Using her body's vitality - Part 1 (Patreon)

“What happened to me?” Brenda said while she looked around. She stared in disbelief at her surroundings while the sound of her heart pounded violently. The world outside was distorted, a kaleidoscope of colors refracted through the walls of the sapphire. She tried to recall how she ended up in this predicament when the air became cold. A faint white fog parted from her lips while she looked out of the blue walls.

Before all of this, she had been in her client’s kitchen after letting her coworker, Scott, go out to buy groceries. It was the middle of their shift together, but today had felt like a slow day after Caroline took her afternoon nap. Something seemed completely off when Brenda went through the kitchen to give it a good wipe down, and that’s when she spotted the sapphire on the kitchen counter.

It seemed completely out of place, and she wondered if Caroline had decided to leave it there to test her loyalty. The old woman had been racist towards the African American woman, and she clearly showed her bias towards her whenever she was around Scott. Scott was your average white boy straight out of high school, so Caroline easily gravitated towards him.

Brenda remembered frowning and deciding to return the sapphire to her client’s bedroom. The caretaker company had a policy against stealing, and she figured that showing that she wasn’t a thief was extremely important to her. Her fingers brushed against the smooth surface of the sapphire just before she could pick it up. 

Suddenly, a strange sensation, almost like a tickle, had surged through her, and before she knew it, she was inside the gem. The vast kitchen she once stood in now appeared tiny from her vantage point within the sapphire. Panic didn’t take long to set in. Brenda's heart raced as she pounded on the walls of her crystalline prison. Each strike echoed within the confines of the gem, but the sapphire remained unyielding. With every attempt to break free, Brenda felt her energy wane. Her movements became sluggish, and a sense of hopelessness began to creep in.

As she rested for a moment, trying to gather her strength, a face appeared outside the sapphire. An old woman, her eyes gleaming with mischief, looked intently at Brenda. The woman's lips curled into a smile, revealing a hint of satisfaction.

Recognition dawned on Brenda. The face belonged to Caroline, a woman she had met only once but had left a lasting impression. Caroline's fingers delicately held the sapphire, lifting it off the counter. Brenda felt a sensation of weightlessness as the gem was raised into the air. She tried to call out, to plead with Caroline, but no sound escaped her lips. The only thing that came out was the white wisps parting from her lips.

Caroline's voice, however, was clear. “That wasn’t so hard,” the old woman laughed. “I knew you wouldn’t be able to resist admiring this. I’m sorry it had to come to this, dear. But now that Scott’s getting my ingredients, I know that this is actually going to happen. So, I’ll be clear with you. This has nothing to do with me being a racist old white lady – this has everything to do with your willingness to help me. You didn’t want to help me with my magic, and so you’ll be the source of my spell. Just have to prepare you quickly before we do the full spell.”

“Prepare me?” Brenda thought while she tried to ask the old woman what she meant. Then, the old woman whispered words that Brenda couldn't understand, her voice melodic and rhythmic while a crack of light emerged from her wrinkled fingertips. The sapphire responded to her chant, glowing brighter with each word. Brenda felt a pull, a force drawing her towards the center of the gem. She resisted, pushing against the walls, but it was futile. Caroline's laughter echoed around Brenda. It was a sound filled with triumph, a sound that sent shivers down Brenda's spine while she felt squished and helpless.