Cursed: Chapter 1

I remember how it all started. All the sights, smells, and sounds are still fresh in my mind. Almost as if it was yesterday...

I remember I had just gotten the results for my Physics test, and despite working hard to understand what had been taught that year, I still found myself struggling to grasp the latest formulas and concepts. I kept mixing them up, frustrating myself, and overworking my brain to understand everything before it hurt my perfect straight A grades. Nothing clicked though, and when my wonderful teacher Ms. Thorn noticed how much I was struggling and offered to help, it seemed like a gift from the universe to me.

After just a few days, I began to grasp the concepts so I could plug in the numbers where I needed to, and be able to understand why I needed to do just that. It was...amazing. The results from my Physics test just proved how well it all worked out. Ms. Thorn was a wonderful teacher, and someone I thought I could trust completely. I wanted to say 'thank you' in private, completely from the bottom of my heart, because without her I would've failed my test. Without her, my grade would've dropped to a B. Without her, my life would've been different just because I feared not being perfect. I know now that she helped me a great deal more than I could've known back then. She helped me move forward in my life...

I remember walking towards the doors to her classroom right after the bell rang, laughing with my friends on the way there. I was so full of joy because I was able to conquer this obstacle, even if it was just a test. Everything felt like it was falling into place, and nothing could stand in my way.

I can remember it all as if I'm living it right now...

“I'll meet you all later,” I say while juggling my books into my backpack and pulling out my test. “I just need to talk to Ms. Thorn for a little bit.”

“Have fun!” Sammy says with a quick wave. “Oh wait! Are you and Carter comin' out with us all tonight? It sooooo won't be a party without you two!”

I grin, winking at her playfully, “Of COURSE we'll be there! I just have to find him and like let him know. I'll text ya later, though!”

“Sounds grrrreeeeaaaaat!” Sammy chirps out with her high pitched voice, raising it just a bit higher just as her latest crush walks by.

Sammy is fun, and interesting. She isn't really...deep though, and when I would talk on the phone to her or Steph, I'd realize that we aren't really talking to each other at all. It can be like talking to a brick wall when I talk to them. A brick wall that makes us only concerned about ourselves. It can be strangely nice though, because it takes away the meaning of words. It never stops, nor has stopped me, from continuing our friendships though, because it was nice...and it was what I knew.

I remember distinctly the smallest things from that day, such as turning the doorknob to Ms. Thorn's classroom and hearing some faint giggling coming from her office. I remember smiling and thinking about all the times I walked in on Ms. Thorn reading some lame teenage novel full of all those dumb jokes. I remember that when I felt my brain getting so heavy she'd send me home with one of her books, claiming that it soothed the mind. They were always easy to read too so I could always finish them basically in one night, and then bring them back to her the next morning. The funny thing is that it ALWAYS worked too.

I still think of her when I find those books in book stores. I also still read them when I feel stressed or overwhelmed.

I came to the conclusion a long time ago that no matter what Ms. Thorn did to me, I was going to remember her for all the good, helpful advice she gave me. She gave me a lot of advice too. It was like having an older sister...but an older sister who could destroy your self confidence with a failing grade. Perhaps I'm the only one who feels like they've hit bottom when I get a C on something... I know many people who are stoked to get those grades. I know plenty who work hard for them. Yet, I work for the best, and it's something that's always been a blessing and a curse to me.

This is one of my first life changing moments, and I can't help but feel that whenever I relive this memory that the lines from today and the past become blurred. Monumental moments do that to a person, because they always play a part in the decisions you make everyday. Without them...you're a completely different person. Without this moment, I'd still be lost in my ignorance.

As I walk through the door of her classroom, I find the origin of the giggling coming from her office. Since I'm carelessly thinking about all the good times with her, and how excited I am about my grade, as well as what I'm going to do to celebrate the occasion of passing my test with flying colors, I close my eyes briefly while I swing open her office door to reveal Ms. Thorn tangled up with a young man...whom I know all too well.

Wavy blonde hair that reaches his shoulders with a skinny body barely holding up his pants that's filled pins, patches, and holes. Nice hands with rings on every finger, and a shirt, loosely clinging to his torso except clinging tightly to his broad shoulders. As if time slows down, he turns around to face me ever so slowly with a shocked face that I implant into my memory as his chilly gray eyes recognize me instantly.

“C-carter?” I breathe out in shock, before slowly starting to hyperventilate in anger.

Carter. My boyfriend. My first love. My first...well, you know. My first real love is with...my beloved teacher who saved me. My first real love is currently trying to push down her skirt and smooth out her hair, while Ms. Thorn can only stare at me in horror of being caught...but not of shame...only out surprise.

Carter raises his eyebrows in horror, his eyebrow piercing that I got him for our 2 year anniversary just laughing at me...but not literally of course. Not a word could escape those lips either. Not a word! Making it feel like an eternity passes by as I stand there waiting for a word or...ANYTHING from either of them.

Nothing would come, though. NOTHING. Making the disease of blankness that plagues my mind catch on fire and blind me.

All my life my parents have made sure that my older brother and I were centered in our emotions, bathing in the happy emotions, and working through the bad ones calmly. My family and I would talk about everything that could even be possibly bugging me, receiving no judgment while doing so. Giving only advice, guidance, and love.

All my life I kept those bad feelings in check, but in that moment something snaps in me, and all those lessons that my parents fought so hard to put into my hard-wiring leaves every inch of me. The very thing that pushes me to be perfect sprouts out an ugly head of passion. Passion built upon the fire in my heart that fuels me to do everything to the best of my ability.

All of this passion takes control of me as the papers in my hand that proudly showed my victorious grade begins to crumble in my fingers. Then, it grows hotter and shrinks, squeezing into a little ball until pain erupts to my finger tips, forcing me to drop the paper. I gasp and look down at the paper that held my victory just dissolve away into bright red flames...almost as if it never existed. I become so entranced by the dancing flames engulfing my paper though, that I barely hear the screams all around me.

Finally, after crucial seconds pass by, the sounds of screaming reaches my ears making my eyes fly up to see Carter horrified as flames begin to lick his body. My body can't move suddenly, and I only watch in terror as Ms. Thorn flails around, grabbing Carter and tries desperately to pat out the flames that inevitably start to catch onto her.

I close my eyes, whispering a small 'no', causing all the flames on Carter to instantly begin to leap off of him onto her, and within seconds she crumbles to the floor as a charred skeleton. Carter and I just stand there, staring at the skeleton as the fire alarm blares, making the sprinklers shoot off and drown out the mystical flames. Carter's eyes finally reach mine, with those chilly gray eyes that normally used to warm up to me the second we saw each other, vanishing to be replaced with sheer fear.

His blonde hair had been burnt at the ends, and his skin was all red where his arms were licked by the flames. His shirt now had burn marks on it, and his pants were so dusty from fire that they were no longer black, but grey now. His entire body showed that he was covered in a fire of some sort for a short time, except for his eyebrow piercing. It looked completely normal so it could continue laughing at me...again, not literally.

The whole world falls silent after that, despite the teachers and students in the hallway who scream as water pours down upon their heads. Finally a teacher finds us, or at least, what's left of us, hauling Carter and I out of the room in terror once they see the charred skeleton on the floor in-between us like a huge elephant in the room. The teacher drags us outside until our parents, the police, and the fire department get there. Everyone is stunned about what happened to Ms. Thorn, and how she caught on fire. Questions about everything get fired at me, but the simplest of words can't reach my mouth for so long, and Carter's eyes never leave me the entire time...watching me almost as if I'm a bomb.

Once I find my voice I keep saying over and over again, even when people aren't listening to me, “She just caught on fire... She just caught on fire...”

Carter doesn't say anything, though. All he does is just stare at me, refusing to speak or acknowledge anybody's existence except mine.

His eyes are penetrating, and my mind becomes clouded by the desire for him to just stop looking at me like...THAT. Holding my face in my hands, I rock back and forth, just whispering under my breath for him to stop. He's looking at me the wrong way! Everything has become so wrong in an instant, and I don't know how or why it happened!

My parents hear me once they arrive, mostly because it's all I can really say for hours, and eventually bring me home once they're able to. My father goes off to make me some soup the second we come home, and my mother just hugs me while my brother paces in our living room, chewing his lower lip nervously. Once my soup is done, my family finally all unites to come and sit next to me, holding me, touching me on the shoulder, or just smiling at me...which is what my brother did, because he's not too terribly keen on hugging his little sister for longer than 3 seconds.

Finally, I break the silence with a hic-cup, probably due to eating my soup so slowly, which I know sounds weird, but that always happens to me. I'm a VERY slow eater.

It causes laughter to begin to fill in the spaces of silence in our house though, easing my mind back into the reality where my loving family exists. It lasts for minutes, however, my father is the first to stop laughing, followed by my mother, and then shortly after that my brother stops as he loudly clears his throat.

“Sooo, you're going to tell her, right?” my brother Caleb asks, looking at my father, then my mother, and then back to my father. “You HAVE to!”

“I know we do, dear,” my mother whispers quietly, “I just wasn't planning on telling her so...soon.”

“We don't have a choice anymore,” my father states solemnly. His hand, at the moment, leaves my shoulder too, leaving a cold spot there in its place.

Suddenly, like a flood, my mind catches up to ask them questions.“W-what do you mean?” I probe. “W-what are you talking about?”

My mother grabs my hands, holding them gently just like how she used to do when I was little and we were at the grocery store, “We need to tell you something about yourself. About...all of us.”

“What about us?” I ask, my voice now growing tense.

My father grabs my soup bowl and takes it to the sink silently, turning around to face me once he finishes putting the bowl in the sink. “We need to tell you something important. And under normal circumstances, we wouldn't tell you until your 17th birthday, but these are...” and his voice drops a little before he clears it, “these are n-not normal circumstances.”

“Yoooooouuuuuu're telling me,” my brother says, chuckling sarcastically before his real emotions peek out. “My little sister just lit someone on fire! HOW are we going to fix this? Hide this? Protect her?!”

“I didn't light her on fire!” I exclaim, standing up immediately in fury.

My mother pops up and pulls me into a hug, “Calm yourself down, dear. Calm down...” she says soothingly, and then whispers angrily at my brother, “Stop. Taunting. Her. She doesn't know what's going on!”

He points at me, “I never lit someone on fire! I never ki--,” and he stops as he starts to break down, causing him to lower his accusing finger. “W-what are we going to do, Dad?”

My father takes in a deep breath and looks at us all with a strangely amazing sense of composure, “We are going to do what our people have always done. We will have to go to the council and have them clean up this mess.”

“Council? Council of who?” I whisper so quietly that I'm amazed that they hear me.

“The council of...” and my brother chokes on his words, looking at our parents for guidance on how to switch the topic. “You...don't want to meet them. I've never even met them.”

“Well to ensure that this mess doesn't tie us down, we are going to have to move also. It's what our people have always done in times like this, and it's what the council will recommend,” my father says sternly.

At the same time as I talk, my brother exclaims asking, “Where are we moving to?!”

While I ask the most obviously interesting question I can at the moment, “OUR PEOPLE?”

My father turns to my brother, nodding, “Yes, we will have to move. Somewhere far from here. Just to make sure no rumors can follow us.” He then turns to me as if to answer all my questions, but it appears that his words fail him and he stumbles, his confidence slipping.

