If you're planning on messing with a supernatural force you barely understand, read this before you do. Or don't. I can't force you. There’s a payphone in the empty lot behind my high school that still hasn’t been demolished even though it hasn’t had power in years, ‘cause nobody can be bothered to take it down until someone buys the property and builds something on it, which is never going to happen. Our town is small enough that most businesses wouldn’t bother, and even if someone living here wanted to open one, there are other empty lots in much better locations. There is also a playground rumor that if you put a quarter in the machine, and dialed a specific number while you were alone in the booth, you would be able to talk to a spirit called Amaryllis that would grant you any ability you desired. There were a couple caveats- You can only use the phone once in your lifetime, and you can’t change or get rid of the ability once you’ve got it. You also take on a curse that you’ll be stuck with forever, and you have no say in what it is- the spirit chooses it. Generally speaking, the more powerful the ability you asked for, the worse the curse would be. If you wished for the ability to telekinetically move apples, your curse would be something like getting more hangnails than usual. If you wished for telekinesis in general, your curse would be something like never having anyone’s trust when it’s cold outside, or spontaneously combusting if you heard music while you used your power. “Curses come in two different flavors, Mara.” That’s how my next door neighbor, Natasha explained it. She was three years older than I was, and I believed everything that came out of an older kid’s mouth, whether it was true or not. “You either get a curse that is unrelated to your power, and is just a general bad thing that sucks to have happen to you, or a curse that is a cost to using your power, like taking a month off your lifespan every time you use it. I got the first kind.” Natasha was the first person to tell me that she had actually *gotten* a power instead of saying that she knew someone that did. She said she wished for extremely good luck, and in exchange, she was unable to lie about anything for the rest of her life. There wasn’t a direct way to prove it, but Natasha had won every single raffle she’d ever entered at the town’s winter and harvest festivals, found a hundred dollars in her backyard twice, and admitted to her teacher that she cheated on her test, which was enough proof for eight-year-old me, and I wanted in on it. But I couldn’t use the phone, because you need to dial a specific number for it to work, and Natasha refused to tell me what it was. That’s also why everyone in town who believes in the rumor doesn’t immediately try to get free powers. It’s extremely hard to get the number, and most of the people who know it don’t tell you about it. There are tons of people (mostly kids at school) that claim they know the number, or have powers, but ninety-nine percent of them are lying and all you’re gonna get is a false lead. “Look Mara, you’re too little. You’re going to pick something you’ll regret, if you can even make a decision.” And despite my begging, she would not budge. She never gave me the number. But I ended up getting the number from another source several years later. When I started eighth grade, a new kid joined our grade. Her name was Louise, and I was in charge of showing her around school. I told her about the phone, and about all the stories I’d heard, and about a month later, she told me she used it. “Natasha gave me the number.” “Wha-Why? She never gave it to me, and I asked for it for years!” She shrugged. “She said I’d made a good wish, so she gave it to me.” “What did you wish for?” “Not telling you.” “…So what’s your curse?” “Not telling you.” “Then there’s no way to prove you used the phone. You’re probably lying.” Louise scowled at me, cheeks turning red. “I’m not lying! I can prove it!” “How?” Louise slyly grinned. “I’ll give you the number if you buy me that cute jacket I saw at the mall last week.” That jacket was eighty dollars, but I had birthday money to spend. “I’m not gonna buy it unless you give me the number, and it works. That shit’s expensive, I’m not wasting it on a fake number.” She handed me a folded slip of paper. “You better keep your end of the deal.” I went to the payphone right after school, stuck a quarter in the dusty slot, and used my sleeve as a shield to cover my fingers while I touched the faded buttons. I held the phone to my ear, trying to ignore the germs that I’d get on my face from it. “Hello? Are you looking for Amaryllis?” *This is really happening.