»Have a nice day!«, the woman in the pharmacy said and Jaspers lips curled up in what he hoped looked like a smile, but came out more like a grimace. He took his medication and slowly stepped out in the sun leaning heavily on his crutches, thanks to his broken foot.
Nice day?, he thought bitterly. It's been a while since he had one of those. To be precise, his last twenty seven days have been awful. Not because of exam season in university coming up, or because he had to live in a tiny apartment that was honestly more like a walk-in wardrobe than a flat. And not because his computer that he kinda needed for university broke or because he spilled coffee over his new jacket the other day, no. All of this sucked, but was not his main concern right now. He could deal with the bad luck. What he could not deal with, was the fact that for the last twenty seven days, the universe was out to get him. Literally. He had a burning sigil on his chest to prove it. It was like a black cloud of misfortune and disaster clinging onto him that also tried to kill him. The protection spell his mom, aunt and grandma put on him, was the only reason, he was still alive. In the last twenty seven days, he had been in a car accident, got run over by a cyclist, accidentally got punched in the face, had someone pour boiling water over his crotch, got a stomach bug due to a salad that was a bit too old and spent a few days throwing up everything he swallowed. He also broke a mirror and cut his hand bad enough for it to need stitches. The nurses in the hospital started eyeing him suspiciously after being there once more after breaking a rib because he fell down a couple of stairs when trying to balance his crutch, a parcel, his broken body and the grocery bags all at once. No, he didn't have a deathwish. Jasper got cursed. Though he couldn't really tell the nurses that he got cursed. He wasn't keen on them thinking he was crazy. So he blamed his injuries on his newly gained clumsiness.
Right now he slowly walked his way home, eyeing his surroundings like a wary hawk, expecting a disaster behind every corner. His paranoia has, understandably, been getting worse and worse the longer he walked around with the curse. At first, he didn't want to believe that he actually got cursed. You can't blame him, can you? It's not something that just happens on a day to day basis. When he told his mom, she made him do a bunch of cleansing baths and forced him to drink a gallon of her home-made tea that tastes like sage and soil. It probably took the edge off the curse. Or at least that's what he told himself, when he woke up in the emergency room of the hospital, after getting run over by a car on the freaking sidewalk. Apparently the driver fell unconscious and steered off the street. No wonder, Jasper had trouble sleeping and was on constant alert-mode when awake. The worst thing was, it didn't only happen outside. Jasper didn't dare touch anything in his kitchen anymore, after the microwave short-circuited and nearly exploded for no apparent reason. He locked the knives in a drawer after nearly cutting off his foot, because the blade broke off the handle. The stove went up in flames, when he tried heating up some soup and singed his eyebrows off (that thankfully grew back before he was admitted to hospital again). Oh, and don't forget the time, he naively used the shower and slipped, hitting his head so hard he was sure he had passed out for a bit. Since then he was living on cereal and soapless baths. Jasper was pretty much done and determined to put this to an end.
But first, he needed to get home, without being involved in another accident. Which was obviously the moment, Jasper got hit by a falling flower pot.
Or he would have been hit, if someone didn't shove him out of the way. The flower pot crashed onto the ground next to him, breaking into pieces on the concrete. Startled Jasper froze, looking at the soil and the bright red marigolds that lay on the ground between the pieces from the clay pot, thinking that this could have been his head. Then he looked at the guy, who had grabbed him by the arm and smiled in relief.
»Thanks man«, he said, looking up into the face of a dark haired guy, who looked at him, as if he'd seen a ghost. He realised he was still holding Jaspers arm and let him go as if he had burned himself.
YOU ARE READING
between the shadow and the soul - english edition
Paranormal»My name is Aristes, by the way. Here's my phone number, if you need to call me.« »Your phone number?« »Yes. I mean, you could call me by setting up an altar and sacrificing a lamb, but I think calling me via phone is a bit easier. And, you know, l...