I step away from my mother, moving to the center of the room and switching eye contact from my mother, to my father, and to my brother, in order to try to drag information out from their eyes. “What are you talking about?” I ask, my voice shaking. “TELL ME!” I demand loudly, my voice cracking from the sudden release of pressure.

My mother's quiet voice finally breaks through the sound of my own heartbeat, “A long time ago angels took...comfort in humanity, turning away from their sacred duties. Their...lovers gained secret knowledge from these relationships, and from these u-unions...children were produced. Strong, gifted children who could do...wondrous things. Humans later began to call them...witches.”

I blink, perplexed and stunned at what my mother just said, earning a sigh from my brother. “You see, Sis, we are witches. Once upon a time our ancestors got it on with angels. It's a dominant trait, so all children born from that lineage carry...gifts.”

“Wh-what kinds of gifts?” I choke out.

He smiles a wide grin, “Special gifts.” I continue blinking at him after this, making him roll his eyes and groan, “Come on! Like you REALLY can't put together what kind of special gifts I'm talking about here!”

I glare at him, but then I direct my attention to my father who laughs at Caleb. Caleb is always making snarky jokes at REALLY bad times. It almost always eases the tension in these kinds of moments when he cracks out a joke too, and it's something my father is famous for doing as well.

It's safe to say they weren't lying when they said that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree...

“Our emotions unlock abilities, and give us the fuel to do...spells. Magic,” my father says, smirking slightly because my face begins to show my incredulous disbelief of everything that they're saying.

Caleb quickly grabs something and throws it into the air, and then raises his hand, stopping it mid-air to just hover, “YOU SEE?! We aren't lying, and this afternoon just proved you're just like us.”

I mumble, “U-us?”

“Yes, us dear,” my mother calmly answers. “Both of our ancestry lines dates back to those first...fateful relationships.”

“But-but-but,” I say, fumbling for anything to come to my mind. Everything that once made sense to me falls away right there, and not even my mouth can cooperate with me. This isn't how I want to know life...or how I want to be remembered. I had a plan...and THIS isn't it.

“We WERE going to tell you once you were 17, just like how we did with Caleb because...that's when your powers are supposed to manifest,” says my father, scratching his head while looking at me up and down. “It figures you would be an over-achiever in this too.”

“Chris!” my mother exclaims.

“What Carrie-Anne? You know it's true! Our daughter has always been ahead of the game,” my father says with a wide, silly grin.

“But I'm 16,” I state finally, with the emotion in my voice tearing up the words.

“And I'm 18. Noooow, I'm glad we got that covered,” Caleb says sarcastically with a loud, obnoxious sigh.

My mother's icy glare freezes Caleb's sigh midway though, forcing the object my brother had been holding in mid-air to plummet to the ground. “Now tell us, Carwen...what happened?” she asks soothingly.

I play with my fingers, replaying the scene in my head. It's so clear, even though I can feel my mind already starting to create walls to prevent everything from lashing out through me at the world. The weird thing is that normally, I can never remember what happens just hours ago. My brother says it's because I fill my head with school logic...and he might be right. I have a horrible memory when it comes to things in day to day life, but with books and school I can remember just about everything since the 3rd grade. This scene though...it scarred me. I could feel it in every part of me as I replay every second of it in my memory, just trying to figure out what happened. It's a scene with emotions that make every part of my body light up with life and burning all the way into my soul.

I know now that it was all a catalyst to bring out the one I truly am...a catalyst nobody ever wants.

“She...s-she just caught on fire,” I whisper, biting my lip and feeling my eyes water up at the memory. I look up at my mother as tears begin to roll down my cheeks, “She CAUGHT on fire! And I felt it happen! I F-FELT it! I did it, didn't I?! I...did it.”

“Sweetie, look at me,” my mother says firmly, grabbing the sides of my face with her hands gently, “You had no idea what was going on. You are not responsible.”

My brother clears his throat awkwardly, “But...b-but how will we convince everyone else that?”

“Most of the time these strange incidences blow over because the lack of evidence and it all just doesn't ever make much sense. The council will make sure that this is focused upon, as opposed to the other facts that won't make sense to the rest of the world,” my father explains calmly, rubbing his chin thoughtfully as he stares at me. “Even if Carter says anything, no one will believe him.”

“Carter was burnt too, though,” my brother points out. “Why...would Carter get burned too?”

My mother holds my hand, “She probably couldn't control it. The flames could've leaped to Carter after b-burning...Ms. Thorn,” and my mother squeezes my hand as she says her name.

Tears roll faster down my cheeks, feeling like acid on my skin. “T-they...didn't jump to Carter. They...jumped from him...”

My father's eyes grow wide, “WHY?! What happened?”

My brother growls lowly, “What did he do?”

I look up at my mother with pleading eyes, making her pull me into another hug, “Whatever happened is the past, dear. You'll be okay, and you'll make it through this,” she says as she smooths down my hair.

“Mommy, I...was so angry! It felt like it was...part of me!” I exclaim into her shoulder.

“Hey Carwen,” and my brother places his hand on my shoulder gently, “You can tell us. Please...tell us...”

I sniff and look up Caleb with my cheeks burning, my eyes throbbing, and my lips suddenly dry, “He was with Ms. Thorn.”

“Was he getting tutored too?” my mother asks naively.

My father's face drops though, understanding immediately, “I'm so sorry, honey. Oh...I'm so sorry.”

Suddenly my mother's eyes light up, and she frowns sadly, squeezing a bit tighter on her loose hug now. “I...d-didn't know,” she awkwardly explains, rubbing my back unconsciously.

“Wow...just w-wow. Ms. Thorn?!” my brother rhetorically asks. “I NEVER would've guessed he would do that to you. You both seemed...strangely perfect together.”

“Things like this happen, dear,” my mother coos. “Now we need to get you away from this trigger. A memory like that will...spark that emotional fuel again. We...can't let you go through this all over again.”

My father reaches into our freezer and pulls out some ice cream, filling up four bowls. He hands one to me and smiles, kissing me on the forehead, “My beautiful daughter, don't ever think that you are alone in this. We will get this all settled...but until then, you both won't be going to school.”

In unison my brother and I snap up with a huge question written all over our faces, “WHY?!”

“Because WE are going to have to protect you,” my mother says strongly. “People won't understand, and because this will have so many loose ends, it'll leave so many questions.”

“We'll move as soon as we can to get far away from this place,” my father confirms confidently.

My brother smiles and winks at me, “Seeeeeee?! I knew I didn't have to study for that test on Friday.”

I laugh and grab a spoonful of ice cream, plopping it on my tongue, making a shooting pain fire into my brain, “Oh owwww! Brain-freeze.”

“You never learn huh, Sis?” Caleb says chortling, flicking my nose lightly while smiling tenderly.

With a quick flick of his spoon, my father flings some ice cream onto my brother's face, “No, some of us never do learn.”

Carter never said anything other than that Ms. Thorn caught on fire, and while the story of her death didn't stop there, my father, and apparently the council, made sure to shut down any stories that delved into her spontaneous combustion or the private lives of the students, by saying it was increasing our trauma. Like the fierce lawyer my father is, every story even close to the Ms. Thorn incident essentially caught on fire itself, and before anyone knew it, everything faded away into obscurity within a matter of weeks. After that, we packed up and moved to Cody, Wyoming.

“Whhhhhhyyyyyyy Wyoming, Dad?” I press, slightly whining a bit. Leaving all of my friends, who had truthfully been completely unsupportive through all of this but were still fun to talk to, was going to be hard. “Do they even need lawyers in Wyoming? It's not like L.A. where EVERYONE is suing each other.”

“Of course they need lawyers in Wyoming,” my brother answers sarcastically. “They use them to sue each other over...cows...and stuff.”

“Caleb...” my mother says with a deep sigh, but never lifts her eyes from the page in the book she's reading.

“Everyone needs lawyers. Wyoming is a lovely place...and it's not all about cows,” my father states definitely, ending the whining conversation.

I bite my lip and stare out the window of rolling hills of grass, all leading towards my new home. I've always lived in L.A., and I've never traveled outside of the state of California. My brother has been to Nevada, but that was only to go to Las Vegas. So...we were out of our element.

My father and mother weren't, though. My father used to live in Wyoming up until he turned 18 and moved to L.A. to go to college, but he actually didn't enroll until he was 20. Despite my father's history, we still have to go to college the second we graduate from high school...no matter how much my brother begs for a year off.

My mother, however, grew up in Texas and moved out to L.A. to go to college right after she graduated from high school. There she met my father, they fell madly in love, and pretty much never left. They both love that city dearly, and despite the confidence and strength on their faces, I can tell they'll miss it. It was our home for so long, and...it was a good home too.

The closer we get to Wyoming though, the more I can sense something different in my father. He begins to point out areas and land marks, talking about his childhood and horses...and stuff. When my father talked about those things in L.A., they just didn't seem real at the time. Now seeing all this empty space, I can easily see how it could be real. It actually makes sense that my father would drive out to an old pond and drink with his friends until they passed out, only to wake up the next morning with sheep surrounding them. It's like another world out here...but at least it's pretty.

By the time we actually enter Wyoming it's dark, and I mean it's actually dark. You can't even see the distant lights of the next city out here. All you can see is the 'city of stars', as my father calls it. After that, my mother and him begin to tell sappy love stories about constellations, eventually getting to the point that two clear, starry nights are how my brother and I were created in the first place. Lovely information there that made Caleb and I shudder together in horror.

Upon entering Cody, Wyoming, it's revealed to be just your average old town that you read about in L.A. My brother and mother are already asleep by then, and my father and I just watch the town pass by our car in silence. Granted, it's quite late once we get there, but I can still tell that this town isn't going to be loud like L.A. I'll have a lot of time to think and practice all this stuff that my family has been teaching me since they pulled me out of school. I'll also have a lot of time to remember...which is not something I care too fondly to do at the moment.

We finally begin to see the house, which looks just like the pictures my father showed us. We take a dirt road to get to the house which can be seen in the distance, nestled in some rocks that eventually climb into a mountain. Sparse amounts of trees cover the property right around the house, or at least from what I can tell at the moment, and a little garden meets us in-between the house and the drive way. The house is surprisingly big, being much larger than our house in L.A. It's two stories technically, but there's also an attic above that. Big windows are in the front of the house, meeting at a point like a giant A, with two extensions on the house on the sides that practically look like wings. To the right of the house is a shed, or barn place. It's about half barn and half shed, because it looks like a barn...but I don't think you could ever put animals in there. Down a bit more to the right is the actual barn, however at night you can barely see it except for a faint outline caused by the moon. The house, shed thing, and barn all have a quaint log cabin look to them, with a deep brown roof, giving off a country feeling that my brother and I aren't used to at all.

Though, it's obvious that my mother loves the country to just about anyone because of her southern accent that she picked up while growing up in Texas. It makes her seem like a genuine country belle. She has curly strawberry blonde hair that reaches her shoulders, although it used to be longer before Caleb and I were born. My mother is still a country belle in my opinion...and honestly, probably in most people's opinions too. She has deep green eyes, and light freckles all over her nose. Once upon a time, my mother was taller than me, but now she's a bit shorter, yet my mother has more curves than me. To be fair though, that just means she isn't a complete twig like how I am. Everyone loves my mother and her kind disposition. She's sweet, caring, and incredibly intelligent. It's how she got out of Texas in the first place and ended up in L.A., where she met my father.

