**An Unforgettable Celebration: The Return to the Restaurant**
Emily was heading back with her husband, James, from a restaurant where theyd celebrated her birthday. The evening had been lovelyfull of people, family, and colleagues. Emily hadnt met many of them before, but if James had invited them, there mustve been a reason.
She wasnt the type to question his choices; she hated arguments and confrontations. It was easier to agree with him than to prove she was right.
“Emily, do you have the flat keys handy? Can you grab them?”
Emily rummaged through her handbag, searching for the keys. Suddenly, she felt a sharp pain and jerked her hand so violently that the bag tumbled to the ground.
“Whats wrong?” James asked.
“Ive pricked myself on something.”
“With the mess in your bag, Im not surprised.”
Emily didnt argue. She picked up the bag, carefully fished out the keys, and they stepped inside. Shed already forgotten about the prickshe was exhausted, her feet ached, and all she wanted was a shower and bed.
The next morning, she woke with a throbbing pain in her finger, now red and swollen. She remembered the incident and searched her bag thoroughly. At the bottom, she found a large, rusty needle.
“What on earth?”
She had no idea how it got there. She threw it away, then dug out the first-aid kit to clean the wound. After bandaging her finger, she went to work, but by midday, she was feverish.
She called James.
“James, I dont know whats wrong. I think Ive caught something. Ive got a fever, my heads pounding, and my body feels like Ive been hit by a truck. I even found a rusty needle in my bag.”
“Maybe you should see a doctorit could be tetanus or worse.”
“Dont worry. Ive cleaned it. Itll be fine.”
But instead of improving, she felt worse by the hour. She barely made it through the workday. She called a taxino way could she manage public transport. When she got home, she collapsed onto the sofa and fell into a deep sleep.
She dreamed of her grandmother, Margaret, whod passed away when Emily was little. She wasnt sure how, but she *knew* it was her. Despite the hunched, elderly figure, Emily sensed her grandmother had come to help.
In the dream, Margaret led her through a field, showing her the herbs she needed to brew a tea that would cleanse her body of the darkness devouring her. She warned Emily that someone wished her harm, but to face it, she had to survive. Time was running out.
Emily woke in a cold sweat. She thought shed slept for hours, but only minutes had passed. The door clickedJames was home. He took one look at her and paled.
“Whats happened to you? Look in the mirror.”
Emily staggered to the mirror. Yesterday, shed seen a smiling, bright-eyed woman. Now, staring back was a hollow-faced stranger with tangled hair and dark circles under her eyes.
“But whats going on?”
Then she remembered the dream and turned to James.
“I dreamed of Gran. She told me what to do”
“Emily, get dressed. Were going to hospital.”
“No. She said the doctors cant help me.”
A huge row erupted. James even called her mad for believing a dead woman in a dream could guide her. It was their first real shouting match. He tried to force her, grabbing her arm to drag her out.
“If you wont go willingly, Ill make you.”
Emily wrenched free, lost her balance, and slammed into a corner. Jamess frustration boiled overhe snatched her bag, slammed the door, and left. Emily barely managed to text her boss, saying she was ill and needed a few days off.
James returned near midnight, full of apologies, but Emily just said,
“Take me to Grans village tomorrow.”
The next morning, Emily looked more corpse than woman. James pleaded,
“Emily, dont be daft. Lets go to hospital. I cant lose you.”
But they drove to the village. Emily only remembered the nameshe hadnt been back since her parents sold Margarets house. She dozed most of the way but woke as they neared and pointed,
“That way.”
Weakly, she stumbled from the car, collapsing onto the grassbut she knew this was the spot from her dream. She found the herbs, and they returned home. James brewed the tea as she instructed. She sipped slowly, and with each swallow, she felt a little stronger.
Struggling to the bathroom, she saw her urine was black. Instead of panicking, she whispered her grandmothers words,
“The darkness is leaving”
That night, she dreamed of Margaret again. This time, her gran explainedsomeone had cursed her with that rusty needle. The remedy would restore her strength, but only briefly. Emily had to find whod done it and return their malice. Margaret confessed she didnt know who, but James was somehow involved. If Emily hadnt thrown the needle away, she couldve learned more.
“Do this: buy a box of needles. Recite this over the largest one: Spirits of night, before you rest, hear meghosts of the dark, proclaim the truth. Surround me, point the way, help me find my foe Then place it in Jamess bag. Whoever cursed you will prick themselves. Thats how well know.”
With that, Margaret faded like mist.
Emily woke, weak but hopeful. Her gran would help. James stayed home to care for her, stunned when she insisted on going to the shops alone.
“Emily, dont be silly. You can barely stand. Ill come.”
“James, make me some soup. After this bug, Im starving.”
That night, she slipped the needle into Jamess bag. Before bed, he asked,
“Sure youll be okay? Want me to stay?”
“Ill be fine.”
She *was* better, but the darkness still lurked inside her, held at bay by the tea. She anxiously waited for James to return from work, greeting him with,
“How was your day?”
“Fine. Why?”
Just as she thought her enemy hadnt revealed themselves, James added,
“Odd thingIrina from the next department tried helping me with my keys today since I was juggling papers. She reached into my bag and pricked herself on a needle. The look she gave me!”
“Whats between you and Irina?”
“Emily, *please*. I love *you*. Irina means nothing.”
“Was she at my birthday dinner?”
“Yeah, shes a colleague. Thats all.”
Then it clicked. Emily understood how that rusty needle had ended up in her bag.
James went to make dinner. That night, Margaret returned in another dream, explaining how to send Irinas malice back. Now it made senseIrina wanted Emily gone, so she could have James. If she couldnt win him fairly, shed use magic. She wouldnt stop.
Emily followed her grans instructions. Soon after, James mentioned Irina was on sick leavedoctors couldnt figure out what was wrong.
Emily asked James to take her to Margarets village cemetery that weekend, someplace she hadnt visited since the funeral. She bought flowers and gloves to clear the weeds from the grave. It took a while to find Margarets headstone, but when she did, the photo matched the face from her dreamsthe one whod saved her. Emily tidied the grave and laid the flowers.
“Well, Gran sorry I didnt visit sooner. I thought Mum and Dad coming once a year was enough, but I was wrong. Ill come more often now. If it werent for you, I wouldnt be here.”
A gentle breeze brushed her shoulderslike a faint hug. When she turned, no one was there. Just the wind, soft and warm.
