Greykin Mountain

| 67 | Amulet

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Jackson wasn't sure what to make of what lay before him.

          His eyes shot from shelf to shelf inside the cupboard the steel door reveal. Glowing liquids inside wax-sealed vials and bottles; shimmering trinkets and pieces of jewellery, and a shelf of quietly humming books. It looked like something out of a storybook or a video game—like some sort of witch's accumulation.

          He pushed the door open the rest of the way so that he'd be able to get inside. The steel was so thick that it took more strength than he thought it would to open it—so thick that those deep slash marks hadn't cut through to the other side.

          When he stepped into the middle of the large cupboard, he looked around at everything. Among all the curiosities, however, there was one thing in particular which snatched his attention.

          A black metal amulet in the shape of a pentagram with dragon-like wings on each side and a shimmering crimson crystal in the star's centre. As he focused on it, he understood that the ominous, spine-tingling feeling which had ensnared him was coming from that object. And a sound...a sound which raced around inside his head.

          Whispers.

          Voices.

          But not like those he heard from the cadejo. These voices were different. They weren't a conflicted mass of agonized words and groans. No. What he heard coming from that amulet were harmonic chants. Several voices said the same few words, but he couldn't understand. It was a different language. But what he did understand was what it was making him feel the longer he stared at it.

          He was drawn to that amulet. He needed that amulet, and it was exactly why he'd been so desperate to open the door. That was what had led him inside the cupboard. But why? What was so special about it?

          Jackson moved nearer, gawping at the red crystal. He stared at his reflection on its shiny surface, listening to the whispers...which grew louder the closer he got to it.

          It was like the amulet could see him; it was as though it knew he was standing right in front of it. And like it wanted Jackson to take it just as much as he wanted to take it.

          But should he? He had no idea what it was or what it might do if he touched it. For all he knew, it could be cursed. Everything in this room could be cursed. He didn't want to risk touching something and suddenly growing frog legs or earning himself seventeen years of bad luck.

          He felt so drawn to it, though. Why would something dangerous call to him so strongly?

          No, he was being an idiot. Something harmful would call to someone so strongly, wouldn't it? To trick them. To lure them closer so it could sink its curse-ridden teeth into them.

          However...what if it wasn't cursed? What if this amulet was calling to him because he was supposed to find it? He glanced around the cupboard at all the other pieces of jewellery and the bottles of glistening liquids. Nothing else was whispering to him—nothing else was pulling him in and telling him to take it.

          Should he take it?

          He stared into the shimmering red crystal. What if he just...touched it? Just one tiny little quick touch.

          Jackson lifted his paw and slowly edged it closer to the amulet. He felt hesitant, but his curiosity still outweighed that fear. His heart raced as his body filled with angst, and with a deep breath, he pressed one claw against the amulet's black metal.