To Reverse a Curse

Chapter 5

    I'm standing by my front door, waiting. I had just gotten off the phone with Ashley ten minutes ago, and I had talked to Dr. Hill before that. I want Ashley to know that Josh is in my basement, and Josh had asked me to get Dr. Hill.
  The doorbell rings.
   I answer the door, and a man is standing on my doorstep.
    He has thinning, grey hair, and green eyes. He's wearing a black coat over dark blue dress-pants and shiny black dress shoes. He leans slightly away, mildly surprised. "Are you Christopher Hartley?" he asks.
    "Yeah," I say, "You must be Dr. Hill, Josh's psychiatrist,"
    Dr. Hill nods. "You told me you wanted to talk with me," he says, "about Joshua. And you insisted that it needed to be here at your house,"
    "Yeah," I say, turning to the side to open up the doorway, "Please, come in. I'm just waiting for one more person,"
    Dr. Hill nods, and he passes me.
    "Do you want anything to drink?" I ask, "Coffee?"
    "I'm fine, thank you," he says, hanging up his coat. He's wearing a charcoal grey sweater vest, white shirt and blue tie.
    I just nod, and I'm about to close the door when I see Ashley running across the street.
    "Hey, Chris," she says as she reaches the door. She hugs me and kisses me on my cheek. "What's up? You sounded freaked during the phone call,"
    I just take her hand, and I pull her into the house. "Ashley," I say, dragging her to where Dr. Hill is standing, staring at a shelf of books, "This is Dr. Hill. He is Josh's psychiatrist,"
    "Don't you mean 'was'?" Ash says, "Josh was lost up on the Mountain. The police told his parents he's dead,"
    "That's what I heard as well," Dr. Hill says, "Mr. Hartley, I would like an explanation,"
    "Then follow me," I say, "Everything will be explained,"
    Dr. Hill narrows his eyes, and slowly nods.
    "Okay," Ash says, "I trust you, Chris,"
    I nod to her, and I turn around, walking out of the room. I walk down the hall, into the kitchen, and I open the basement door. I listen for a second.
    There's a rough, even, breathing noise.
    "He's asleep," I say, mainly to myself, but Dr. Hill heard me.
    "Who?" he asks, "What's going on?"
    I just put a finger to my lips, and I start down the basement steps, quietly. I walked to the middle of the room, where Josh's cage is, and I knelt down in front of it.
    Josh is curled up in the middle of the blankets I gave him. He's in different clothing than what we've found him in. He's now wearing a pair of my old jeans and a t-shirt. I also put an improvised ankle brace on his injured foot, and he's wearing a modified dog muzzle that Mike made, so he doesn't bite anyone. He's relatively clean now, too.
    I put my hand into the cage, and I lightly poke his shoulder.
    He stirs a little.
    "Josh," I say, shaking him slightly, "Josh, wake up,"
    His eyes, cloudy grey, snap open.
    I pull my hand away quickly, and I back up a few steps.
    He springs up into a crouch with lighting speed, and he glares at us. A quiet growling sound starts as he crouches against the far side of the cage. His clouded eyes flick from one of us to the next, though don't seem to see us properly.
    I look over at Dr. Hill.
    His eyes are opened wide, mouth slightly ajar. "Is...is that..." he mutters, "...Joshua?"
    "Yes," I say.
    "What happened to him?" he asks, "Why...why does his mouth look like that?"
    "He...well," I start, "...he's been cursed,"
    "There's no such thing as curses," Dr. Hill mutters, but he doesn't seem so sure.
    "It's an old Cree curse," I say, "I've researched it. It's known mainly as the Mountain's Curse, or...the Curse of the Wendigo,"
    "Wendigos are stories," Dr. Hill says, in disbelief, "stories to keep children from straying too far from home. Bogeymen,"
    "Look at Josh and tell me that's fake," I say, gesturing to the Joshigo in the cage, "He was halfway through the transformation when we found him. But he's fighting. He's more than just a monster,"
    "How?" Dr. Hill says, "He looks like an animal,"
   I walk up to the cage, and kneel in front of it again. I press my hands against the bars, palms facing the Joshigo.
    He stares at me for a second.
    "Chris!" Ashley calls out, "What are you doing? He's dangerous!"
    "He's muzzled," I say, "Even if he wanted to, he couldn't bite me,"
    The Joshigo shuffles up to my side of the cage, and his growling lessens. He stares at my hands for a minute, then he presses his pale hands, with nails like claws, against where mine are. He blinks rapidly, and shakes his head, growling a bit. He closes his eyes, shudders, and then gasps, opening his eyes wide. His eyes are clear again, their normal bright green. He looks me in the eyes, and he smiles slightly. "Hey, Chris," he mutters, and then his eyes flick to behind me, "You kept your promise,"
    "Of course I did," I say, "That's what best friends do,"
    Josh chuckles. "I've been kind of a shitty best friend recently, though," he mutters.
