Reaper

CHAPTER 9 - Harbinger

She didn't understand what or why she was going through what anyone would describe as hell.

She, no doubt wondered what she had done, but denied knowing that she did anything wrong. That's probably what got her in her current situation.

This was one of the few times I didn't know the causation of my target's suffering.

Nonetheless, my amusement didn't cease, neither did my curiosity. How was it that this human came to be cursed?

Narrowing my eyes, I looked closely at the scene.

Toni Harding was a pitiful mess, from her bird nest of hair to her dirty clothes. The woman was giving herself what seemed like a pep talk in the mirror. "You need to get it together Toni!" She pointed to herself, I scoffed, in more ways than one girl.

"You aren't crazy! You're just stressed! Yes, that's it, stressed. Nothing a lot of TLC won't cure" Toni was trying hard to convince herself, but not even she believed her bullshit. Denial was a very common lover of humans. Closing her eyes, the woman began taking deep breaths.

I wonder, what's so hard about admitting your wrongs? Is it the fear of admitting you failed at something or was the thought so farfetched that it was unthinkable?

A giggle drew both mine and Toni's attention. Both our eyes widened as we gazed at her reflection, however, out of the two of us only I started laughing.

"You should know better Toni" her reflection sneered.

"No!" Gripping fists full of her hair, Toni keeled over, her airway became restricted as started to panic on her bathroom floor. "It's not real" She chanted over and over.

"Let go, Toni!" Her reflection purred "you know you want to."

Grunting, Toni shot up from her crouched position and snatched her hairdryer from the counter before hurling it at the mirror. Her reflection smashed to pieces and the voice quieted, leaving Toni breathing heavily as she stumbled and fell into the chair in the corner of the room.

The woman hugged herself as she tried to catch her breath, confusion and fear presented themselves clearly on her face as she began to sob. She wore herself tired and passed out from all the crying she did, leaving herself utterly vulnerable.

My understanding of the origins of Toni Harding's curse grew the more I observed her. The glow of the crystal necklace she wore was imbued with the craft of someone else. The whispers in the incantation filled the room, getting louder until the windows shook but Toni didn't stir, she was completely oblivious to the calamity that befell her.

As a soul collector, I have the ability to understand all languages no matter the universe. Toni Harding was finding out just what happens when one is too presumptuous and covets the possessions of others.

The source behind her curse had used the woman's ambitions. The aura of greed and pride consumed the woman, literally manifesting itself and toying with her life, she pissed off the wrong witch.

As Toni slept, the life form of her greed and pride combined roamed the streets of the city, doing whatever and whomever it pleased. The manifested desire was like a doppelgänger, beings that were known to be harbingers of death.  The dopplegänger sounded the same, acted the same, and most importantly, she looked identical.

I decided to call her Jezebel.

As her name implied, Jezebel was uninhibited, she danced, drank, fucked and stole the night away leaving her own mark on those she came into contact with. Those people would slowly become corrupted, and eventually, seek out who they thought was responsible and direct their unbridled desire unto them.