1. Eric finds the ring
Darrone had stricken a deal with the devil himself. In exchange for his immortal soul he received a ring forged in the fires of hell. It gave Darrone supernatural power over the minds and bodies of mortals and animals. But Darrone was stupid. He used his power cruelly over the people of the small village in which he lived and his powers became well known. In his carelessness, a man whose wife he had taken and abused for his personal pleasure attacked him in his sleep, killing him and severing his head and hands with an axe. Darrone's detached parts were buried in a locked box and the rest of his body was burned at the stake. The church elders ordered that there would never be any mention of his deeds in the records of the day.
The Devil took ownership of Darrone's soul as agreed to. He left the ring on Earth to see what other mischief he might cause. After several centuries, he mostly forgot it even existed. Meanwhile the world of humans became larger and more complex. With only a little effort, it was now much easier to remain undiscovered. The next owner was a lot smarter than Darrone and had never made any such deal with the Devil. In fact, the Devil was so busy raising hell in so many other parts of the world he didn't even notice the ring was now back in circulation.
* * *
Every fall for over a decade Eric had gone back to rural Massachusetts to help his Grandfather. Advancing emphysema had made it impossible for Gramps to keep up the family farm anymore. The arable land had all been rented out, but Eric's grandparents still lived in the old house. Eric loved visiting them and they always appreciated the help.
This year Eric was tearing down an old stone wall and stacking up the rocks for use in paving a walkway to the garden. At one end the stone wall joined a hill and formed a reinforcing embankment. While pulling apart this part of the wall Eric came across a rotten chunk of wood with a corroded brass handle attached to it. As he pulled on the handle it ripped clean off the wood. Using a shovel he found that the wood was a part of an old box or chest of some sort that was so badly deteriorated that he had to completely uncover it before lifting it from its resting place. The simple chest had no markings and its lid was held shut with a rusty blob that probably used to be a lock. Eric carefully carried the chest to the workshop to investigate. Once on the bench, Eric could see that the lock was hopelessly corroded. But the wood was so rotten that it only took a few moments with a screwdriver to tear off one of the boards forming the lid. Two quick yanks and he had pulled the rest of the lid apart revealing the contents.
Inside Eric found the crumbling remains of a skull. It startled him and he stepped back a bit. As he recovered from that, he peered down at the gray remains. They were so old that he had to be very careful as he lifted them out onto the bench top. The jaw had separated, and the back of the skull appeared to have been badly crushed before interment. Looking inside the box he could see the scattered teeth and what appeared to be the phalanges, carpals, and portions of the arm bones of hands that had been buried with the head. Eric guessed that whoever it was had been killed with a blow to the back of the head. Then the head and hands had been chopped from the body and buried in this box.
A glint caught his eye and Eric picked up a simple gold ring from among the bones in the box. Wondering how big the dead man had been, he tried the band on his left ring finger. It slipped on easily, fitting him well. Eric looked at his hands, reflecting on the fact that gold never tarnishes. Having never married, he felt slightly uncomfortable with it there. But when he tried to take it off, it refused to budge. Several tugs later he shrugged and stopped trying. He figured it would slide off when he washed up for dinner. He carefully replaced the bones in the box and returned to his project. He had a lot of work to do and only three more days before he flew back home. He intended to tell his grandfather about his find that evening.
Eric worked hard the rest of the afternoon. He didn't seem to get tired and actually got a lot of work done before his grandmother called him in for dinner. She was such an excellent cook. His grandfather couldn't come down for dinner that night because he was too sick. Eric felt sad for the old gentleman. A lifetime of working the farm had left him old and weak. The doctors gave him only a few months left. As Eric went to bed that night he could hear his grandfather pitch a fearsome coughing fit. It made Eric wish his grandfather could get well. As he made the wish he noticed the ring became warm on his finger. He idly fiddled with it, trying once again to get it off.
When Eric woke up the next morning, it didn't occur to him that he still was wearing the ring. He washed and dressed and came down stairs to find his grandfather in the kitchen enjoying a huge breakfast.
He smiled broadly at Eric, "Good mornin' Son. I feel great! Are you needing any help out there?"
"Uh, no Grandpa. You really shouldn't be exerting yourself."
"Oh nonsense, I'm fine. Nora, you must be the best cook in the world. These eggs are great." He gave his wife a shameless squeeze on the butt as she came near. She blushed.
The old fart out ate Eric that morning. His wife refused to let him help with the work Eric was doing, though. Later while Eric was outside working, the hospice nurse showed up to check on Grandpa's sudden upturn in strength. As she was leaving, Eric called to her to inquire. Introducing her self as Mary, she explained how sometimes terminally ill patients discovered a second wind near their end. Although she had never seen one quite like this, she was quite sure it was temporary.
While she talked, Eric admired her white uniform, her long legs, and her curly black hair drawn back into a neat bun. She began to feel warm and flush under his gaze. She shifted her weight about and squirmed slightly. Mary became distracted and lost her train of thought several times. This did not go unnoticed by Eric. His normal male thought patterns surfaced and he wished he could see her more, and more of her. He changed the topic by asking if he could see her for dinner that evening. To her own great surprise, she agreed immediately. Each of his suggestions were answered with an enthusiastic yes. She became uncomfortable with her reactions to Eric's requests. She excused herself lamely, saying she had other appointments to keep that day. As she walked toward her car, Eric formed a lewd fantasy of her, undressing her with his eyes. Her normal walk degenerated into a sensual promenade with overdone hip swings. As she bent over to get into her car, Eric fantasized a quick thrust into her from behind; unaware of the power the ring had given him. Mary let out a yelp and collapsed into her car seat, gripping the wheel tightly.
Eric felt the warmth on his left hand again. As he turned his attention to the ring, Mary regained her composure. She started the car and left. As he watched her drive away, Eric found himself wishing that his date would turn out to be seriously horny for him tonight. He hadn't gotten laid for several months and could use a good fuck.