    I shake my head. I stand up and walk over to a cooler I keep in the basement. I grab a sandwich wrapped in cellophane, and I take it over to Josh. "Here," I say, handing it to him, "Turn around so I can help you with the muzzle,"
    "Okay," he mutters, taking the sandwich. He turns around, and I reach my hands into the cage, and I undo the buckles on the back of the muzzle.
    Dr. Hill walks up next to me, and crouches down. "Hello, Joshua," he mutters.
    Josh pauses. "Hello, Dr. Hill," he says.
    "Are you okay?" Hill asks.
    Josh hangs his head. "You were right," he says, voice full of pain, "I...I made a mistake going through with that plan. I...I nearly got all of my friends killed. Just for what, revenge? You were right. I should have listened to you,"
    Dr. Hill sighs. "It's good to hear you say that, Joshua," he says, "And I'm sorry that we meet again under these circumstances,"
    Josh nods, and turns back around. His eyes are dripping with tears. He stares sadly at the sandwich. "I don't deserve this kindness," he mutters.
    "Eat the sandwich, Josh," I say.
    Josh just nods, and he sadly takes a bite of the sandwich. He sighs, and he takes another large bite. He starts to eat the sandwich ravenously, like he hasn't eaten in months.
    Dr. Hill just watches him, concern, curiosity, and surprise all clearly portrayed at the exact same time with his expression. He purses his lips for a second, thinking, and then he stands up. "Christopher," he asks, "Would you mind if I make regular visits to Joshua? I would like to help you return him to normal, if possible,"
    "I wouldn't mind," I say, "That sounds great,"
    "But, could you also enlighten me in all that you've found about Joshua's condition?" he asks.
    "Oh, sure," I say, standing up, "Are you going to be alright alone down here, Josh?"
    He stares at me for a second, wiping crumbs off of this face. "Uh...I think that it would be safe to put the muzzle back on me first," he says.
    I nod, and I help him put it back on. I then lead Dr. Hill and Ashley back upstairs. I make coffee for them both. "Ask any questions you want," I say, leaning against a counter in the kitchen.
    "Where to start..." Dr. Hill says, "...um...how did this happen to him?"
    "He was...lost," I say, "Taken by another wendigo we believe used to be Hannah. He recognized her, and she recognized him, so she didn't kill him. But, he was stuck down in the mines for...god knows how long, and..." I just shrug, not knowing what else to say.
    "But, if he were stuck down there," Hill says, "what did he eat?"
    "That's why he is the way he is," I say, "He became so hungry and desperate that he turned to...cannibalism. There was already a dead body down there, so..."
    "Oh, god," Ash mutters, "That's...terrible..."
    "And, that's how a wendigo is created?" Dr. Hill asks.
    "Resorting to cannibalism on cursed Native grounds," I say nodding, "yes,"
    "But, why is he lucid sometimes?" Hill asks.
    "He's fighting against the curse," I say, "We don't know how, but he is. We've been trying to counteract the curse, but...no progress so far,"
    "How are you trying to counteract it?" Hill asks.
    "Well, wendigos have an insatiable hunger for human flesh," I start, "so, when Josh is lucid, we give him normal human food, like you saw with the sandwich. We're going to keep doing this until he's lucid for longer periods of time, and the physical changes disappear,"
    "Other than his eyes being cloudy, the teeth, and claws, what other physical changes have happened?" Hill asks.
    "Well," I say, "wendigos are generally much stronger, faster, and harder to kill than humans are. Their only real weakness is fire. They also have heightened senses of smell, hearing and sight. Normal wendigos can only see things that are in motion, so other than avoiding them in general, the only real defense against them is staying as still as possible,"
    Dr. Hill nods, and takes a sip of coffee, staring off into space.
    It's at this point in time that I noticed that Ashley's gone. She left her mug behind.
    I check my phone, and I see that I have an unread text from her. I open the text.
    It reads: "srry i left so quickly. i just felt uncomfortable being there. i can't believe Josh is alive, and one of those...things. i'll text you tomorrow. <3".
    I sigh.
    "Have you tried actually talking to a Native?" Dr. Hill asks.
    "What?" I say, looking up at him.
    "About Josh's curse," he says, "have you tried talking to a Native?"
    "No," I say, "that sounds like a good idea, though,"
    Dr. Hill just nods. "Are you going to tell Joshua's parents where he is?" he asks.
    I sigh. "No," I say, "It's better that they don't know, for now at least,"
    "When are you going to tell them?" he asks.
    "When Josh is back to normal," I say.
    He nods. He sets down his mug of coffee. "I'll come back in two days to talk with Joshua," he says, standing up. He walks up to me, extending his hand.
    I take his hand, and shake it.
    "It was nice to meet you, finally, Christopher," he says, "Joshua would talk about you often during our sessions. He really appreciates your friendship,"
    I nod. "It was good to meet you, too," I say, "I'm glad that you agree to help us,"
    "It's what I do," he says, "Help people, no matter how difficult it may be,"