Greed is an all consuming force. I don't know whether this actually turned out scary, but I tried, right? That's what matters lol. This was a story one of my older Sister's friends told me when I was younger and it scared the shit out of me and gave me nightmares. So maybe read ahead before listening if you also have an overactive imagination? I hope people enjoy the spoop! ~Audio Transcript Below~ The Story of the Green Jade Ring Greed, is an all consuming force. Once it has it’s teeth within you, it can be almost impossible to wrench yourself free. It is infinitely easier to succumb to it’s wiles than survive the repercussions, so I will tell you this tale, in hopes that you will listen, in the hopes that you will not fall, in the hopes…..that you will not perish. Our story begins with an older gentleman. His name matters not. Over the course of this life, this man had amassed an extreme amount of wealth, to the point of excess. He could spend amounts that some could hardly dream of, and it was mere pocket change to him. Life in comfort was a given to him, a man who would never outlive his means. This man, this….gentleman, of course had many servants over the span of his long life, but there was none who worked harder, who was more loyal, than his own personal butler, who’s name…..also matters not. We shall call him, ‘The Butler’, because in the end…..that’s all his life long work, time and devotion had wrought. A butler. Ever the kind, ever the loyal, no matter how the abuse, not matter the vitriol spat at him by the aging gentleman. The Butler performed with the highest skill, and grace. Why? Why did the Butler put up with everything that the old gentleman said, everything he did? Everything that spat in the face of the sheer loyalty that the Butler had shown? Merely that. He was loyal, to a fault. The old man, the gentleman….was dying…...mind slowly drawn in….slowly decaying into a madness and a paranoia that eventually led to his own demise. Why, you may ask, if the Butler was so loyal, did he do nothing about this? Oh but he did. He tried everything to keep the old man sane, to keep him from slowly but surely rotting away. But the gentleman wouldn’t have it. He wouldn’t have any of it. And so…..through no fault of the Butler, the old man perished. Secluded to his quarters, locked away…..Alone…...a prison….and a grave of his own making. *pause* Did you think that was it? Did you think that this story was about the old gentleman? Well….no….not really. Of course….the old gentleman was cruel to a fault, but….well….you shall see…. The gentleman was buried, the funeral held, with barely any in attendance, considering in his final years, the gentleman had made more enemies than maintained friends. Not many were broken to see him gone. But the Butler. He was fond of the man, despite his shortcomings. It came from a long time of really truly knowing the man…..and perhaps a bit of blindness. Blind Loyalty…..something of the sort. The gentleman was buried rather plainly considering his lavish lifestyle…...there was however, something buried with him. A piece of jewelry that the old gentleman hardly ever removed. Some might have gone to say it was his most prized possession. A single, green jade ring. *pause* The reading of the Will finally came. Again, there were not many in attendance, but one butler, the Butler, was resolutely there. Names came and went. Children and families and business partners that were still miraculously on good terms were gifted trinkets, small sums of money that were nothing in comparison to the massive fortune the man possessed. Then, the Butler. *pause* Nothing. *pause* The Butler was given…..nothing. After his years…..no….a lifetime of loyal service…...he was given nothing. It’s not as if he expected the entire estate or something equally ridiculous. It’s not as if he were expecting the world….. But nothing? The reading of the rest of the will--and the fact that the estate was left to no one as well--was lost to the Butler. Nothing. Nothing….. Nothing…… Not even a thank you for his years of service. His entire life. Worth...nothing. *pause* The Butler….saw red…. *pause* No…...green…. Jade Green. *pause* He waited….and waited…...and waited….. Then finally….. Alone at last….at the estate…..no families, no children, no lawyers…..Just the Butler…...and his plan. Every shred of loyalty, ever moment of time, every word shrieked and dripping with venom rang through his head as the Butler executed his plan. He need not even play it out in the dead of night. Everyone else had gotten what they wanted from the old gentleman...no….the old bastard…..that there was no need for the Butler to hide what he was about to do. The old bastard had taken