I stared at how he presented himself. He had long dark brown hair with the same blue eyes I did. Seemed like the type of person who would sit down and read a James Patterson book. He opened his mouth, stuttering at first, “ So, um… how did you find me?”

“Well, actually I found you through just surfing the web. I’m sorry if this is awkward, I just didn’t have anyone left to talk to. My father’s dead, my friends left me, I just need someone to be there for me, even if that means a total stranger like yourself. Even though you are my uncle, I just have never met you,” I said.

“I am so sorry for the loss of your friends and father; I am here as long as you need me. Here to listen. I would like to know what happened, if you’re comfortable sharing,” he said with a sincere tone. I felt like I could trust him with my life when I heard him say that. He had the nicest tone of voice, the most innocent.

“If you promise not to judge because I will be talking about things that actually happened. Things that happened to me that are very personal,” I replied.

“Of course I will believe you no matter what you say,” he said. At that moment I completely trusted him and believed him.

“Well I’ll start from the beginning…” I said.

So let’s start with my family. I have a father, mother, two sisters, and one brother. I am the youngest out of everyone in my family, at 17 years old. We were a pretty normal family. I was a pretty normal child as well. The last good conversation I had with my family, was when we all sat at the dinner table. All six of us in one house, at one time was rare but this day was special. We were laughing with each other, talking about how life’s been treating us all. It was a very memorable day and I was very happy for once. The next day was a Monday, and I went to school like normal. I got to see my best friend and hang out with her that day which was very nice because that was the last day that I was happy and got to hang out with my family and friends before our lives took a dramatic turn.

After school, I walked home, like I always do. I was passing by the little town by our house when I saw a mysterious store I had never seen before. I passed by this place countless times but never noticed this store in my life. It was a strange, weird looking hole in the wall, that actually ended up being a bookstore. I decided to walk in, out of curiosity. When I walked in, all I saw were shelves upon shelves of thousands of books. All I smell was this terrible odor coming from the back of the front counter. I would have left just then but something caught my eye in the far back of the bookstore. It was this book that stood by itself on a pedestal. It caught my attention immediately. It almost seemed magical just the way it looked. I walked up to it and the title read, “Dark Magic,” on the worn leather cover. The corners of the book were all torn up and it looked like it could be a century old, and it seemed very much used. But I didn’t care, I was stunned by the book, and started spacing out, just looking at it. I ended up being awoken by the owner of the shop. He was this short, old man, who looked to be as old as the book. He said,     “Are you interested in the book?”

“Maybe, what is it?” I replied to him in a curious tone.

He replied saying, “Just what it says, young lady, it is a spell book.”

I then was just flabbergasted by what he just said, a spell book? I wasn’t sure to believe it or not but all I knew was this book was just calling my name and I had to ask, “How much is it?” He looked as though he had forgotten how much the book was really worth.

“How about this, I’ll sell it to you for 50 dollars, that’s a very generous price, because this book is worth a lot of money. All I want is for someone to use it, and nobody has come into my store interested in it for years. I just want it to go to use, like I used it.”

After that I was a bit confused, how did he use it? Well I guess I would find that out after I said, “I’ll take it!” Even though I was going to use the bit of money on a new outfit and a cab, I couldn’t lose an opportunity like this. I felt like whatever was in the book at that moment was part of my destiny. I started to walk to the door, the book laying on my forearm.

As I walked to the exit and pushed the door open, the man yelled to me, “You should probably know that, Magic comes with a price.” I walked out of the store feeling more confused than ever. I looked down at the book and his words stuck with me like glue. At the time I didn’t exactly know what he meant but now I definitely do.

After walking home, I went to my room right away. I curled up on my bed and went through the spell book reading every line and page. After I was finished I felt like I knew everything about magic. I was consumed with all the things I could get just with one little spell. I started to think of what it would be like not to be made fun of anymore, and not to get bullied. To be popular and get more friends. Get revenge on the people in my life that ruined me. There was so much I wanted to do with this spell book, if this thing actually worked.
I first started with a something simple, a nice outfit that was in style. I read the spell out loud, as quiet as I could so my parents wouldn’t wake up. And in just a blink of an eye I obtained a pretty cute outfit. It was this dress with black leggings underneath. I couldn’t believe at the time that it worked. I was honestly so surprised. And then that same night I asked for popularity. So Tuesday morning I woke up feeling better than ever, dressed in my new outfit and went to school. When I got there everyone started to want to be my friend and for once I was actually popular. When I got home that day from school I cast more spells. I wanted to get back at this girl named Mikayla, who was one of the meanest people in all of the school that bullied me, all throughout middle school and high school. And the next day I took her spot. I gave her the pain she gave me. And became the meanest of them all. I brought her the suffering I thought she deserved at the time and left her on her knees begging for forgiveness.  My old friends and best friend all left me because I was this new person they “Didn’t even recognize,” they told me. After they left me, even though I was popular, I was so unhappy, and became very upset. I started to sneak into my parents’ liquor cabinet and would drink because I was so depressed. Not in my entire life did I think that being popular would be so lonely. And at that moment all I wanted was everything to go back to normal. I hated myself for becoming even worse than Mikayla was to me. It didn’t matter what she did to me, what I did to her, she did not deserve. I started to notice who I was when I was popular; I was just like Mikayla, not even a tiny bit better but a whole lot worse. I soon realized my true colors. But not only did I lose my old friends and best friend, a lot of other things happened too, that were far worse.

