I sluggishly dragged myself out of bed, steeling myself for the looming dread that awaited downstairs. My limbs were heavy, spirit worn from overthinking. With hesitant steps, I descended the staircase, heart pounding, each step echoing like a countdown to doom.
In the dining room, Raven sat waiting. Her smile twisted unnaturally, a grotesque mockery of hospitality. Her gaze pinned me down like a moth to a corkboard. The spread of dishes looked less like a meal and more like bait.
She smiled that evil smile of hers. I looked down at the dishes laid out before me, each bite a trap waiting to be sprung.
'One bite and my fate is sealed. I'll be her slave for life.' I gulped nervously.
"What are you waiting for? Come. Eat before it runs cold." Raven smiled.
I smiled back awkwardly. 'So unfair... It can run, why can't I?'
With trembling hands, I raised the spoon to my lips, every muscle taut with fear.
But then—
Ring. Ring.
A phone call. An old telephone rang in the living room. Raven tilted her head, then turned toward it. "Oh? I wonder who called." Her eyes flicked to me. "I'll go take the call. Don't need to wait for me."
The moment her silhouette vanished into the next room, I exhaled.
A sliver of time. A breath of chance.
I scanned the room. My eyes landed on the back door. With adrenaline flooding my veins, I crept toward it.
Locked.
No matter how hard I turned the knob, it didn't move.
"What's the use of a door if it can't open?" I grumbled. Hope slipping. I moved on.
Into the kitchen.
A large window above the sink. My heart surged.
But just as I reached for it—
Thmp.
A transparent wall of force repelled my hand.
"Woah! What was that? Was that a barrier?"
One by one, I checked each window and door.
Barriers. All of them.
Raven's spellwork had turned this place into a prison.
Then my eyes flicked back to the untouched food on the table.
The trash bin.
A risky plan formed.
"It's such a waste though."
Footsteps. Raven was coming back.
I acted quickly, shoveling all the food into the bin, slamming the lid shut.
"It really fits!" I exclaimed, too loud.
"What fits?" Raven's voice rang out behind me.
'Oui... That ain't good.'
I turned and forced a laugh. "Oh! I mean... Ermmm... How could all this food fit into my stomach? Hahahaha!" I rubbed my belly.
Raven's laugh—
"GyakekekekeWashahasha!"
Her form twisted grotesquely. I stared in horror.
'I don't remember witches cackles like this.'
She reached forward and touched my face. I flinched but held firm.
"Finally. She's mine."
Her breath reeked, and I held back the urge to vomit.
She muttered an incantation. Dark energy filled the air.
"With this, she'll be my slave forever."
She gave me orders. I obeyed. Clean the dishes. Wash the floors. Fetch herbs. Chop ingredients.
I did everything. I watched. I listened. I waited.
Never did she ever let me near the basement.
Then one day—
Another phone call. She was flustered.
She led me to the basement. Removed the spell from the wall.
Inside: a massive cauldron, metal and ancient. Potions. Tools. A workspace of horrors.
Raven tossed ingredients into the brew. Dark words fell from her lips.
Then she handed me the stirrer and vanished.
I stretched. Groaned.
"All those house chores are making my bones ache."
Then—
Click.
My foot tapped a loose brick.
"Hmm? What's this?"
A black book. I pulled it free. One word emblazoned on the cover: Immortality.
I read. Each page is darker than the last. Spells. Sacrifices. Forbidden rites.
"Wow... Being a witch sure is a tough piece of work."
I reached the end. Nothing.
But—
The back cover felt wrong.
I tore it.
Inside: a hidden piece of paper.
"Oui?"
A secret. A recipe.
A way to kill a witch.
"Aha!"
I dumped Raven's brew into the drain and began crafting the counter potion.
Dozens of tries. Countless adjustments.
Finally—
Success. Maybe.
I eyed the pot, sniffed. "Is this correct? It looks the same but the smell is ugh..."
Creak.
The basement door.
"Oui! She's back!"
I shoved the book back, grabbed the stirrer, and pretended to work.
Raven entered, rubbing her temple. "Is it done yet?"
She shoved me aside.
She sniffed the brew.
She tasted it.
She drank it.
"Yes. It's finally complete."
She ordered me away. I obeyed. Hurried to my room.
I lay on the bed, heart hammering.
"Did it not work? Did I do something wrong?... Unless that method doesn't work?"
BAAAAAANG!!!
The whole house shook.
I leapt up. "Oui! What's that sound?!"
Downstairs—
Raven was convulsing. Her table lay in ruins.
Green blood spilled from her lips.
"This isn't right. What is happening to me?"
She screamed.
"M-My powers?! H-How could this be? Who did this? Who?"
I covered my ears. Her voice split the air.
Then she began chanting—
A curse.
"By the power of the earth and the moon, By the whispers of the night and the shadows of gloom, Whosoever dares to snuff out this witch's light, Shall feel the weight of darkness, endless blight.
May every step be plagued by unseen dread, Every breath a reminder of the blood they've shed. Their dreams shall twist, their hearts shall ache, As the curse of the witch, they shall not forsake.
Let their days be haunted, their nights filled with fear, For the witch's wrath draws ever near. No solace, no refuge, from the curse they've sown, 'Til repentance and restitution they have shown.
Their souls shall be lost in a boundless maze and may the curse unfold for eterni-."
I ran.
Grabbed a metal rod.
Bang!
Right to the head.
"Only an idiot would let you finish your chant."
She collapsed.
Still glaring.
"Y-You—"
Gone.
Her body, once monstrous, was now a shriveled husk. Just a corpse.
I stared. Waited.
Nothing.
"Whew! She's dead at last."
I searched her home.
Coins. Gems. Paintings.
Then—
A familiar drawing.
It clicked.
"I knew that woman had to be a witch. But who knew Raven and her was the same person."
Then I remembered—
The painter.
She vanished for fifteen years.
"Could it be the reason why she disappeared was because she was busy trying to enslave me? If that's so, I'd been here for that long?"
I shivered.
"She is dead, right? Oui. I'm getting creep out here. She won't revive and start chasing after me, right? Right?!"
I taped her limbs. Neck. Arms. Ankles.
"This should work unless she uses magic... which I doubt she can."
Then—
"Oh no! What about Ronald then? I can't dilly dally around here much longer."
I grabbed every coin. Treasure. Pouch.
"Oui. If only I had officially become Master's disciple, I could use that inventory function permanently."
Loaded with loot, I stepped to the door.
"Adios," I said, glancing back at Raven one last time.
"I promise I'll never step into this accursed house ever again."
'This is one promise I'll definitely keep.'
A smile crept to my lips as I vanished into the night.