Divine Punishment 3: Karma

Julia watched with horrified fascination as the flesh slowly turned a rotting black and then started to recede, as if something were eating it from within. Some of it fell in gooey lumps, taking the suddenly unsupported bones with them. She remembered an old episode of CSI: Las Vegas in which the team had found a liquefied corpse. So that’s how it happens. Except, the owner of the rotting hand was still very much alive, and every bit as terrified as one might expect. It was the second time she watched the video, and she had muted it; there was no need to subject herself to the screaming again - the man was barely coherent, and his girlfriend wasn’t much better. A concerned citizen had filmed the whole thing, making ample use of his no doubt expensive iPhone zoom function, and then had sold it to a shady website. The accompanying article claimed that no other news outlet had had the courage to buy it and accused the mainstream media of suppression, just like they were suppressing information about alien encounters. Julia’s theory was quite different; she believed that the video had ended up at that website because the people who had made it knew that the more reputable news outlets would’ve verified the video’s authenticity. Still, she was impressed with how realistic it looked. AI has really improved. She had never seen a hand rot in real time, but that was probably what it would look like. According to anonymous eye witnesses, the Italian couple had ignored a one-handed homeless man asking for change, and shortly after the husband had been punished. That he had been the only one to suffer made sense - someone involved in this operation had likely realised that the two of them losing a hand would’ve looked ridiculous.

She went through the other evidence. No one had agreed to an interview, but she’d found plenty of posts describing ‘punishments’, and many Before and After photos. Whoever was doing this clearly had professional-level photoshopping skills because they looked as good as the video. The milky white blind eyes were probably not much of a challenge, but the former fat boy couldn’t have been easy. He wasn’t just thin - he reminded her of one of those old photos of concentration camp prisoners. It could’ve ended up looking very fake, but instead, the bones nearly bursting out of the ever thinner layer of muscle and skin covering them had made her nauseous. The fat girl was good, too. The Before photo showed a thin, smiling, light-skinned black girl in her early twenties posing as if she were on a magazine cover. The After photo didn’t just show a fuller version of the same girl - she was grossly obese, and looked like she hadn’t moved in a very long time. Her eyes stood out by their sadness and for the second time, Julia had to remind herself that it was all lies. The girl is just a very good actor. Clearly BAFTA material. The photos had been posted by her mother who begged people not to share them for the sake of her daughter. She also posted a list of all the health issues she was suffering from. After reading it, Julia figured it was only a matter of time before the girl died. The skinny boy, too. She knew there were very naive people who would believe this and that made her angry. Maybe they’ll do a crowdfunding for the funerals. She had started investigating the story in the hopes that it would help her find a better job worthy of her journalistic talent, but now she felt it was her duty to expose these scammers. They loved Karma so much? Well, she’d give them all the Karma they deserved. ‘Karma Scammers’ was a good name for them, but maybe she should add a small section about the concept. If she’d been writing for Dan, she wouldn’t have bothered - he didn’t like coddling readers - but this story wouldn’t be for him. While she knew what it was, the last thing she needed was to be accused of being cultural insensitive, so she decided to find a credible book on the subject written by an actual Buddhist. Sure, she could’ve just googled it, but she felt it would look better if she quoted from a book.

———————————————

‘Some people really don’t know when to stop.’

Startled, Julia looked up from the tablet where she’d been reordering all the photos from the Karma Scammers to see Zoe standing right behind her chair. The photo on the screen was one of the formerly fat boy and Zoe’s big green eyes became even bigger as she noticed it was a child rather than a weight-obsessed adult woman.

‘Good God, is it one of those vegan parents who refuse to give real milk and meat to their kids?’

‘I don’t know. I don’t even think it’s real. Just something someone sent my mother on Facebook.’

‘Oh, it’s probably a scam.’ With that, Zoe bounced off to another desk and Julia let out a sigh of relief.

It had been stupid to look at the photos in the newsroom, but she hadn’t expected anyone to notice. Yes, she had come up with an excuse in advance in case anyone asked anything, but she didn’t think she’d need it. Thankfully it had been Zoe, the bubbly blonde in charge of the Women’s Issues section; Julia was sure she’d forget all about it as soon as the next polemic involving J K Rowling hit social media. Meanwhile, she needed to find something else to write for her current boss while she worked on the real story and that book about Karma. She started with the latter and found several possibilities, one of which seemed particularly promising in more ways than one. It was from a small occult-themed bookshop located in a formerly somewhat nice neighbourhood that had been in decline for years. This meant that she could get both her book and a story. She had always found Occultism a joke at best and a total scam at worse, so maybe she could get more than one story out of this. Google Maps told her the shop was right at the edge of the neighbourhood, so she should be safe.

———————————————

Julia looked at the sign. The Bog Witch. It reminded her of those tavern signs you saw in historical movies. In the beginning, its aged look had probably been cute - now, surrounded by other closed shops and bricked up buildings, it only made the bookshop look old and abandoned. The window showed all the things she’d expected: candles, incense, books about fortune telling, witchcraft, and guardian angels. The inside was a little too dark for her liking, and she hesitated. That end of the street was mostly deserted, though she could see and hear a group of children playing in the street farther ahead, accompanied by a loud radio and equally loud adults, while a couple of people walked on the pavement across the street. One was walking deeper into the neighbourhood and the other in the opposite direction, and she doubted either of them had noticed her. Suddenly, the bookshop didn’t look so safe anymore. Feeling utterly ridiculous, Julia sent an e-mail to herself with her current location. Well, if I disappear and the police bother to check the e-mail for clues, they’ll know where to find the body. Taking a deep breath, she opened the door, stepped into the shop… and nearly jumped out of her own skin when a male voice greeted her.

