"Name's Ereth-Kaal... a curse older than the very first human to ever breathe on this wretched planet.
I used to spread chaos and destruction across civilizations—just for the thrill of it.
They worshiped me like a god.
But then... a bunch of so-called 'powerful' mortals trapped me inside a damn cursed book.
And now... I need a host to move, to unleash my power...
Or I'll sink back into the slumber inside that book—my eternal prison..."**
---
Ereth-Kaal, inside his human host:
"Hmm..."
I'm gettin' real sick of you, human.
You stopped feedin' me.
And ya know what happens when I get hungry, right? You useless sack of bones.
The host, groaning in agony, clutching his head:
"N-no! I won't let you kill anyone else!
You made me murder my whole family...
Just get out! Crawl back into that damned book!
I don't care what happens to me anym—"
"ghk—gk—!"
Ereth-Kaal pushes his tendril back into the host's body:
Shh...
You're talkin' way too much. But don't worry, I'll honor your request, scum.
Pretty sure you won't be needin' those vocal cords anymore.
So I tore 'em out. Just to be safe.
Still starving though... so I'll do what I always do with disobedient meat puppets.
The host grabs his throat, blood pouring inside, his eyes stretching wide in raw terror,
as he feels his insides being devoured... slowly.
Host, screaming in his mind:
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!
Someone! Anyone! Please, just end me—kill me, PLEASE!
...AAAAAH!!
No—wait! I'll feed you! Whatever you want! Just STOP!! PLEASE!!"
Ereth-Kaal bursts into insane laughter, literally munching on the man's spleen from within:
"Heheheheheheh...
OH NO!
Am I hurting you?
Sorryyy~ but hey... I'm starving.
And you said no dinner.
So now, I'm gonna finish my lil' buffet, then nap like a king.
Make it fun for me, yeah? Scream louder. In your head.
HAHAHA! Heh—HEH—hehehe!"
The host spasms on the ground, barely dragging himself,
his mouth open wide, trying to scream—but no sound comes out.
It's over. His voice is gone.
"...hhhggh... hkkkt... ghkk—"
He coughs up blood, twisting in agony, silently begging for death.
But no one hears him. No one ever does.
He claws at his chest, desperate to rip it open and end it all...
But that's when his chest starts swelling.
Then...
"shkkk... shhrrkkk—!"
His flesh splits under the pressure.
He watches, helpless, as his soul is being dragged away
while Ereth-Kaal begins to emerge.
"tchhhkk— krkktt—!"
His ribs start shattering inward.
"ghhhhhk—!"
His lung punctures. Air hisses out.
But he can't die. Not yet. Ereth-Kaal won't let him.
Not until he's tasted every ounce of the traitor's suffering.
"spllkhh... spllkkhh..."
Blood erupts from his chest like a geyser straight from hell.
"krshhhhkk..."
Black tendrils burst out, smashing his ribcage into dust.
The host's final thoughts echo:
"W-why me...?
Did I deserve this...?
...Yeah.
I gave my whole family to that monster... for power...
For immortality...
Now I'm choking on every bit of pain I ever dished out.
And I'm feeding it to this goddamn curse..."
"hhkk— krrrk—!"
Ereth-Kaal emerges, a shapeless blob of oozing horror,
barely strong enough to kill a bug.
His goal now?
Crawl back to the book. Sleep.
Until some dumbass opens it again.
"sssshhhhhhhhhh..."
He drags himself across the ground, every motion a struggle.
His thoughts, bitter and grumbling:
"Ughh...
This is the worst part every single time...
Why can't I just poof back into slumber?
Screw this.
Move, you slimy bastard. MOVE!"
He pushes forward with all he has.
The book opens by itself. Welcoming. Hungry. Waiting.
Then...
The moment even a cell of Ereth-Kaal touches the cover—
Runes ignite. Purple and white.
The ground pulses with ancient symbols.
The book swallows him whole.
Ereth-Kaal laughs, fading inside:
"Heh heh...
Let's see which poor dumb fool wakes me up next time..."
The pages flip violently to the very last one.
A full sketch of Ereth-Kaal appears.
Below it, a warning in dark ink.
The book slams shut.
The eye on the cover... closes.
Like it's alive.
And sleeps again—with its master.
---
(Present Day)
New York
"Hey. I'm Jude... Jude Mercer.
Seventeen.
Just another high school kid tryin' to survive in a city that don't give a damn."
I live alone in this crummy neighborhood that's barely fit for rats.
But hey, it's all I could afford after getting kicked out at fifteen.
Thanks, Dad's psycho wife.
She was a control freak with a mirror obsession.
Jealous of her own daughter for no reason.
But I've moved past all that.
And this?
This is where my story starts.
The moment I found... that book.
ــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــ
Scene: Jude's Crappy Apartment
Jude lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling like it owed him answers.
After years of life chewing him up and spitting him back out,
he finally made a decision.
"Alright... guess I've got no excuse left to avoid cleaning.
Let's make this fast—I need sleep."
He sighed, grabbed a broom, and got to work.
The place was... a biological hazard.
Dust, filth, and something unholy living under the couch.
Jude (freaking out):
"AAAH!!
When the hell did I leave that pizza there!?"
He slapped a hand over his mouth to stop from gagging.
"Ughh... this is disgusting, even for me.
Okay. No more whining. Let's finish this before my brain melts from shame.
Let's GOOOOOOOOOOO!"
