There were screeches in the wind that was blowing from the north, some of them helpless, while there was a hint of malevolence behind others. The woods were silent apart from the voices of the breeze, not even the birds were singing their songs. It felt unnatural somehow, like there should be signs of life. However, Iiro wasn't bothered by this at all as he walked on the soft forest soil, in fact he had got used to the eerie silence and absence of living creatures around these parts. There was a good reason for it all, for something sinister was located here deep within the woods, something so tainted that most beings wanted to steer clear from it. But Iiro wasn't one of such. This usually avoided area, it happened to be the destination for him.
It was evening and the sky had started to take a darker color, but in this cursed place, the sky looked even darker with heavy clouds. All of this seemed like Iiro had passed a thin curtain separating the dark area and the rest of the world. He had come to a forsaken cemetery where exceptionally cruel and wicked people had been buried a long time ago, so long that nobody remembered their identities anymore. Located at the heart of the woods, it was a place where common men didn't usually venture. Although the remains of malicious people were laying here forgotten, a negative energy radiating from their graves was still lingering in the area. Not many plants were able to thrive around the cemetery because of the suffocating energy and those that could were tainted. All in all the last resting place of the wicked was a strange mixture of bare black soil and patches of vegetation, along with worn slabs of stone that marked the graves. Iiro had also noted during his visits to the cemetery that there had been bones sticking out from the ground. He couldn't help but think that the bones of the people who got buried here are trying to escape from the confines of their graves. Or maybe something living actually got lost around these parts and would die for whatever reason, their decaying corpses then getting pulled down to the black earth. Iiro didn't know and wasn't sure if he even wanted to know.
Iiro got on his knees in front of one of the graves. He searched his bag a little bit and took out a small black box. It was empty, but wouldn't be for long. He left it open on the ground and started to dig the soil. He put some of that black dirt to the box and then placed it back in his bag. That was all he needed from here, so he got back on his feet and began to walk away from the cemetery. The wind still sounded so unpleasant in his ears and would pester him until he would make a return to the regular part of the woods. Eventually he crossed the unseen border between the cursed land and the rest of the forest and the change in tone was instant. The sun's late rays were making the sky glow with vibrant colors. The birds were filling the air with their songs and the unnerving wind had subsided. Iiro wasn't afraid of the cursed cemetery and the mysterious powers it harbored, but he still felt a slight relief after leaving it behind. He enjoyed the rest of his journey home in a cheerful mood.
As the end of day was getting closer, the sky turned darker. Iiro was making preparations, for he was expecting a guest. When the darkness had engulfed the silent world, Iiro heard a knock on his door. He went to the entrance of his house to welcome the late visitor. As he opened the door, there was a familiar face behind it: Uolevi, Iiro's good friend.
“Come in, come in”, Iiro said to his guest while smiling widely and stepped aside so he wouldn't be in the other man's way.
“I really need something to drink”, Uolevi muttered as he entered his friend's house. “You got some beer?”
“Of course, my friend”, Iiro replied as he closed the door.
Both men walked to the spacious room that took most of the space in Iiro's home. A fire was blazing in the fireplace, the cracking sound of the burning wood sounded soothing. A table along with a couple of benches were standing near the fireplace and Uolevi made his way to sit on one of the benches. Meanwhile Iiro had wandered off to one of the corners of the room where he kept a vat full of beer. The little black box was sitting near this vat, but Iiro wasn't using its contents, not yet. He filled a pint of beer for himself and for his friend and then crossed the room to the table where Uolevi was waiting. Iiro served him the drink and sat down in the opposite direction from his friend.
“Thanks”, Uolevi said and took a big swig from his pint.
Iiro remained silent and consumed his beer more moderately. It was clear that his friend was upset about something, but Iiro decided to not ask about it. He knew Uolevi was that kind of person who wouldn't speak about their matters because they didn't want to appear as bothersome. He would keep to himself, at least to the point when he would be drunk enough so his tongue would loosen up a bit. So Iiro just let him drink his beer and stayed quiet.
“Give me another”, Uolevi demanded after his pint was empty.
“Sure thing”, Iiro responded; he had finished his beer as well so he took both of their pints to get a refill.
Once he was standing by the vat, his gaze got aimed at the little black box. He pondered for a little bit whether he should use its contents yet, but decided it would be better once his friend would get more tipsy. So he just poured more beer for their pints and returned to the table, giving the drink to Uolevi who thanked for the beer and took a gulp. Iiro could barely contain his complacency as he watched how his friend continued to drink; everything was going according to his plan. He could hardly keep the smug grin off of his face and just savored his beer, which tasted better now, perhaps because of success.
