Jenny and her husband were returning from a restaurant where they had celebrated his birthday. It had been a wonderful evening, full of people—relatives and work colleagues. Many of them Jenny was meeting for the first time, but she trusted that if Vlad had invited them, it must have been necessary.
Jenny wasn’t one to question her husband’s decisions; she disliked arguments and confrontations. It was easier for her to agree with Vlad than to prove her point.
“Jen, do you have the keys, or should I look for mine?”
Jenny opened her purse, searching for the keys. Suddenly, a sharp pain made her jerk her hand, and the purse dropped to the floor.
“What are you yelping about?”
“I pricked my finger on something.”
“With the mess in your purse, it’s no wonder you’d find something sharp in there.”
Jenny didn’t argue, she picked up her purse and carefully retrieved the keys. They went inside their apartment, and she soon forgot about pricking her finger. Exhausted, her legs were aching; all she wanted was to take a shower and collapse into bed. The next morning, she woke up with a sharp pain in her hand—her finger was red and swollen. Then she recalled the previous evening’s incident and reached for her purse to check inside. She carefully pulled out each item until she found a large rusty needle at the bottom.
“What on earth is this?”
She couldn’t understand how it ended up there. She threw the bizarre find in the trash and went to get the first aid kit to clean the wound. After bandaging her inflamed finger, Jenny headed to work. However, by lunchtime, she realized she had a fever.
She called her husband:
“Vlad, I don’t know what’s wrong. I must have caught something yesterday. I have a fever, my head hurts, and my whole body aches. Vlad, can you believe it? I found a big rusty needle in my purse; that’s what pricked me yesterday.”
“Maybe you should see a doctor. God forbid, it could be tetanus or blood poisoning.”
“Don’t worry, Vlad. I cleaned the wound; it’ll be fine.”
Yet hour by hour, Jenny’s condition only worsened. Barely enduring until the end of the workday, she called a taxi to take her home, knowing she couldn’t handle public transport. Once home, she collapsed onto the sofa and fell into a deep sleep.
In her dream, she saw her Grandma Anne, who had passed away when Jenny was just a child. Jenny didn’t know how she recognized her, but she did. Grandma was frail and hunched over. Her appearance might have scared some, but Jenny felt her grandma wanted to help her.
Grandma led Jenny across a field, showing her which herbs to gather, telling her to make an infusion to cleanse her body from the darkness consuming it. She warned that someone wished her harm, but to fight them, she needed to stay alive. Jenny didn’t have much time.
Jenny awoke in a cold sweat. It seemed like ages had passed, yet only minutes had. She heard the door open—Vlad was home. She slid off the couch and went to the hallway. Vlad was startled by her appearance:
“What happened to you? Look in the mirror.”
Jenny approached the mirror. The previous day, she had seen a smiling, beautiful girl reflected there. Now she saw herself but didn’t recognize her own reflection. Her hair hung lank, dark circles shadowed her eyes, her face was ashen, and her gaze was empty.
“What on earth?”
Then Jenny remembered the dream. She turned to her husband:
“I saw Grandma in a dream. She told me what to do…”
“Jenny, get dressed. We’re going to the hospital.”
“I’m not going. Grandma said doctors won’t help me.”
A fierce argument erupted. Vlad called his wife crazy, thinking she had hallucinated the whole encounter.
For the first time, they had a major fight. Vlad considered using force, grabbing her arm to drag her to the car.
“If you won’t go willingly, I’ll take you by force.”
Jenny pulled away, stumbled, and hit the corner of the wall.
Vlad, even more frustrated, grabbed his briefcase, slammed the door, and left. All Jenny managed was a message to her boss, claiming she’d caught a virus and needed a few days off.
Vlad returned closer to midnight, apologetic. Jenny simply said:
“Take me to the village where my grandma lived.”
The next morning, she barely resembled the vibrant young woman Vlad knew. He continued to plead:
“Jenny, don’t be foolish. Let’s go to the hospital. I can’t lose you.”
