between the shadow and the soul - english edition

Chapter 2 - how to get cursed 101

2 months earlier

The old-fashioned piece of sheet music had looked perfectly harmless when Jasper found it, tucked between a book about the medical use of herbs and a hand-carved ouija board that belonged to his aunt. The yellowed paper had piqued his interest with the missing title and non-existent lyrics. There was neither a name of the composer nor any indication as to when the music was written. Only plain notes, dancing a complicated pattern of sound on the page. It was short. There were only two lines of notes that repeated over and over again til the very end of the page. Curious, Jasper had tucked it into the back pockets of his jeans and continued to sort through his aunt's attic.

It was only later that day that he remembered the sheet music, when he finished sorting through cardboard boxes and various crates, making piles with stuff his aunt Cassandra wants to keep, stuff she'll donate and more stuff that needs to get thrown out. Jasper also put a box full of things aside he wanted to take with him. Inside were his aunt's old tarot cards and a set of notebooks that looked like Cassandra's old study notes from her time at university. She's an astrophysicist.

They put the last bits and pieces in the correctly labeled boxes (Halloween decor, Winter decor, tools and ›Stuff That I Don't Want To Throw Away Yet As I Could Maybe Use It One Day‹) and stowed them into the new shelf Cassandra had set up earlier, when she declared they were done and ushered him downstairs into the living room.

»Thanks for helping me, Jasper. You're such a sweetheart«, Cassandra smiled, ruffling Jasper's blonde hair, who playfully batted away her hand.

»And of course my motivation for helping you has absolutely nothing to do with you promising me a fresh batch of your chocolate brownies«, Jasper grinned, plonking onto the couch. It was the kind of couch that looked a bit old and ragged, mostly thanks to Hecates claws but was as comfortable as Jasper imagined a cloud to be. The black cat lying next to him slowly opened her eyes and stretched when she felt Jasper sitting down next to her, before getting up and elegantly walking over to Cassandra. His aunt picked her up and sighed dramatically.

»Aren't I a great aunt? Baiting my nephew into cleaning the attic with baked goods. Your mom was right: Food is magic«, she said before vanishing into the kitchen with a mischievous smile. Chuckling, Jasper watched her go. He could hear her filling the kettle and getting out some cat food for Hecate, who meowed excitedly. It was then, that he remembered the sheet music in his pocket and pulled it out again.

In hindsight Jasper had no idea why he didn't ask his aunt about the origin of the music first and instead just decided to give it a try playing it. Cassandra had a black lacquered piano, standing at the wall next to the patio door, that Jasper used to play on since he knew how to sit up on his own. It had once belonged to his grandfather. He was also the one, who had taught him how to read music notes when he was a child, which led to Jasper falling in love with that instrument. So much so, that he was now studying music at University.

Jasper sat down on the velvet covered stool in front of the piano and opened the lid, revealing the smooth black and white keys. He leaned the sheet music against the piano and took a moment to connect the notes on the paper with the keys on the piano before starting to play. It was a simple melody, soft but dark that repeated itself over and over, so often that Jasper didn't even have to look at the notes anymore.

A strong gust of wind made him look up when it puffed up the curtains in the living room, despite the closed windows. Jasper stopped playing mid note when he saw thick black smoke, curling at his feet, like the seething swaths of a cauldron. Startled Jasper jumped up and backed away from the piano. The sheet music on the piano turned black, like someone lit it on fire, burning silently to ashes and getting swept away by another gust of wind, that swirled through the living room like a mini tornado. With a yelp, Jasper took cover behind the sofa when the hurricane tore books off the shelves, threw pillows through the room and swept the vase with the fresh flowers from the table. The tornado stopped in front of the piano, and from the ashes of the paper someone materialized. Jasper blinked, slowly crawling out behind the couch to take a better look at whatever just happened.

The being looked spindly, a creature of pitch-black, leather-like limbs as thin as the branches of a tree. His eyes were two red-hot sockets in an oval-shaped head, from which two rows of sharp fangs protruded like washed pebbles in the mud. Jasper's heart nearly stopped when he realized what was standing in front of him. It was a demon. A demon, who had just been summoned without a pentagram. Jasper broke out in cold sweat. He was dead. He was so, so dead.

»Fuck«, was the only thing he could get out, before the demon looked at him, like a predator taking aim at a target, he knew he was about to hit.

»Indeed«, the demon growled in a voice that sounded like breaking bones and smacking organs. »Stupid little human. You dare summon a demon without a protective circle. You just made the last mistake in your entire life.« The demon surged forward and threw himself at Jasper, who landed on his back and gasped in pain. The demon's cold claws wrapped around Jasper's neck, holding him to the ground, before Jasper could react. Jasper kicked and wriggled against the firm grip on instinct but the demon just laughed at his fruitless efforts. »I bet your soul tastes delicious«, the demon purred, puffing breath stinking of sulfur and charcoal into Jasper's face, making him cough. »Let's find out how pretty your insides look,« the demon continued and buried his claws in Jaspers chest in order to get access to his soul. Jasper screamed and felt himself nearly faint from the pain, when he felt the sharp talon slice through his body like it was made out of clay. There was no blood. The demon could hurt his spirit but not his physical form, as he hadn't been brought correctly into the real world. Which sadly didn't mean it hurt less. Jasper felt a cold finger in his chest, grabbing for his soul, making him sick and dizzy. He was still struggling in the unyielding grip of the demon, who was searching for his soul with growing desperation. Then, with a startled screech, the demon retracted his claws and let go of Jasper as if he got burned.

»How do you know this spell?«, he spat out, showing his teeth. Jasper couldn't answer. He was shaking, lying on the floor, trying to remember how to breathe. The question only seeped slowly into his consciousness.

»Wha ...?«, he managed to get out.

»The protective spell on your soul, you pitiful human creature«, the demon snarled, grabbing Jaspers chin with his cold, clawed hand and shaking him. »If you think you can keep me from hurting you, even though you are so stupid as not to draw a protective circle then you are wrong.«

»Wait, what?«, Jasper asked, confused and dizzy. »I didn't summon you on purpose. And what are ...« The red glowing eyes watched him with disgust.

»Shut up you daft worm. I may not be able to eat your soul, but you won't get away like this. I can wait, until your body is dead and your soul set free«, the demon said, almost soothingly, as if to calm a scared animal. Which, under broad parameters, was exactly what Jasper was right now. The demon hovered over him and licked one of his claws with a black, shiny tongue, coating it in lightless fluid. He placed the claw under Jaspers collarbone, easily holding the struggling human in place. The claw touched a bit of exposed skin and Jasper screamed. It felt like someone was burning him with a branding iron, pressing something dark and bitter into his skin that spread through his body like an ice cold bath.

»See you soon, human«, the demon hummed, letting go of Jasper abruptly who fell onto his back like a lifeless puppet. »Try cheating yourself out of this.« With that, the demon vanished, taking the smoke and darkness with him. The living room suddenly looked too peaceful for what had just happened.

Still shaking and breathless, Jasper managed to get up on his knees, trying to not throw up from the sudden dizziness that hit him like a brick wall. He ran his clammy hands over his face and took a few deep breaths to try and steady himself, when he caught a glimpse of what the demon had done to him. Jasper winced when his aunt came into the living room, seeing the mess and her nephew sitting on the floor.

»Jasper, sweetheart, are you alright? What the hell happened here?« Her eyes landed on the black mark, that the demon left on Jaspers skin and her face went white as a sheet. Jasper slowly got up on his feet, staggering to the door.

»Can you drive me to my mom? I think I just got myself cursed.«