The Artefact Obsession

I moved into a new apartment with my roommate, James, weeks ago. James was a design student, so he was decorating the place. He had an obsession with ancient artefacts, which was why he was broke half the time. It all started last week when we were on our way back from having dinner at a restaurant. We passed by this tiny antique store that we had never seen before. The place had to have been there for ages. James, with the obsession, got excited and dragged me into the store. Inside the stores were rows and rows of old books and rare artefacts. Our eyes were drawn towards a dusty statue on the top of a shelf. My eyes couldn’t resist, I picked up the statue. Turning it over in my hand before placing it back on the shelf. I couldn't explain it, but it gave me the creeps. The whole store was giving off bad vibes. I looked around some more before deciding not to buy anything. James, on the other hand, grabbed that statue. He paid, and we left. He put it on the TV stand next to the TV in the apartment.

I didn't say anything because it was his place, too, after all. Days go by, and every time I pass the statue, it feels like it's staring at me. I couldn't take it and told James to keep it in his room instead. He did as I asked. The next day, I did my usual morning routine. While having breakfast, James is there staring into space. I tried to snap him out of it, but his mind was elsewhere. I didn't know what he was looking at, but it captivated him completely. I followed his line of sight, and he was looking at his room. Confused, I peek into his room to see if something was in there. I then realized that he was staring at the statue. At this moment, he snapped out of his state and came over to ask me what I was doing. He got upset that I peeked into his room without permission. I just apologized, and we moved on. Time passed again, and James attitude was getting worse. He would get angry at the most minor of things. For example, I had left a plate on the counter for a second to do my laundry. He was there when I came back, fuming for not doing the dishes.

Eventually, I got fed up, and we argued. This wasn't the only time either, and these arguments kept escalating every time from the pettiest things. James never behaved or acted this way before the statue came along. I had some suspicions whether that statue was possessed by something. My grandparents told me all sorts of stories like this that were passed down to them. Stories about artefacts being possessed by an evil spirit to take over their body. The problem was if it was what should and could I do. I don't really know of a way to exorcise spirits.

I was at my wit's end, and I couldn't take it anymore. I started to get paranoid that James was out to hurt me because he was getting more and more aggressive. I didn't know what to do, so I decided to get rid of the statue. I had a plan to do this in the middle of the night when he's asleep. I wanted to throw it into a lake down the road from our apartment building. The plan was executed the next night but when I got there, it was raining. The waves on the surface of the lake were trashing around from the strong winds and rain. I threw the statue while praying that it would fix my roommate.

The next day, I woke up and there was James sitting on the couch with a cup of coffee in his hand. He looked at me and said, "What's up man? It feels like a good day today." I couldn't believe it. The statue dumping had worked. I asked him how he was feeling and he said he felt fine. I told him about what happened during the night and he didn't believe me. He thought I was making it up for some reason. He was upset that I threw his statue away but let it go since I offered to pay for it. We went to class together that day, but when we got back to our room, James started to feel sick. He then left to go see a doctor while I stayed to get some work done.

All of a sudden, I felt that same creepy feeling from before coming from the living room. I went to check it out and nearly lost it. The statue was back but this time it looked different. It originally was a bronze colour. Now it turned a dark red. I panicked and hid in my room. I went online to see if I could find help or at least a way to stop it haunting us. I found an article from years ago. It spoke about what to do with an evil artefact. I was shocked at what I read. It said to burn the statue. I thought this was crazy. How could burning it be a solution? Then I noticed how it said to burn the statue in a special place. It had to be burned in front of where it was originally found. Just then, a nurse called me and told me that I was listed as an emergency number for James. He was in the hospital. He was experiencing difficulty breathing and had to be put in ICU.

I knew this was the statue trying to take over. I put down the phone and went to the kitchen to find some matches with some oil. As soon as I found it, I grabbed them and the statue. Back to the store we got it from and burning the statue was the new plan. On the way, there the sky turned cloudy and it felt like a storm was coming. It was very dark and cold. I didn't think much of it at the time. When I got to the location of the store, it was gone as if it had never been there before. With no time to think about that while James's life was in my hands, I threw the statue to the ground and poured the oil all over it. I started lighting the match but the wind was getting too strong. I covered the match with my hand and it finally lit. I set the statue on fire and took a few steps back.

As it turned to ashes, the red colour from the statue seeped to the ground. From where I stood, I could make out it was blood. Eventually, the fire died down and the statue was gone. I called back the nurse from before to ask about James. She answered saying that his condition had improved and he would be fine now. I was relieved. I have no idea to this day what was that store and why it sold us that evil statue. All I know is that James and I will probably never go near an artefact like this again.