One day I got a call from the hospital that my father had been in a car accident and was in the ER. I rushed to the hospital to see him but he died before I even got to see him. The sad part was that the last time I really got to talk to him was at the dinner table that one day, because of me getting caught up in all this I didn’t really ever pay attention to my family much or talk to them. I would literally leave my house every day without saying a word, come back and go straight to my room and start casting more spells. I cried every day about my father’s death. I couldn’t believe what happened. Everything that happened was so sudden. The day after, I realized it was all my fault. The store owner warned me and I refused to listen. I became so self centered I didn’t even realize what was happening around me. After I realized my father’s death and losing my friends was of my own doing I swore to myself I would never use magic again.

“And now I am here, talking with you. I hope you don’t think I am crazy after my story, but all of it happened, I swear.”

“Don’t worry, I believed every word you said. I am so sorry for the loss of your father,” he said in a sad tone.
I replied saying, “That’s okay, it wasn’t your doing, it was mine.”

He quickly said, “Don’t blame yourself, you didn’t know any better. It wasn’t like you were the one that actually killed him, this was meant to happen and it was part of your destiny, no matter what. You were meant to buy that book for a reason.” We talked all night and to be completely honest, I was actually happy again in my life. He stayed at my family house for weeks and my mom was totally fine with it, because she trusted him too. And for once we were all pretty happy again which was surprising. He made the storm a little bit easier to see through, let’s just say.

One day him and I went to the doctors and they did the simple check up. Everything was normal until they checked his heart rate. It was very slow and he was rushed to the hospital. They told me he had a rare heart condition, Bradycardia; and that he was in critical condition. The doctors told me he might have a few more days to live. A few days later, he said when I came up to him, “This wasn’t your fault, so don’t blame yourself. This is just meant to happen, Faith.”

“No you’re not dying on me. I just lost my dad a month ago and I can’t lose you too!” I plead.

“Somethings are just meant to happen.” I see him start to close his eyes but he
wakes himself up to continue talking, “Don’t ever lose hope in yourself, you’re stronger than you think.” I rushed to my house which is about a five minute walk, but this time I ran; it ended up being a total of five minutes altogether. I grabbed Dark Magic from the table and rushed back to the hospital. I paced back and forth in front of the entrance of his room contemplating whether or not I should use the spell book to save his life and live with the consequences or sit there and watch him die. I eventually decided that I definitely didn’t want to see him die, especially knowing that someone I loved already died. This was the reason I was meant to buy that spell book I said to myself as I reach for the doorknob. I twist the doorknob and quietly sneak into his room so he wouldn’t awake. I then cast the spell to make him well. He suddenly awoke, telling me that the pain in his heart was gone and that he felt 100% better. We called in the doctors and they told him that there must have been some real miracle that happened today.

A week or so later I started to have chest pain as well. So I went to the doctors. They told me that I had the same condition, not as bad but very developed. They let me go home though. I sobbed when I got home. I cried about all the wrongs I did in my life and thinking maybe I just deserved death, maybe this is the punishment for all the sins I had committed. All the selfish wrongings I did. I didn’t want to die so young, I wanted to do so much in my life. Now all my dreams were distant and in the past. Every little what if, disappeared and at that moment I felt the most sorry about everything in my life. I cried out and prayed to a God I wasn’t even sure I believed was real. But I was desperate. I even went to church and discussed with the priest of my sins and how I needed a real miracle to happen. I asked for forgiveness from God and asked forgiveness from the priest. The priest then told me that, “God and I will forgive you but the question is will you ever forgive yourself?”

I then replied with, “I honestly don’t know, probably, eventually, but if I die now I will never be able to.” I left the church telling the priest and God that I was sorry for every sin I had committed.

After the day out at church I fell asleep. The next day, I woke up feeling better than ever. The pain was gone; everything was gone, just like that, all that was left was the dryness of the tears on my face. I went to the doctors that morning and they said that some real miracle must have happened, just like they told my uncle but this time it was an actual real miracle. Everything is gone, “You’re not sick anymore,” they told me with big smiles on their faces. I left the hospital feeling so relieved and happy. The first thing I did when I got home was burn that spell book, and I felt so good for doing it.  Then where my spell book used to lay, I replaced it with a bible. After this I didn’t doubt God, I didn’t doubt his power, and I knew he was real. I am sorry for the pain that I have caused. I am sorry for the sins I have committed. Now I could get on with my life and finally live somewhat of a normal one with my uncle, mom, two sisters and one brother. I wish my father could be here with me; I wish I could take it all back. But now I know that Magic really comes with a price. Things happen for a reason, and I knew that.