Natasha and her husband were leaving the restaurant where they had celebrated his birthday. The evening had been wonderful. Many guests had come, including relatives and colleagues. Natasha met many of them for the first time, but if Dmitry had invited them, he knew what he was doing.
Natasha was one of those people who didn’t argue with her husband’s decisions; she avoided conflicts and disputes. It was easier for her to agree with Dima than to argue her point of view.
«Natasha, did you put the apartment keys far away? Can you get them, please?»
Natasha opened her handbag, looking for the keys. Suddenly, she felt a sharp pain and jerked her hand so hard that the handbag fell to the floor.
«Why did you cry out?»
«I pricked myself on something.»
«With so many things in your bag, it’s not surprising.»
Natasha didn’t argue with her husband, picked up the bag, and carefully retrieved the keys. When they entered the apartment, she had already forgotten about the small incident. Her legs ached from tiredness, and she just wanted to take a shower and go to bed. The next morning, when she woke up, she felt a sharp pain in her hand — her finger was red and swollen. Then she remembered the incident from yesterday and took her handbag to check what might have been inside. Carefully taking out the items one by one, she found a large rusty needle at the bottom.
«What is this?»
She couldn’t understand how it had ended up there. Confused by the discovery, she threw the needle in the trash can. Then she went to the medicine cabinet to treat the puncture. After bandaging her reddened finger, Natasha went to work. But by lunchtime, she noticed she had developed a fever.
She called her husband:
«Dima, I don’t know what to do. It seems like I caught something: I have a fever, a headache, and my whole body aches. I found a large rusty needle in my bag; that’s what I pricked myself on yesterday.»
«Maybe you should see a doctor? God forbid, tetanus or an infection.»
«Dima, don’t overreact. I treated the wound, everything will be fine.»
But as the hours passed, Natasha only felt worse. Barely making it through the workday, she called a taxi and went home, realizing it would be hard to get there by public transport. At home, she barely made it to the couch and fell asleep immediately.
In her sleep, she saw her grandmother Marfa, who had passed away when Natasha was very young. Natasha didn’t know how she recognized her, but she felt it deeply. Her grandmother looked old and bent. Although her appearance would have scared anyone, Natasha felt her grandmother wanted to help.
The grandmother led Natasha through a field and showed her which herbs to collect. She told her to make an infusion from them and drink it to rid herself of the dark force that was consuming her. The grandmother explained that someone wanted to harm her, but to fight them, Natasha needed to survive. Time was running out.
Natasha woke up in a cold sweat. She felt like she had slept for a long time, but when she checked the time, she realized it had only been a few minutes. She heard the front door slam; Dmitry had come back. She got up from the couch to meet him, and he exclaimed:
«What happened to you? Look at yourself in the mirror!»
Natasha approached the mirror. Just yesterday, she had seen a beautiful, smiling woman in the reflection, but now she saw something completely different. Her hair was tangled, there were dark circles under her eyes, her skin was gray, and her eyes were empty.
«What is this nonsense?»
And suddenly Natasha remembered the dream. She told her husband:
«I saw my grandmother in my dream. She told me what to do…»
«Natasha, get dressed, we’re going to the hospital.»
«I’m not going anywhere. Grandma said the doctors won’t help me.»
At home, a scandal broke out. Dmitry called his wife crazy, claiming that in her delirium, she had dreamed up nonsense.
It was the first time they fought so badly. Dmitry even tried to use force, grabbed her by the arm, and dragged her towards the door.
«If you won’t go to the hospital, I’ll take you by force.»
But Natasha broke free, lost her balance, fell, and hurt herself. Dmitry, in a fit of rage, grabbed the bag, slammed the door, and left. Alone, Natasha barely found the strength to tell her boss that she was sick and would stay home.
Dmitry came back late at night and apologized to his wife. She responded:
«Take me to the village where my grandmother lived tomorrow.»
The next morning, Natasha looked almost like a living corpse, rather than a healthy young woman. Dmitry kept begging her:
«Natasha, don’t be stubborn, let’s go to the hospital. I don’t want to lose you.»
But they still went to the village. The only thing that stayed in Natasha’s memory was the name of the village. Since her parents sold her grandmother’s house, she hadn’t been there. The whole way, Natasha slept. She didn’t even know which field to go to, but as they approached the village, she suddenly said:
«Turn right here.»
She barely stepped out of the car when she weakened and collapsed onto the grass. But she knew she had found the right place her grandmother had led her to. She found the necessary herbs and returned home. Dmitry made the infusion, and Natasha drank sip after sip, feeling relief with each one.
Barely making it to the bathroom, she noticed that her urine was black. This didn’t scare her; instead, she said:
«The darkness is leaving…»
That night, her grandmother appeared again in a dream. This time, she was smiling and began speaking.
«They put a curse on you with a rusty needle. The infusion will restore your strength, but not for long. You need to find the person responsible to reverse the evil. I can’t tell you who it is, but your husband is somehow involved. If you hadn’t thrown away the needle, I would have been able to see more. But…»
«Here’s what we’ll do. Buy needles and say the spell over the biggest one: ‘Night spirits, once alive. Hear the prophets of the night, show the enemy!’ Put this needle in your husband’s bag. Whoever cursed you will prick themselves on it. Then we’ll know who it is and be able to return the evil.»
After saying this, the grandmother disappeared.
Natasha woke up, still feeling unwell, but knowing her grandmother would help her. Dmitry stayed home to be with his wife. To his surprise, she started getting ready to go to the store, saying she needed to go alone.
«Don’t be silly, Natasha, you’re weak. Let me go with you.»
«Dima, make some soup, I have such an appetite from this virus.»
Natasha did as her grandmother had instructed. In the evening, the enchanted needle ended up in Dmitry’s bag. He asked her before going to bed:
«Are you sure you’ll be okay without me? Should I stay longer?»
«I’ll be fine.»
Natasha felt better. She knew the evil was still inside her, but the infusion was pushing it out. She waited for Dmitry to return from work. When he walked in, her first question was:
«How was your day?»
«Good, why do you ask?»
Natasha had almost thought that the person who cursed her had not been revealed when Dmitry added:
«Natasha, guess what? Today Irina from the neighboring office tried to help me get the keys out of my bag. My hands were full of papers. Well, she found a needle in my bag and pricked herself. She got really mad at me.»
«What’s going on with you and Irina?»
«Natasha, stop it. I only love you. Irina is just a good colleague, nothing more.»
Natasha understood how the needle had ended up in her bag after hearing these words.
Dmitry went to the kitchen where dinner was waiting for them.
As soon as Natasha fell asleep, she saw her grandmother again. She told her how to return the evil to Irina. The grandmother explained that it was clear to her that Irina wanted to get rid of Natasha to be with Dmitry. If that didn’t work, she would have resorted to magic again.
Natasha followed her grandmother’s instructions. Soon, Dmitry announced that Irina had fallen ill and the doctors couldn’t help her.
Natasha asked her husband to take her to the village to the cemetery, where she had never been since her grandmother’s funeral. She bought a bouquet and gloves to clean the grave. She found the grave and saw the photo — it was her grandmother who had appeared in her dream and saved her. Natasha cleaned the grave, placed the flowers, and sat down:
«Grandmother, I’m sorry I didn’t visit earlier. I thought it was enough for my parents to come once a year. I was wrong. I’ll come myself from now on. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t be here.»
Natasha felt her grandmother’s hands on her shoulders. She turned around, but no one was there, just a light breeze.