I know my father as kind, sweet, and wonderful, but I also know him as mischievous too. He apparently was more mischievous when he was younger and met my mother, so every time my brother does something mischievous, my father gets that little half smile that looks so devilish. My mother always says it's one of the reasons she fell in love with him, so even when Caleb and him are playing with fireworks, like they shouldn't ever be doing, my mother just finds it completely adorable. My father has always looked young though, partially because he's so playful, and the rest being that his hair makes him seem younger. My father's hair is very fine to the point that it reacts to any kind of static electricity like crazy, as my brother and I figured out early on in life. It's very light blonde, almost white color too. It barely gives him eyebrows even, and it just makes him seem younger, as well as strangely innocent, as my mother always points out sarcastically when him and my brother get in trouble. While my father has many pale features, he also has these deep brown eyes, and is very tall and skinny, just like my brother and I.

Because my father has such light, fair hair, both Caleb and I inherited the strawberry blonde hair that our mother has, making it practically the trademark for our family. Caleb's hair normally seems short, but it's actually quite long. The thing is that his hair is so curly and fine like my father's that it's always curled into tiny ringlets. Once his hair gets wet though, his hair can go past his chin. Caleb is also the tallest of the family now, much to my father's chagrin. He's a complete twig too, with his only rival being my father from what I've seen in my life. Caleb's eyes are also a deep brown, like my father's and mine, with a bony jaw and a slightly crooked nose from the time he got in a fight in middle school. He has the exact same smile as my father too, and it's so eerie that people get confused, calling them brothers. That smile makes women swoon too, just like how my father's smile made my mother swoon.

I'm not as mischievous like my brother and father though, and I'm not as sweet as my mother either. The side that my father has at work which is determined, focused, and driven is the personality type I have. I have deep brown eyes, with light freckles under my eyes and on the tip of my nose, a tall skinny body, and long, curly strawberry blonde hair that reaches to the end of my back. It all can fool people into thinking I'm a lot less serious about things than I actually am. It can play well into my favor when I want to get out of things with just about everyone except my family. My mother knows this especially well, so I can't get away with anything really when it comes to her. My father will let me slide a lot of the time, though.

Still, there was no sliding out of this one. We were all in Cody, Wyoming, a little town nestled right by the glorious Yellowstone itself. A place I've only read about and seen pictures of, in all honesty. Even though we had reached the house, and my father had turned off the engine of the car, nobody moved. Everything felt so somber and real. I made my family move to Wyoming, and here we all were. The second we step out of the car it becomes our new reality, officially closing the door on L.A....the very place that started our family.

With a loud yawn my brother cracks open the door, and quickly slams it shut with a quiet squeal, “WOW, it's cold! And it's SPRING!”

My father laughs, “Wait until it's winter. Then it gets REALLY cold.”

I look at my brother and smile, “If it gets too cold, I'll just stay inside all the time.”

My father smiles, “That's not the problem. It's getting your car started in the cold.”

“Seriously, if that becomes a huge issue I just won't go to school and stuff,” my brother blatantly says.

My mother sighs deeply, cracking her door open slowly, “Yes...yes you will.”

Everyone sighs, laughs, and begins to pile out of the car to go meet our new house. All I can do is stare at the new house, though. Everything is changing now, and while everything is changing, I can feel an out of body experience take over, showing me that this is a moment I'll remember in the future as where it all begins.

Written By Melissa Seeger.  2014.

2: Cursed: Chapter 2

Cursed: Chapter 2

“Carwen...Carwen dear,” my mother says while gently poking me to get up. I conveniently forgot to set my alarm last night...but apparently she didn't notice. “Sweetie...it's time for school.”

I crack open one eye, “Really?”

She nods, “Yes dear.”

I sigh and roll over onto my back, “Fiiiiinnnne, I'll be down in a bit.”

“Okay,” and my mother begins to head out of my room, but then stops at the door and turns around, “What happened to your alarm clock, honey?”

I blink innocently, and then smile at her, “I sorta forgot about...it.”

My brother pops his head into my room, grinning like a fool, “Me too! BUT mom caught me, as well.”

She pushes Caleb's head out of my room, laughing quietly to herself, “Just get ready because your father is making breakfast.”

That's all the encouragement I need to get out of bed. My family eats like we are never fed, and consequently, my mother and father cook like pros. My father is more of a morning person, so it's not uncommon for him to make breakfast since he's up before the Sun anyways. My mother sticks to making dinner for the most part, mostly because she loves to experiment with any new cookbooks she stumbles on upon. As terrifying as that sounds though, she pulls off new recipes wonderfully. Except for the purple soup incident...but we got Chinese that night.

I plop down in a chair around the breakfast table, noticing how austere our new house looks since we just got here. “Hey...do they have Chinese food around here?”

Caleb raises his eyebrows, “What brought that up?”

“Just thinkin' about the purple soup incident,” I admit while absently munching on some toast.

My father and Caleb both laugh out loud at the same time while my mother turns a shade of red. Quickly though, my father notices the quick change in my mother's color and smacks my brother upside the head to stop him laughing, “Sweetie...that was a WONDERFUL memory that we have as a family.”

My mother forces a smile, and then turns to me, “Well...back onto the topic of Chinese food, I'm not entirely sure. You'll have to check it out on your way to school.”

“Ah, school. The place where they screw up Carwen's name,” my brother says with a sarcastic drawl.

I throw on my mocking voice, “Carmen? Car...Car...Cargwyn? Carrie-wen?”

My brother laughs loudly, “They'll probably just call you O'Kelly until they figure out how to say your name.”

I smile and begin to devour the french toast my father sets in front of me, “Most likely. THAT or they'll just stare blankly at the page for a while in fear.”

“Your name isn't THAT hard to pronounce, Carwen,” my mother points out, emphasizing my name.

“Tell that to every teacher and sub she's ever had whose felt her name was some sort of landmine,” my brother says with his mouth full of food.

My father sighs, “Caleb...don't talk with your mouth full of food, and hurry up. You two are going to be late.”

I slow down eating, “Does Caleb have to drive us? Why can't...I drive us to school once in a while?”

“Because Mom and Dad want us to actually get to school, instead of ending up in some tree somewhere along the way because you forgot where the break was again,” Caleb retorts chuckling.

I look at my mother and father who seem intently focused on their food all of a sudden, which makes me sigh and finish the rest of my food quickly to head upstairs so I can finish getting ready. I can feel my chest pounding and my skin getting a nice rosy color to it, all indicating my nervousness about going to a new school. It's not a paralyzing nervousness though, it's excitement. I love to meet new people...it's just getting started that can be a problem.

Getting started will be difficult seeing as I have a lot of baggage following me. I'm still excited, but I feel like I'm introducing an entirely different person...someone without their right arm or something. That unwelcome thought pops up right after that, making me clench my teeth and squeeze my eyes shut for a few seconds, praying for the memories to stop berating me. The memories from before everything are the worst.

I think that's where I left my right arm...

We pull up to Cody High School, which looks essentially like any average high school in my opinion. Caleb and I don't get out immediately though, but instead just stare at the new territory in front of us. It's always uncomfortable to start something new.

Caleb clears his throat awkwardly and checks his hair in the mirror, “Try to not light anyone on fire, okay?”

I smack him on the arm, “I won't! Ugh!”

He smiles kindly and ruffles my hair, “Yeah...well I just don't want to see you get hurt.” He then sighs and throws open the door, “It's now or never, Sis.”

I take a deep breath and open my door, “Yeah, I know,” I mumble.

We make our way to the front office where they give us maps and our schedules, although this school isn't as large as the one we went to in L.A. by a longshot. Caleb sticks with me until we find my classroom, and then he heads off to go find his first class. It's Physics for me, first period too. All I can think about is that of all the classes to get first period it had to be this one...

I crack open the door, which squeaks so loudly that it sounds like it hasn't been opened since the dawn of time, to find a typical physics classroom full of kids who either want to die, sleep, cry, are actually asleep, or are actually interested in what is going on. It's a group I know well, and it brings a smile of relaxation to my face. It's just like my old school, except colder and smaller. It's a bit comforting...or at least brings enough comfort to me to give me the strength to actually open my mouth.

I hand my schedule to my new teacher, “I just...you know, transferred.”

He looks at the paper absently, “Okay Miss C-car...O'Kelly, please find an empty seat.”

I smile and push my schedule back into my pocket. One awkward moment with a teacher down. Couple more to go.

As I walk to an empty seat and sit down, I instantly glance out the window and sigh quietly. It's strangely beautiful out here no matter how you look at it. I then snap out of my daze to notice the teacher teaching something from the book – the book I still don't have. They told me I could just go get my books from the library after school, so I didn't really think to bother before class because...I hate to be late... Somehow, I blame it on Caleb though, giving me some solace until a girl snaps me out my internal victory over my brother.

“Here,” says a pretty, petite girl with short brown hair and blue eyes. Her outfit looks nearly identical to an outfit my friend Sammy has back in L.A. She gestures with her eyes back and forth between her book and I, smiling brightly, but sizing me up at the same time.

I smile and scoot my desk over, “Thank you soooo much! They told me it'd be fine to just get my books after school at the library.”

She giggles under her breath, “It wouldn't have mattered much anyways. Mr. Duke doesn't even notice that we are like actually here. He pretty much just talks to himself during class...like all of the time.”

I sigh, “Perfect. First period too.”

“Yeah, welcome to Wyoming,” and the girl's giggle is cut short by a loud throat clearing from Mr. Duke. We smile at each other and once the bell rings we continue our conversation as if we never stopped.

“So what's your name?” the girl asks while walking towards her locker.

“Carwen O'Kelly,” I answer, waiting for the inevitable comment.

“Wow...really? That's a...different name...” she says slowly with her eyes wide open.

Haven't heard that one before, oh wait, yes I have.

“It's a weird, old name, and it starts with a 'C'. My family is one of THOSE families,” I say with a silly wink.

“Oh okay,” she says eagerly with a nod, “That makes sense...and it's really pretty, if that helps! Just um, how do you pronounce your name again?”

“Think 'car' and 'win' and shove them together,” I answer absently. I've said this so many times throughout my life, I've lost count. It's pretty much an automatic response.

“Well Car-win,” she says, enunciating it exactly and a bit obnoxiously to make sure she is saying it right, “Well, I'm Belle.”

I smile, “Nice to meet you, Belle. Where's your next class?”

“English, what do you have?” she asks brightly.

“Not English...in fact I have Trig,” I say while biting my lip.

Belle directs me to where I need to go to get to my next class, and by the time I get there she's already texted all of her friends about the pretty, new girl that she met. It's quite the compliment...even if it is a bit shallow in nature. All of her friends look exactly like my old friends from L.A.; beautiful or handsome, surgically connected to their cellphone, and popular. I easily slide back into my old routine as if I hadn't moved anywhere, and by the time lunch rolls around I find my brother doing the exact same thing. We catch up really fast, and say good-bye, and once I return to our table, every one of my new girl friends has to comment about how my brother is just sooooooo cute. I just tell them the same thing I always told girls back in L.A. – and that's to keep him away from fireworks if he takes them out on a date. They think I'm joking too, but I'm always dead serious about the warning even if I say it with a smile.

