Curse

Ken watched the circular door knob spin with bated breath.

He couldn't imagine what kind of horror awaits on the other side.

What he knew though, was that he was fucked.

'Shit, a cursed spirit here? In a cafe? What the hell, what are the Kyoto sorcerers doing? Why are they letting a cursed spirit exist inside a cafe of all places?

Did Kenjaku place it here? But why would he do that? Or was it born naturally here, just before I came here?

Shit.'

He had to move if he wanted to live, his fear of the curse overcame his fear of death, breaking his paralysis.

Ken jumped on the desk with the glass of drugged water in his hands and waited.

Either the cursed spirit was a big fan of suspense or it was unintelligent enough to struggle with delicate processes such as opening a door by turning the doorknob.

What contrasted the latter option though, was that an unintelligent curse would just bust through the door instead of bothering with the spooky act

Ken swallowed his saliva, adrenaline coursing through his veins, and a strange cold sensation in his gut.

'Three

Two

One

JUMP'

The door swung open on one, revealing a humanoid figure in white clothes.

Ken jumped as soon as he heard that, the adrenaline giving him enough strength to jump over a humanoid curse.

Something sharp grazed his right foot to which he responded by dropping the glass.

As soon as he landed on his two feet, he ran to the right where the exit was.

After a couple dozen steps, he found himself in the lobby, just another dozen leaps away from the exit.

However, dead bodies, human bodies, where piled up on top of each other in front of the door and the windows to act as a barrier.

Given enough time, he could get out but time is something he didn't have.

The figure dashed from his back, nail like claws out in the open.

Ken jumped over the reception desk and entered a door with 'Staff only' carved on it.

'There's gotta be a back exit somewhere.'

He weaved and zoomed through halls with speed he never knew he was capable off to find the door he was looking for.

His footsteps on the concrete floor, his harsh breathing echoed through the narrow hall, and the constant groan of the curse behind him.

The footsteps served as the beats, the breathing as the bass, and the moan of the curse as the melody.

All these combined to create a haunting symphony of death chase for Ken, one that was not pleasant to listen to.

They passed through the kitchen, the staff lobby, and ran past many more.

Just as Ken thought he had cornered himself, he saw a door labeled 'Emergency exit'

Without further ado, he increased his speed.

He had hope, hope that he will make it out alive

Until he felt a stabbing pain in his left thigh.

'What-'

He didn't confirm what happened but he was close to getting out.

He made one last desperate leap.

And collided against a human body.

His eyes widened, the pathway to the door was clear with no obstacles in the way, but now a whole bunch of rotting corpses obstructed him.

'Damn it.'

He turned left at the last possible moment, causing the curse to slam into the pile of curses due to its superior speed.

Suddenly, something sharp pierced his thigh, causing him to drop down.

'Damn it-'

There was no time to lament now. The curse lashed out at him with great speed while Ken's speed was drastically lessened.

He couldn't run any more so he darted to the left and opened a door a few steps away from the exit with a label storage room.

He slammed the door shut.

Except a clawy hand interjected at the last moment.

'Shit'

'Why did I even come here in the first place, just because I was near it doesn't mean I should go to it, what's wrong with me?'

It was highly likely that he has been drawn here by the curse but he had no time to think about that.

He grabbed hold of a steel shelf and pulled.

The hand of the curse pushed the door open. Now, Ken had a clear view of it.

A slender figure, otherwise the body of a petite girl in her early 20s.

The torso looked normal, but the limbs have elongated. There were five, needle-like claws at the end of each limb.

Ken looked at its face. Oh boy.

The lower jaw was stretched horribly wide, bigger than its elongated palm.

Its two eye sockets were empty, leaving circular holes and the skin was ashen grey.

The skin on the face was covered in wrinkles because of the stretched skin.

It opened its mouth.

The skin that had been stretched to the limit somehow stretched even more, allowing a third circular hole to form on the face. Much bigger than the eyeholes combined.

Sharp rows of needles were covering the inside of the mouth.

Terrifying.

And it gave Ken the strength to drop the shelf down faster.

With a loud shriek that left him disoriented, it made a beeline towards Ken.

Crash.

The shelf fell on it.

Ken collapsed on the floor as the curse thrashed under a great deal of weight.

The shelf had boxes full of materials so it was understandable.

He took a deep breath.

The only exit out of the room is behind the crushed curse.

Which meant he had to get past it somehow.

Unfortunately, he was exhausted and bleeding.

It was a matter of time until he collapsed and the curse would seize that chance.

The only way out is to exorcize this curse.

He looked at the arm and the head poking under the shelf.

And recalled his unhappy memories.

His life was mundane and gloomy, the times that he was happy are greatly outnumbered by his not so happy memories.

But it was fine, the truly haunting memories were being made right here.

He recalled Kenjaku.

And focused on his gut.

Cursed energy is created from negative emotions.

And he was full of it.

The gut is the storage.

The cursed energy inside him swelled, making it easier to notice it.

He focused the cold feeling from his gut into his hands and an ethereal azure aura covered his fist.

And he slammed them on the curse.

Over and over and over again.

He was weak so he compensated for the lack of strength with more punches.

He punched the head of the curse again and again.

At first, it didn't have much effect. But as the damage stacked, the head started to bend.

Blood poured out of its three holes on the face.

Eventually, it disappeared.

Turned into wisps of smoke.

Ken looked at his fists, his torn skin and let out a happy chuckle.

He exorcized a curse, grade three at least. He exorcized it using his own fist and cursed energy.

It wasn't a fight but he had won in the end.

A shadow loomed over the exit of the room.

It was a frog, but with human limbs and a human face.

Ken's face scrunched up in pain. 'Seriously? Another one?'

He can't handle that.

Then, all of a sudden, a motorcycle engine roared in the distance.

And the curse exploded into pieces.

'Huh?

A jujutsu sorcerer?'

The motorcycle engine reached close and stopped, but the engine was still on.

With a little bit of hope, a little bit of dread, and a whole lot of relief, he managed to climb his way out of the storage room.

He walked up to the exit.

As soon as he stood right behind the broken door frame, a bright light shone from the motorcycle and a figure stepped off the vehicle.

They stood in front of their motorcycle, blocking the light and covering Ken in their shadow.

"Boy, what's your type?"