But they drove to the village. Jenny only remembered its name; she hadn’t been there since her parents sold her grandma’s house. She slept most of the way, waking only as they approached the village.
“We need to go there,” she directed.
She gingerly stepped out of the car, collapsing weakly onto the grass, but she knew this was the place Grandma Anne had shown her. She found the herbs her grandma pointed out and, with Vlad’s help, they returned home. Vlad prepared the infusion exactly as Jenny instructed. As she drank sip by sip, it seemed to bring her relief.
Struggling, she got to the bathroom. When she rose from the toilet, she noticed her urine was black. Oddly, this didn’t frighten her; instead, it confirmed her grandma’s words:
“The darkness is leaving…”
That night, her grandma appeared again in Jenny’s dreams, smiling before speaking:
“They cursed you with the rusty needle. My remedy will restore your strength temporarily, but you must find who did this and return the harm to them. I can’t see who it was, but somehow your husband is involved. If you hadn’t thrown away the needle, I might have been able to do more…”
“Here’s what we’ll do. Buy a pack of needles from the store. Over the largest needle, recite this incantation: ‘Spirits of the night, once living! Hear me, phantoms of the night, who foretell the truth. Surround me! Guide me, reveal to me my enemy’s name…’ Slip this needle into your husband’s belongings. Whoever cursed you will prick themselves on your needle, and we will learn their name.”
Her grandma’s image faded like a mist.
Jenny awoke, still feeling weak, but determined to recover, knowing her grandma would help her. Vlad decided to stay home to care for her. When Jenny insisted on going to the store alone, his concern grew:
“Jen, you’re barely standing. Let me come with you.”
“Vlad, make me some soup. Ever since this virus, I’m starving.”
Jenny carried out the plan her grandma had given her. By evening, the enchanted needle lay in Vlad’s bag. Before bed, he questioned her:
“Are you sure you’ll be okay?”
“I’ll manage.”
Jenny felt improvement, yet the darkness still lingered inside, as if it considered her body its home. The brew she’d been taking felt like an antidote, one that the darkness inside despised.
Eagerly, she awaited Vlad’s return from work and met him at the door. Her first question:
“How was your day?”
“All good. Why do you ask?”
Jenny started to doubt anything had happened until Vlad added:
“Jen, can you believe it? Today, Irene from the next department offered to help by fetching my office keys from my bag because my hands were full of documents. She reached in and got pricked by a needle. She was so angry. Where did it even come from?”
“What’s between you and Irene?”
“Jenny, please. I love you and only you. No one else matters but you.”
“Was she at your birthday dinner at the restaurant?”
“Yes, but she’s just a colleague. Nothing more.”
Jenny pieced it together after those words. She understood how the old rusty needle ended up in her purse.
Vlad headed to the kitchen for dinner.
Once asleep, Jenny dreamt of her grandma again. Grandma instructed her on how to send Irene’s evil back to her. Everything was clear now: Irene had tried to use magic to eliminate Jenny and take her place with Vlad. If unsuccessful, she would have continued her sorcery. This woman wouldn’t stop at anything.
Jenny followed her grandma’s advice. Soon, Vlad mentioned that Irene was on medical leave, and the doctors were baffled.
Jenny asked Vlad to take her to her grandma’s village over the weekend to visit the grave she hadn’t seen since the funeral. She bought flowers and brought gloves to clear the weeds. With effort, she found Grandma Anne’s grave. Approaching, she saw the photograph on the headstone—the same familiar face from her dreams, the one who had saved her. She tidied the grave, setting the flowers in a vase of water. Sitting on the bench, she said:
“Grandma, forgive me for not visiting. I thought my parents’ yearly trips here were enough. But I was wrong. Now I’ll come here too. Without you, I wouldn’t be alive today.”
Just then, Jenny felt a warm presence, as if her grandma had placed comforting hands on her shoulders. She turned, but saw only the gentle breeze…
