The Witch's Soul

 

I was on my daily run when a Labrador suddenly ran up to me and blocked my path. I tried to run around it, but it suddenly spoke to me. “Don’t be afraid, I mean you no harm,” it said, making me almost fall on my back from shock.

“What in the… Am I dreaming?” I asked myself before pinching my arm. No, I was awake.

“I assure you I’m real.  I’m a man trapped in a dog’s body and I need your help,” it said.

“How is that even possible?”

“My wife did this to me. I stumbled across her performing witchcraft recently, and when I asked her what was happening, she told me she was a demon who needed people’s souls to survive. She made me promise to keep her secret, but even if I could have kept it to myself, I couldn’t bear to be around her after what I had heard. One day, I tried to skip down without her knowledge, but she found out and cursed me, placing my soul in this dog’s body.”

“This is unbelievable… But how can I even help you if you’ve been cursed by a demon?”
“I don’t know, but you seem to be the only one who can understand me. There must be a good reason for it.”

I didn’t know what to say. How could I understand what a dog was telling me? Did I really have some special abilities? I remembered how my mom was always secretive about certain books and files she kept in a box hidden away in her cupboard. I wondered if I would find any answers in those documents; they had been catching dust in the basement since she passed away three months ago.

“What’s your name?” I asked.

“Anthony,” he replied.

“Come with me; let’s see if I can help you.”

Once Anthony and I arrived at my house, I checked my mom’s old books and documents and found something astonishing: she was a witch. Was I a witch too? Soon, I stumbled across a grimoire. It had the spells we needed to restore Anthony’s original form and defeat the demon. I started out with some simple telekinetic spells to see if I had powers, and I did. For the next three months, I perfected my skills to confront the demon.

That day, I performed the spell to vanquish the demon, but it was not long before she began to overpower me. I suddenly felt every last ounce of my energy drain from me as the demon slowly stepped forward with a smirk. Sigils then began to emerge from the walls beside me—I had been ensnared.

“Thank you, Anthony,” she said.

“What’s happening? Was it all a lie from the start?” I asked.

“I’m sorry, Erin. I had no choice,” Anthony said as he walked away from me and joined the demon’s side.

I struggled to break free, but I couldn’t even lift a finger. The demon then began to perform a spell of her own and, within minutes, I began to feel my soul leave my body. The demon had won.