There once was a man who was incredibly sick. Sicker than anything you could imagine. Pounding headaches, a constant running nose, coughing until he could no longer speak. His skin and bones ached as if needles constantly poking at each nerve in his body. But the sickness is nothing temporary, for this man had been sick his entire life. And when he went to seek out help... Let's just say, things couldn't have gotten worse.
It was an autumn afternoon. A clouded sky loomed overhead, making giving the cooled air and added chill. Dead leaves scattered the ground, varying colors of each would be crunching under the feet of any passers by. Any leaves refusing to fall simply painted the trees in beautiful shades or reds and golds.
Passing by the man was a simple gust of wind, enough to tussle the nearby leaves, making him away of his surroundings, despite the pain.
See, it was hard for the man to focus on many things. With the astounding and overwhelming amount of things his body is forced to endure on a daily basis, it was nearly impossible to even acknowledge that anything else in the world existed. Yet it did. And so did he.
Making his way to the downtown area, a place he had rarely seen, for he was always homebound by his curse. He saw many buildings with varying things within. One store held antiques and items of times gone past. Other stores advertised food. Some burgers, some soups, some Chinese cuisine. All sounding delicious to the man. However, he could not indulge. He had to venture forth and find the witch.
It may sound ridiculous, seeking out a witch during the season of Halloween. After all, witches couldn't be real, right? That's what this man believed. However, if witches and magic and curses weren't real, how could he explain the dreaded situation he'd been forced to live for so long? A simple sickness would explain away most of his experiences. But for as long as he's had it, for decades? What else could he do?
In the days gone past, he'd tried varying remedies to cure his torment. Everything from flu shots to surgeries. Nothing would help. He'd went to many doctors and specialists, as well as doing research of his own. Each yielding no results. What he was experiencing had never before been known to exist. Yet, here he was.
He could no longer live with the effects of the curse he'd been born with. He had to pull the final stops. Which included things he'd only ever try as a means to an end. Even if that end was death.
Finally, after walking for what felt like days with his incredibly agony, he'd finally found the shop. It was a simple candle shop. There were drawings of witches on the glass windows of the shop.
The man grabbed the door handle and walked inside. Immediately, he was greeted by the overwhelming scent of lilac. It was a strong scent, almost like someone wearing too much perfume. However, this felt more natural. More clean. He felt soothed.
A lady with long, black hair stepped out from the back of the store. She greeted the man with a warm smile. She introduced herself. As did the man. Immediately, her eyes sparked. She recognized him. She and the man had an arrangement for the breaking of a curse. Or, in the very least, the creation of a counter-curse.
The lady guided him to the back of the store and she began lighting candles that had been carefully placed in a circle, prior to the man's arrival. As she lit the candles, she began to chant a phrase in a language that the man could not understand. Was it Latin?
After the final candle was lit, she motioned for him to stand in the middle of the circle. She stepped inside with him and placed her hands in his. She told the man to close his eyes, and so he did. She began to chant those foreign words, repeating them with even more power in her voice each time. As she chanted, the sickness for the man was beginning to worsen. It was like the sickness was at a 6 before, but now it was at a 10. It was agony to even exist. He shook, trying to fight off the suffering, but she tightened her grip on his hands and chanted with an extreme amount of power in her voice. One final chant, now almost yelling, and then... Silence.
The pain. The sickness. It was gone. He felt free.
He opened his eyes and was shocked by what he saw. It was a look of pure terror upon the face of the woman before him. She, in fear, backed away. She nearly tripped over the candles as she stared at the man in horror. She was muttering something. Or maybe she wasn't. It was hard to tell. The sound was so muffled for the man. Was she calling him evil?
As he stepped out of the circle, he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror. And what he saw... Let's just say it didn't exactly look human...
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