Oh well...can't say I don't try.

Once the day ends, I meet my brother up at the car, and on the drive home my brother and I talk about the new people that we met, who we liked, and who we tolerated. Just like how my brother and I joked about earlier that day, every teacher today screwed up my name. 2 Carmens, 1 O'Kelly, 2 teachers who fumbled at my name and switched to O'Kelly, 1 who just stared at the paper in confusion before trying to pronounce it really badly, and 1 who actually swore while trying to pronounce my name before just telling me to sit down. That was my new gym teacher though, and on top of my weird name, she was also baffled at a junior taking P.E. I tried to explain that I didn't want to do it my freshman year back in L.A., which wasn't really that complicated, but it still blew her mind.

My parents had begun unpacking, but mostly by just moving boxes around to different rooms. A lot of stuff still remained in the shed, especially stuff that belonged in the bedrooms because my brother and I didn't label our boxes like our mother had asked us to do. The next day though, my father actually went to work, while my mother stayed at the house and unpacked stuff for her office, still finding time to write a little for her next book too. She writes these murder mystery books, and they're actually quite good. It was something that she always did as a hobby, but then one day a publisher sought her out and she's been doing it full time ever since.

The rest of the week played out just about the same as the first day, except by then my teachers had all gotten used to my name. Finally Friday rolled around, and I had gotten my first date out here in Wyoming. A nice, sweet guy that I helped in my trig class who's on the football team. The only problem was that it was later that night and most of my stuff was still in the shed. I kept putting off actually unpacking because I had homework, and I figured I'd get around to it that weekend. I even packed a week's worth of clothes before I packed everything up because...THAT was the original plan. I didn't plan on getting a date this soon...but it's not like I'm going to complain about that.

It's something you just have to jump back into, or at least that's what I've always been told. While it concerns my family that I might be moving too fast...I feel like moving fast. I have this raging urge to get it all back. I had it all, and I was content in L.A. Now that it's all gone I feel so empty, and the only way I feel I can fix that is if I get it all back to normal. That includes getting wonderful grades, having a fun social life, and having a loyal boyfriend. I miss having all of that every second I close my eyes.

It was perfection.

Upon getting home after school on Friday, I begin rushing around our house looking for the perfect outfit to wear due to the pack/unpacking fiasco. During this time, Caleb answers all the questions my mother has about the guy taking me out, but I have to cut in once in a while to correct my brother when he keeps referring to Bryan as the 'unintelligent dolt'. Caleb does this with about every guy I've ever date, save for Carter, and that's just because Caleb and Carter actually got along really well. They were close before we started dating, and when we started dating he became like...part of the family. Because of that closeness, there's no doubt in my mind that the whole situation didn't just hurt me, but that it also hurt Caleb and our entire family. Every time I keep feeling like something is missing, I can briefly see the same thought in my family's face, even though they try to hide it from me most of the time.

“Geez, it's getting dark already?!” I complain while ruffling through the latest box I dragged in from outside.

“Of course Carwen...and-and please don't leave that just lying in the middle of MY living room,” my mother comments while stirring some sauce for dinner.

“Mom, I have an hour left to get ready, and I still haven't found my dress box!” I say with a whine.

“You should have labeled your boxes like I told you to do in the first place then,” she remarks with a smile, humming quietly as she returns to making the rest of dinner.

“She's not going to live that one down, huh?” Caleb asks rhetorically under his breath. It makes me have to shake my head to hide my smile, but then he grabs my boxes off the floor, “Go get the boxes outside, and I'll bring these to your room.”

“Thanks Caleb,” I say with a relieving sigh and not hiding my smile anymore. “Maybe NOW I can actually get ready in time.”

“Well you better hurry then,” my mother says while pointing to the clock.

I groan and rush outside to the shed, hastily opening and closing boxes that aren't mine. Since my brother just saved me, I'll have to help him bring stuff up to his room tomorrow, so I make sure to set aside any of his stuff I find while hunting around for my stuff. Finally, success comes to my eyes as I open a box to find my dresses all scrunched inside...because I don't believe in folding, I believe in dryers, and all of my laundry follows that belief.

Happily, I grab the box and place it on the ground to lock the shed up again when I hear some rustling behind me. My heart stops, and my fingers freeze, dropping the lock to the ground. Then, a low growl comes from my right, effectively sending my mind into panic mode. Like in a campy horror movie, I turn my head slowly towards the source of the growl to find a big wolf looking directly at me. My throat closes immediately, and we stare at each other for what feels like a century as he growls lowly, eyeballing me like a big meal. I quickly reason with myself that if I'm able to scream, or manage somehow to get someone from inside to notice that I'm facing off a wolf, I MIGHT live...strong might there, though. Yet to add to the fear seizing my body, the inside of my house feels like it's so far away, and with all of its sounds being drowned out by the sound of my heart kicking back into gear with loud, panicked thumps, it makes it all seem hopeless.

I move my feet slowly backwards, but he growls a bit louder, freezing me instantly all over again. Then, from the corner of my eye I see some headlights in the distance. It's my dad coming home from work! I take in a shaky breath and focus my ears on the car until I can tell that it's right in our driveway. After I hear the crunch of my father tires on our gravel driveway, I jump back and try to run into the house. The wolf lets out a great bark as it lunges towards me and I fling around just in time to catch its teeth with my arm. I scream out in pain and prepare myself to thrash and fight the wolf off, but the wolf instantly lets go after it bites me, backing off slowly and just staring at me...through me. Its satisfied eyes then move past me and towards my father, who had run towards my scream, and within a second, a bullet whizzes right by me and straight into the wolf's head.

Caleb rushes outside with my mother, and my mother screams at the sight of me holding my arm, which is now pouring out blood from the deep bite the wolf gave me. Without stopping to think my father hands the gun to my brother and picks me up.

“Get the wolf. We're going to the hospital!” my father orders.

“W-why?!” my brother asks, still shaking.

“Because it might have a disease! Come on, help me Caleb!” my mother orders.

“You have a gun in your car?! When did THAT happen?!” my brother asks incredulously as we get in the car, still completely stunned about everything happening.

“It's Wyoming. Everyone has guns in their cars,” my father answers nonchalantly.

“C-can I have a gun in my car?” my brother asks smiling while pressing my arm with a rag my mother quickly grabbed before we left the house.

“No,” my mother answers curtly.

I smile, and then wince as my arm throbs in pain, “My...my date...”

Caleb raises his eyebrows at me, “You want ME to call him, don't you?”

“P-please,” I whisper. “I don't want him to think I'm a flake or weird.”

“Well...you already are weird, and he's a jerk if he thinks you're a flake for canceling the date since you got attacked by a wolf,” Caleb says with a snort before picking up on my completely horrified expression. Changing his tone and facial expression in an instant, he presses gently on my arm and smiles, “Alright, alright.”

I smile a small smile, widening my eyes making him sigh and grab my phone. “I'm guessing he's under 'Bryan Wyoming',” he says, hitting the dial button.

“Well...I-I don't know his last name yet,” I choke out, wincing.

He smiles while rolling his eyes, “Figures,” and then quickly, he changes the tone of his voice because Bryan obviously picks up, “Hey, this is Caleb, Carwen's brother. She's not coming tonight because she got bit by a wolf...Yes she's fine...Nah, I don't think she needs you...You'll see her on Monday, man. Don't freak...Okay, bye.”

I crack out a little laugh, “T-thanks.”

He hugs me with his free arm, “Anytime, Sis.”

“We're here. Help me get her out,” my father says as he quickly parks the car at the hospital.

They clean up the wound on my arm and confirm that the wolf doesn't have any scary diseases, nor did it bite as hard as the bleeding suggested, so they send me home with some painkillers and stitches in about an hour. APPARENTLY, getting attacked by a wild animal is not as big of a deal as it is in L.A., because as kind and helpful as they all were...they didn't seem out of their element at all. In a way that's comforting, and in another way that's equally just as terrifying.

Seriously makes me wonder where the heck we just moved to.

On the way back home my mother sits next to me, holding me tightly as if I'm going to vanish from the car. Once we get home, I slowly make my way to my bed, finding myself incredibly drained all of a sudden. As I stumble around my room before getting in my bed, a knock on my door wakes me up from my stupor, and my brother walks in carrying my box of dresses.

“You left this outside,” he says quietly.

“Thanks for bringing it in,” I say with a smile, and rub my temples afterward at the headache forming.

“Do you need anything?” my brother asks with concern.

I shake my head slowly, “Nah, I think I just need to get some sleep.”

He nods and waves, closing my door as he leaves, leaving me alone in my cold room. I barely notice it with all the full of boxes littered on the floor, though. The room has a bed in it, and that's all I find myself caring about in that moment. My eyes shut before I even hit my pillow, and as I drift off to sleep I find myself rotating subconsciously so my arm won't ache as much. Then, darkness envelopes me, and nothing matters from reality.

I open my eyes in a dream with tons of people surrounding me. Each one touches me, giving me these pictures in my head that tells a story. Their story. They all have these different beginnings, one being an English beggar, and another being a French business man. They come from all over the world too, but they're all united by this one thing...

The last one who hasn't touched me yet looks at me with a sad face. Her thick brown hair frames her face while her crystal green eyes twinkle and catch all my attention until her mouth moves to utter one word before she touches me, “Cursed.”

Then, her cold fingers rest on my hand, transporting me to a place full of evil and fighting as they all begin to surround me slowly. I back slowly into a wall, closing my eyes in terror. “This is just a dream, just a dream!” I repeat. Panicking, I crumble towards the wall before crashing down to the ground as my heart stops and I cry out in pain, grasping my chest and flinging open my eyes.

The woman with brown hair and green eyes walks towards me, touching my heart, “Cursed,” she says again.

I tentatively unbutton the top of my shirt to look at a black spot on my heart, revealing a hole in my chest. Tears begin to form in my eyes and I choke up as I cautiously reach down to touch the spot. The second I touch it, pain fires into my entire body that feels like fire in my veins, bringing fear, strength, sadness...and a strange purpose. It all meshes together though, feeding off of one another, fueling one another, a swirling so much together that you can't separate them. Then...I wake up, 10 minutes before my alarm clock would've gone off.

I push my body out of my bed shakily, and make my way to my bathroom to look at my chest. I close my eyes as I unbutton the top of my shirt, and finally count to three before I open my eyes to find nothing on my chest where my heart is. A sigh of relief escapes my lips and I unbutton the rest of my shirt to get ready to take a nice, long shower.

I feel I deserve it.

Written By Melissa Seeger.  2014.

3: Cursed: Chapter 3

Cursed: Chapter 3

Finally, I had my room exactly the way I like it. My TV on my purple dresser, with my assorted little ceramic figurines I've collected throughout my life, just surrounding it. They're just little things I've stumbled across in the many thrift stores I've visited. My mother calls them junk, and in a way they are...but technically, so are Christmas ornaments. They also have about the same amount of meaning to me as Christmas ornaments do.