years, decades from his life….his entire identity….his existence…...so…..it was only fair…..if the Butler took the only thing that mattered to the old man….. His most prized possession. The green Jade ring. Upon uncovering the coffin and ripping it open, revealing the decomposing corpse of the old man, the Butler could hardly refrain from spitting in sheer disgust. Not of the rotting flesh no, but at the dead man to whom it belonged. Gray, dilapidated, decaying, everything about the old man was thus. Except for one thing. It shone like a beacon in the sun. The green Jade ring. Without fanfare, without regret, without a tinge of remorse, the Butler wrenched the ring from the old man’s bony finger, uncaring whether he harmed the corpse due to his haste and distaste. He slipped it over his own finger…..the same one that the old man wore it on, and with little care, buried the body again. He did not care about replacing everything as it was. He had gotten what he wanted from the old bastard, and there would be no suspecting the Butler….. After all…..he was loyal to a fault…. *pause* Out of some sort of sense of retribution, the Butler slept in the old man’s room that night. In the very same bed where the old man met his demise. Of course, the sheets had been removed, washed, replaced, so it mattered not to the Butler, who had never slept on a bed so large, on a mattress so soft. Curious however, with a bed so comfortable, that he found himself blinking awake after the stroke of midnight. For a few moments, he was disoriented, but waved it off and closed his eyes, intent on going back to sleep. However, just as he was about to slip into blessed unconsciousness, the Butler thought he heard something that caused his eyes to snap open. I want my green Jade ring. The Butler froze…...swallowed once, blinked a few times in the darkness, but no other sound came. He must be dreaming, he must be tired, he must be hearing things. It must be his conscious. Thoughts like this ran through the Butler’s head. For a few long minutes there was no other perceived sound, so the Butler settled down in the large, comfortable bed, and attempted to go back to sleep. Yet, just as before, right as he was on the cusp of sleep, the Butler heard, louder this time, almost as if it were closer…. I want my green Jade ring! Again, the Butler’s eyes snapped open, and he sat suddenly, looking around him. Strange however, that with his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he saw nothing…. No, no….that wasn’t strange! Perfectly normal! He was hearing things, definitely hearing things. There was nothing else in this house with him, and there was no reason he should think otherwise. It was simply his conscience, yes….that’s it. Guilt he’ll have to push down, deep within him. The old man was a bastard The Butler resolutely settled back down within the bed, pulling the covers up to his chin and deciding that he wasn’t going to rise to the bait of his conscious anymore….. He should have…. Once more, on the cusp of sleep, he heard again-- I want my green Jade ring! Once more it was louder than before…..as if something were approaching the room…...but…..there was something accompanying the voice…… Something that sounded like…..footsteps? Thump, thump…...and some sort of….dragging noise?? No! No! It was just his imagination, he was dreaming, he was dreaming! Outside the door now. Something scraping against the wood. I WANT MY GREEN JADE RING! The Butler threw the covers over his head. Dreaming! He. Was. Dreaming!!! Thump, Thump, draaaaaaaaaggggg~ Like someone approaching…… Louder and louder still…. I WANT MY GREEN JADE RING!! DREAMING!!! The dipping of a weight on the bed……. DREAMING!!! DREAMING!!!!! Then, loud enough, as if someone were screaming in his ear-- I WANT MY GREEN JADE RING!!!! The sheets over the Butler are thrown back, and there, mere inches from his face…...straddled over his prone body…...was the old gentleman…… Rotted and decomposing just as the Butler had left him in his grave. The Butler couldn’t move, he could not speak. All he could do was stare into the half empty rotting eye sockets of the corpse before him. He couldn’t look away…..he couldn’t do anything! I WANT MY GREEN JADE RING!!! Broken bony hands reached for the Butler’s neck, frigid as ice as they wrapped around and squeezed with strength that a corpse could not….should not have. The Butler still couldn’t move…..he couldn’t fight, he still could do nothing! He was at the old gentleman’s mercy…..all he could do was look at the corpses face as it squeezed the breath….the very life out of him……. He couldn’t even scream…… The only thing ringing in his ears, in his very mind was…….. I WANT MY GREEN JADE RING!!!