As I looked at the man in front of me, a feeling of greed welled up within me. He was offering something beyond my imagination and with such a small cost to boot, but I didn’t let my excitement show. Putting up a calm front I began to leisurely flip through the leather-bound book in front of me. Once I was done I looked up at the tall robed man,

“I may just take up your offer Mr. James, but there is one thing that troubles me,” I cleared my throat and made eye contact, “I don’t believe your only giving this to me to join your little club.”

“You are only half right Mrs. Rinkfert, you see, our little club is in need of new members due to some recent events. So we have scoured this little town and after some investigation, we have decided that you would be the perfect candidate.” James said with almost absolute confidence.

He was right, we both knew it, I was extremely enticed by his proposition. I sat for a second and fiddled with the book in front of me, finally, I came to my decision, I stood up and said, “I would be honored to join your group mister James, I look forward to a long friendship.”

James gave me a wide grin and a hearty laugh, “I look forward to it as well Mrs. Rinkfert.”

After a few more pleasantries the man left as quickly as he came and in only a few seconds he disappeared back into the night.

Once I could no longer see him I let myself relax and let out a giggle. The man who suddenly busted in and introduced himself as James just gave me the best gift of my long life. I quickly blew out the candles in my office and went to my private chambers. Once I entered I made sure to lock everything, even putting a chair against the door. My excitement now manifested itself as the jitters as I opened the thin leather-bound book.

I stared at the pictures and symbols with great interest and soon I lost track of time. Before I knew it the sun began to shine through my window, only the booming chime of the mourning bell broke me out of my trance. I quickly closed the book and got up off my bed, I needed to wake the brats. I straightened my disheveled appearance and began to loudly stomp down the stairs. Quickly the rooms lining the bottom floor erupted with noise.

By the time I arrived at the bottom step every door was open and five filthy brats stood in front of each room except one. Annoyed at the five missing children I stormed over and practically ripped the door off its hinges. Only to find all of them dead on the ground. I let out a tch and entered the room to inspect the damages. The room seemed fine, thank goodness. I turned back and looked at the cold corpses with disdain, troublesome ungrateful brats all of them. They seemed to have passed due to a mixture of starvation and infection. A small sigh escaped me, I needed to keep up my quota of twenty children to receive any significant financial aid.

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Though I suppose my new gift outweighs anything that petty foundation could do. A smile quickly rose as I thought about all the things I could accomplish with it. I exited out of the room back in my merry mood. Now, to do what I came down here for. I clapped twice and the fifteen remaining brats quickly lined up in front of me. I went from brat to brat collecting my dues from each and if one failed to meet expectations I whipped them until they could no longer stand.

Once I had my rental money I went back to my chambers and began reading once more. Each page sucked me deeper and deeper within a world of symbols. Finally, the evening bell woke me up from my entrancement. I had finished the seemingly endless book and I now knew what I needed to do. I rushed to the basement and cleared out a section of the sea of broken furniture. I used a piece of chalk to draw the complicated series of symbols. Once that was done I grabbed fifteen of the slightly usable chairs and put them in the center of each symbol.

The feeling of excitement erupted within me as I began to prepare the last step. I headed out of the basement door and entered back into the house. I took off my shoes and began to slowly approach the nearest room. With shaking hands, I opened the door and eyed the five skeletal brats like they were juicy steaks. They each slept on the ground huddled in the far corner of the room.

I carefully entered and approached the nearest child, and with gusto, I wrapped my hands around its skinny neck and began to tighten my grip. It awoke and started to struggle but the years of malnutrition had rendered it weak, soon it passed out. Releasing my grip I moved onto the next four, once they were incapacitated I carefully drug them out of the house and into the cellar. I strapped them to the chairs and moved back up to repeat the process two more times.

Once I finished gathering the sacrificial materials I began to drag over a large basin in front of the symbols. Now to begin, I grabbed a rusty knife and a small wooden bowl and started to slit the wrists of the filthy brats. Each time the bowl was full I held it up and shouted a chant before dumping it into the basin. After around three bowls each brat dried up.

Once there was no more blood to draw I turned to the basin and kneeled in front of it. I took off my clothes and started to slather myself in blood before submerging my head. Once completely submerged I began to drink greedily until I couldn’t anymore. I lifted my head out and began to slowly twirl around the basin. After what seemed like days an itch appeared in my skin drawing a smile to my face. I reached down and began to scratch until lumps of skin fell off revealing pearly and unblemished skin.

I skipped in joy at the site, I no longer needed to look at my heavily aged skin. I scratched with increased fervor until my entire body was a pearly white. I ran out of the basement and started to hop and skip down the street in joy. When I reached the edge of town I spread out my arms and began to flap them like a bird. Magically feathers started to sprout and soon I was soaring through the night sky. A mad laugh escaped my lips as my body shifted further into my avian form. By the time I arrived at the agreed meeting place I was already fully transformed, except for my beautiful face of course. In a single night, I had become a fearsome witch, my feathers ruffled with joy at that thought.