“I’ve finally found you, bastard!” I said as I slowed my flapping my wings to land on the open windowsill.
The shopkeeper looked over at me, mildly annoyed. He pushed up his glasses, then sighed. “Who do I have the pleasure of speaking to? Are you a crow deity?” He stood up and walked over to the windowsill.
“Mark, you don’t remember. It’s me, Jason. You know that little boy from four years ago who walked into your cursed items shop?” I said, but Mark just turned up his face and tilted his head to the to the side. “Mark, remember you gave me that vial with Shakespeare's ashes to curse that bully?” I said, now cawing and flapping my wings frantically.
“Calm down boy, that shop went up in flames a long time ago. Give me a second to remember.” Mark crossed his arms, put his hand on his chin, and closed his eyes. When he remembered, his eyes flipped open and were wide. He slapped his fist in an open palm. “That’s right, I remember now. You never paid for that vial, did you? That’s beside the point. How did the bully's situation go down?”
“At first, nothing happened. I spiked his chocolate milk at lunch while he wasn’t looking, like you said I should. But he was completely fine, given that he was still a complete dick to everyone around him. I assumed you were a snake oils salesman can completely swindled me. Then two weeks later, when we were watching the drama club perform Romeo and Juliet, the bully started to moan and groan. Everyone in the auditorium was familiar with his delinquent behavior, so no one paid attention to him. But then an inhuman sound came from him.
The bully started to cowl and shriek as if he were a dying animal. No one knew what was going on or how to help, so we all just stared at him. His whole body started to shake and tremble. Blood poured from his eyes and his ears. The surrounding people moved away from him as the shrieking grew louder and the trembling grew wilder.
Then, all at once, he became motionless. The bully didn’t move, and he just sat there quietly.
For a moment, the bully looked at peace as a smile spread from ear to ear. He stared straight ahead, almost staring at nothing. A teacher walked over to see if he was okay.
When the teacher put his hand on the bully’s shoulder, both the bully and the teacher exploded. Everyone in the auditorium was covered in his blood and pieces of his organs.
But that’s not even the worst part. The girl I had a crush on, Susie. I don’t know how, but she could sleep through that entire event. Laid in her chair sleeping with her mouth open. Unlucky for her, one of the bully’s kidneys flew into her mouth, causing her to choke. She didn’t make it out of that auditorium either.” I said, taking one of my wings to wipe a tear from my eye.
“Well, I’m not surprised. Shakespeare’s curse is always violent and over the top. That bard was always the dramatic type,” Mark said and running his hand through his hair. “So, how did you become a bird? Last I checked, birds don’t go to school.”
“Two weeks after that tragedy, my whole body hurt, and I was bedridden for a couple of days. Then on the third day, I woke up like this. In my bed as a crow. My mother thought I broke into the house somehow and she chased me out. Which is why I’ve spent 4 years trying to find you. I need you to turn me back with one of your magic items.” I flew over to his desk and examined a jar of eyes floating in a clear liquid.
“Unfortunately, I cannot. You brought this upon yourself,” Mark said. He took a seat at his desk and went through his ledger.
“What do you mean?”
“There is always a price to be paid when exchanging anything. When you didn’t pay for the vial of Shakespeare’s curse up front, your price was determined after the item was used. Since you used it for murder, you became a crow. Just a little fun fact. That’s where you mortals got the term murder of crows.” Mark said, writing something on in his ledger and then flipping the page.
“Hold on, wait, but people murder all the time. They usually just go to jail for it.” I said, pecking at the glass jar of eyes.
“Going to jail is the price they paid. Often the law can find most murders because reality will shift, so law enforcement can find the right amount of evidence to make them pay. But in your case, there is no way for you to go to jail. It’s rare to find a human that practices magic these days. Not to mention, it’s even rarer for a magic user to be in law enforcement. So, for people like you, who would get off Scot free since mortals don’t investigate magic crimes anymore, the universe makes you pay by turning you into a crow.” Mark said, flipping the page again.
“That’s unfair! I was 14! You should have known I didn’t have any money. Also how was I supposed to know about those rules?” I aggressively flapped my wings, squawking and cawing in protest. In my fit of anger, I knocked over the jar of eyes.
My fit was short-lived because, against my will, I stood at attention and unable to move from my position. I tried to lift my wings to fly away. Mark did not look up from the page he was reading. “Stop your whining, boy! It falls on deaf ears. I am a demon that has seen humaniti’s greedy pursuit of power, wealth, and revenge run rampant throughout the eons. You are not the first child to succumb to it, and you will not be the last. No one told you to come into my shop and get a cursed item. You could have just settled it the old way.” Mark looked up from his book and stared directly into my eyes. “Once the price has been paid, you will be returned to normal. Now get out of my shop and do not return unless you pay for the items I sell.”
“But how long will it take to repay my debt? Will I be a bird a bird forever?”
“Possibly, but that’s not for me to decide, boy. Maybe you’ll stay like that for another two, ten, or maybe a thousand years. Who knows, you’ll just need to serve your time like all the others.” With a snap of his fingers, I transported to some random neighborhood standing on a telephone wire.
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