Story #1

“You see what I’m talking about? This has been going on since last week,” Arisa said, glancing over to the witch while clutching Adam Sandler’s arm.

    “Yeah, I do,” the witch replied. “I’m guessing you want me to fix...whatever this is,” she gestured to Adam’s head. “Well, I suppose we should be on a first name basis. You may call me Theodora Crain.”

    Growl. The head on Adam’s shoulders had started back up.

    “I’m Arisa,” Arisa said. “Now, can you help turn my brother’s head back into a human head?!”

    “I suppose I can,” the witch replied. “While I gather the ingredients, tell me what happened. Start to finish.”

    “Alright,” Arisa stated, ignoring another growl from Adam.


FLASHBACK



    Adam is driving to his friend’s house after a soccer game. He thought he should wash up, but it didn’t matter; he needed to win that Blackjack game.

    Arriving at his friend’s house, he swiped on a couple streaks of deodorant, sprayed some Axe, and leaped out, money in hand. When he got to his friend’s doorstep, the door immediately swung open and he was pulled inside.

    “Dude.” His friend said. “You reek.”

    “Thanks, Beast,” Adam replied.

    “You have the money?” Beast extended his hand.

    “$500 buy-in.” Adam handed over the crisp $20’s and $50’s.

    “Great, now follow me,” Beast gestured to a door that Adam presumed led to a basement.

    Now, this hadn’t been the first time Adam had been inside Beast’s home. Indeed, the two were like brothers, always together, never inseparable. However, Adam had never noticed this door. It almost beckoned to him, drawing him in.

    “After you,” Beast started opening the door.
    The stairs beckoned him below. Surprisingly, the stairwell was well lit. As he reached the bottom, a table sat in the middle of the room with a single lightbulb illuminating three familiar faces.

PRESENT


    “Wait, there were three others? Where are they?” Theodora questioned.
    “I’m getting there,” Arisa replied as Adam let out another growl.
Growl.
    “It’s getting worse!” Arisa exclaimed as a webbed foot extended from Adam’s ankle, knocking his shoe off.
    “Alright, alright, I’m hurrying; continue your story.” Theodora reached for the clam juice.


FLASHBACK

    “Adam?” Kelly asked. “What are you doing here?”

    “Well,” Adam started. “I like cards. And I could use some of this winner’s money.”

    Adam looked around the table, spotting Hottie and Stefan whispering to each other, but he couldn't make out what they were talking about; he brushed it off.

    “So,” Beast said as Adam took the only empty seat left --next to Stefan-- “We all remember how to play 21 right? We’ll play five rounds; win a round, get a point; lose a round, you lose something. How do you lose something? Simple. Have the lowest value each round.”

    Adam didn’t like the way Beast said that last part. Lose what? It can’t be anything serious, Adam thought. He wasn’t afraid of shelling out more money if it meant he could continue playing. He needed the funds.

    “Can we start already?” Hottie asked, bringing Adam back from his thoughts.

    “Don’t rush me,” Beast retorted. He pulled out a deck of cards, but they weren’t the usual white cards with black and red coloring. No, these were different. Adam’s eyes glossed over the cards, noticing a weird silvery glow to them.

    Beast dealt two cards to each player, starting with Adam. As Adam lifted the cards, he felt a weird shock through his body. Not the kind of shock you get from plugging in the toaster too quickly, but a shock as if something had passed through his body. He looked down. The cards looked like a standard deck; they had numbers, at least his hand did. But the touch… it was unlike anything Adam had ever felt. It almost felt like metal, but Adam was interrupted by Beast’s words.

    “Alright, let’s begin.”

    Adam had a “2” and a “4.” He knew he needed a higher value. “Hit me.”

    Hottie snickered but her face quickly went slack as Beast threw her a glance. If looks could kill, Adam thought. Beast threw him a card; this one was an ace. Adam almost smiled until he realized what game he was playing.

    Kelly and Stefan decided to stay. Hottie was hit with another card. Her face lit up in a surprised fashion. Clearly she didn’t know to keep a poker face, Adam thought to himself.

    “Reveal your hands,” Beast said, a smile on his face.

    Adam put down his total: 17. Kelly had 19. Stefan had 10 and Hottie 22.

    “No, that’s not fair!” Hottie exclaimed, starting to get up. But she was quickly pulled back down. “What the--” she started.