* The voice on the phone wasn’t what I expected. I’d always imagined the spirit to have a louder, more intimidating sounding voice- she spoke much softer than I thought she would, and sounded much younger than I thought she’d sound. If I wasn’t talking through a phone with no power, I might’ve thought it was someone from school playing a prank. “Yes. I want- I want a gift from you.” “And are you aware that I must take something from you in return?” “Yes.” “Alright. Who do I have the pleasure of giving this gift to?” “Mara Winters.” “What gift do you seek, Mara Winters?” I’d thought about this for years, and I finally had an answer. “I want the ability to see the future when I want to, unless it’s impossible to change the future. If that’s the case, I want a different gift.” “The future can be changed, yes. Are you sure that’s what you want?” “...Yes. I’m sure.” “Then I shall give you that gift, but in order to use it, you must pull out a fingernail every time you wish to take a glimpse into the future. You have to pull it all the way out. Breaking off pieces won’t work, and you can only use fully grown nails. Do you accept this trade?” I paused for a moment, weighing my options. On the one hand, pulling out a fingernail every time I use my power would be incredibly painful, and it would take forever to grow back. On the other hand, I’d have a surefire way to calm my chronic overthinking and anxieties. “...Yes.” The call ended right after that. I showed up at school the next day with a huge smile on my face, and Louise’s new jacket. She was the only person I told besides Natasha, who was pissed that Louise just gave me the number without asking her first. It’s been two years since then, and I’ve only used my powers twice. The first time was to test out that they worked. I successfully predicted what I had for dinner that night, but besides that, it was pretty useless. The second time was to see if the plane I was going to go on for the annual Freshman Year Field Trip would crash, because I’m terrified of flying, and it’s better to be safe than sorry. (Spoiler alert, the plane didn’t crash.) At least, that was until last week, when I was forced to use my power ten times. There was this boy named William who lived a couple of towns over. He was a senior at our high school’s “rival school,” and somehow (I don’t know how) he’d gotten Amarylis’s number. He was also a huge jerk that unironically called women “females,” called himself an “alpha male,” and his entire Instagram was filled with shallow motivational quotes about being successful. You know, *that* kind of guy. I’d barely ever talked to him, so I was confused as hell when he showed up at my doorstep out of the blue. “...What are you doing here?” “I called up that ghost girl on the old-ass phone. I wanna see if my powers’ll actually work, or if that bitch scammed me. She said she gave you future sight, so look into my future. See if my powers are gonna work when I try them out tomorrow, so I don’t look stupid.” *Amaryllis can tell you who else used the phone? And she’ll say what powers she gave them? I should’ve asked her what she gave Louise!* He tossed me a pair of pliers. “Also she said you’ll need these for some reason.” I glared at him for a second. “Well? C’mon, get on with it! I don’t have all day!” “No.” “Why not?!” “My curse makes using my power painful, and I don’t like you very much, so I’m not gonna do it for free. The powers work. You don’t need me to verify anything.” “You little bitch! I should just-” “I’ll do it if you pay me.” “Ugh. Fine. How much?” “Fifty bucks.” “Ten.” “Nope, Not doing that.” “Fifteen?” “No. I’ll do it for thirty. That’s my final offer, take it or fuck off.” He rummaged through his pockets, mumbling something (probably an insult) under his breath, pulled out a twenty and a ten dollar bill, and threw them at my face. “Here’s your money, now get on with it!” “Okay.” I took a deep breath, clamped the pliers to my left pinky, and pulled. “HOLY SHIT WHY DID YOU DO THAT, YOU CRAZY-” “Show me what’ll happen when William uses his power tomorrow.” *I’m standing by Shelly Smith’s locker. William approaches her.* *“The fuck do you want?”* *“Join me, my dear. Be captivated by my beauty.”* *Instantly, her eyes glazed over, and William’s thumb shrunk into his hand, vanishing completely, like it was never there.* *“Do you love me, Shelly?”* *“Of course I do. I love only you.”* *“Would you do anything for me?”* *“Of course.”* I snapped out of my vision, screaming. “YOU WISHED FOR THE POWER TO BRAINWASH PEOPLE?! WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?!” :”So it works. Sweet!” “Is that why you used the phone? You wanted to get a date with Shelly? That’s super creepy.” “Bold words from someone who can easily be turned into one of my puppets.” “I’m sorry, what?” “Take another look into your future. See what’ll happen if you keep pushing my buttons, so you’ll know I wasn’t bluffing.” Honestly, I thought he was, but it was better to be safe than sorry, and he’d already put the thought into my head. I yanked another fingernail off, grimacing through the pain. “Show me what’ll happen if I keep bothering him.” *I’m standing in front of my doorstep with the same glazed-over look Shelly had. William has a finger missing.