Then, I have my bed in the middle of the farthest wall from my door, and the bathroom is on the right of that. I also feel I should point out that it's MY bathroom. All. Mine. I have to clean it myself now, but I feel it's a worthy tradeoff from sharing a bathroom with my brother and finding all the interesting things he'd leave in there. Like little, evil surprises. Basically, I will never share a bathroom with him again. Ever.

The pictures of my different trips to amusement parks with my family surrounds my bed on the wall that the head of it rests on. It pretty much chronicles my life, seeing as going to amusement parks with my family is something we do at least twice a year.

Then, I have a big window on the right side of my room, if you've just come in from the door. It has a big, squishy bench right by the window which will be great for reading those trashy novels I still buy to calm myself down. I have my bookshelf, covered in stickers right next to that window, and my closet on the wall just next to my window wall. It pretty much goes closet, TV, door on that wall. Nothing particularly too exciting there, save for the fact that my closet is one where you can walk into it. It's very handy for storing all my clothes...that I refuse to fold or hang up.

It took me all weekend to get my room just how I like it with one arm pretty much immobile. It was a great way to keep my mind occupied, and it also helped me ignore the slight ache in my arm, or the stinging pain in my arm I would get whenever I accidentally rubbed it. On Monday, before first period, I get all the wrappings off though, and while I'm nervous to see my arm with bite marks in it, I don't really want to wear the odd wrappings to school because it'd be a beacon for awkward questions that I'd rather not deal with.

I just want it off so when I go back to school I won't look like some wounded freak who doesn't know that it's bad to play with wolves. That's all.

Yet, despite my best efforts to get it off before I go to school on Monday, everyone already knows all about it. It's as if my entire experience is some massive legend where I beat off a wolf as it gnawed on my arm. All day I have to keep trying to correct people that I really didn't do anything when I got bit except scream bloody murder until it got shot. That didn't help end the story at all though, because once the the new information about the wolf getting shot reached the rumor mill, it made the whole story hit a new level of excitement. So I just gave up after that, nodding at whatever people said and protecting my arm from their poking.

My brother even caught wind of the legend I was involved in, earning me the nickname 'wolf wrestler' for the rest of the week from him. It's something that I shouldn't have been surprised that he would do, but nonetheless, I still was.

Finally Friday rolls around very slowly, because time is the ultimate king of torture. By then, the story had changed very significantly since Bryan found me after school on Monday to where the story was on Friday. Originally on Monday, he was very surprised to see the bite marks on my arm. He eventually found it cool, once his obvious squeamish side came to terms with it. After that though, he conveniently became part of the story. I wasn't born yesterday so I know how this happened, but the FACT that it did slightly grated my nerves. No longer was he the guy who freaked out to my brother over the phone once getting called about what happened, but instead after that, he was the guy that showed up at my house in an instant, holding my hand the entire way to the hospital.

As much as it annoyed me, it made my brother furious, tempting him to hit Bryan over spinning my story to make him seem like the hero. I talked him out of it, though.

Yet, as shallow as it is, dating is a way to fit in. I haven't been on a date with someone other than...Carter in years, and after everything that has happened lately, I find I just want to blend in even more than I did before. At least my nerves are a great deal calmer now than they were the Friday before, because getting bit by a wolf puts a lot of stuff into perspective, in a way. I mean, it couldn't get much worse after that, right?

“Hey wolf wrestler, where's your heroic date?” my brother asks, laying on the sarcasm heavily as he says it, while playing a video game with me to kill time.

I glance at the clock and sigh, “Truly? I have no idea. He was supposed to be here like...20 minutes ago.”

“I don't like him,” Caleb states plainly. “Nice guys don't make girls wait.”

I bite my lip, and then sigh, “I sort of agree with you there, but...oooohhhhh well. I'm committed now.”

“Just text me the word 'cheese' if you need a fake emergency to get out of there,” Caleb says warmly, right before he slices off my head in the game.

I smile and step on his toe for killing me, “Thanks, I'll keep that in min--. Oh, he's here!”

Caleb pops up and runs to the door, opening it while standing slightly on his toes to appear even taller, “You must be Bryan. Hi, I'm Caleb. Carwen's older brother.”

“Is s-she here?” Bryan asks, while stumbling over his words and frantically searching for his phone, just melting under my brother's gaze.

Caleb looks at me and rolls his eyes, “Yeah, she's been here for over 20 minutes, man.”

Bryan laughs awkwardly and stares at his shoes mumbling, “Yeah...I'm really sorry about that”

I push Caleb out of the way, “Thanks Caleb! Talk to you later!”

“Watch out for wolves and other biting things!” Caleb says, laughing loudly.

Bryan awkwardly tries to join in on the laughing with him, but his face seems contorted in nervousness. I smile brightly, noticing his nervousness and find myself feeling sorry for him suddenly. “Soooo, where are we going tonight?” I begin, quickly coming to the agreement within my mind that I'll carry the conversations if they head towards an awkward silence to preserve his nerves...and his obviously fragile ego.

“I was figuring we could go to a nice little cafe right off the main road,” he admits while slowly pulling out of my driveway.

“You mean the only road, right?” I say jokingly, but once I notice his face looking at me bewildered I quickly change my tactics, “It's a joke from L.A.”

“Oh yeah, right!” he says with a smile as we drive down to a sweet, little cafe, filling the conversation with pointless questions and school talk. He begins to loosen up once we finish eating dinner, and over desert he begins to crack jokes with me, making the date FINALLY pretty enjoyable. Once we finish, he pays and tips really well, which is something I always like, and holds the door open for me. He did it on the way in and out...which is just a bit odd for me. Normally it's hit or miss with L.A. guys.

We begin driving, but I quickly notice that we aren't going the right way to get to my house. “Um...” I begin before clearing my throat, “Where are we going?”

“Well, I figured I'd show you where all the cool spots in town are. You're already pretty cool, but I figured you haven't seen all of them just yet,” he says, smiling a little smile that barely shows except on the corner of his lips.

“Oh cool! How many places are there?” I ask enthusiastically, because it's always be nice to know where the parties are.

“Um...not many, to be honest,” he admits, causing us both to laugh. “But I mean, if you've already been to them then we don't have to go.”

“No, no,” I say, shaking my hands in the air to emphasize my point. “I haven't been anywhere, nonetheless heard of any...cool places,” I say, winking on the last few words with a giggle.

“Well good! I was banking on that,” he chirps enthusiastically. “You'll get to know these places like the back of your hand soon I'm sure, though. Since you're already so...popular as it is and stuff.”

I shrug, “It's not all about that. I just like people...that's all.”

He turns and smiles at me before turning onto a dirt road that bumps me into the door of his car. “Oh sorry!” he exclaims.

“No worries,” I say, rubbing my arm absently. “So, where are we going?”

“An old, deserted house that's supposed to be haunted. At least that's what the high schoolers' tell the middle school kids to keep them away. It's basically just a place where we party, though,” he admits as he parks the car by the house.

“Ooo, we get to check it out?!” I ask, getting excited. I love checking out old houses, as long as there aren't any creepy, homeless people in them...which is normally the case in L.A.

“Definitely,” he confirms while handing me a flashlight.

I pop out of the car, incredibly happy I decided to wear flats, which I originally wore because I was worried I'd be taller than Bryan if I wore heels. Some guys take that seriously if a girl is taller than them, so I normally wear flats just to keep their confidence feeling dandy. My brother and father always say that they don't mind it if a girl is taller than them...but I've never seen a girl taller than them except the really tall girls who play basketball. So right there, their credibility is shaken and destroyed.

I'm also happy to get out of the car because while the date has been nice and all, I DON'T want to make out with him. Being parked in a car out in the middle of nowhere means you need to come up with something fast or pucker up. He's nice...but still annoying. He can't move past the fact that I'm popular, and with this thought passing by, I frown a bit without thinking, because I realize that's the only thing he actually knows about me. I quickly change my face back into a smile the second I meet his eyes again though, reassuring myself that at least I'm not the only one trying to use this date to fit in.

We stick together though, making little jokes about the building until Bryan tells me to stay behind while he goes up ahead to see if the area up ahead isn't too muddy for me to walk through. I smile and let him go up ahead, fiddling around with my flashlight to kill my impatience as best as I can. I end up jumping around, flashing the flashlight at some things and telling them to 'freeze', doing a monster laugh, turning it off so I can pretend to be blind, seeing how hard I have to press the button before it turns on, and trying to do Morse code with my flashlight to say 'abba' while I kill time. Finally I sigh, feeling like an eternity has passed me by while Bryan's has been out scouting ahead.

“Oh this is stupid!” I say and begin to brave it out up ahead, knowing very well he's probably going to jump out at me to scare me. “I reeeeaaaaally don't want to get muddy, though,” whining a bit to myself.

“Bryan?” I call out, shivering a little. “Bryan? This is stupid! I swear, if you are planning on jumping out at me I'll hit you with my pur--,” and my voice stops working as soon as I turn a corner to find Bryan, hanging limp in the arms of a tall man who's dressed all in black. With a thud, he drops Bryan to the ground, wiping off his mouth, while Bryan's head limply falls to the side towards my direction, with his eyes staring at me in frozen fear.

I back up in terror, finding some mud that engulfs my shoe and makes me trip a bit backwards towards a wall. I squeak out a little, trying to scream or move, but nothing happens as I stare at the tall man in horror, while he just apparently grooms himself over Bryan's dead body.

I close my eyes and take in a deep shaky breath, “You...y-you killed my boy-boyfriend!”

Not exactly true, I know, but it's all I can think of to say in the moment.

Smooth laughter comes from the man, “He's NOT your boyfriend. You aren't even crying!” he says turning fully around to finally face me, carrying a smile on his face.

I gulp and bite my lip, looking at Bryan as the man steps forward towards me, “Please stop...” I beg, repeating it every time he steps closer to me while I feel my heart pump louder and louder.

He walks right up to me, leaving only inches between us, revealing that he's easily half a foot taller than me, probably just as tall as my brother. He just stays there though, looking down at me with a smile. Then, slowly his smile begins to disappear as a serious expression taints his eyes. He slowly touches my heart, frowning, “You're cursed.”

I blink, pushing his hand away, “W-what?!”

He steps a bit back while still frowning, “You're cursed. THAT'S why I was drawn here,” saying the last bit more to himself than me.

“W-where you killed my boyfriend,” I state blankly.

He grins, “I got hungry. It was a long journey for me. Besides,” he says while looking casually at the body, “He's NOT your boyfriend.”

I glare at him, “T-that's besides the point.”

He shakes his head slowly, “No, no, I think that is the point. That's why I keep pointing it out,” he says while laughing again.

I choke on my breath, coughing a bit, “Are you-are you going to kill me?”

His menacing appearance instantly drops as he backs up away from me to move into the moonlight, allowing me to see him shake his head somberly. “No, no, I would...never do that,” he says, honesty seeming to reach every word. He looks into my eyes, showing clearly that he has red colored eyes with messy, shaggy brown hair, curling slightly around his ears. His pale skin has no color anywhere, including even his cheeks, so his light pink lips are the only thing that make him seem...alive...besides the fact that he's walking and talking.

