"This is a bad idea," Jasper mumbled to himself as he stood at the entrance to Sabrina's place. The bad premonition he had was further confirmed when he saw what's written on the notice display board beside the entrance door.
"This home belongs to Sabrina the cruel. Fun facts about me:
1: I'm a witch - believe it or not
2: Knocking on my door as a prank attracts one-year syphilis
3: I only attend to serious cases
4:Mind your business
5: You can knock now,"
Jasper was hesitant to knock on the door. With all these warnings, who in their right mind would do so - one-year syphilis was no joke.
"Mister! " Jasper bristled at the little girl that appeared by his side out of nowhere. She had raven hair with pretty black eyes, looking no older than seven years.
Fine, she was just a kid. Nothing to be scared of.
"Who are you?" he asked.
"Oh, I live just across the street," she pointed to some random house amongst the rows of others, "But mister, you shouldn't be here,"
"Why shouldn't I be here?"
"The woman who lives here is a creepy witch who feeds on the brain of her unsuspecting victim. I'd advise you to run as far as you can, see ya,"
"No-wait...!" Jasper stretched his hands to stop her but she had already skidded away.
Wow, that was real smooth.
Jasper was in a dilemma, should he move ahead or not? But thinking about it, Ben wouldn't send him to his death, right?
Fine, this was all for Scarlett.
With a shaky determination, Jasper pressed the doorbell. The "dingdong" sound reverberated across the house while he waited in anticipation mixed with fear for the door to be opened.
For a minute, nothing happened which made Jasper begin to wonder if the owner of the house was available. He was already contemplating his next course of action when the door flung open forcefully with a gust of wind.
Alright? Jasper took a deep breath, fighting against the urge to shriek and run away from here; he had to do this.
With his guards on, Jasper cautiously stepped into the short passageway, the door snapping shut behind him. How could the door open and close by itself? This only happens in horror movies! So, what was he still doing here? Avoiding one-year syphilis?
Jasper stepped into the living room void of human presence. Where was the owner? Dead? How sure was he that this place he stepped into wasn't ruled by a ghost?
"Welcome,"
Jasper was startled by her sudden presence but the man was happier he didn't scream like a girl. Where did she even come from? Speaking of the woman...
She was sitting on one of the couches with her leg crossed over the other, a blank look on her face. She looked to be in her late thirty' s or so, with raven hair, charming black eyes, and.... wait a minute.
"Y- you," His hand reflexively pointed at her, "You're that little girl I met..." his eyes grew wide, he pulled his hair, "Oh my God, how's that possible? I just saw you -"
"I informed you through the notice board before you stepped in, I'm a witch and it's time our species quit hiding in the shadows. We are different and humanity has to accept that,"
She laughed, "But don't worry about that, those were stunts I use to scare the feeble-hearted away. You're horrified but daring, you must have a huge reason for coming here,"
Great, he was dealing with a delusional woman who thinks of herself as the wicked witch of the west. At first, Jasper was frightened by the spookiness but thinking about it now, all these were mere tricks.
He would have to go along with anything she says till he gets the solution to his problem.
"Why are you here? Failure to give me a good reason still attracts the punishment listed in the board," she threatened him.
"Ben sent me here, says you're the only one who can help me... no, help my friend with his problem," He was quick to correct himself.
"Ben did?" her brows drew together,
"You mean Alcantara junior?"
"Yes,"
"That little hamster knows how to get on my nerves," she glanced up at Jasper, " Listen here young man,"
He gave her all of his attention.
"If Ben referred me to you, then I'm a hundred percent sure your case is a pretty intense one. So go ahead with the story," she said while gesturing him to have a seat.
"So I have this friend who has this girl he loves -" Jasper was interrupted when Sabrina lifted her hand.
"What is it?" he was confused.
"If you want to get on my good side, and you desperately need my help, I suggest you stop those lies," Sabrina warned him.
Jasper was shocked, how did she know he was lying? Was she a psychic or what? He glanced up at the witch, their eyes met and it felt like she could see into the depth of his soul. He took away his eyes at once.
"Fine," he took a deep breath and went ahead to narrate his problem, "There's this girl I met and fell in love with, all was going well until recently. Turns out anytime I'm with her, bad things happen to me -to be specific. I confronted her and I found out she's cursed. Any man that tries to date her, experiences a series of incidents that might even lead to his death,"
By the time Jasper was through, he had expected the witch to be amazed by that revelation. But the woman in question, looked nonchalance as if this was the least of the bizarre things she had encountered.
"Do you have something that belongs to her, most especially a strand of her hair?" Sabrina inquired.
"No, but I have.…" He searched in his pocket, "her picture," he handed the photograph he had stolen from Scarlett's room earlier in the day to her.
Sabrina took the photo from him, her mouth moving as she began to chant in a language that was entirely foreign to him.
Maybe, she was truly a witch? Jasper thought. Whatever, he doesn't care anymore, as far as she settles the crisis at hand. Ben was right, he was desperate.
After a while, when Sabrina was done with her abracadabra, her eyes settled on him intensely. He was uncomfortable.
"What is it?" he was anxious to hear the result.
"Do you love your life?" Was her odd question.
"Of course I do," his confusion grew
"Then if I were you, I'd run as far as away as possible from this girl,"