    “No one leaves,” Beast said, smile gone. “Not until we’re done.”

PRESENT

    “Wait,” Theodora said. “Your brother must’ve known that game was cursed from the moment he was told to go into a basement.”
    “Yes, well, he’s kind of an idiot, pardon me,” Arisa replied.
    Growl. Growl. Growl.
    “I’m almost done here. You sure his name isn’t Perry,” Theodora chuckled before looking at Arisa. She was met with a stone, cold glare.
    “Alright, alright,” Theodora returned, grabbing two slices of bread and jamming them in a toaster. “Now I assume you’re almost done?”


FLASHBACK

    They were in the fourth round. Stefan had no tongue. Kelly grew a tail and had just started sprouting fur all over her body. Hottie was gone. Just gone. Adam couldn’t explain what he was seeing. So far he was winning every round, hence the lack of abnormalities present on his person. He was scared to enter the final round, as he had been tied with both Stefan and Kelly.

    “Who’s ready to end this?” Beast exclaimed, a giant grin plastered on his face. Stefan could only nod. Kelly looked sheepishly at her hands. Adam tried to look interested, but his increased heart rate wouldn’t allow it, and a worried grimace crossed his face. Beast snapped his fingers and suddenly Adam couldn't breathe. He gasped, clutching his chest; he peered into his friend’s eyes. He gave a thumbs up, and instantly he could breathe again. He coughed, trying to refill his lungs with oxygen. Sweet, sweet oxygen.

    “Let’s begin. Closest to 21 or exactly 21 wins” Beast said. He dealt two cards to Adam, two to Stefan, and two to Kelly. Adam stared at his hand, a Joker and a “5.” Not good enough, he thought to himself. He glanced over at Kelly who had a huge grin on her face. No, Adam thought, there’s no way she has 21. Fearing for his life, Adam shouted “Hit me,” and he was given another card: a “7.”

    “Shit,” Adam mumbled under his breath. He knew it was over for him. As Kelly and Stefan put their decks down, each displaying “21.”

    “Okay,” Adam started. “What now?” He winced, as Beast put his hands together as if he was about to snap.

    “I do have to apologize for this, Adam, buddy, but these next few weeks are about to be very weird for you. You have about,” Beast said as he checked his watch, “40 minutes before you’re full-blown Perry the Platypus. You’d best head home now.” And with that, he snapped his fingers.

    Adam was standing outside, next to his car. He reached for his car keys, but quickly realized he couldn’t reach them because his hands had become webbed; he couldn’t grasp his keys and put them in the ignition. Panicking, he ran up to his friend’s house, banging on the door, but no one answered. The lights had suddenly gone out as if the person inside had decided to turn in for the night. With no other plan, Adam hobbled home and before long he collapsed on his front porch as his feet had also become webbed.

    Luckily, his sister had been in the living room, watching TV when she heard a thud outside. Opening the front door confused, she quickly assessed the situation and realized what had happened to her brother. She rushed him inside, and he came to about 10 minutes later.

    “Shit,” he said, springing up. “What time is it? How long has it been?”

    “I don’t know! You showed up on the doorstep with no fingers or toes, what the hell happened?” Arisa shouted.

    “I-i-it was a-a-a game. A game. It was Beast. Help me…” he trailed off, leaving Arisa gawking at him.

PRESENT

    “And I’ve been researching ways to help him. Then I found your ad on Craigslist.” Arisa sighed.

    “Well, then,” Theodora said, dipping some sort of meat in the clam juice. She took the toast out the toaster and slapped the meat between the two slices. “Here, have him eat this.”

    Arisa quickly picked up the sandwich, the bread soggy. She threw it at Adam, and he flipped his bill open and snatched the sandwich up, swallowing it whole. Arisa couldn’t believe her eyes; her slowly but surely she saw her brother form, smelly and messy-haired as always, but she didn’t care. She ran up and hugged him.

    “Woah, where am I?” he gasped looking around. He found himself in a lair of some sort, with jars filled with mysterious substances lining the shelves.

    “Nevermind that,” Arisa pulled him close to her. “I’ll explain in the car.” She thanked the witch, handed over the money, and she and Adam exited the tent.

    That’s when a figure emerged from a curtain. “So you decided to help them.” He brandished a blade of unknown origin.

    “I had to,” the witch stated, her voice filling with malice. She wielded a dagger of her own. "Beast."

TO BE CONTINUED...