Story 1048: Thirteen Teeth

They say the legend of Thirteen Teeth started with a whisper in the plague winds—a story too cursed to be spoken aloud, passed from dying lips to curious ears in crumbling towns. It was never just a tale. It was a warning.

And Kara, scavenger and seeker, ignored it.

In the heart of a rotted coastal city swallowed by salt and silence, Kara hunted relics. Bone charms. Rusted rings. Whisper-glass. She sold them to desperate survivors and cultists alike.

But when she found the box—chained, bleeding, and still breathing—she thought it was gold.

Inside, nestled in velvet that pulsed like a living lung, were thirteen human teeth.

Each was carved with symbols not meant for mortal eyes. Each radiated heat. And at the very center sat one jagged tooth, black as tar and humming with a voice Kara couldn't un-hear.

“Take me.”

She did.

That night, the fever started.