Chapter 2: The Curse Unveiled

The collector sat hunched over in the dimly lit study within his Victorian home. He was intently studying the rusted silver dagger he had purchased that afternoon from Vendredi’s Antiques. He turned it slowly in his gnarled hands, examining the intricate engraving on the hilt and scabbard.

Instantly, a shiver of cold ran up his arm, similar to what he had felt in the shop. He felt a whirlwind of whispers that filled his mind. He gasped for air like he had been plunged under water. The world around him retreated to leave only darkness. Then the visions flitted before his eyes- glimpses into the dagger’s blood-stained past.

He saw the blade of the dagger penetrate a young warrior’s back on a battlefield. He saw the dagger being used as the assassin’s weapon to cut a king’s throat. The old man saw hundreds of years of violence and death behind that accursed weapon, and every kill added to its malevolent power. He heard the whispers again, much clearer this time.

They hissed at him. “Use me,” they said. “Kill with me and drink in the life force. I can make you young again.”

The collector drew a shaky breath, reality rushing back to him as he looked to find himself again in his study, the dagger still tightly clutched in his grasp. His heart was racing wildly beneath his tweed jacket at what he had just experienced.

Trembling hands placed the dagger on the mahogany desk before him. “Vendredi’s Antiques did not know the item they carried was cursed,” he thought. That dagger was plain evil. He reminded himself to stay away from the shop and its owners in the future.

He should have destroyed the dagger. Yet a small, desperate part of him wanted to give in to temptation. After all the whispers promised him the feeling of being young and vigorous once more. To shake himself free from the aches and pains choking his aged body. That was quite an attractive proposition indeed. No, he wasn’t going to be swayed by those dark temptations.

He rocked himself back from the desk and stood slowly up. He needed to see the promised power of the blade for himself if he were to decide on a course of action. Outside in the dim-lit glow of the narrow street, in the alleyway, he spotted an animal rooting through the trash on the sides. The creature looked up at him, its eyes curious and hopeful.

“Use me,” the whispers hissed in his mind again as the collector approached the terrified creature. “Kill and absorb. You know you want to.”