When Uolevi asked for a third refill, Iiro was sure that it was now time. After he had poured more beer to Uolevi's pint, he opened the little black box and took some of the black soil he had gathered earlier and put the crumbs to Uolevi's drink. Iiro wasn't exactly sure what would happen now, but he would be lying if he said he wasn't excited to find out. He served the drink for his friend once again and sat down to observe. This was the fourth time he had sprinkled the black soil to his friend's drink, surely the effects should start to show already.
Uolevi was getting more intoxicated, that was for sure. He started to ramble quite a lot, like how this woman he liked had rejected him, which probably was the main reason for his foul mood, Iiro surmised. He remembered that his friend had been having his eyes on this lady, Kata, for a while now. The poor fool had made his move finally, and Iiro had been quite sure that Kata liked Uolevi too, but apparently they both had been wrong. Other than the matter with her, Uolevi had trouble with family and problems with his farm. His father was gravely ill and oddly, so was a lot of their livestock. On top of that, crops weren't growing on his property as if it was cursed somehow. But cursed or not, all of this was quite a lot for a man to handle, so it was no surprise that Uolevi would come over to Iiro's place and have a drink after a weary day.
They were both wretches, him and Uolevi; too ugly, stupid, poor and repulsive for everyone. That was probably the reason they had bonded in the first place, because the world has this strange way of bringing together people who shared a lot in common. But, Iiro had decided that he had had enough of that and one night, a solution had been offered to him, just like that.
“Ow, my head…” Uolevi suddenly complained, which piqued Iiro's interest.
“How do you feel?” Iiro asked casually, taking a swig from his beer.
“It's nothing serious, I think… My head just feels so heavy… And shadows… There's something wrong with the shadows…” Uolevi shook his head slowly.
There was a smirk on Iiro's lips. “Maybe you have just drank too much. Go home, get some rest.”
“Yeah, that's probably it…” Uolevi muttered and stood up with sluggish movements. “Thanks for the company… And for the beer.”
“Anytime, my friend”, Iiro said cheerfully. He watched how Uolevi dragged his feet across the floor and made it to the door.
“Bye, then”, Uolevi slurred a bit, opened the door and soon disappeared behind it. Iiro knew that he would find a way back home, even when he was a little drunk – this definitely wasn't the first time. And even if he would be found dead in the ditch, well, that didn't matter to Iiro, not anymore.
Iiro hummed to himself a tune he had learned from his father when he had still been just a little boy. Leisurely he enjoyed the rest of his beer, feeling very much delighted. The effects of the black soil in Uolevi were starting to show and tomorrow, he would get more of it. After all, Uolevi was a parasite that needed Iiro's supply of beer and friendship, although Uolevi didn't know that it was pretty much a one-sided thing now.
Watching the dance of the weakening flames, Iiro felt more content than in ages. While Uolevi was struggling with various matters, Iiro on the other hand, his life had seemed to take a turn for the better. He had been getting excellent pelts during his hunting trips to the woods and they had earned him quite a bit of money. He had also started to get attention from some ladies around the village, making him feel more confident than ever. Of course, Iiro would keep his mouth shut about all of this when around Uolevi, at least for now. There was no need to brag, it just happens to be more amusing to him this way.
All of this because of a voice Iiro had heard one night.
He hadn't been able to sleep, so he had stepped outside for a brief moment, breathing in the fresh night air. The nocturnal world was a silent one, but occasionally he could hear songs of birds, croaks of the frogs, yelps of the foxes. Those were typical sounds one could hear when surrounded by nature, just like Iiro was. But then, suddenly a new and unnatural noise made its way to his ears, making him feel perplexed. He had never heard anything like it, so out of curiosity, he stood in front of the door to his house and simply listened. The sound was a little faint at first, but bit by bit it was getting louder, seeming more and more threatening as it echoed from somewhere, Iiro had no idea where it exactly was coming from. Eventually he understood that it was singing, sung by a strong and thick tongue, Iiro had never heard such a deep voice. There definitely was an ominous ring to it, like it belonged to the great darkness itself. Iiro hadn't understood what the voice was singing exactly, not at first, but much to his surprise, he suddenly could comprehend the message behind those dark words.
He had to make someone drink the soil gathered from the cemetery of the forgotten and his desires would come true. He could become rich, he could find love. Just a little sacrifice for the unknown entities and his life would become better. However, if he failed to make this someone drink the soil, he would have to suffer the consequences instead. Iiro would lose his wealth, that itself was damaging, but more importantly, he would lose his mind and spirit. But in his greedy little head, the profits coming from this deal outweighed the possible grave consequences. He would finally get what he deserved; he would leave the life of a wretch behind. He hadn't felt this much excitement in years. Without giving it more thought, Iiro had decided to do exactly what the dark song advised.
And Uolevi, oh poor little Uolevi… He would come to Iiro to have a drink and spend some time, completely unaware of what Iiro was doing to him. Well, he had never been a smart man. He was a perfect sacrifice. There weren't many people who would miss him anyway.
