Chapter 7

I walked through my garden, rubbing my fingers together. My fingers were pitch black and spreading down to my palms. The black was immensely ominous, and I stared at them with a frightened expression. If anyone were to see my hands, they would cower in fear. 

“Master Vita, you look unwell. Do you need assistance?” A maid with brunette hair asked me. 

Her face was flushed, and she was around the same age as I was, or perhaps a bit younger. I swiftly hid my hands behind my back.

“I’m quite alright, I am just upset about the process with the search party. Have the gloves I asked for arrived yet?”

“Ah, yes, the gloves have arrived! I’ll go fetch them for you.” The girl said to me as she ran away.

I looked at my hands and watched with horror as the black spread down my fingers to my palms at a slow pace.

“Fuck, fuck!” I swore as I tried to push the black upwards.

The more I resisted, the faster the black spread. It started as a little speck not long after I ordered the start of the search party, but now, years later, it had gotten far more severe. Luckily it didn’t affect my touch, but that was even more confusing to me. I wondered if I was in danger, even though it didn’t hurt.

“Young master, here are your gloves!” The maid from before shouted to me. 

I hid my hands once more, and she held out the gloves for me to grab. I hesitated, then instructed her to lay them on the bench beside me. She was confused by this request, but she knew better than to ask. I put on the black leather gloves after she turned her back. They were quite extravagant, silver paint decorated them, and little gems were placed carefully. Whoever created these gloves was incredibly skilled, and I thought to myself that I should thank them in person.

 I snuck out of my garden and walked toward town. It was a beautiful day, the sky was clear, and sunlight laid on the ground in specks under the trees that surrounded me. I turned to the bright blue sky with a smile.

“This day doesn’t seem so bad.” I spoke to myself.

I entered town, and people started to whisper.

“Isn’t that Vita Acheron?”

“That’s the man who sent slaves into enemy territory.”

“He’s the reason the war is now affecting the Roman Empire.”

“Do you think the emperor is going to take away his nobel status?”

“What even is the immortality curse anyway?”

I fiddled with my blond hair and tried to ignore their gazes. My pace increased as I sped through town, and I questioned, “Does this person I’m seeking even want thanks from a failure like me?”

I came face-to-face with a stall with clothes and jewellery on display. A woman with black hair and light hazel eyes greeted me. 

“Well, if it isn’t Vita Acheron, you are quite famous nowadays. Everyone is talking about your search for the immortality curse. How long has it been since I last saw you? Five years?”

I was about to greet her when a man slammed his hands on the woman's table, knocking half of the jewellery on the ground.

“Fuck! Dominic, what the hell?!” The woman swore as she wrinkled her face in rage.

“Sorry, but I heard that a serf living in the northwest has found the immortality curse and is auctioning it!” The man spoke in a hurry.

The woman's face was unreadable, which was strange to me. Her smile was curved in excitement, but her eyes shed no emotion of happiness. It was like her face was a mask, and maybe I could have peeled it off if I tried hard enough.

“The northwest?” Asked the woman, with her grin still painted on her porcelain face.

“Wasn’t it lost in the mountains in the north? Why would a serf from the northwest have it?” I asked the man, ignoring the hazel-eyed woman's expression. 

“I’m not sure if this is false news, but it is said that the man was travelling from the north and came across it along the way. They say the man had to hold it with gloves because touching it with his skin would absorb the curse, and he didn’t want that, he wanted money instead of eternal life.”

Something wasn’t quite lining up, but I was far too excited to think any longer. I had been ruining my image for five years to find this curse, and there was no way that I would give up this opportunity, even if it was fake. I ran home quickly, and immediately stole a horse, and rode towards the northwest. 

“I don’t need anyone to join me, they will want the curse for themselves.” I convinced myself as I rode down the dirt road.

 Something sparked inside my head, and I realised that I didn’t know where I was going. I rode until I found a small village. It was surrounded by a large concrete wall, and despite the large wall, no one guarded the entrance, which concerned me. I entered the town, and the only sound that echoed throughout the street was my own horse's footsteps. I couldn't help but feel a cold shiver run down my spine. The silence was agonising. After roaming the silent empty streets I came across a bar. I tied my horse to a pole, and when I opened the door I flinched when I spotted a figure sitting silently at a table. The only occupant in the bar was this man. I recognized him, it was Mateo Flavinus. He slowly turned to me, his face was calm with a hint of sorrow.

“Mateo?” I asked.

The man took a slow swig of his beer and flicked his finger towards himself, indicating that I should come towards him. The floorboards squeaked as I stepped, and the cold goosebumps on my arms still did not cease. 

“They found it. The immortality curse.” Spoke Mateo with a slow, deep voice.

“What happened here? What happened to you?”

Mateo sighed and looked into my eyes. Dark circles under his eyes indicated that he hadn’t slept in weeks.

“My land was stolen by our enemies because of a lack of manpower.”

I felt my heart drop to the ground.

“I’m so sorry!” I started to yell, but I was caught off by Mateo.

“The people in this village all heard about the curse being found a couple yards away. They all left.” Mateo took another swig of his beer and glared at me, his eyes hiding an unburnable flame.

“Here.” Mateo said as he handed me a map. This map was small, and it only covered the surrounding villages. Mateo pointed to a spot on the map.

“The serf lives here, take this map and go. Get out of my face!”

My horses' hooves clocked on the dirt road that seemed to go on forever. A deep, unsettling feeling was growing in my gut, but I tried to convince myself that the feeling was excitement. I arrived at the destination, but no one could be seen. Empty carriages with horses standing like stones surrounded a small house. I double-checked the map multiple times to make sure I was in the right spot, but it didn’t help the feeling that something was horribly wrong. It was far too silent. 

I approached the house and slowly opened the creaky door. A horrid smell flew out of the house, and the light from the open door slowly revealed hundreds of dead bodies piled on top of each other. I was about to scream until a hand as dark as the night sky grabbed me and dragged me into the house. A deep and unsettling voice asked me, “Where do you think you’re going? Don’t you want your prize?” 

 A hand covered my mouth and I was pressed against their body, forced to stare at the bodies in front of me.

“Do you know who they are?” A deep voice whispered into my ear.

Tears ran down my face as I tried to escape their grasp. The person laughed loudly with joy. This elated laughter did not match the scene in front of me, it made me feel like throwing up. 

“Of course you don’t remember the slaves you sent to look for the curse of immortality, that's how all the rich people are anyway. You sent them into enemy territory to look for a curse you were going to use for yourself. How evil! Do you know what they all said before they died?”

The person pulled my face toward his. His purple eyes were cold, and his smile ran from ear to ear. 

“They all cursed you to endless suffering!” The man screamed with excitement. 

The man ripped off my gloves, and I realised that my hands were now totally encased in black. They matched his own hands perfectly. The man intertwined his fingers with my own. His grip was so strong that it felt as though he was going to break all of my bones.

“I found you.” The man spoke, his deep voice shattering everything around me.

 The man had huge black horns and black markings that looked like space was trapped inside of them. He was the devil, and I needed to escape. I tried to push the man away, but no matter how much I fought, it was futile. I thought he was going to kill me, as his eyes seemed to tell that story, but after what seemed like decades, he let me go.

“Run all you want, but you can’t escape fate.”

I sprinted out of the house, jumped on my horse, and ran for what seemed like an eternity.