It's a Curse!

“Who's that girl?” I asked a seatmate at my 3 o'clock while pointing at the pretty girl who was confidently sitting at my best friend's chair.

Huh! The nerve of that girl to sit there, was she a transferee? That was quite impossible, knowing that we were currently in the middle of stressful finals.

“We have the same reaction when I entered this room, I first thought that I'm just too stressed not to notice that I was entering the wrong room, but I wasn't! That girl is our classmate, particularly your best friend!”

I might look so overreacting by what she just said, but I just couldn't help it. My best friend was pretty but not to the level of beauty that girl had, I meant, of course, she was imperfect, but looking at how good she was now, I was starting to doubt her background if maybe she had a twin or sort of like that.

I meant, would you believe that her not-so-slender-body would turn into that svelte figure in a short period?

I walked up to where she was seated and bluntly stared at her appearance.

Hmm. She still had the mole near her right eyes like my best friend's, the heartshaped-face was still there, the thin lips also, and the nose... her nose was now pointed, not like her old big but cute nose. And the body, it looked more slender now.

How come? I hadn't only seen her for two days, then how come she made this very stunning girl now?

“Who are you?” asked Jaia.

My brows furrowed in confusion. What was that? She forgot me already because she looked prettier than me now? Kidding, I loved this girl even if we were both bitch.

“I'm Carrie, did you forget your best friend, pretty Jaia?”

“Carrie?” She looked confused then a sudden realization dawned on her face. “Oh, Carrie, sweetie, I have a gift for you!” she said in a high-pitched voice that sounded exactly like the old Jaia with the cute-looking large nose, but in an unctuous way.

Geez. Why did I sound so engrossed regarding her nose? Hello? I have my own nose.

Self. Mind your own nose. Hah!

Phew!

So, I thought she didn't have a twin and I was really talking to the real Jaia....

The waiter immediately left after placing our orders. After our weird recognition chitchat a while ago, she suddenly dragged me inside a small but elegant-looking café near our school.

“So, what happened with your body?” I voiced out the query I patiently kept to myself after she confused the hell out of me.

“Sweetie, why are you overreacting? Should it take a long time to get this figure and pointed nose? I have ways, okay? And I dragged you here because I want to offer you the secret behind these sudden changes with no bad side effects, I promise!”

She then took an old book out of her LV bag after revealing her reasons. Then she handed me the book and began informing me about it and how to read it.

Really? How to read it? Ghad, this girl was really crazy but I just nodded to everything she had said and took the book off her hand, and put it inside my bag.

I eventually felt a short vibration when I touched the book. Okay? What was that? Why did I feel nervous with just a brief touch I did to that book?

Oh, well....

Maybe, it was naturally like that to make it look more convincing that it was very powerful. It would make your dream like having an enticing beauty come true if you would follow the rules, for instance; read it the right way.

The rules were simple. According to Jaia, I must start reading at exactly 3 in the dawn. Another one, I must face a mirror whose size was half of the body-length one. The last one, I must only read it once and finish it from when I started reading — strictly no halts, stops, and continuations

Those were all a MUST. You must thoroughly follow the rules to make the transformation successful.

Goodness. This idea was nonsense bullshit ’coz come to think of it, firstly, the rules clearly commanded me to read at the middle of freaking dawn, the sun wasn't even showing a bit of its sunshine that time. That was quite creepy, ya know?

Secondly, a mirror in exactly half size of the body-lengths? That was kinda weird. Lastly, strictly no stops and halts while reading to get a successful outcome. Girl, who would believe in such a thing?

It was like a side-version of Bloody Mary, right? The two only differed from the rules. If in Bloody Mary, you needed to call her, in my situation, my only instrument was the book.

But, something inside of me was challenging me to take the challenge. I kinda felt excited with the thought of doing such a creepy thingy so I guessed, I was going to do it later. I want it done right away.

One more thing, I would be lying if I would say I was contented with my beauty, or was this face even considered a beauty?

“I'm the most beautiful. I have a great lascivious body. I have the most enticing beauty.

Oh, girl. Every man that would lay a look on me will surely get allured by my beauty.

Just keep on going, I'm so lovely and delicate with this charming beauty.

Oh, the beauty that will lock tons of man up my room of covetousness.”

A pair of brows furrowed in boredom and impatience welcomed Carrie's eyes in front of the mirror — revealing herself in a serious look while holding an old book composed of 20 chapters.

It was getting boring and boring as she neared the last chapters. She didn't expect this book's contents to be full of boastfulness. She thought the contents to be discussed were procedures and different methods in getting a new and fresh appearance.

However. It felt weird feeling so weird about it. Wait, what? Nevermind.

The darkness of her room was starting to get on her nerves. Goodness gracious, she almost screamed. The curtains painted in pale lilac, and the pictures hanging on her little picture hook near the study table were currently swaying in an idly manner, following the slow rhythm of the wind hovering around my room.

It was getting creepier every passing hour, she didn't know what to feel anymore.

Nevertheless, she continued reading as per the rules not to do any stops.

Then she thought of another thing that seemed to be weird, the rules were written after every five chapters of the book, that was why anyone would surely follow it. And it looked like you could never get away with this. Geez. She shivered at the thought.

She was halfway done with chapter 19 when suddenly, she felt her body releasing a short painful vibration that kept her from opening her eyes that had shut in a very tight manner.

“W—what the hell did just happen?”