So evening after evening, Uolevi had come to visit him, mostly after a rough day, and every time Iiro had been a great host and welcomed him to his house and served beer for him. And each evening, Iiro would sprinkle a little bit of the black soil to Uolevi's drinks. And Uolevi would guzzle down all of it without realizing anything. However, after some days, Uolevi had started to show some concerning symptoms – at least to him and of course, he had talked about them to his friend. He had started to become really paranoid, that something was stalking him because he had started to see unnatural movements in the shadows. He was also hearing whispering, haunting whispering that according to his words sounded like dead were talking to him, there just was this unexplainable and mysterious echo in them.
“Am I losing my mind?” Uolevi had anxiously asked and drank more of the liquid that was poisoning his mind.
“I don't know, my friend, I don't know”, Iiro had responded, barely being able to maintain a fake worried expression on his face.
Uolevi was slowly withering away and Iiro just watched, watched and enjoyed for the further Uolevi drowned into his madness, the better Iiro's life was getting. Uolevi spoke of entities that were on his trail, following him, waking him up at nights multiple times so he wasn't able to sleep properly and they stole food from his mouth, making him starve. At this point Iiro wasn't sure if he was actually experiencing these things or was he just imagining, but nonetheless, Iiro didn't care. But it was clear as day that Uolevi's body was weakening, he had dark circles under his eyes, he looked really pale and he had lost so much weight he was merely a twig at this point. His body and mind, they both were breaking down, and it wouldn't take long for him to succumb to his fate.
Another evening came around and Iiro was waiting for his friend to arrive. He had been lighting up some candles when the door to his home had been abruptly swung open and Uolevi had barged in like a hurricane. He slammed the door shut and was panting heavily and he had a very haunted look in his tired eyes.
“You have to help me!” Uolevi squeaked weakly, his voice full of desperation. “I'm cursed! I know I am! I see things, ghosts, creatures or something and they won't leave me be! They want to pull me into the darkness!”
“Oh, my dear friend, you have to calm down for a moment”, Iiro said in a reassuring way. “It's okay. Come, have a seat and I'll pour you a drink.”
This, of course, didn't calm down his friend. Uolevi was frantically walking in circles, making weird movements with his hands as if he was trying to tear down the veils of madness that surrounded him. “They're here with us! How can we get rid of them!?”
Iiro had filled a couple of pints with beer, one of them containing the crumbs of the black soil. He was walking towards the table as he said: “Let's sit down and think for a solution, alright?”
This suggestion seemed to get through the fog of Uolevi's mind and he did exactly what Iiro wanted. Once again, he took a seat by his friend's table and drank the liquid that was messing with his sanity. He was impatiently drumming the surface of the table with his fingers and Iiro could see from his eyes that he wouldn't last long.
“Just what have I done to deserve this?” Uolevi was rasping out, then took another swig from his beer. “My whole life… Nothing but hardships, but I've strived to be a good man!”
He was in such a hysterical state that he guzzled down his drink just like that. Uolevi didn't even notice that Iiro fetched him more to drink and he grasped the pint like his life depended on it – even though it was quite the contrary. He kept drinking his poison and even at this point he had no idea it was the beer his friend had been serving him that was the cause of his problems.
Maybe he never figured it out. Or maybe he did at his final moments. Suddenly Uolevi started to feel horrible pain in his chest, like someone was sticking needles to his heart. The agony just kept growing stronger and he forgot everything else for a minute. He wanted nothing more but to tear out a way to the insides of his ribcage and take away the needles. A sensation that someone was crushing his head joined in to this torment and he fell down from his seat and collapsed on the floor. He was writhing from pain and he was whimpering miserably like a beaten-up puppy. His sight was playing tricks, it was like his eyes were shrouded in a thin veil, making everything he saw look dark. Although beings had been lurking around him for a while already, now more of them were coming out of their hideouts, appearing from all the shadows that surrounded him. They were chanting to him, perhaps mocking him, perhaps welcoming him to their world. Their eyes gleamed with madness as they got closer to Uolevi, claws prepared to take his spirit away.
Meanwhile Iiro simply watched. He did absolutely nothing to ease his friend's pain and even when witnessing Uolevi in this tormented state, he felt no remorse. With a wicked smile on his lips, Iiro observed the last moments of his friend who was experiencing both physical and mental anguish. The second when his last wretched breath would leave his body marked the moment when Iiro's life permanently became better.
Uolevi let out a horrendous scream before he went silent and stopped moving. If there was any righteousness in the world, that scream would have haunted Iiro for the rest of his days. But it didn't. There were no consequences to his actions whatsoever. With the cost of his friend's life, Iiro got everything he had always wanted.
