Craig got lost on his way to Ferris's house in Vredenburg. Just as he was about to phone Ferris for further directions, he found the street name Ferris had given him. Craig was not looking forward to what he might see, but he needed to find out what the story was behind Ferris's hand.
Craig felt a little anxious when he knocked on the front door. For a moment he thought nobody was home. There were no sounds coming from inside the house. Craig knocked again. Soon he could hear the lock shift. The door swung open and Craig could barely believe his sight. Ferris added at least five years to his life in only a few days. His clothes seemed two sizes too big for his body. Ferris stood aside for Craig to enter. He supported his left arm with his right hand. Not only was his hand bandaged but also his entire forearm, up to his elbow.
'Ferris, what's going on?' Craig asked, concerned.
'Please, come in,' Ferris said and headed for a small living room to the right.
Craig entered. On the wall, he noticed a photo of a woman next to a small wooden cross. He felt guilty for knowing so little about Ferris. He never asked him about his personal life. Craig closed the door behind him and followed Ferris into the living room. There was a stench as he walked deeper into the house. It smelled like Ferris had forgotten about some meat he had taken out to defrost and it had been sitting somewhere on a plate attracting flies. Craig hoped it was the meat and not anything else.
Ferris slumped down on a brown material couch and stared out in front of him.
'What's up Ferris,' Craig said softly. He cautiously sat down next to him.
Ferris sighed, 'I don't know. I'm scared Craig, I'm really afraid.'
Craig turned his body to face Ferris directly, 'Talk to me, man.'
Ferris held his hand out in front of him and started unwrapping the bandage, 'I want to show you this but be warned, it's not pretty.'
Craig shifted closer. He regarded Ferris's arm with great interest. The foul odour from earlier was stronger and Craig knew it was coming from Ferris. A gaping cut became visible at the bottom of Ferris's forearm. It had an almost brownish colour mixed with a dull red. The foul odour of decay was so strong, Craig had to look away for a moment to catch his breath.
'I told you,' Ferris said. It sounded like his vocal cords were deprived of water.
'God, what happened to you?' Craig asked. He regarded Ferris. Deep lines of concern cut deeply around Craig's mouth and forehead.
'This is no allergy or handling toxic material for that matter. This my friend, is something far worse than I feared. Let me show you the rest before I tell you the truth.'
Soon Ferris's whole arm and hand were exposed. Craig's heart sank at the sight. He had never seen anything as gore in real life before. Ferris's hand had two deep cuts on top. The first cut ran between his index and middle finger while the second was between his pinky and ring finger. The first cut was not as severe as the second one which went right through Ferris's hand. Both cuts revealed dry finger bones with a brownish colour. His nails were long and thick. They were animal-like with a dark brown colour.
'Jesus,' Craig said. He held his hand in front of his nose and mouth. 'Your hand didn't look like this when I last saw you,' he spoke through his fingers. 'What did you do?'
'Absolutely nothing. All I did was soak it in antiseptic stuff, and this is what happened thereafter. It seems angry now. It's picking up speed and spreading up my arm much faster.'
'Wait, wait. Start from the beginning. Take it easy okay? Tell me everything.'
Ferris sighed, 'This is not some disease I picked up from anywhere. This is something worse than that,' Ferris said regarding his hand, 'Fucking disgusting isn't it.'
'What do you mean it is something worse than a disease?'
'I've been cursed.'
'Cursed? What do you mean? How?'
'I went to a pub in Saldanha some weeks ago, around about the time you started working here. There were a bunch of youngsters that night, drinking and playing music. Most of them were underage, and I'd never seen any of them before. I thought maybe they were here on holiday. I went to take a piss and found one of the kids smoking crystal meth in the toilets. That is unacceptable in my opinion. The youngsters of today have no respect. Our society is rotting at its core,' Ferris said.
'What happened then?' Craig asked. Ferris's face turned red from anger.
'I asked him what he was doing. He was quite arrogant about it too. So I hit him. Next thing was this fucking arm.'
'Come on Ferris, I'm not following you here man.'
'This kid just smiled and touched this fucking thing,' Ferris said disgusted, indicating towards his rotting hand. 'He said that it would all start with my left hand. There was something in his eyes as well. Some demonic shit I tell you. Something was not right with these kids. I got really scared that night.'
'And you've never seen them before?'
'None of them, no. The worst part was when I left the toilet. They were all standing around waiting for me. As I walked past them, they started saying things only I could know. They said stuff about my deceased wife. They even knew her name.'
'You know how crazy that sounds right,' Craig said concerned. 'The thing is, I believe you. I've heard ugly fucking things since I came down to Saldanha. In fact, ugly things started happening since we moved down to this fucking place.' Craig realised that he was winding himself up. He reminded himself that this was not about him. He was here for Ferris, and he wanted to find out what happened, 'Sorry Ferris, continue.'
'I know. That's why I didn't tell anyone yet. Things changed after that night. It started slowly at first. I noticed the nails on my left hand grew faster, and then a few days later my nails turned yellow. My hand started itching from a small bump and my skin felt dead after a while. At first, I thought maybe I was allergic to something. The bump on my hand multiplied. It was itching like a motherfucker. I got so irritated that I hit the dashboard. That's when my skin first tore open. There was stuff moving in there. Disgusting shit I tell you, Craig, fucking sick. Almost like tiny black dots moving in my flesh. I soaked my hand in antiseptic stuff, but that did not help at all. The doctor didn't know what it was, man. Nothing can kill it. Over the weekend I got a second cut on my hand and now this one started on my arm as well. It stinks and there is nothing I can do about it.'
'I can't believe my fucking ears. So you think this is a curse?'
'Of course, yes. Look how fast this thing is spreading. There was nothing wrong with me before that night at the pub. This is something of an evil nature. Those black magic shit you hear about in the newspapers.'
'Fuck Ferris, we need to get you some help, man. You can't carry on like this. You going to lose that arm if we don't get help soon.' He regarded the cuts on Ferris's hand and arm. Ferris waved at the annoying flies. He could not have them laying eggs in those wounds as well. That would be disastrous.
'Yes, but who? My house doctor is quite good, but he could not help me. You should have seen the puzzled look on his face when he saw my hand last week. And my hand was much better back then. How do you think he can help me if antibiotics and all sorts of other shit could not do the trick?'
'There must be someone who should be able to help. You can't just sit here and rot away, man.'
'This hand is already rotten. I mean look at it. It's fucked.' Ferris sounded flat and defeated.
'What did this kid look like?'
'Tall dark skinny fellow. I'll fucking kill him when I see him again,' Ferris almost shouted.
'Take it easy. Let's take it one step at a time, okay. We'll win this. We'll get you some help and save your arm, I promise. Any help we can get. Maybe we can find out if there are some witch doctors on the West coast. They might be able to help or point us in the right direction at least.'
'I need a miracle here Craig,' Ferris said with watery eyes.
'Hang in there Ferris man, help is on the way. In the meantime ask the doctor to book you off for a few more days. We don't want any trouble at work. Get the doctor to come and see you as soon as possible. Show him your hand. Maybe he can put you on a different medication that can slow it down for now. I'll find out if there are some other doctors around that can help you out. Don't worry okay?' Craig placed his hand on Ferris's shoulder. He got up and headed for the door. 'Give me a shout if you need anything.'
He closed the front door behind him and looked up at the sky. He took a deep breath of the fresh air and tried to rid himself of the image of Ferris's hand and the smell it caused.