Around his eyes seems to be living shadows that slowly disappear into his eyes, while his sharp teeth and two long fangs quickly recede into his mouth to show his normal shaped teeth within seconds. His height is dominating though, but once his shoulders relax, his height becomes more familiar, with his strong shoulders holding up his slightly dirty snow jacket. He's wearing only black though, just as I originally thought. Yet, they're normal clothes, including a jacket that's open to reveal a tighter black shirt that has an abstract picture on it, with black jeans, and black shoes.

I take in a deep breath and scoot closer to the door in the room, “T-then why are you here still?”

He takes off his jacket and throws it too me, making me flinch a bit before I catch it, “Put it on. You look cold.” Then, he walks towards a window right next to Bryan's body, “Tell them you found him like that. It'll look like a heart attack. Had I'd known me feeding on him would put you in such a precarious position...I wouldn't have done it,” he admits.

I scoot closer to the door, not thinking about much except that I'm closer to the door, “Any idiot can see he didn't have a heart attack!”

Told you I wasn't thinking. Smart people don't call killers idiots.

He smiles and laughs again with this strangely beautiful laugh, “It's something that vampires can do. All their prey looks like heart attack victims unless they are caught in the act.”

I blink a few times, “...V-vampire?”

He nods, smiling a little smile that makes his eyes light up even in the dark room, “Yes, I'm a vaaaammmmmmpppppiiiirrrrre,” he says slowly...almost obnoxiously so, to be honest.

I gulp and move a bit closer to the door making him laugh a bit. “So...y-you're dead?” I ask.

He takes a step towards me, making me flinch and instinctively jump back towards the door, “Yes, I've died, Miss. Now, the real question is are you ready to die?” he asks, smiling on his lips just as sadness takes over his eyes, contradicting the smile completely.

“Y-you said you wouldn't k-kill me!” I yell, surprising myself at the volume of my voice.

He starts to walk backwards towards the shadows in the room, “I won't, I promise you. But it,” and he touches his heart, “It will. I'm very sorry.”

I touch my heart and bite my lip, “I'm-sorry-I-called-you-an-idiot,” I say in a flurry of words.

He smiles and backs into the shadows with his eyes remaining on mine until I blink and he's gone. I keep staring at the corner of the room, craning my head and blinking repeatedly to see where he went. I finally just flash my flashlight over there, shakily and very slowly at first, only to reach the corner to find no one there. I drop the flashlight in the mud, quickly swearing at my stupidity, and then rush over to Bryan. I smack him a few times on the cheek, and then press my ear to his mouth and chest. Nothing. Not a sound. I cautiously turn his head over to look for bite marks, finding two small indentations that fade away and disappear before my eyes. I fall backwards, trying to breathe, and just stare into Bryan's vacant eyes. They absorb me for minutes with their blankness until I snap out of it and shakily get up to grab my purse so I can call my brother.

“C-caleb,” I say, sniffing. “I need your help.”

“Why?! What happened?” he asks quickly, worry breaking into every part of his voice.

“Bryan just dropped dead,” I say, breaking down and crying. “I-I didn't do it! I s-swear! I found him this way! W-what am I going to do?!”

I rub my eyes because of the tears, clumsily dropping my phone on the ground in the process. I can hear Caleb calling my name loudly on the other end though, so I awkwardly pick it up while tears continue to rush down my cheeks as my brother explodes with questions about where I am. “I-I don't know!” I exclaim once I get the phone back up to my ear. “He took me to this deserted house where parties happen, and w-walked up ahead to see if it was muddy and then...I found him. Oh my God...” I say, it all finally sinking in. “What if we have to move again?!”

“Hey, I know where that is. Don't move, okay? And we don't know yet if we have to move. It probably wasn't you,” Caleb assures me through my sniffles. “Hey, I'll be there in a second. DON'T MOVE.”

I scoot over to a corner and close my eyes, crying until I hear my brother run in with my father, with mother right behind them. My mother screams upon seeing Bryan's body, and then runs over to me, pulling me into a hug as I cry harder. Caleb begins swearing and walks slowly to the body with my father, as my father's hands light up and hovers just inches over Bryan's body slowly. It all feels so surreal...and all I can manage to do is cry even harder.

“W-what are you doing?” I ask, choking on the tears.

“I'm checking to see how he died,” my father answers absently. He smiles and sighs, walking towards me and hugging me. “It appears that he had a heart attack, dear. There's no magic on him at all. It WASN'T you,” he says emphasizing the last three words.

Caleb kneels down and closes Bryan's eyes, “What kind of kid drops dead from a heart attack? He's younger than me...”

My father frowns, “It's sad, but it happens. There's nothing anyone could've done...”

My mother squeezes me tighter, “See, dear? There's nothing you could've done,” she says as she smooths down my hair.

Caleb kneels down and hugs me for a bit before he notices the jacket I'm squeezing in my hands. “Who's...jacket is that?”

I sniffle and freeze, staring at the black jacket still in my hands. He...told me it'd look like a heart attack and it does. He was here... It had happened, after all!

I close my eyes and feel a few tears escape my eyelids, “H-he gave it to me...”

My mother frowns and holds my hand, squeezing tightly and not letting go the entire time that the police and coroners come in to examine the scene. They confirm the heart attack and I just stand there, watching while a police man calls Bryan's family. When his mother arrives she faints, and his father collapses in tears. I want to say something, apologize maybe, but I know nothing will make sense to them right now. The police men ask me a few questions, and with most of them I have to turn to my father to answer because I'm shaking so hard. Apparently, by my foot prints, everything can be confirmed. On our way out though, I look around for foot prints from the man that actually killed Bryan, but I find none.

Almost as if he was never there...

Once we get home, I crawl into my bed, and my mother brings me some tea to help calm me down. They all stand awkwardly in my room for a while before they look at each other and leave my room in unison. After they leave though, I just lay on my bed thinking one thought over and over again.

Why did I protect that man?

The only conclusion I can come up with is that the guy could've probably kill me as well...even though he promised me he wouldn't.

But he said I was going to die anyways - he called me me cursed...

Just like in my dream...

I pop up out of bed and rush towards the bathroom, yanking down my shirt to find a black spot where my heart is. I take off my shirt quickly and rub the mark, clawing and scratching the mark on my heart, then grabbing a towel and trying to wash it away. Nothing happens though, as if it's a part of me...and it is... I walk backwards slowly, feeling myself start to cry again as I try to wipe the mark off in vain while one thought sinks into my core...

This is a part of me...

My eyes meet the reflection of my eyes, blinking at each other right before I rush back into my room, grabbing my computer to start looking up curses. After typing in 'curses', I get a multitude of results. Then, I type in 'black spot curses' and get movie results. Switching to 'curse marks on hearts' I find on a few sites that say it's a mark of death, making me freeze and slam my laptop closed.

I sniff, rubbing my chest violently. “Why-why won't you come off!?” I exclaim, frustrated.

Mark of death. Mark of death. Mark of death.

It keeps repeating in my mind, until finally stopping at what the vampire said to me.

'Yes, I've died, Miss. Now, the real question is are you ready to die?'

I curl up into a ball on my bed and start crying so violently that I begin shaking. All my brain can wrap around is that is this the price I have to pay for what I did to Ms. Thorn? It's all I can think about, making me mutter in between my sobs, “I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.”

There was nothing more true than the fact that I didn't mean to do it; it just happened and it's something I'll never be able to forget. The look on her face, the smell, the sounds that she made and...how I felt when I lost control.

There's no way that I'm going to die. That I can even die! He can't be right...I'm 16. He just...can't be right...right?

Written By Melissa Seeger.  2014.

4: Cursed: Chapter 4

Cursed: Chapter 4

Focus. Focus... Fooooocccccuuuuus.

This is all I can think of to keep my mind from racing as I practice magic while sitting on my bed and floating objects all around me. The air feels thinner, lighter, so everything can be raised up to the sky. Everything around me feels free, as if even I could touch the sky if I wanted to. A sense of peace washes over me, and then deep breath fills up my lungs slowly as I keep repeating to myself to focus; just clearing my mind of everything except those repeating words. I need to stay centered... I need to be at peace...

Then, my eyes twitch a little, and my arms begin to shake. Not AGAIN... My mind begins to race as the dam blocking my active mind starts to give way. I just need to focus, though! However, my eyes begin to cry and my heart feels like it's quivering. My whole body shakes and I collapse down onto my bed with all my pencils and feathers crashing down around me, as well.

I wipe my eyes, trying to catch my breath as Asher's face flies into my mind, captivating it completely. All I can do for minutes is keep replaying that entire night and zeroing in on his cryptic message. It's haunted me ever since...

Needless to say, my week hasn't been really busy since then. Due to the fact that I got told I might die, which is a bit obvious when you think about it, my emotions have been on edge. Under the recommendation from my family, since I kept breaking plates all Saturday morning, I was ADVISED to take it easy and meditate. My mother urged me to find out what was bugging me and to try to resolve it, because it'll give me peace. I just...don't know how to resolve it. How do you resolve cryptic, threatening messages like that? Call the cops or cry?

Now, a logical person would just ask her parents about what to do. As it is, my family is not entirely normal so talking about this kind of stuff tends to fall under a typical Tuesday night conversation. However...what if I'm wrong? What if this isn't just some weird thing that happens to you when you can do magic? Or worse, what if there's nothing they can do to help me? I just don't want to worry them...I'm already worried enough as it is.

All this meditating is strangely helping me though, and by Sunday afternoon I'm not unconsciously breaking stuff. However, is it helping because I'm centering myself or because I'm pretending that my problem doesn't exist anymore? Who truly knows...but I don't intend to find out anytime soon. It might mess up my good luck with...whatever it's doing.

Even though I haven't broken anything for an entire day, my family still insists on me staying home on Monday, however I beg them to reconsider until they relent. I figure some normality can help me a great deal right now. Luckily, my brother supports me, which helps our parents with the whole relenting and stuff.

Monday morning comes too soon though, before the birds wake up to be entirely honest. As I step out of the shower I rub the fog off the mirror, even though my mother tells me not to because it makes the mirror dirty, but I find a need to look at the black spot making my heart seem as if it's hollow. I touch it gingerly, wincing in anticipation for something to happen, but just frown when nothing does. I have no idea what to do...except cover it up so that no one knows it exists.

Which is exactly what I do. I dig through my pile of laundry on the floor of my closet, hunting for my purple turtle neck. I sniff back any nerves as I look at myself in the mirror once I get completely ready, recognizing the face looking back at me, but still noticing a change in the feeling of the reflection. The girl who's happy and carefree in the pictures on my wall behind me is not the person who's meeting my eyes now. My entire soul...has changed. Perhaps that's what happens when you kill someone. Perhaps this is what happens to people like me. I feel cursed, despite whether or not I actually am.

I just feel...wrong.

And the dark truth is that my body count seems to be rising. People around me keep dying, and one was by my hand. Just the thought of her face still makes me shake so much that I have to sit down. I know I wouldn't be able to get through anything without my family, but I also know I'd be in a police station if it wasn't for the Council covering up everything that I seem to be...destroying lately. I still haven't met any of them, but I can hear my father talking to them and giving them updates about me on a weekly basis. Why I'm worth the trouble makes sense when I think about my father and mother, but why the Council is putting so much effort into keeping me safe is beyond me.

