The Gift of Seven Shadows

Evie received the locket when she turned 18 because her mother who was never present in her life had sent it to her. A handwritten message accompanied the locket which stated to wear the item during midnight to reveal a solution for saving her. The reliable suggestion exists in these words to help you rescue her.

Aunt Mara suffered from an unidentified illness that doctors could not treat which led to her dying state. Evie had watched the black veins climb her neck while listening to her aunt’s muffled whimpering through the neighboring room. Desperation outweighed logic.

At exactly 11:58 p.m., she held the tarnished silver oval locket while it showed her seven empty-faced symbols. The second hand ticked.

Midnight.

The locket revealed its contents instead of a photograph by producing an unsettling voice.

“Blood for blood,” it rasped. “A life to mend a life.”

Evie checked her reflection in the vanity mirror but noticed her own face trembling. Seven dark humanoid forms appeared from the walls behind her while she stood there. Their hollow eyes glowed amber.

“Choose,” the locket hissed.

Aunt Mara struggled to breathe while living within the house. While standing near her bed Evie held the dagger which the shadows had given her.

“Forgive me,” she whispered.

The blade slit Mara’s palm. The blood drops poured onto the locket creating a burning corrosive reaction. The shadows extended themselves toward Mara then transformed into smoke that entered her mouth.

Aunt Mara recovered completely by the time early morning arrived.

Liam started to cough black petals during the night after Evie threw the locket in the attic.

The locket’s voice returned, smug. After payment of the debt a new cycle begins which produces growing interest in the arrangement.

Evie took both hands to remove the locket which she threw into the attic ceiling. Too late.

Liam worsened. His unhealthily pale skin became deathly gray and his vision faded to a foggy state. Eight shadows whispered “Choose” through the ventilation system. Choose. Choose.”

Evie searched throughout the attic until she discovered a packed box of journals belonging to her mother. According to the journal pages the locket contained a curse which used to save lives by making different people sick. Her mother hadn’t abandoned them. She’d fled to protect Evie.

The final entry: “Seven shadows for seven sacrifices. The survival choice rests between breaking the linked curse or letting yourself become the next shadow.

Liam's breathing gargled. Shadows coalesced in his bedroom, assuming definite shapes. Evie gripped the dagger more tightly.

"Kill him," the locket whispered, materializing above her collarbone. "Or let him wither away."

Blinded by tears, she thrust the knife into Liam's chest—

and sliced her palm instead.

"Take me," she flung.

Shadows recoiled, then swarmed in. Fire seared her veins as their smoke choked her lungs. Liam ceased coughing.

Evie stumbled to the mirror. Her face smiled, eyes amber hollows. Shadows writhed beneath her skin.

"Clever girl," the locket breathed. "But debts follow death."

They buried Evie in the locket, as she had learned. Liam placed it in her casket, unaware of the whispers that pursued him home.

That night, his girlfriend found him clutching a tarnished silver oval, chain coiled around it like a snake.

"It's for you," he breathed, gold-sparking eyes. "A gift."

Story description :

Themes: Familial sacrifice, cursed heirlooms, inescapable debt.

Twist: The curse demands a new "keeper" to host the shadows, trapping Evie’s soul in the locket and passing the burden to Liam.