‘Hello. May I help you?’

She turned and saw a tall, lean, pasty-looking young man with shoulder-length brown hair who had been arranging books on a display table. Her fears were forgotten the moment she noticed the author’s name - Paulo Coelho. She frowned. His books had been highly recommended by people she’d expected to have known better and so she’d had the misfortune of reading a few of them. One had been the much praised The Alchemist, which had come across as a children’s book. A very dumb children’s book. In her opinion, the great esoteric Brazilian writer was nothing but a joke, so of course he’d get a whole table for his crappy books at a sketchy occult-themed bookshop.

‘Well, I guess you’re not interested in Paulo Coelho books, but maybe something else?’

‘Oh, yes, thank you. I’m looking for a good book on Karma.’

‘Okay.’ He sounded amused.

Julia waited while he went to get the books. She looked around and saw a man at the door, staring at her through the glass. He wasn’t very tall, but he looked strong, and his stare had the intensity of a fanatic. He also looked vaguely familiar, but she had no idea where she could’ve seen him before. Suddenly, the fear returned and she wondered if the man outside was working with the one inside, waiting for a lone woman to enter the shop. She fumbled inside her bag for her phone to take a photo. More evidence for the murder trial. Before she did, though, the tall young man came back. When he saw the man outside, he just rolled his eyes.

‘Oh, great, him again.’

‘Who is he?’

‘Some idiot who disapproves of all this heathen stuff. Don’t worry, he can’t get in.’

‘Why? Is there a restraining order?’

‘The Bog Witch is protected.’

‘By…?’

‘The charm above the door.’

Julia looked up and saw a symbol carved on the wall. She could’ve said something sarcastic, but she decided it was wiser to just get the book and get the hell out of there. So, she examined what the young man had brought her. Two of the books had that glossy New Age look, but the the third one seemed like what she’d been looking for.

‘I’ll take this one.’

‘Good choice.’

‘Would you have said the same if I had picked one of the others?’

‘Maybe. You know, Karma doesn’t work like most people think. It’s not instantaneous. It only takes effect in the next life, so you have plenty of time to stack up some good Karma points.’

‘What makes you think I’m worried about my Karma?’

‘You’re Julia Moran, right? The journalist who got fired over a tweet? I didn’t think it was that bad, so maybe you don’t need to worry about your Karma.’

‘Oh, thank you. Anyway, this isn’t about me. I just… noticed some things.’

‘You did?’ he sounded genuinely curious.

‘You’ll read all about it when it’s published.’

She looked at the door and saw that the other man had retreated across the street.

‘It’s the charm. It repels him and other unfriendly folk. You can leave safely.’

‘Oh, thank you.’

———————————————

‘Hey, Julia.’

She finished typing the first paragraph of her article about the declining neighbourhood and looked up at Jin. He was blushing slightly and she knew there was only one possible reason for it.

‘Yes?’

‘It’s Zoe. I brought her order and I got other stuff to do, but I can’t leave until she checks it to see if everything is alright.’

Actually, he could, but then he wouldn’t get to see her. If she hadn’t been so busy, Julia might’ve teased him about his treasonous crush, but instead she just asked him what he wanted her to do.

‘Gary said she was in the bathroom. Could you go call her, please?’

‘Sure.’

Julia felt stupid to interrupt whatever Zoe was doing - probably talking on the phone or scrolling through Twitter - just so Jin could see his crush, especially since Zoe had already told her he was definitely not her type. Whether it was because he was younger, Asian, or Left-wing, she didn’t know and had decided it was better not to ask. Some people wondered if Zoe and Dan had a thing, but Julia was fairly certain Dan was gay, so she doubted that very much. She knocked on the bathroom door before turning the handle.

‘Zoe, are you in here? Jin just came back with your…’

Julia froze - what she saw on the other side of the door was not what she had been expecting. Zoe was on all fours, crying, her hands frantically covering the floor around her.

‘My phone, my phone, I can’t find my phone!’

Julia looked and saw Zoe’s pink iPhone lying face down just inches away from her right hand. How could her sobbing coworker possibly not see it? She picked it up and held it out to Zoe.

‘Here.’

‘Julia? Is that you? Oh, thank God someone came, I didn’t know what to do! Keira called and I tried to guess where to click, but I got it wrong. I just… Oh, Julia, I’m so scared!’

‘Zoe?’

Zoe finally looked at her.

‘Please, help me!’

Julia couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Zoe’s eyes, which had looked perfectly normal just half an hour ago, had turned white, the same milky white she had seen on several of the Facebook photos from Marla Jones’s group. It can’t be. It just can’t be. It’s impossible. Except, Zoe wasn’t a photo of a stranger that might not even exist - Zoe was someone she knew, who was right there in front of her, and wasn’t faking it.