The Septic Curse

Sixteen

Marvin waved hello to Agatha, a witch that typically dealt with healing potions. 

"Hiya Ag! Do you know where Mr. Osborne is?" Marvin walked over to the lady, who was in her late forties but looked to be barely above twenty. 

"Hello there Marvin. I do, actually. You see that tree with the weird branches? With the nearly black tips? Take a right once you reach that tree- his stand should be only a bit down that way. But why do you need to see him? I thought you said he was creepy?" Agatha chuckled softly. 

"Yeah... He is. But my house is kind of haunted right now and my brother nearly died... So, I have to get something that could help. No matter how wrinkly and rotten his skin is and no matter how much crocs do not belong with that vest." Marvin sighed dramatically, acting like he was making a big sacrifice by going over there.

"Oh dear. Well, you better hurry then!" Agatha waved Marvin goodbye, sending him on his way. 

The magician followed his friend's instructions, trying to ignore all the creeps and weirdos along the way. Did he ever mention that most people who used black magic weren't good people? That's because black magic isn't a good thing and is quite in fact illegal. 

Why did Marvin do it if it's illegal? Good question. Simply because that's what he was created to do. He didn't really care if it wasn't ethical and was a crime to use, he just did it. Not like it was hurting anyone. 

Well, that was a lie. 

It did hurt something. 

But that thing deserved it. 

=)

Finally, Marvin found himself at a little stand. 

It was dark, gloomy, and worn down, befitting of any black magic user's soul. But Marvin was a magician himself, so he wasn't really scared. Disgusted, if anything. 

"Mr. Osborne, do you have anything on poltergeist?" The ego got straight to the point, knowing that the old man didn't like people wasting his time. 

Ted Osborne was an old and wrinkled man, but he didn't actually look as bad as Marvin claimed he did. He wore dark clothing and had a certain sharp look in his brown eyes, making him seem like an old goth. He had only been seen wearing crocs once when he was in a rush, and Marvin just wouldn't shut up about it. 

"Poltergeist? Ah, gettin' into a bit o' trouble, aren't we?" Mr. Osborne grunted, turning around to look through his several boxes of books. "What 'appened this time?" 

"...I- I think..." Marvin hesitated, taking a deep breath. He didn't know what to say... But maybe he did. "I think I killed somebody I shouldn't of."

There was a bump as the old man accidentally dropped one of his books, looking to Marvin in bewilderment. "KILLED someone?! By the lord, child! I knew ya were dabblin' in somethin' ya shouldn't! Black magic ain't somethin' fer someone easily caught in the hands of bloodlust and thirst fer power. Ya should've backed out when ya had the chance!" 

"No! No, I killed it because it was a threat! It was a fookin' monster!... And I don't think it's the poltergeist either. We're pretty sure it was a demon, so it can't have become a ghost. I think the ghost that's attacking us is somehow related to the case... But I don't know how." Marvin explained as Mr. Osborne picked the book back up, sliding it over the counter. 

"I see... 'Ere. This will certainly come in handy." Ted grunted as the magician picked up the book. "How much does it cost?" Marvin reached into his pocket, but Osborne held up a hand. "It's price not be worth no paper nor coin. It is equivalent to a life. An eye fer an eye, a tooth fer a tooth... You get rid of it, but the price evens that imbalance out." 

"...Okay... What is it...?" The Septic shrank back a bit, getting a bad feeling. "It's nothin' to cower 'bout. Just make sure to talk to it first, okay? The price is that ya settle its soul before gettin' rid of it. Learn yer lesson from it and ya won't regret heeding my words. Don't oblige by this request... And I'll know." The old man put his hand on top of Marvin's, making an electrocuting feeling run up their arms. And suddenly the older's eyes shifted to a soulless black for a second, before he grunted and shooed the young one away. 

"Damn young'uns... Don't even know morals anymore!" As the magician walked away, he could've sworn he heard the old man sniffle. 

What a weird day this turned out to be already.

But then again, when was it ever normal?

As Marvin was walking back to his car, he passed a lot of love spells, fortune tellers, curse books, and haunted objects- typically dolls- for people to just shove at their worst enemy. The magician had a brief thought of getting a doll and having it fight it out with 'Sam', but that just straight out sounded like a bad idea. 

He wasn't actually paying attention to his surroundings much, just seeing those things from the corner of his eye. No, right now he was flipping through the book Mr. Osborne had given him, but he couldn't even focus on that. What did the old man mean? Why was it so important to 'settle' the ghost's soul before getting rid of it?

...How would he know if they didn't?

All good questions, but distracting questions. He wasn't looking where he was going and ended up running straight into someone. "Oh! Sorry! I should've looked where I was-...Going..." When he looked up to see who he'd bumped into, his mouth gaped open in shock. 

"It's you!" Marvin startled upon seeing the familiar face, but the other looked just as surprised. "YOU! YOU'RE-!... Alive?" The man who was stalking Marvin a while ago blinked in confusion. "Wh- Of course I'm alive! What the fook is that supposed to mean?!" The magician snarled, taking a step backwards. 

But the man just raised his hands up defensively. "Hey, I'm not here for trouble! Actually, I'm glad you're still alive- I was hoping to bump into you again. And before you call me a creep- I mean to explain what happened last time. Look, I wasn't stalking you- well, I kind of was- I just... I meant it when I said that you're in danger. From the looks of it, you still are. I take it you discovered your little haunting?"

"...How did you know about that? When you were stalking me, it wasn't even-..." And then Marvin realized... It was. 

Ever since they got that first note, 'One.' strange things have been happening. It didn't start at 'Four.'- that last note was a sign that things were going to get serious! All those other notes and strange happenings had been warnings, and it had been easier to see for outsiders than the egos themselves!

"...What do you know?" Marvin asked warily. "Unfortunately, nothing. I only know that you seriously fucked up. I was a fan of your shows and stumbled upon you... I was just trying to give you a warning. At first, I just gave you a feeling of being watched, hoping that you would be more on edge. But that didn't work..." The man explained, "sorry... But, I can tell you one last thing."

"You need to get home. Now."