* “Alright, alright! I-I can see you’re not bluffing!” William grinned. “If you tell anyone else about this, anyone at all, I’ll brainwash you. And don’t think I won’t find out. I will. I guarantee it.” Then he left. Most people wouldn’t believe me if I told them what happened, and the few that I could probably couldn’t do all that much, plus I ran the risk of getting both me and them brainwashed. The bastard had me stuck between a rock and a hard place. So even though I didn’t want to, I said nothing to anyone, and tried to ignore the nauseous feeling I felt in my stomach when I overheard the gossip at school the next day. “Holy shit, did you hear Shelly’s dating William?” “No way. She’s way out of his league.” “They’re a thing. For real.” *This is your fault, Mara. You let this happen, Mara. You’re just as bad as him.* It didn’t help that practically everyone, including my friends, were talking about it, and over the next few days, there was even more gossip about William. He was suddenly the most popular kid in his school. His parents suddenly went from strict to super cool, basically letting William do whatever he wanted. *This’ll blow over eventually. Try to forget about it, Mara.* Then I got a text from an unknown number. Hey. Future girl. I need another vision. Do it for free this time or I’ll wipe your mind. Obviously, I knew who it was, but I had no clue how he got my number. Who gave you my phone number? That’s not important. You doing it or not? …Fine. Facetime me. I did, and sure enough, William’s stupid smirk greeted me. “What do you want?”“Jeez. You can stop with the sass. Anyways, Shelly wants to use the phone. Check to see if it’ll work or not.” I sighed, grabbed a bandaid and pliers, and pulled. “Show me what happens when Shelly uses the phone.” *Shelly sticks a quarter into the slot, staring into space with empty eyes.* *The phone rings.* *“Hello? Are you looking for Amaryllis?”* *“Yes.”* *Shelly’s voice is flat, and void of emotion.* *“Oh, hello William! Unfortunately, I can only give one gift!”* *“I am not William.”“Ah, but you’re being controlled by him! That means you were instructed by him to do so! Sorry, but you can’t ask for gifts for other people! Goodbye!”* *She hangs up.* “It won’t work.” “Why?”“You only get one gift. That’s what Amaryllis said.”William sighed, looking frustrated, and hung up. My hand stung, but I had a knot in my stomach. I didn’t want to do any more favors for this douche, and I *needed* to know whether or not he was going to bother me again. I yanked out another nail. “Show me if William asks me for another favor.”*I’m sitting in my room, playing a game on my computer. My phone buzzes.* *Hey, Future Girl. I need another vision. I’m throwing a party at my house, and I’m worried one of my neighbors will call the cops to complain or something.* Alright. So he *was* going to bother me again. Maybe I could block his number? Actually, yeah, why don’t I just do that? I quickly found his number and blocked it. Then again, he could just track me down and ask me at home or school or something. And would he be mad enough to retaliate and mind control me? I wouldn’t put it past him, and the thought had already burrowed itself into my brain, like a tiny little worm, squirming around, screaming “YOU’RE GONNA DIE, MARA.” over and over and over again. I could just un-block it right now, but what if it was the solution to all my problems and I was ignoring it? I tried to ignore it. I tried to focus on my homework. I went over to Natasha’s and played video games with her, desperately trying to ignore my intrusive thoughts. I tried reminding myself that my hand felt like it was on fire, and if I pulled off the last of my nails on that hand, it would feel even worse. But I had to know what would happen if I left the number blocked. So I pulled my nail off, trying to ignore the fact that having five nail beds completely exposed, only hidden by a couple of bandages was an injury that would be hard to explain away if anyone asked, and the agony I was currently in. *You can’t scream right now. Your mom will check on you, and then she’ll think you’ve gone insane.* “...S-Show…show me what’ll happen if I-I…keep William’s number blocked.” *I’m walking home from school. William’s car pulls up beside me.* *“Hey! I told you I needed a favor! Why didn’t you respond!”* *“I uh, didn’t get it.”* *“Whatever. I’m here now, and I need a vision.”* So he was going to find me in person. Great. At least he didn’t immediately mind-control me. I didn’t really want to see him in person, so I left the number unblocked, and waited for the inevitable text. Which happened a day later, while I was making myself a snack, instead of playing on my computer like in my vision. Everything else played out the same though. I had to sacrifice another nail, which meant both of my hands hurt like hell. *Fantastic.