I shake myself out of my deep thoughts and try faking a smile, laughing with everyone at the breakfast table once I go downstairs...but judging by my mother's extra hugs this morning, she knows that some thing's up. The way I see it is either it'll all fade away or I'll have to tell them. For right now though, I'm putting off that decision...because obviously I haven't given it enough time to let it fade away.

Upon getting to school, my brother silently walks me to my first class, hugging me tightly before he goes off to his. That's how we work as a family, as weird as it is. We don't talk about stuff all the time, but when we know something is bugging someone, we give them lots of hugs until they feel ready to talk about it. I've been to houses where the parents corner their kids until they tell them what's wrong, something that happened at my friend Sammy's house a lot, and all it taught them was how to hide their problems better. I never thought that it was a good thing to teach them, but then again, I'm not a parent. My opinion is a bit biased.

I sit down in my desk for easily two seconds before someone from the front office bursts in and tells me to go to the principal's office. Belle looks at me puzzled as I walk out, so I shrug at her, which apparently isn't really comforting to her judging by her facial expression afterward, but at least it did show her that I saw her in the first place. I truly have no idea why the principal wants to talk to me, though. That being said, I do welcome the opportunity to get out of class, since I know I'm not in trouble or anything.

“Miss O'Kelly. Please, sit down,” my principal insists, gesturing towards an ugly, orange chair, opposite from him.

I smile tightly, curious as to why I'm here in the first place. “So why am I here?” Completely blunt...I know.

My principal blinks for a second, taken back a bit by my blunt question, “Oh, well...you see I was just looking at your...trans-transcripts and I wanted to congratulate you on your academic success, thus far!”

I smile and nod at him, “Um...thank you?”

My principal leans in from his chair towards me as he folds his hands thoughtfully in front of himself, “You see, we are trying to build up our tutorin' community for our school...” he begins slowly.

Oh noooooo...I know where this is going. I brace myself in my chair for the blow of guilt that he prepares to fire at me. Quickly I go into my thoughts, racing around and trying to find a legitimate excuse for why I shouldn't tutor someone. I could tell him I tend to get the people around me killed, but that would probably raise more questions rather than solve my problem...

“With your academic record, and frankly, personal record as well, you would be a FINE candidate for our program,” he says, smiling like a crazy salesman. “You would get credit for tutoring, which would look excellent for colleges, help out fellow students, but...of course, you would unfortunately have to miss a few classes here and there...”

My interest pipes up, “Miss a few classes? Which ones?”

He chuckles before doing a happy sigh, “I swear, that's the biggest sellin' point of this program...” Then, he clears his throat and absently gestures with his hands, “Oh, you could miss whichever class is necessary for the student to be tutored. Your assignments can then be picked up after school. We would do this after school, but see, some of the students that need tutoring have sports after school. By the time they get out, they have just barely enough time to do their own homework and eat before they have to go to bed. They wouldn't have time to study, you see?” he finishes a little breathlessly.

I smile widely, “So...I could pick out the class?”

He smiles and chuckles again, “Yes, as long as your grades don't suffer. The second your grades start slipping you'll be pulled from the program,” he warns.

I nod eagerly, “Okay, well I think it's best to get started right away. Right?”

He scratches his head a bit, obviously puzzled, “Weren't you in Physics right now, though? Do you...think that would be very wise?”

I put on my best smile, “Of course! It's basically just a bunch of formulas that I can learn on my own. I had a great teacher back home in L.A.,” I say, stopping for a second and frowning, “that t-taught me a lot of tricks to Physics. I-I've got it down,” I assure him as best as I can, trying to prevent my voice from shaking due to accidentally digging up the memory of Ms. Thorn.

“Right,” he says grinning. “And...this has nothin' to do with the fact that your teacher is VERY boring?”

I smile wider and choke back my laugh, “Not. At. All.”

He chuckles again, leaning back in his chair before rummaging around in the papers on his desk. He finally pulls out a slip of paper and hands it to me, “Okay, here's a nice student that could use some tutoring.”

I blink and stare at the name in shock, “Ho-na-what?”

He scratches his head and shrugs, “I have trouble with her name too. I honestly just call her by her last name because...I have no idea how to pronounce her first name,” he admits. “It's some Cheyenne word, as she is...well Cheyenne.”

I smile and laugh, “Well I guess we have something in common then...” Which leads to the principal to just staring at me, looking at me up and down in bewilderment as if I'm implying I'm Cheyenne too. “Nobody can pronounce my first name...either,” I explain quickly to ease his confusion.

“Oh, well...well that's a good thing you two have that in common,” he finishes awkwardly, now staring at my transcripts, obviously trying to figure out my first name as well.

On the paper is the girl's name and her schedule, basically meaning that if I wanted to I could stalk her or something. This would never happen in L.A., that's all I can say.

So I make my way down to the gym, where her first class is, and bump into the big, burly teacher right away...mostly because the teacher was standing in front of the door. I just quickly show him the name of the girl I'm hunting down because my words fail me, but without a flicker of expression, he blandly gestures to a girl sitting down on the ground tying her shoes.

Her straight, dark brown hair is cut into a short bob cut, with her skin being a beautiful complexion of a nice, natural tan color. She also has big, brown eyes, almost black from being so brown. As I walk towards her she stands up, eying me suspiciously up and down as I do the same to her, noticing her baggy clothes hiding whatever natural frame she actually has, and also that she's quite a bit shorter than me, only coming up slightly past my shoulders.

I smile and wave awkwardly, “Hi, I'm Carwen.”

She raises her eyebrows, just staring at me, “What do you want?”

I bite my lip nervously, “I'm...here to tutor you?”

“Are you?” she asks with the same tone as I had in my voice, making it sound like a question.

I nod, “Yes. Yes I am.”

“Right...” she says, nodding slowly. “Do I get out of class?”

I smile, “Yep, pretty much whenever you feel the urge to be tutored and stuff.”

“Fine, lets go now then,” she states, walking ahead of me towards the locker room.

I blink, looking at everyone in her gym class playing basketball, “But...how exactly are you going to make up the credit for missing this class?”

She stops and turns around, pointing towards the big, burly man, “That's my soccer coach. I could sleep in this class and get an A because I play on his soccer team.”

I nod, understanding, and let her go into the locker room to change. She comes out a few minutes later, wearing baggy clothes again and with her backpack slung over one shoulder. Barely making eye contact with me, she starts to get ready to leave the classroom as if she's a ghost or something, making me awkwardly stand still, gaping at whether or not we should actually go now.

“Do you...want to say goodbye to anyone before we go?” I ask awkwardly as she shoves some papers into her bag.

She shakes her head quickly, “No, not really. I don't have many friends here.”

I open my mouth and close it quickly because she walks ahead of me without another word towards the library. Upon getting there, she grabs a study room key and walks towards a room to use in a fast, even pace, as if she doesn't even bother to notice the world around her at all as she walks by. It's all in silence too. She moves as if she walks on air...so it's no wonder that she plays soccer. You can easily tell she's very graceful on her feet.

Once we get into the room she drops her backpack on the table and plops in a chair with a sigh, “So what class are you getting out of?”

I shrug, “Physics.”

She nods approvingly, “Niiiicccce...so what do you want to do now?”

I sit down, gently pushing her backpack to the side of the table, “Um...well I was hoping you could tell me what classes you would like help...you know, in.”

“They didn't tell you?” she asks, raising her eyebrows.

I shake my head and laugh, “Not really. They didn't even tell me how to pronounce your name.”

Her eyes zero in on mine challengingly, “How do you think it's pronounced?”

I bite my lip again as my eyes grow wide before narrowing down playfully, “Honestly, I don't want to try because you might think my attempt is racist.”

She laughs, “Is that why no one tries?”

I nod, “You're name is clearly Cheyenne, annnnnd...they live on a reservation around here or something, right? That's sure to make everyone walk on eggshells around you.”

“That's racist,” she says with a smile.

“Would it make it better if I told you I've always wanted to go to see the reservation?” I ask, smiling playfully.

“It does,” she admits, giggling now, but quietly since it is a library. “As long as you figure out how to pronounce my name.”

I sigh and go limp in my chair, “Can't I just give you a nickname?”

“My name has a meaning to it. It's important to me,” she explains sternly. “So go on. Try it.”

I take in a deep breath and look at her name, studying it, “Honine?”

She laughs loudly, earning a glare from a passing librarian outside the room, “Ho'nehe.”

A long 'oh' escapes my lips, “Soooo...what does your name mean?”

She smile kindly, dropping a bit of her guard down, “It means wolf. My grandma loves wolves, and insisted I be named Ho'nehe because wolves are strong, beautiful creatures.”

I shudder a bit, “And they bite too...”

She blinks and frowns, “YOU'RE that girl who got bit by that wolf, huh?”

I nod, and then slowly grin, “You didn't tell it to bite me, right?”

She rolls her eyes playfully, “Of course, because all Native Americans can talk to animals, right?”

I nod jokingly, “It makes sense.”

She laughs quietly, “That's racist.”

“Then a LOT of people are racist,” I say while smiling.

“You're telling me,” she admits, dropping the humor in her voice. “People just assume I should live on the reservation with my people, and treat me differently because of that!”

I frown, noticing the quick change to a serious topic, “I'm...I'm sorry. People assume stupid stuff all the time...like all Native Americans are part animal or plant or...something...”

“Or something?” she asks incredulously, trying to hold back a massive laugh.

I shrug as my own stupidity, “Yeah...like the power to turn into a rock or something - I don't KNOW! I wasn't thinking when I said that...obviously.”

She laughs loudly again, earning a disapproving knock from the librarian this time. “You can call me Nene, if you want.”

I shrug, “I can try to pronounce your actual name, if you want me to. Don't treat me differently because I'm not exactly like you. THAT'D be racist.”

Another laugh escapes and she quickly covers it up with her hands as the librarian walks past our study room again, “I'd rather you not butcher our language.”

I raise an eyebrow curiously, “And calling you 'Nene' isn't doing that?”

She thinks about it for a bit with a smile before she shrugs, “Well...yeah, you still are. But think of it like a nickname or something.”

“Finally!” I say, jokingly exasperated. “NOW we are getting somewhere!”

“Not really,” Nene admits, “We haven't started studying at all...annnnd I need a lot of it.”

I frown, looking at the clock to realize the truth in her words, “Well...yeeeeaaaah, good point. Are you busy later, I guess?”

Nene's eyes grow wide, “You'd want to meet with me after school?”

I look at her quizzically, “Yeah...why wouldn't I?”

“It's just...I've seen you around school,” she admits. “Wouldn't you want to hang out with someone else other than...me?”

I shake my head and catch my reflection in the windows of the study room, “I honestly would love to hang out with someone who's well...honest. It'd be really, REALLY nice for a change.”

A smile slowly grows on her face, but then quickly disappears once the bell rings. “Um, well look...we can meet after school at the front doors, okay? Does that sound fine?”

I smile and nod as I pick up my books. “Yeah, that sounds great.”

The rest of the day has a strangely better feel to it. It turns out that Nene has three classes with me, which makes it easier for me to help her study for those classes. Without thinking twice, I switch my seat from being around all of Belle's friends to being right next to Nene, which raises suspicions, but none that I could really care to notice. Lunch rolls around finally, and as Nene and I wander into the cafeteria my brother ambushes me with a pinch on the arm. I jump and smack my books against him, rubbing my arm afterward in pain.

