The Promotion

The Promotion
 
“Jane, I know you want this promotion, but you haven’t sanctioned enough people this week. You need to be more ruthless.”
 
“Yes, I know.” Jane agreed with a self depreciative smile.
 
“Ok, hit those targets and I will let you know at the end of the week whose getting the promotion.” 
 
Ian Fuller the head manager of this areas job centre smiled stepped in closer and whispered something which was barely audible.
 
“There’s only you and Imran in the running for the promotion, so go for it, I know you can do it.”
 
Jane smiled self depreciatively again.
 
“Ok Jane, get to work.” Ian turned and walked away to his office, leaving Jane to walk towards her desk.
 
Her first client of the day was a Romanian gypsy. A rather large woman dressed in long Romanian flowing dress.
 
Jane pulled up the woman’s file whose name was Ericka Kazinsky.
 
As soon as Jane saw her she knew here was an easy target to sanction, the more sanctions she did the more chance she would have of getting that promotion that had eluded her for the last three years.
 
 “I’m sorry but you haven’t proved to me that you have searched for enough jobs this week, so I am going to sanction you and stop your JSA for four weeks.”
 
“Please! Please! You can’t sanction me; I have no food in the house to eat!”
 
“I’m sorry,” said Jane, “but you haven’t proved to me that you are actively looking for work, so I have no choice.”
 
“If you stop my benefit I will kill myself!”
 
“That is your choice. Have a good day.”
 
“I will put on you a curse! You evil woman!”
 
Jane heard the woman shout something in a foreign language that she couldn’t understand.
 
“Security!” Shouted Jane and two burly security guards walked over.
 
“Please show this lady out.”
 
 
 

Later that night

Jane dreamt. She was at home, in a house she didn’t recognise.
 
My stomach! I have a pain in my stomach that I have never experienced before.
 
She walked into the kitchen.
 
Food, I need food, once I’ve eaten something I will be ok.
 
Jane opened the fridge.
 
Nothing! No food. Nothing!
 
The pain in my stomach is excruciating! 
 
Jane buckled over.
 

#

 
Jane awoke later that night.
 
What's woken me?

Just then Jane noticed a dark shadow near the bottom of her bed.
 
I am the shadow man and I will come for your soul.
 
What the hell?
 
You have been cursed.

#

 
The next day at work. 
 
I can’t stop thinking of that Romanian gypsy woman.
 
Jane spent most of the day seeing JSA clients, and she managed to hit her target of sanctioning six.
 
Ian will be pleased.
 
The nightmare was so vivid. The pain so…Real…And the shadow man...?
 
After finishing work Jane did something that surprised her.
 
I got to see that gypsy woman and reverse the sanction.
 
Jane had made a note of the woman’s address earlier and now headed over to her house to give her the good news.


She found the house and knocked on. 
 
I can hear people crying.
 
The door was opened by another woman.
 
“Hi my name is Jane, I am from the local job centre, I come to see, Erika.”
 
“Come in, come in, you can see her she’s in the living room.”
 
Jane entered the house.
 
In the living room she saw a casket.
 
“Come over here, Erika is right here!” Said the woman opening the casket.
 
Jane glanced at the waxen rigid face of the woman.
 
She’s dead!
 
Jane turned and ran.
 
“Oh why don’t you stay and say something to Ericka?”
 
Jane heard laugher behind her as she ran from the house to her car.

Later that night

 
Jane dreamt.
 
I’m in the house again, just like last night. The pain in my stomach is unbelievable. Food I need food.
 
She headed towards the fridge knowing that it would be empty again but hoping beyond hope that it contained some food, even if it was only a scrap of bread and cheese.
 
She ran to the kitchen and flung open the fridge and couldn’t believe what confronted her.
 
Arrrrrrhrhrhrhhrhrhrh!
 
In the fridge was the head of the Ericka, the woman that had cursed her.
 
Just then Jane woke up but thought she was still dreaming as another nightmarish scene confronted her.
 
No, it’s not real, don’t look, it can't be real.
 
Just like last night, at the bottom of her bed was a dark shadow. A voice entered her head and she knew it was the shadow speaking to her.
 
I am the shadow man. You have been cursed and in two days I shall take your soul with me to hell.
 
Jane closed her eyes and when she opened them again the shadow was gone.
 
Oh my God! A nightmare, just a horrible nightmare!
 
