Hidden Secrets

It was hidden, and hidden well. No one would have found it if it had not been for my cat, Scout, scampering up to the attic, seizing his opportunity when I left the attic door ajar. I live in the house that belonged to my late grandparents and had been doing some much-needed cleaning in the attic. Making my way up the stairs and I shouted “Come here you. You know you’re not supposed to be up here. What are you making all this ruckus about?” I found him hair with his standing straight up, hissing at the farthest corner wall in the attic. As I was scooping him up into my arms, I noticed a small slit in the attic wall, resembling what could be an opening. Intrigued, I put Scout down and dug my fingernails into the crevice and to my surprised pried open a small panel revealing a hidden cubbyhole in the wall. Inside was a small wooden box, covered with dust. Reaching in, I pulled out the box, and opened it to find a small black notebook, worn with age.

“Hmm, come on Scout, time to go downstairs and take a look at what we’ve found!” We made our way downstairs, hoped on the couch, and I carefully placed the wooden box on the coffee table. Pulling out the small black notebook, I began to flip through its pages. It was written in a language I was unfamiliar with but someone had written notes in English beside a lot of the text. It appeared to be a collection of old herbal remedies and chants. “I wonder who in our family would take such care to hide away a simple notebook of herbal remedies?”

Many of the book’s pages contained herbal formulas designed to attract love, good luck, protection, and good health. “Well, this looks more like a book of spells. Maybe that’s why someone tucked it away.” I said chuckling to myself. One spell, a spell to obtain enormous wealth, caught my eye. “Now this is something we could really use, Scout.” I lived paycheck to paycheck. I had enough to pay my bills but not much left over. It got tiring being the only broke one among my friends, constantly having to turn down invitations to go out to save money.

I’m not one to believe in magic but I’d be lying if I said my heart didn’t skip a beat at the fleeting though of “What if…?” I decided then, even if only for the fun of it, that I would perform the spell. I read through the spell and made a list of the various herbs and candles I would need. At the end of the page, “Heed Warning!” was written in think dark letters but the paragraph below it was not translated. At first intrigued, it quickly slipped my mind since I was unable to read the rest of it.

Feeling slightly foolish yet animated I began the spell at the stroke of midnight, mixing, measuring, and pouring the herbs into a simmering pot of water while speaking the incantations slowly and carefully. To finalize the spell, on a small piece of paper I wrote today’s date, signed my name beneath, and placed it inside the book of spells.

The next morning, I was astounded to receive a call informing me I was the winner of $20,000 for a contest I had entered months ago. “Hadn’t they announced the winner quite some time ago?” I asked in disbelief. “Yes, we did. But she never came to collect the money, so we had to draw another name, and you were it!” Was it possible the spell actually worked? This must be some bizarre coincidence.

I called my closest friends and we decided to take a get-away trip to celebrate We rented a hotel suite with a jacuzzi, made reservations for some of the best fine dining restaurants in down, and booked VIP tables at exclusive clubs. I was loving every minute of it. I’d never experienced luxury like this before. Over a glass of expensive red wine my friend Jennifer said “I don’t want to see you just blow all your money away, Alex. You really should invest most of this money. I’ll set an appointment for you to meet with my investor.” “That sounds great! Set it up as soon as possible please.” I replied with a laugh. Everything in my life was finally falling into place.

Until my family members health started to rapidly decline. My Grandma Kay became so sick she had to be hospitalized. She passed away two days later. My parents and my siblings started experiencing extreme fatigue strange symptoms. The doctors ran tests, but no one could figure out what was wrong. During this time, I had incredible luck with my investments. I more than tripled my money and it continued to grow. It seemed the more my luck improved, the worst my families became.

The ominous warning on the spell I had cast came to my mind. No, no. it couldn’t be. It was just a coincidence I won that money after reciting that spell, it was just a coincidence that my family members health is declining. I pushed the thought out of my mind, until I couldn’t anymore.

When I received the call that my sister had been hospitalized and was close to death, I knew I had to revisit that little black notebook. It must contain some answer for what is going on, I was desperate at this point. I was going to translate every word of that book if I had to. I began with the passage next to “Heed Warning.” Terror filled me as I read:

“Be upmost certain before you cast this spell.

Vast riches will be yours but those closest to you will pay their lives for your wealth. As you grow richer, they grow weaker. Should you come to regret this decision you have made, know this, the bargain you have made must be paid. The only way to save those you love, is to take the curse upon yourself where certain death awaits you.”

I turned the page and found the spell to assign the curse to myself and two small pieces of paper fell out. Written on the first was only a date and my grandmother’s signature. I gasped as I stared at the paper. My grandfather had died suddenly and unexpectedly when he was still young. No ever could explain how he died. Now I knew, my late Grandmother had cast the same spell I did. I picked up the second piece of paper, it also had my Grandmother’s signature and a date, this date was the exact day of Grandmother’s death.

I knew what I had to do. I gathered the herbs and candles once more and waited for the midnight hour to begin. Completing the spell, I wrote the date, and signed my name then collapsed to the ground sobbing holding my cat Scout close in my arms for one last time.