Valentine’s Day had always been just another date on the calendar for me. Love, flowers, and romantic dinners were concepts that seemed foreign, and my girlfriend, Amelia, was growing tired of my indifference. Little did I know that forgetting this particular Valentine’s Day would set off a chain of events that would plunge me into a nightmare I could never have imagined.
As the evening unfolded, I was blissfully unaware of the importance of the day. I returned home to find Amelia sitting in the dimly lit living room, disappointment etched across her face. Roses adorned the table, and a flickering candle fought to illuminate the strained atmosphere.
“Really, Mark? You forgot, again?” Amelia’s voice was a mix of hurt and frustration.
I stammered, “Oh, is it Valentine’s Day already? I must’ve lost track of time. Sorry, babe.”
She sighed, a deep and exasperated sigh, as she shook her head. “This can’t go on, Mark. I’ve had enough. Maybe you need a little reminder of what it’s like to feel something.”
With those ominous words, she stood up abruptly and left the room. I thought nothing of it, dismissing her reaction as an overreaction to a simple forgetfulness. Little did I know, she was already plotting my descent into a living nightmare.
Days passed, and an eerie stillness enveloped my life. Amelia grew distant, and any attempt at affection from my end was met with coldness. As I lay in bed one night, I was suddenly overcome with a profound sense of emptiness. The love I once felt for Amelia, the warmth that enveloped our relationship, seemed to have evaporated into the ether.
I confronted Amelia, desperate for answers, but she simply looked at me with an unsettling gaze. “You wanted a reminder, didn’t you? Well, now you’ll never feel love again.”
A chill ran down my spine as the weight of her words settled in my chest. She explained she had hexed me, cursed me to not feel love. Sleepless nights turned into lonely days, and the once vibrant colors of life turned monochrome. It felt like a piece of my soul had been ripped away, leaving behind a desolate void.
A week passed and I was a living corpse when Amelia came to me with regret in her eyes. She said she wanted to make things right and give us another chance.
I agreed and she started lighting some candles while she produced a doll that looked so much like me but with a hole in its chest.
She sang a song about a broken heart and love lost and with every passing second I felt my soul filling up, but instead of love it was dread. I screamed for her to stop when a stabbing pain went through my heart and she looked at me with panic and tears in her eyes.
“It’s not working Mark” she said. “I can’t fix you”. She pulled me close and cried on my shoulder but I was unable to feel a thing.
We decided not to give up and started researching every website about the occult for answers. It was after one long day that I was able to find a person that claimed to be able to break any curse.
After a few messages back and forth and only when she was sure I was seeking her for the right reasons she gave me her address and I hurried over.
What I saw was not what I expected, the address took me to a nice cottage at the end of the town surrounded by flowers and bathed in the sunlight.
A girl about my age with fiery red hair invited me to come inside and with nothing to lose I followed her. I explained the situation and the details of the curse and she listened intently.
After some thinking she rose from her chair and produced a vial for me. “You and Amelia have to drink this during next Valentine’s day if you wish to break the curse” she said. I felt disappointment for having to wait so long but she explained it was the only way and that not sticking to her instructions would have terrible consequences.
I drove home determined to escape this nightmare but as the months went by I felt emptier and on number of occasions Amelia had to stop me from harming myself to stop this torture. We were desperate and as January rolled in Amelia begged me to drink the potion “What could be worse than this?” she cried to me and so we did.
As the potion took effect, I felt a surge of warmth coursing through my veins. The numbness that had gripped my heart began to thaw, and the world regained its colours. A sense of relief washed over me, and I couldn’t help but believe that the nightmare was finally coming to an end.
Days turned into weeks, and my relationship with Amelia slowly began to mend. Love blossomed anew, and I basked in the warmth of emotions I had once thought lost. But as the months passed, a lingering unease settled in the depths of my mind.
I blamed trauma for my feelings but then fragments of memories started slipping through my fingers. Little details about my life were different than I recalled, places lost their significance, and the once vivid tapestry of my life began to unravel.
It was one specific incident though that pushed me to seek guidance from medical professionals. It was our anniversary and we were taking a nice stroll through the park when I suddenly looked to Amelia and started screaming because I was holding the hand of a stranger. I almost attached her but looking into her eyes and seeing the fear she felt brought me to my senses. “ What is wrong with me?” I asked her while we cried together.
The doctors did a number of tests and I spent days at the hospital. The diagnosis was crushing.
Early onset dementia.
I sat in the sterile office, the doctor’s words a distant murmur as they explained insignificant facts to me about being in the 5% of the population that was affected and how it was just bad luck. But I knew better.
I tried to find the girl again but the cottage had disappeared leaving only a black mark where it once stood.
In the end, as the memories continued to slip away like grains of sand in an hourglass, I realised that our price to pay for not heading the warning was too much to bare.
For me it was feeling love again but not being able to retain it and for Amelia to lose me in the void of oblivion.