The Septic Curse

Five

After the paper landed, Marvin read the number aloud subconsciously.

And then it vanished.

But after that, nothing happened for the rest of the night. Or most of the day after. 

Though, that didn't mean it was over. 

The word 'four' on a piece of paper, landing right on his lap before four rings of a bell... That just so happens to be exactly what it predicted. Which means... The count was over. SOMETHING was going to happen, even if Marvin didn't know what. 

Ding dong!

It was dinnertime when the doorbell went off, and Marvin went to get it. In front of the door was a cute little package with the word 'HELL' on it. 

Lovely.

So, this is what it meant when it said, 'hell will come to your door'? It's all just wrapped up in a deluxe package for three bucks that was probably stolen from them? Huh. 

'Yeeeeaaahhh... I'm just gonna leave this out heeereee...' Marvin took a step back, preparing to just close the door on it. 

"HEY, IS MY PACKAGE HERE?" Chase called from the living room. "There IS a package here..." Marvin sighed in relief at the idea of it being Chase's. Though, he wasn't entirely sure it WAS. Chase was behind him in a second, "well what are you waiting for? Permission? Grab the box already!" The fatherly ego laughed.

Reluctantly, Marvin brought the package inside. 

"Huh... I thought it'd be bigger. And I didn't think it would say 'hell' on it... Maybe it's NOT my package?" Chase tilted his head, frowning. The magician's heart dropped, but Chase didn't seem to have put it together yet. 

"Well, let's open it and find out!" Chase dragged Marvin to the kitchen, where everyone else was eating dinner. "I'm gonna record this- randomly getting a package that says 'hell' is just an opportunity not to be wasted!" Chase pumped his fists, rushing out of the room to grab his camera. 

"A box that says hell?" Jackie rose a brow as Chase ran off. "Please tell me you're not going to actually open zhat." Henrik facepalmed, crying inside at their stupidity. "Well... I mean... What's the worst that can happen?" Jackie sighed, shrugging his shoulders, "I trust Marv. If he told me to jump off a cliff, I would." 

...That was slightly concerning.

"Um, well, you see, I don't really think we SHOULD be-" Marvin tried, but Chase was back in an instant. "ALRIGHT! Let's do this! I still think it's my package, but if it's not... This is going to be a good video to post on Halloween!" 

After the camera was set up and Chase did the intro, he finally just opened the box...

What was in it was abnormal. 

Absurd.

And it chilled Marvin to the bone...

It was air. There was nothing in the box. 

"We didn't ACTUALLY just curse ourselves, did we?" Jackie asked, not sure if this was a prank and a heavy coincidence aligning with the demon's words, or if they really did just wring their own necks. 

"...I'm leaving." Henrik put down his fork, heading to the door that Chase forgot to close.

But unsurprisingly, the door slammed shut on its own. It must've been one heck of a gust of wind that nobody felt.