* So I asked if the cops interrupted William’s party, and I saw a vision of a bunch of police cars outside William’s house. “Damn it! I’ve only got four sacrifices left!” “Huh?” “My curse, dumbass! I have to sacrifice body parts! I’ve only got four left to sacrifice!” “You only have four body parts left?” “SACRIFICEABLE ONES, YEAH! EVERY TIME I USE MY POWER I HAVE TO GIVE THAT STUPID GHOST BITCH SOMETHING MORE IMPORTANT! SHE STARTED WITH TAKING A FINGER OR A TOE, AND THEN SHE STARTED TAKING THINGS THAT ARE WAY MORE VITAL! SHE TOOK AN EAR AND ONE OF MY ARMS! SHE FUCKING SCAMMED ME, JUST LIKE ALL THE OTHER GIRLS IN THIS TOWN!” “Sounds like you should stop using your power, then.” He angrily hung up, and for a moment I was paranoid that he was going to use his power on me, then I was like “no, he’s too worried he’s gonna lose something vital, he just said so.” And then my paranoia got to me, and because I am a chronic overthinker, I impulsively ripped out another nail. I was not brainwashed in the vision I saw, but I was bleeding all over the kitchen counter, so I quickly cleaned it up, bandaged my hand, and told myself I was done using my power until all of my missing nails grew back. But then I did something stupid. William decided he was going to throw the party anyway, he just made it a lot less wild than he’d planned. And he invited a bunch of people from his and my school, including me. I should’ve said I couldn’t come. But I was invited to a party with a bunch of the most popular kids in both my school and his, and there are barely any parties thrown in town. Plus, it seemed like William couldn’t use his power without taking a huge risk, and I could probably spend the whole party avoiding him- he’d be busy hanging out with all the other people he invited, right? So I went to the party. I did one smart thing, I guess. Or maybe it was weird and paranoid. I put some bandages, and a pair of pliers in my purse before I left for the party, just in case William decided to ask for another favor. He didn’t. But I would need them. The party was going great for a while. I was hanging out with Louise, having a great time, and sure enough, William was so busy hanging out with other people, he barely even noticed I was there. Honestly, it was the coolest party I’d ever been to- until I heard a scream. One of Shelly’s old friends that she’d immediately dropped once she started dating William was holding a knife to a girl’s throat. Two more people with knives were standing beside him. “Where. Are. Shelly. And. William.” Everyone panicked. Some people tried to run, but most either froze up or hid somewhere. I hid behind a counter. I was close to the window. So close, I might have had the chance to run out of it, but I wasn’t sure. For once, I didn’t have to hide a pained scream when I pulled out one of my last three remaining nails. There was plenty of screaming covering mine up. “SOMEONE TELL ME WHERE WILLIAM AND SHELLY ARE!” “Show me what happens if I try to run.” *I dive over the counter, attempting to open the window.* *It jams as I try and open it. One of the kids with knives notices and grabs me.* *“TELL ME WHERE THEY ARE, OR I’M GONNA KILL HER TOO!”* *A knife is put to my throat. The girl they were holding hostage is on the ground, dead.* *Before anyone can say anything, the kid slashes the knife across my throat, and I immediately collapse to the floor.* I snapped out of the vision, still hidden behind the counter. The girl who’s being held hostage is still alive. “IF YOU GUYS DON’T TELL ME WHERE WILLIAM AND SHELLY ARE, I’M GOING TO KILL HER!” Nobody says anything. Just as he was about to cut her throat, I found my voice, knowing that everyone else won’t. “He-He’s upstairs!” I wasn’t sure if that was true. I have no clue where they are, but I don’t want this girl to die. He let the girl go. “You move, you die. That goes for all of you.” Two of them started heading up the staircase. “Tamara, stay by the front door. Kill anyone that tries to leave.” I saw William and Shelly hiding in a closet by the staircase. *I gave them the wrong location.* Which was both good and bad, because I didn’t want them to find and kill the two, (I may have hated William, but I didn’t want him *dead)* but I also didn’t want anyone to die when they found out that they weren’t upstairs. Maybe we could all ambush the one girl who was blocking the door and escape, or we could- One of the partygoer’s voices interrupted my train of thought. “Anything you wish, William.” Someone ran out of their hiding spot, and tried to tackle the two kids walking towards the staircase. Her eyes had that telltale glazed over look that I knew all too well by now. She managed to tackle the one, but the other one stabbed her before she could do anything else. William sent another person to try and fight them, but he spoke a bit too loudly, because they realized where he was, and rushed toward him. He started screaming at all of the people nearby. “JOIN ME, MY DEAR! PROTECT ME FROM THEM! KEEP ME ALIVE NO MATTER WHAT! TAKE AWAY THEIR KNIVES! FIGHT THEM AND-” *Wait, did the person by the door join in on the fight? She did.