---
Midnight.
The clock hit 12 like a death toll.
Jude collapsed against the wall, wiping sweat from his forehead.
"Ahh...
Finally done cleaning in... hmm...
One... two... three... yeah—seven hours.
Worth it. Haha."
He looked around the now-tolerable apartment.
Grabbing the trash bags, he mumbled:
"God, I'm talking to myself again.
I do this all the time. Like—who am I even talkin' to!?
Why am I holding a full conversation with myself right now??
Ugh. Shut up, Jude. Just take the damn trash out... silently."
---
Down the Stairs.
Jude ran into Mr. Roy, the building manager.
Jude, waving:
"Hey, Mr. Roy!"
Mr. Roy raised an eyebrow, arms folded:
"You're three days late on rent."
Jude scratched the back of his head, awkward chuckling:
"Hahaha... yeah, about that—
I might be late a whole week.
But I swear, I'll have it! Just give me that time."
Mr. Roy sighed deeply, eyes closed:
"You're a good kid.
But if I didn't know how rough your life is...
I'd have kicked your ass out two months ago."
Jude kept walking, waving:
"Yeah yeah, love you too. Byeee!"
He looked down, muttering:
"Why do I even try?
Just pay the rent and shut up, Jude...
Wait, what was I doing again?"
He glanced at the trash bag.
"Oh... right. Trash."
---
Out Behind the Building.
Jude approached the dumpster.
He lifted the bag—
and it immediately ripped open.
Everything spilled. Everywhere.
Jude, grabbing his head:
"Are you kidding me right now!? First this, and now—"
"ARRRGGHHHAAAA!!!
FK!
FK ME!
FK THIS LIFE!
FK EVERYTHING!!"
He kicked the dumpster. Hard.
Then stomped on the mess.
Furious. Lost. Breaking.
"Why's my life such garbage!?
I've been cursed since birth!
Rotten luck! Rotten everything!"
He slumped against the dumpster, eyes distant.
Softly, almost whispering:
"Where are you, Mom...?
Why'd you have to die?
I never even saw you.
You died giving birth to me...
I wish you'd been around.
Maybe... you could've stopped some of the hell I went through by age four..."
---
After Calming Down...
Jude started picking the trash up by hand.
Quiet. Empty. Defeated.
"I'm so tired of complaining... I'm just..."
"Hmm?"
His eyes caught something behind the dumpster.
"What's that...?"
He reached out and pulled out... a book.
Old. Leather-bound.
No title. No author.
Just one thing on the cover—
a closed eye.
Jude, flipping it in his hands:
"Eh?
Well, what do we have here?"
He opened it, flipping through the pages without reading, just scanning.
"Huh...?
Is this... some horror novel?
Hmm... tch...
Whatever. I'll read it later.
I've got trash to clean up before Mr. Roy throws another tantrum.
Damn it..."
He slipped the book into his back pocket and kept cleaning.
But as he turned away—
the eye on the cover slowly opened.
And stared.
Right.
At.
Him.
Jude didn't notice.
He was lost in thought.
---
Inside the Book...
Ereth-Kaal stirred.
"Will... will... will...
Seems like centuries of cursed dreams are finally over.
It's time for me to return."
He paused.
"Though... let's be honest.
I hope this kid's got a big appetite."
---
Back in the Apartment.
Jude wandered aimlessly.
Opened the fridge.
Empty.
Closed it.
Opened it again.
Still empty.
Jude, sighing:
"What am I even doing...?
Is food just gonna magically appear if I keep checking?
Ahhhhhhh...
Alright, fine. I'll go study."
He plopped down at his desk... and felt something hard.
He stood up.
It was the book.
Still tucked in his back pocket.
"Right... forgot about this thing."
---
Jude, flipping it around in his hands:
"Amm...
Screw studying.
This looks way more fun.
Right?"
He opened the book.
But the text was unreadable.
Latin.
"Great. How am I supposed to read this?
Wait... is this Latin!?
I actually had a Latin dictionary...
Back when I thought I was gonna learn it.
Spoiler: I didn't."
He opened a drawer, pulled out the old dictionary, and started translating.
Reading aloud:
"I am Ereth-Kaal...
Ereth-Kaal?
What a dumb name.
Alright, let's keep going..."
"I am Ereth-Kaal, an ancient curse...
Older than mankind itself.
I feed on souls and human flesh...
After I was sealed away, in order to survive without proper nourishment...
I devour the host. Then return to slumber within my book."
Jude frowned.
"Wait, return to slumber... inside the book?
What even is this intro??
You know what? Skip to the end."
---
He flipped to the last page.
There it was—
A drawing of a horrific creature unlike anything he'd ever seen.
Massive, humanoid, bald,
With rows of sharp teeth and huge white eyes—
like they were painted by some deranged artist.
Bone armor wrapped around its body—
like its skeleton was on the outside, not the inside.
All drawn in black ink.
Below the image were Latin lines.
Jude translated quickly.
"To all who read this book...
Prepare for the greatest hunger you'll ever feel...
Only the strong shall rule.
﴾Z﴿"
Jude blinked.
And read it again.
And again.
"What the hell is 'Z'?
A signature?
Some edgy author name?"
He closed the book, tossed it aside, and flopped onto his bed.
But something inside him... had already changed.
The curse had awakened.
And it had chosen its new host.
Now... it was adjusting.
Waiting.
And soon...
We'll find out what comes next.