She meant it to be a scream that eventually turned out as a low whisper when she saw her own body staring at its reflection in the mirror with eyes slowly opening. M—my body looked enticing, and my face looked perfect? She was mesmerized.

On the other hand, she was confused as fuck as she looked at her current state.

If I am not the one controlling my body, then where the hell am I?! she thought for a second.

Carrie braced myself as she raised her two hands in front of her face. And there she saw... dust. Glowing dust.

She noticed that she was no longer sitting on the bed and found herself standing, facing the back of the mirror she’d placed at the foot of her queen-sized bed.

Fear eventually consumed every flesh of her body as she made her way towards the front of the mirror and there in the reflection, she watched how her entire body got completely wrapped with those glowing white dust. Even her straight brown hair was surrounded by those clouds of shining dust.

But instead of feeling awed, she broke down looking helplessly shocked and afraid.

She was so sure she was not dreaming any of the horrifying events she was in because she felt a slight ache caused by the little pinch she granted the small part of her right arm's skin without feeling a little texture of the dust.

“I-is this some kind of a prank? This is just a prank, right? Maybe some friend drugged me through a drink that would give this kind of effect on me? These are just hallucinations!” she fearfully shouted with a weak voice as she gulped the sudden bulge in her throat, trying so hard not to burst into tears, convincing herself that nothing in that scene was true.

And she was also sure as hell that no one pulled that kind of prank on her.

She instantly averted her eyes at the book when it extended a great impact, then a figure of a girl laced with the glowing dust same as hers eventually popped out of the book.

“W—what the hell?!”

Carrie didn't believe in supernatural: ghosts, witches, etc. But, how on earth these kinds of things were happening now? she concluded.

“Carrie, sweetie. This is me, Jaia, your real best friend. The one you've talked to was just some random girl locked in this cursed book. You know, these are all real. Carrie, I have so many dreams to fulfill that's why I asked some favor from the soul who's now controlling my body.”

What?! So the soul of the real Jaia was chained in this weird book? What the hell?!

She looked at Jaia who continued explaining the prank she thought was happening to her. Or rather, a curse? She didn't have any ideas.

“I asked her to convince you to believe in this book that helped me get the new appearance you saw at school. But, you see, a person locked in this cursed book could only get the way out through having a swap soul for exchange in your position. If the exchange person successfully completed the procedures, the soul locked inside the book would be in the swap person's body while the soul of the latter would be the one to take the place to get locked in the book... It's just a cycle.”

She was totally bewildered by everything her friend Jaia just revealed.

“Y-you betrayed me!” Carrie accused her.

I had the right to accuse her of that, right? How could she use me to be a swap on her current condition? Fuck, I thought we were best friends. But she said she still had goals to do, that was why she did this to me. Ha! How 'bout my own goals? her mind instantly guessed.

“Carrie, don't worry I'll still help you. Just you wait, okay? I still have to search for someone who could be in your place. After that, you will read the last chapter of this book to successfully locked your swap in the book while you would be controlling her body that in that time, already changed into an enticing one.”

She then reached for the book she gave to her friend and started reading chapter 20 to chain the latter's soul in that book while she would be the one controlling her new body with perfect appearance now.

For Pete's sake! Carrie wanted everything to stop, immediately. She mentally admitted that she was craving for much more beauty, but after learning about the curse, she wouldn't be able to live her life if she wouldn't do what her best friend did with her. She formulated an idea in her mind: maybe, her friend did this out of pure curiosity and boredom. But the, this was what she would get in return

“Jaia, is this a curse or a prank?”

Jaia looked at her one last time before the latter felt herself being forced to be in that book.

I was now chained. Now I knew, I was cursed, not pranked.

“It's a curse! The story behind this started with a prank that turned into a curse and no one could ever tell what's the prank all about. But, many say a family of witches pranked the women who were greedy to get a perfect appearance through this book in the 17th century, that's why the good witches at that time cursed them. Their souls together with the greedy women were locked in this book you're locked into. Every woman's soul that's greedy for beauty would get locked in this book and could only get out if they get a victim and vice versa, and it needs to be successful because they could only get out of the book if the rules are being followed right, like reading the book at exactly 3 am. Up until now, the curse is still powerful because lots of women were still greedy for perfection, and that's what's makes the curse more and more powerful.”

She looked down at her friend she betrayed and passed the curse to, staring directly at the eye cover of the book that served as Carrie's vision and hearing. It was like the book was her second skin, and she was the one giving life to the curse of the book.

“Carrie, I will be back. I forgot a warning, if you haven't searched for an exchange soul, your soul will disappear. That's why lots of women's souls were gone from that book after a very long time. Don't worry, I will immediately search for your swap,” she promised her after leaving the room, placing her back on the study table.

Goodness, she felt fucking weird to see yourself talking to your soul inside a book. Hell, she didn't even notice the sun slowly eating the darkness that witnessed her journey of being cursed.

“What Carrie said is really weird. And the rules also, how come this book can make me perfect? Well, I shall give this a try.”

No, no, no. Shit!

The realization that hit her made her mind lose the last bit of sanity it had, she couldn'tbelive it! Her twin sister was the one Jaia had searched to be her swap? Oh, no, please! 

But...

she still wanted to live her life. I still wanted to fulfill my dreams.

In order to do that, she needed her sister to sacrifice for her? Was her evilness enough to do that to her own family? But she was her sister, and...

My! I am sorry, Carren, but you'll need to be cursed.

This... this is the product of our greediness for perfection... get cursed because of our imperfect intentions.