* I grabbed Louise’s hand. “We might have a chance to make a break for it. Just let me see.” The adrenaline coursing through my veins completely blocked the pain of ripping another nail out. “Show me what happens if we run.” *Louise and I run out the door, hand in hand, following the crowd of other kids who had the same idea as me.* *We run out the door, while the fight rages on in the house. Nobody stops us.* “Let’s go. Now!” We sprint out the door. It was fifty-seven degrees outside, and I’d left my coat behind, but I’d never been more relieved to feel the cold air stinging against my skin. Some people stood by the doorway, waiting for their friends to come out. Some drove away in their cars, or called the police on their phones. I was separated from Louise while she looked for her brother in the crowd outside. Most of them are halfway down the block by now, but I’ve frozen up in front of the house, which has gone completely silent. A group of people with glazed over eyes leave the house, carrying something. No, *someone.* A boy that I can barely recognize. He was missing both his arms, one of his legs, an eye, an ear, and a *mouth.* His mouth is gone. At first, I thought William was dead, but when the group passed by me, I saw his eye moving around to look at me. He was *still alive.* The ground rushed towards me, and everything went black. “Miss? Miss? Can you hear me? Miss?” I awoke to an EMT shaking my shoulder. My ears were ringing. She shined a light in my eye, then asked me to say the months of the year in reverse order. My head was pounding, and my mind felt foggy. I mixed practically all of them up. The lady walked me to an ambulance. “She may have a head injury. Take her to the emergency room.” The rest of that night was a blur, mostly due to the concussion I’d got when I collapsed, but I remember hearing someone say that four people were dead, and that William was missing. When I woke up the next morning, the doctor’s first question was about what happened to my hands. “Did you bruise all your nails when you fell into those rocks?” “I fell into rocks?” “You must’ve hurt your hands pretty badly, because most of your nail beds are exposed. They must’ve fallen off after you fainted, probably when Sonia was moving you to the ambulance, because when you got here they were all gone- minus this one, which is probably going to fall off too.” “What?” I looked at my last remaining nail. There was, indeed, a huge bruise underneath it. I learned that four people died that night. Two of those people were Shelly’s old friends. The third one had been arrested. Apparently they were furious that Shelly had completely abandoned them after years of friendship, and acted like a completely different person, and decided to get revenge. The other two dead were the girl that William had mind-controlled to tackle the ones looking for him, and a boy who the attackers mistook for William, since he looked similar. William and Shelly were missing, along with a couple of other partygoers. Not only that, but so were his parents, and a couple of his teachers, who weren’t even at the party. Suddenly, I remembered the last thing I’d saw before I passed out. *William, being carried away by all the people he brainwashed, missing so many limbs, but still alive.* I didn’t know whether or not it was real. A couple hours later, the doctors gave me the all clear to go home, telling me I’d still need to rest for a while. On the car ride home, my last remaining nail fell off. *I don’t know if this counts, since I didn’t pull it off, but I might as well try.* I whispered as quietly as I could so my parents didn’t hear. “Show me if William will ever be found.” *I’m in a locked room, that appears to be a basement.* *William is hooked up to an I.V. All his glossy eyed puppets are standing around his bed, brushing his hair, or adjusting his sheets, or just tidying the room.* *He is tied to the bed he’s on.* *He can’t say anything, because his mouth is gone, but tears are falling down his one remaining eye.* *I can read the look he’s giving me, even though he’s not actually looking at me, because this is just a vision. But I can tell what he’s thinking.* *He wants someone to kill him.* I spent a couple days just…processing everything that happened. My parents booked me an appointment with a therapist as soon as I got home, and they let me take time off of school for a little bit. My therapist recommended I take up journaling as a way to cope with things. I’ve kept most of it private, but I’m sharing this entry as a warning. If you’re going to mess with a supernatural force, make sure you understand it. Make sure you know what you’re getting into before you agree to something. If you find out where the pay phone is and decide to use it, please, please read this story before you do. Remember that every present, no matter how amazing it seems, is always surrounded with strings.