Lydia and me had talked for the rest of the night, but after that, I wrote notes. Not... Suicide notes, per se. Just death notes. A little morbid, but there was an 90% chance I was going to die in a week's time,sue me. It was random stuff. Good times,happy times. Stuff they'd get when I died. Lydia would get my Nintendo as she wanted. Only if i died though, and she'd have to pry it out of my cold dead hands. My boyfriend had gotten a letter too, as I had explained to him. He had begged to stay, but I couldn't bare the thought of something happening to him.

So I prepared. I got the salt. I got the flamethrower. I got a shotgun. I burned herbs and even consulted a local witch who specialized in curses. Hell, I even went on etsy and ordered sacred beads or something. Anything to live.

And so came the night of my twenty-first birthday. I had set an alarm that night for 11:50 pm. I ate a sandwich, grabbed snacks and the fire extinguisher, and locked myself in my bedroom for the next twenty-four hours.

Twelve hours passed with nothing. Silence. I watched TV to pass the time. But nothing. Absolutely nothing happened. No weird wires being exposed, no housefires, no It coming to my door. Nothing. After hour twenty, I had glanced at my closet.

There was a box peaking out. One I'd seen but never opened. My mom gave it to me a few weeks before. I crawled over and tugged it into my lap,glancing over it. It was simple. Covered in drawings. And inside it were letters.

I read every single one. And my heart began to clench as i realized what they were. Love letters from my mother. I scanned the pages. She was secretly meeting up with a man named Peter behind my dad's back. During the time her and my dad were married.

And then I realized something that made my blood go cold.

My mother and Peter were seeing eachother about nine months before I was born. Which would mean I wasnt my fathers child.

Meaning I wasn't the eldest on my fathers side like everyone thought i was.

Lydia was.