The Septic Curse

Seven

While Henrik was out shopping, the others were stuck with cleaning. 

Jameson and Robbie had gone upstairs, getting 'Jimmy' to help them with picking up anything that may have fallen in the rooms. 

Jackie went to the garage to make sure the cars and tools were okay, and Marvin was dealing with the kitchen... And Chase was sweeping up shattered glass around the house. He was mainly focusing on the living room at the moment, humming a soft tune. 

Honestly, he had thought that the curse would be a LOT worse. But it seemed like the most damage done would be on their wallets. 

Was that its plan? Kill them by making them so poor they can't pay for the house or groceries but also can't leave for work?... Now that he thought about it, that would be smart. The curse would 'play nice' and lure them into a false sense of security... While slowly sucking them dry. It WOULD be smart...

But Chase knew that wasn't what was happening. 

In fact, it almost seemed as if the curser- who was likely the demon- had no plan at all when it cursed them.

Typical dumbass.

"Chase! We... Done!" Robbie giggled happily, stumbling down the stairs in a 'run'. "Done? Good job!' The fatherly ego chuckled as Jameson brought Robbie to the living room but noticed something off. 

"Hey, where's your little buddy?" Chase gestured to Robbie's shoulder, where the Septiceye Sam plush had been. "Friend... Took. Robbie ask... Go find... Some-ting fell out... Wind-ow. Toy float -way, find." Robbie explained to the best of his capabilities. Jameson gave him a thumbs up, signing something to him. But Chase stopped paying attention... 

As he swept, he was trying to hide his concern. Whatever it is they're dealing with... Can go outside?! Well, they're all fucked! This thing has more free will than Chase himself does, apparently!

Chase scooped up the glass shards in a dustpan, going to the kitchen to throw them in the garbage. He was only a few steps back in when it happened. He felt a disturbance. That something was wrong. 

...Or like something was next to him.

Chase turned abruptly, his heartbeat increasing despite only having a feeling. But there was only empty space next to him, and a window a few feet away- so there couldn't be a person there.

Or, at least, that's what he thought. 

In the window, he could see a figure. Though unrecognizable and its features unclear, Chase could see that it was small, thin, and frail. Was it a child? No, too tall for that. A teen? Maybe.

"Hey, kid!" Chase suddenly called, going over to the window and opening it. The other two exchanged a glance, JJ shrugging. The figure continued walking, not hearing him. But Chase had to warn the kid to stay away from here! The fatherly ego was about to call out again, but the teen walked behind a tree... And didn't walk out the other side. 

Chase waited a few moments, trying to see where the kid went. This was confusing him, but then again, it seemed that everything did nowadays. 

"Did... Did you guys see that?" Chase asked as Jameson and Robbie walked up. But Jameson just shrugged, and Robbie probably didn't even understand what was being said. 

...Maybe he imagined it. This was a stressful and a bit scary situation, so it would only make sense if he started to lose it. He just didn't expect it to be so soon into the game. But then again... There was the possibility of it NOT being a hallucination. What if there really was a kid out there and the spell affected them? Or worse, killed them?!

But he couldn't go outside... And the curse was on the Septics anyways, not random teens. So... It was probably just him going insane. With that in mind, Chase decided it was best not to waste everyone's time with this news. 

"...Never mind then. Must be my eyes playing tricks on me." Chase returned to sweeping, but he kept that bad feeling. 

Perhaps things were not as okay as they seemed.

When Henrik returned, they all had to move on to replacing the broken things... For the second time. But when the 'curse' returned, it seemed upset about that. 

But wasn't it the one that gave them the money...?

That's what the Septics thought, at least. But in reality, all it did was allow the doctor to go out and get replacements just this once... The money and list were from something- or rather, someone- else entirely. 

And it was strange, because the person that was 'helping' the Septics was only doing so out of obligation. And like stated before, it was only this once. 

The person 'helping' the Septics has to hold themself back from killing them. They could- and would- tear each and every one of them apart limb from limb with a snap of their fingers. But no. The Septics wouldn't learn anything that way... They would leave this mainly to the quote unquote 'curse'.

But that doesn't mean they are just going to sit back and watch, either. 

Marvin was flipping through his spell book... At an excruciatingly slow pace. He was still having a rough time with the Latin... And he was reading through everything there is to know about curses. 

The magician found a lot, but it was also as if he'd found nothing. The only thing he had found that he didn't already know thus far was that curses are always easy to get rid of- the only issue being the finding out of how. 

Some curses go away with time, but that's uncommon... Most of the time, you just have to know what the curser wants out of you, and then dispel the curse by using the correct passage in the book. 

So, Marvin instantly assumed that what was wanted was their deaths. With that in mind, he skipped all other information about curses and hopped to the passage about death curses. Reading the dispelling line, he rushed downstairs and called out for the others. "GUUUYS! TIME TO GET RID OF A CUUUURSE!" 

The others were watching another movie, since they had nothing better to do aside from being hit around by 'Jimmy' all day. Speaking of which, there have been no sightings of anything moving about on its own since it went to get something that fell out the window. 

"Oh? Are you positive zhat zhis one vill vork?" Henrik grunted, turning off the TV. "Yes! It will, trust me!" The magician put his hands on his hips. 'What? So soon? It just got here! Can't it stay?' Jameson frowned. "Ugh! We are NOT keeping the damn curse! It's not a puppy- it's something sent with the intention to kill us." Marvin groaned, trying to get it through his brother's head.

'I'll take care of it! It'll be good, I promise!' Jameson begged, pouting. "...Jameson. The only reason it's 'passive' right now is because it's in the early stages- and the caster didn't have a fully thought-out plan. If we can get rid of it now, it saves us a huge nuisance later." Marvin crossed his arms, unmoving. 

With a sigh, the mute relented. 'Fine. It won't hurt it, right?' "James, it's not alive. It can't be hurt." Marvin flipped to the page he was on before, seeing everything they needed. "Say, why isn't it trying to stop us right now? Usually, curses are smart enough to not just LET themselves be dispelled." 

'It's out right now! Trying to find one of Robbie's toys that fell into the backyard.' JJ informed. "...'Out'? But that's- that's impossible! It has no physical form nor a focus of conscious. It shouldn't even be as 'alive' as it IS! It should just be revolving around us and affecting things near us- what do you mean, 'it's outside'?!" The magician had a hard time processing this. He didn't know what was going on...

But it was plain to see that something was wrong.