Jane pinched her arm and winced in pain.
 
It wasn’t a nightmare, it was real!

Jane got out of bed, went downstairs, made herself a cup of tea and switched on her computer.

She typed in ‘Romanian gypsy curse’ and ‘shadow man.’

An hour later.

I feel as cold as ice, and my heart is beating like crazy. I have never heard of the shadow man before but after reading for the last hour I now know he is real.

She sat there racking her brains.

Just then-Sammy-her cat had woken. 

Sammy can sense something wrong.

Sammy jumped into her lap and started purring. The sound soothed her slightly and then an idea came to her.

I will go to the Indian magic shop just on the outskirts of town and see if they can help me.

The next day was a Saturday so she was off from work. At about 1p.m. she headed out the shop.

I pray they can help me.

She entered the shop and saw lots of beautiful little trinkets, such as gems and stones, and small eggs made out of a materials she didn’t recognise.

Hour an hour later in the back room of the shop, she had told her story to the proprietor who as an Indian woman.

I hope they just say the shadow man doesn’t exist and it’s all in my imagination.

But Jane was to have no such luck.

To Jane’s horror, the woman confirmed the shadow man was very real. She told Jane the only way to stop the shadow man taking her soul was to make a sacrifice. The Indian woman told Jane what she needed to do.

Later at 8 p.m. on a December night, the Indian woman knocked on Jane’s door.

This is truly horrific, I have had Sammy since a kitten, and now I got to sacrifice her to save my soul.

The Indian woman drew a pentagram in chalk on Jane’s living room; on her hard wood floor.

Jane picked up Sammy. Tears came to her eyes and her vision blurred, which she was thankful for so she didn’t see the knife that cut of the cats head.

When her vision cleared a few seconds later, she saw Sammy slumped down dead.

“Am I free?” She asked “Will the curse be lifted now?”

“There is no way to know for sure, only time will tell.” 

She looks a little worried, thought Jane.

“Tonight I will stay with you, to see if the Shadow man shows up and when he does I will offer him the sacrifice instead of your soul.”

So they sat in the large pentagram, which Geeta-the Indian woman-who had placed a candle at each of the five points of the pentagram.

They sat later and later into night. Jane started drowsing.

What the!

 Jane was suddenly awake; as she saw the candles flicker.

“He’s here!” Said the Geeta.

“Oh Shadow man accept our offering and disappear and not come back.”

In a second, Jane saw the shadow enter the pentagram and close over the now dead cat.

“It’s gone, the cat has disappeared,” said Jane.

“Did it work?” Asked Jane all happy and excited.

“I hope so, but only time will tell.”

“What do you mean? It worked look the cat has disappeared.”

“Yes.”

Jane wrote out a cheque for the sum of £1000 to Geeta and then Geeta left.

The next day was Sunday and an old ex boyfriend of Jane’s was supposed to be staying.

Jane awoke late at 12:30 pm.

I got to get this place half decent, what will Simon think if he sees all this.

That night at about 8 p.m. Simon arrived. They went out for a meal and discussed their lives.

“I’m really hopeful about this promotion. I hit all the targets that my manager set.”

“That’s great!” Said Simon enthusiastically.

After the meal at the Chinese restaurant they headed home. They drank wine late into the night and then retired to bed.

Two hours later, Jane thought. The sex was amazing, Simon never disappoints, and such a release after the last few days.

Jane was asleep.

“Jane…Jane…”

It was Simon’s voice.

Jane turned around in bed to face him.

“Simon, What is it?”

“I don’t feel well.”

“What do you mean?”

Simon started retching and Jane saw that Simon was about to vomit.

Then to her utter horror, Jane saw a sight that she would never forget.

Simon started to retch more furiously. Blood started to burst from his mouth.

Oh God! No!

Simon opened his mouth wider and wider and Sammy Jane’s now dead cat came out of his mouth.

Suddenly the dead cat was on the bed sheets along with copious amounts of blood.

The room darkened and Jane felt an evil presence like she had the previous two nights. Then to her horror she knew…

The shadow man is here!

Simon and Jane looked to the end of the bed.

The shadow man was there.

“What the hell!” Exclaimed Simon.

“Simon, he’s come for me…” Said Jane in a defeated dead voice.

The Shadow man pointed his finger.

Jane felt immeasurable pain as her soul started to leave her body.

All for a stupid promotion…

The End