Cursed by Greed: A Thief's Tale

Shawqi, you're so stunned. Come on, let's get out of here before someone sees us. Shawqi, man, move! Shawqi, Shawqi, oh no, the man fainted. What should I do now? Should I run and leave him? The cemetery guard will catch us and hand us over to the police.

Oh God, the ground is filled with snakes, and I'm terrified of snakes. Let me try to pull him out of this tomb. This is Shawqi, 50 years old, and I'm a thief, but I don't steal from the living; I steal from the dead. Our latest job involved the tomb of a renowned magician.

We discovered by chance that he was buried with treasures. With my partner Ragab, we decided to rob him. I remember opening the tomb and seeing nothing but a strange creature looking like a cat with black fur and red eyes. When I saw it, I was paralyzed because it was a jinn.

The next thing I knew, I fainted. Since that day, my life has been miserable. I'm married with two children. My wife always urges me to quit this job, but how else will we live? After the incident, strange dreams haunted me—I was chained to a fiery bird, descending into hell while screaming.

The markings from the chains appeared on my arms even when I woke. One day, at home, I found my wife and children slaughtered, the house ransacked, and the gold bracelet gone. My friend told me the buyer backed out when he heard about my misfortune.

As days went by, this friend became wealthy, buying new cars and living luxuriously. I became suspicious and discovered that he had sold the bracelet. Angered, I resolved to confront him. The bracelet burned and couldn't be removed.

Upon visiting, my friend, now drunk, was startled to see me. I accused him of killing my family and stealing the bracelet, then killed him. As I fled, something lifted me into the sky, and I lost consciousness. When I awoke, I realized I was no longer human.

I was turned into a creature, bound by chains in a narrow, dark place. Perhaps a cave, but I was no longer human. I recorded everything on my phone before dying. A man named Ammar from Sinai found the cave, which emitted horrible screams and reeked of decay.

Inside, he discovered an outstretched hand—a creature's hand—wearing the gold bracelet, and a phone full of recordings revealing my tale. Ammar, wearing the bracelet, began experiencing nightmares similar to mine. Was he doomed to end like me?