If I had known about John's past before before he was such a bully, we might have been friends. You see my name's Richard. While I was in high school 3 years ago. I had started out as the new kid then. John had recently had his heart broken when a girl named Emily, tragically died due to an unforseen illness.
He cared for this girl so deeply & wanted to have a future with this person, however it would never happen. She was the perfect example of the girl next door. So much beauty was held within her eyes & smile. He loved her laugh as he compared it to wind chimes. He couldn't take the heartache & didn't have an outlet to express his emotions properly, except through bullying. First came the hurt. That hurt turned to anger, which lead him to standing up to his bully. The anger released some of the pain for a bit, so he started to hurt others hoping to relieve his anger, however it never seemed to work quite right. That's when I showed up. I had not been the biggest of guys, but of average height. John on the other hand was at least over 6 ft. It felt humiliating to be man handle by him as he trapped me on top of my locker, with my shirt. I was so angry with him back then.
I had no strength to match his own. John made my first few weeks of high school Hell. It was as if he had become a magnet in the flesh, being only attracted to me. I had to try to avoid him. I hid inside the school library thinking it bed the last place a bully would even be. While there, I considered my options I went to search for books on how to handle a bully from talking all the way to hand to hand fighting. I had come to the last book. As I struggled to pull it out, the book shelf shook from its tight release & I was hit from above but an old worn out leather book. I pick it & see it has no title or bar code. I open it & realize this book is in another language. I couldn't keep my eyes off the words though. I look again to see if it had any signs that would trigger an alarm. When I got the chance I took off with it to finish the rest of the day. I had managed to make it through one day without coming across John & made it home. I get on my computer & try to translate someof the words. Some of it was really difficult. What I did learn thougb was that this was a incantation book. A book of spells & magic specifically voo-doo magic. I was so thrilled. I knew then if I could find the right spell, that it might work. It had to right? I continued to look through the book trying to translate what I could. A lot of the writing was difficult to spell & some words were faded from the times it was put through. After weeks of rough translating, I figured I had found the right spell. All I needed were the ingredients. According to what I could learn a voo-doo priest was needed, however it was impossible to find one here. Even the price to hire one was beyond my reach. I had begin to try & gather all I could to get started. Any bullying that came to me was just motivating me to continue. When I had recived the last bits of ingredients, I waited till I my household was asleep & snuck up into the attic. I saw lots of scary movies & they all started the same way being up passed midnight. I figured it had to do with what people call thr witching hour. I wanted to take advantage of all I could for this to work. I followed the instructions as roughly translated and strip myself bare. The combination of the ingredients were very strong in scent. I didn't want any of it stuck in my clothes. Now it was never clear on how much to use, with so much of it I figured more meant more powerful. I smeared the pasty substance all over my chest & groin, even some on my butt. I sat in front of the lit candle. As I take a breath to recite the chant... I see a flash of blue light. A loud thunder breaks the silence. I nearly shrieked, but managed to hold my tongue. The news was calling for a bad storm. It wasn't anything for me to worry about. I recite the chants... "Doule moun sa a yon sel enfli ka we nan pwop je yo jiskaske selman verte e rete!" I wasn't sure if anything was happening, so I repeatedly chanted the words as the storm picked up. I wanted to be heard by whatever powers allowed this to work. I focused on the image of my tormentor, again I said the words until my candle was snuffed out by the winds as tree branch busted my attic window. I quickly got up & ran back down the attic, hoping it didn't wake up anyone & at the same time I was heard... The next morning I woke up in my room unsure if what had happened was really what I had done, but I saw that the pasty substance had dried over me. I got up quickly to shower myself & get what I could off of me. It took some time, but eventually I scrubbed myself clean & manged to mask some of the scent off me. I over hear the conversation of the attic incident & learn that the book was thrown away. I nearly cursed out loud, but caught myself. So it worked or it didn't. I couldn't do anything about now. It was Sunday & I didnt want to wait a whole day to see if the voo-doo magic worked. I got dressed & went in search of John. I found him standing by himself over the bridge. He had seemed to be lost in thought. I approached him trying to call him out. His expression seemed numb, but I didn't let it stop me. I wanted hime to feel the pain he caused me. He see the look on my face & understood. He pops his neck & comesnat me. My heart begins to beat fast. In the beginning I thought it was out of fear, but I wasn't afraid. It was something else. I see John stop in his tracks almost stunned by me. I begin to feel heat come through my skin. I look over myself & see my skin turning into a darker shade of itself. I tried to rub it off out of instinct as it travelled across my body until I was consumed by this unknown force. I could feel my chest pushing outward & my hips crack as they widen. A wave pluses over me forcing my skin to stretch over my new structure. Finally everything stopped. I look over to John. As I see him drop to his knees bawling like a baby. I think that the spell is working. I had begun to feel dizzy & I too fall to the ground. That's when John stopped crying. He ran to me & picked me up. He carried me away from the bridge holding me close to him & what was odd was that I felt safe as a moment ago I was afraid. I allowed him to continue holdimg me as I was far to tired & weak to resist. An hour or so had passed, I woke to see John watching over me. He had a bottle of water for me & asking me if I was ok. I nodded, still confused about why he was concerned about my well being. He handed me the water bottle. I reach for it & freeze up again as I notice my arm is slimmer & my skin tone is much darker. When I tried to speak I snapped my mouth shut due to my new vocal chords. My voice was so very different. John shook his head in amazement. He was genuinely amazed, confused & in shock. Not as much as I thought though. He was trying to take care of me. I thought he was very sweet. It then occured to me those weren't my thoughts. Were they? I tried to gather my thoughts quickly. As I get get up he shadows me. The expression on his face had changed drastically. He was no longer numb... Nor amgry. He was hopeful. For what though, I had no idea. I finally got the courage to ask him why he was caring for me. He told me I looked so much like Emily. I didn't understand how or why. Was it the chant last night? What went wrong? Why was I this Emily to him? Instinctively I gave my hand to John, so we could walk out together. For some reason, it felt right. He told me more about Emily & my eyes began to fill with tears of the truth. He felt so much love for her & the future he desired most was taken away from him. The more I learned about John, the more I felt for him. He wanted to open up, but his father told him long before the pain ever existed that to cry or turn to some shrink was a sign of weakness. John never got to let out his pain the way it was meant to be. I held him in my arms not realizing we were once about to fight. The spell had done something to me. Perhaps it was a part of Emily that had come back. I open up about my plan & John had seemed hurt, but understood. He apologized & hoped I would forgive him. I already had, I told him with a smile. Weeks went by as we managed to re-translate some of the words I had remembered. Sadly I learned that not all words were translated the same way. Some had different meanimgs or accents that alters the grammer. I had accidentally conjured up her body while casting a very harsh revenge spell for death, but with no real body or property to go with I focused on my bully, John & in his mind was Emily.
All that was some time ago though. I now go by Alice for the sake of John's memories. We went on to finish highschool together. He graduated at the top of his class with me right by his side... We both went to college & he became a school counselor for students. I became a nurse with the help of Emily. Her spirit stayed with me for as long as the magic allowed. I guess it was her way of helping me cope & set myself up for a better future. My family as richard soon forgot about me. It was for the better though. John's future was needed with me as Alice & far more important than Richard's... As if things couldn't be anymore bizarre, we're expecting our first family... With twin girls.
