A Witch's Revenge extended preview

A Witch’s Revenge.

Greta paced back and forth outside the witch’s apartment. She had been told to report her after she had stolen from the lady a month before for her holiday party. “What is she going to do to me? Turn me into a toad?” Greta shook her head. “No that is too cliché. Is it?”

She gulped. “Why can’t she just come to the door and get this over with?”

The door slowly creaked open. “Ahh, there you are. Have you been waiting long?”

Greta threw her arms into the air. “I have been waiting all fucking day! You said to be here by morning. It is almost three in the afternoon.”

The old lady laughed. “Oh, you should have more patience. I mean, you could have just gone home, my dear.”

Greta shook her head. “Oh no. I know what you said would happen if I didn’t come here. You would just randomly get me back. I want to know what is coming.” She walked in, pushing the elderly witch to the side. “I am not going to have some random witch bomb hit me when I least expect it.”

The other woman raised an eyebrow. “Such poor manners. I can see why we keep crossing paths now.” She closed the door to her apartment. “Now, please follow me.” She waved a gnarly finger. “I have been working on this all day, and I think you are going to enjoy this.” She laughed with a crackle. “And even if you don’t, it will be a wonderful time nonetheless.”

“As long as it doesn’t take up too much of my time.”

“It is a punishment. You don’t get to control that. What do you think I am? A bloody doctor’s office? Do you see a sign here that says if you have been waiting fifteen minutes past your appointment, please contact me?” The witch snorted. “This is going to be inconvenient, and you just have to deal with it, you little bitch.” Greta’s eyes widened. “You are going to learn one way or another to stop trying to fuck with me.” She grabbed a vial from the table. “Here.

Drink this.”

“What?”

The elderly woman turned and faced Greta. “You heard me. Are you scared?”

“But I. . . I don’t even know what this does. You said—”

“I said you coming here would give you a rough timeline on when my payback would happen. Not what.” The witch laughed. “I did say life can be cruel, didn’t I? I think I did.” She forced the vial into Greta’s hands. “Now drink it! Unless you want me to turn you into that toad, you thought I would.”

“You heard that?”

“My walls aren’t that thick.”

Greta gulped as she looked down at the bubbling blue potion. She had no idea what this would do, only that she would most likely suffer. But what choice did Greta have? She was in the witch’s abode, and she had already pissed the old woman off. So she closed her eyes and drank the potion in one go. “Ewww. It tastes like fucking blueberries.”

The witch smiled. “You will get used to it. Now, head home to work or wherever you want to go. That little baby will settle in and do its magic sometime tomorrow. I can’t say when, but. . .” She laughed her crackling laugh. “But it will happen tomorrow.”

“What?” Greta slammed her hand down on the table. “That doesn’t help. You. . .”

She sighed. “Whatever. This is fine. I just have some weird potion timebomb in me. I can make this work.”

“Yes, yes.” The witch pushed on Greta’s back. “Figure it out but do it on your own time. Now get out of my house already. You hear me? Out!” She forced Greta out of her apartment, slamming the door behind the young woman.

“That was a bit rude.” Greta snorted. “Well, I guess I should just. . .” She sighed.

“I should just try and deal with my life with this stupid potion that could go off at any moment. Great.” She kicked a bottle down the hallway. “Why did I have to get myself into this situation?”

***

The next day, Greta rose and had her breakfast. She made sure to check herself up and down for any changes, but so far, nothing happened. Maybe the witch was wrong; maybe nothing would happen to her. She looked normal and felt normal. So maybe, just maybe, this would all be in her head.

By the time she arrived at work, she had all but forgotten about the witch’s revenge, instead focusing on her job as she monitored the robots, mixing the chemicals for candy products and the like. There were a few other workers around, but for the most part, her job was easy. She just had to work on the machines if something broke, and that rarely happened. After her quick morning inspection, she was going down to the break room to lounge around and play some games.

“Hmm, everything here seems okay. But what did I expect? Everything is always okay.”

“Hey, Greta.” Marsha waved at her. “Your inspection going well?”

“Hi. And yes, it is.” She arched an eyebrow. “Everything okay? You seem. . . a bit distracted.”

Marsha giggled. “You seem to have something on your face. Did you spill something earlier?”

“What? What are you talking about?”

“Oh, it’s just. . .” Marsha jumped down from the platform above and landed in front of Greta. “You have a little something on your nose.” She touched Greta. “Here, let me get it for you.”

“Hey, stop that.”

“Just hold still. I will rub it off. It is quite the bugger, isn’t it? It’s spreading.”

“Spreading?”

“Yes. It is starting to. . .” Marsha gulped. “Umm, your cheeks are now. . .” She took a few steps back. “You might have an issue.”

“What do you mean by issue? What is happening to me?”

“Look, do you want me to be honest?” Marsha giggled. “Your face. It’s turning blue.”

“WHAT!”