A Little Curse or Blessing (Patreon)

Chapter 2

Jessica wasn’t sure how the old woman shopkeeper could know what she needed when

not even she did, but as she took her gently by the hand she could feel how warm the woman’s

hand was as she led her back towards the back counter.

“I wanna know more about you darling.” The woman said, a bit of an accent in her voice

that Jessica couldn’t quite place.

“Oh ummm... well I’m 19... I go to...”

The woman chuckled and halted her words with a wave of her hand. “Not with your

words my dear. Madame Zola wants to see your inner being.” The old woman sat down, her grip

tightening slightly on Jessica’s hand as she reached over the counter. The woman placed her

other hand against her palm and both of her hands studied every last little crevice of her fingers

and knuckles as she explored every bit of them. “You’ve been having a problem... haven’t you?”

The woman asked.

Jessica felt skeptical, but nodded her head. “Uh... y-yes. I have.”

“And this problem, amongst other things, is what brought you here to me today.” The

woman’s words were pretty vague, but Jessica couldn’t deny that one of the main reasons she’d

been at Walmart was because she’d been considering buying protection. “And... you’re scared of

other people finding out about this problem of yours, aren’t you?”

“Y-yes... I am, but... h-how do you...?”

“Shhhh child... I’m almost there.” The old woman’s hands ran deeply over the lines of

Jessica’s fingers. A small breeze felt like it suddenly ran through the room, making Jessica’s

back neck hairs stand on end. She assured herself that it just must be the store’s weird AC or

something. “Okay,” The woman said with a gentle smile, letting go of Jessica’s hand. “I’ve

gotten everything I need to.” She reached down underneath the counter and pulled out a large

black chest that looked much too heavy for an old woman such as herself to carry, but she didn’t

appear to have any trouble with it as she lifted it onto the counter. “This magic chest has exactly

what a customer like you might need. It always does.” The woman took a big old fashioned key

out of her pocket and slipped it into the chest which opened with 3 loud clicks, then creaked as it

opened up.

As the woman looked inside she raised her eyebrows a little and glanced at Jessica.

“Interesting...” The woman mumbled under her breath. She then pulled out a big shiny bag and

hid the contents of the chest from Jessica as she shuffled them into the bag which she then tied

up with a golden colored rope, which she finally handed to Jessica. “There you are dear. This is

for you. You’ll come to understand its contents in time. My only request is that you don’t open

the bag until you’ve returned home.”

Now it was Jessica’s turn to raise her eyebrows. “Huh? But what’s in it. How much is

it?”

The woman chuckled. “Well it wouldn’t be much of a magical surprise if I just told you

hmm? And don’t worry about the cost. I can see that you’re a good girl. I want you to have this

for free. Think of it as a gift.”

“W-what? B- but ma’am... I can’t just.”

“You can and you will, now out you go. I need to start cleaning up dear. These old bones

of mine get tired, hehe.” As she spoke she herded Jessica towards the door, half leading and half

pushing her back out onto the street, Jessica turned to look at the woman. ““Every aspect you try

might just make you a little more addicted to it. Be careful what you wish for little one. But don’t

worry too much, it’s who you’re meant to be, it’ll make sense in time.”

She said it with such clear conviction and seriousness that it almost sounded to Jessica

like she was casting a spell. The smile then returned to the woman’s face. “Don’t forget dear,

don’t open til you get home. Oh and don’t worry, those sorority girls you were worried about are

long gone.”

And with that, the woman shut the door and flipped the small sign on it to ‘CLOSED’

before retreating into the darkness of the shop.

Jessica stood there fairly dumbfounded at what she’d just experienced, looking down at

the bag to confirm it was really there. She took a few moments to shake her head out and get

over her confusion before beginning to walk home. Just as the woman had said, the sorority girls

she’d seen were nowhere to be found, but that was just coincidence right? How did she know

about them though?

The walk home seemed longer than normal, probably from her eagerness to see what was

inside the bag. She knew she could just open it right now, but part of her felt like she should

obey the woman’s request.

Finally, she got back to her little place and walked in the door, shutting it behind her. She

gingerly sat down at the table and took a deep breath as she reached forward and opened the bag.

Her eyes immediately locked onto the most colorful thing inside. “What the fuck?” She

mumbled out in astonishment, grabbing one of the things inside and pulling it out towards the

light to make sure she was really seeing it properly... a pull-up.
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This story was written by Zander Chesney

You can find more of his content here :

https://zanderchesneyoriginals.tumblr.com/