His pinches hurt so much...

Caleb then blinks, noticing that Nene isn't Belle, “Whhhhhoooooo's your new friend?”

I stop, gesturing between the two of them, “Caleb, this is Nene. She's nice, so don't you dare pinch her. Nene, this is my older brother...run away if he tries to pinch you.”

Caleb smiles widely, nodding towards Nene, “Nice to meet ya.”

Nene smiles awkwardly and nods slowly without saying a word. Caleb doesn't notice much though, because his friends call him towards their table shortly afterward. I smile at Nene and slowly we head over to a corner to go sit down in while we eat our lunch.

“Soo...” she begins slowly, “That's your brother?”

I nod absently, looking at her expression out of the corner of my eyes though, “Yeah. Big brother, right there. Just about as bad as the government...except that he owns up to the stuff he lights on fire.”

Nene's eyes widen, “He lights stuff on fire?!”

I laugh and shrug, “Only stupid stuff...which granted, is still bad, but he's not crazy or something. Just mischievous. For instance,” I begin as I turn to face her while my hands tell a story with me, “I had to take a shower really fast back in L.A. because I was running late to meet my boyfriend and my friends. So my brother thought it'd be funny to put EGGS in my shampoo and conditioner. EGGS! My hair was all icky and crusty and...grrrrooooosssssss that I was so late so I couldn't go out that night,” I say, laughing loudly as I finish my story.

Nene smiles and laughs before playing with her food a bit, “You have a lot of friends, huh?”

My smile begins to fade into thinking about my friends from L.A. and here in Wyoming. “Not really, I guess. Just people I know, to be honest.”

Nene sighs quietly, “That must be nice.”

“I suppose,” I say slowly. “Don't you have a crowd you normally hang out with?”

Nene shakes her head quickly, “No...um, most people steer clear of me. Well just about all of them, in fact because of...well you know why”

I raise my eyebrows and push my hair behind my ears, “Then why stay here? Why not go to school on the reservation?”

Nene bites her lip, and then turns to me, “Because as bad as it can be, I can get a good education here...provided I understand what's going on in the first place,” she admits, laughing a bit to herself on the last part. “You see, drug problems can be really bad back on the reservation. My family didn't want me getting mixed up in that stuff so we moved out here.” Then, a twinkle catches in her eyes, “Besides, my biological father is French.”

“Oooohhhh, well that explains your last name being Devalle,” I admit.

She raises an eyebrow, “Racist.”

I laugh, mostly at the people walking by who stare straight at me the second she says that. “No, no, just being curious and...observant.”

She smiles kindly and looks down at her food again, “It's nice...” she begins quietly, “It's nice to have someone curious about me.”

I smile and steal a grape from her fruit cup, “It's because I'm Irish.”

She laughs, shaking her head while I laugh with her, realizing that what I just said really didn't make a whole lot of sense except in that moment. In the last few classes of the day, Nene and I banter and write notes between each other, sometimes freaking people out on purpose just to make us giggle. Once we get out of our last class, we separate and head to our lockers before we meet back up at the front door to actually study. I weave through the crowd, getting strange looks from Belle as I walk towards my locker, with which I return a smile and wave to. Finally I get to my locker and find my brother just leaning on it, waiting for me to come by.

He smiles and gets off of my locker so I can get inside, “So...do you and your...new friend need a ride home?”

I shake my head, “No. My new friend, NENE,” I say, emphasizing her name, “Are going to study after school.”

“Oh, where at?” he asks, playing with my locker magnets.

I grab them from him and shove them back in my locker before closing it, “Not sure, honestly.”

We walk towards the front door, catching a glimpse of the end of a conversation Nene is having over the phone with a sour look on her face. When she notices my brother and I walking up to her though, she quickly ends the conversation, smiling widely as quickly as possible.

“What was that about?” I ask, not buying her fake smile cover-up.

Her smile drops and she plays with the corner of her shirt, “My family wants me home. Unless I'm with the coach practicing or something I have to be home because...they...well worry.”

Caleb shrugs and smiles, “Well, do you need a ride home? You and Carwen can study at your house, and I'll just pick her up later.”

Nene blinks rapidly, “Um, um...are you sure? I mean, my house isn't weird or anything...but my family can be,” she admits.

“As can every family,” Caleb says with a kind smile.

I jab my brother playfully in his ribs, “You know what, that sounds great, Nene.”

She smiles and nods, but then bites her lip, “My mother is picking me up though, so I...don't need a ride.”

I turn and wink to my brother, “That's totally fine. Bye Caleb!”

My brother quickly pinches me on the arm, making me scream as we walk away. I turn around and shake my fist, but he just laughs and walks away towards his car. Turning around back to Nene, I notice that she is slowly starting to turn red and smile that cute smile girls do when they're smiling at a guy they're interested in. As much of a pain my brother can be, I forget how much of an effect he can have on girls...

Nene's mother picks us up, completely surprised to be picking up Nene and another person. She isn't angry though, but more so COMPLETELY excited. The drive to her house takes about 15 minutes, which is a bit awkward because Nene's mother obviously has no clue what to talk about in the car with me there. Once we pull up to Nene's house though, I inwardly gasp because it looks like a quaint house you'd read about in a book. It's a cute blue house with a brown trim, about medium sized, with a horse stable in the back and a vast field behind it that eventually turns into a forest. However, I can't look at it too long, despite it being an adorable house, because once we there we go straight inside and sit at the dinner table to study.

Before we get to studying though, everyone in her house comes to meet me. Her mother brings us some food, and her stepfather comes to meet me with his bone crunching grip. His skin is a bit wrinkly from obviously working outside all the time with horses and other animals, and his strong bone structure reveals that he's clearly very Native American, if not completely. He could be Cheyenne too...but I can't really say for sure seeing as Nene's family is the only reference I have about that heritage. Everyone in her household has deep brown eyes and straight brown hair, although the resemblance between Nene and her mother is unmistakable. Whereas everyone has very strong features, Nene's mother has softer features, with practically the same eyes as Nene. Then, her grandma comes to meet me as well after hearing all the commotion, as well as Nene's uncle from her mother's side, and two nephews. Everyone seems very excited to meet me, although her mother seems the most happy due to the fact that I'm Nene's tutor, while her grandma just seems happy to meet me. Her scratchy, but quiet voice fills the air with well thought out words as she introduces me to all the pictures of their family on the mantle with pride. After a while though, Nene's mother shoos everyone away to allow us to study, thanking me once again for helping out Nene before she leaves us alone too.

“Soooo,” I begin, “This studying thing is a big deal...”

“Yeah...w-well I don't really bring many people over...or ANY really,” she admits. “And I'll be the first one in my family to go to college...which is a big deal.”

I smile, “Sounds like it. Well, I suppose we should get started then...”

We go over Math, English, and Science, the big hard hitters for Nene. Strangely though, she's able to point out what she's having problems with right away. With Math she has trouble remembering the formulas, English makes her nervous because she reads a bit slower than everyone else, and the problems she has with Science are because she has trouble explaining theories and writing up reports. To make up for her okay grades, Nene has been taking a full course load plus Biology and Chemistry, with this being her second attempt at Chemistry. After going through the directions slowly and building up her confidence though, Nene begins to grasp the concepts easily. It isn't hard for her. She just needs more time and patience on the material.

After a few hours of studying, Nene walks up to the window overlooking the scenery outside, smiling widely as the Sun begins to start to hang low in the horizon. “Do you like horses?” she asks slowly.

“I think...they look cute,” I admit, “But I've never really rode one before...”

“Come on,” Nene insists, pulling on my arm, “Let's go on a ride!”

I stop dead in my tracks once we get to the stables and I see how big they are. “What if...what if it BITES me?” I ask, genuinely worried while eyeballing their huge teeth.

She laughs, “The trick to keep them from biting you is to not shove your hand in their mouth.”

“It's really big though...” I say slowly, edging closer to the majestic animal with a thick black mane on his brown, fuzzy body, as opposed to just walking up to it.

“Jasper is a sweetheart,” she assures, feeding him a little treat. “He's also older so he's a great horse to get started on.”

“Why?” I ask blankly as I stare straight into the big, brown eyes of the animal and think idly that they sort of remind me of giant fish eyes...or something.

“He WON'T try to bite you,” she states, smiling at me as I snap out of my staring contest with Jasper and his big fish eyes.

Nene gets Jasper and her horse, Perry, ready to ride, helping me up and explaining what not to do. She gets on her horse and holds a rope connecting to Jasper's equipment so that he follows her without me having to do anything really. I sit back, finally relaxing as we both ride into the field part behind her house, just staring at the horizon as the Sun slowly begins to crawl towards the end of it. I even pet Jasper a few times on the neck, really gingerly of course. The second he snorts and jerks his head I stop petting him, though. Nene assures me that he's just playing, but I figure that's enough horse love for one day. I don't want to rush it, so I'll just give him his space and let him get used to me. That's all.

We finally get to a nice clearing on a small cliff-side that overlooks a forest below us. Nene gets off her horse, tying him up to a tree, and then helps me off before she ties Jasper to a tree. My attempt at getting off a horse isn't my most graceful moment of my life too, to be completely honest. It began and ended with my butt in Nene's face.

Nene then leads me up a little farther into the clearing to an old log sitting on the ground with a perfect view of the sunset. She clears her throat and grabs a stick to play with as she sits down on the log, “I come up here a lot. It's really beautiful, especially in the spring.”

I inwardly gasp a little bit at how the sunset seems to light the forest below on fire, “I can only imagine! Thanks for bringing me here.”

“Well next time we need to work on your dismount a bit more,” she says, laughing.

I laugh and sit next to her, “Yeah, yeah. Honestly, the fact that I didn't fall might be a miracle.”

Nene looks at me incredulously, “You did fall! On MY face!”

“Nah, that doesn't count because you caught me really fast,” I say, laughing loudly.

“I just broke your fall, that's all,” she points out, earning a shrug from me.

We just sit there in silence for a while before I blurt out, “So what happened to your real father?”

Very nice, Carwen...

I turn bright red right away after saying that while Nene just laughs loudly, “Don't worry, it's not a big deal. I mean, he left my mother, but...I never knew him. He left before I was even born,” she admits.

“But your mother still gave you his last name?” I probe.

“Well they were married, so it was her's too,” she admits.

“Oh wow, I-I'm sorry,” I say, kicking myself mentally again for bring it up in the first place.

“Nah, don't be,” she says, throwing her stick into the field as the Sun finally sinks below the horizon. “My stepfather has always been around for me, and I see him as more of my father than my biological father.”

I sigh, still mentally kicking myself, “That makes sens--,” I say slowly but stopping the last word shortly, “Hey, what's that noise?”

Nene gets up with concern written on her face, “It...sounds like the horses.”

We stumble our way back to the horses, guided by only the moon really, which is very large and bright, thankfully. We aren't far from the horses at all, but it just seems farther due to it being dark now. Once we finally we get close enough to the horses, Nene walks right up and tries to calm the horses down, but it doesn't seem to work.

“They're freaked out, or...something,” she admits, shrugging in my direction as she tries to soothe the horses.

I back up, knowing very well that this isn't my job, but notice something catch my eye from behind the horses as I back up. I walk slowly around the horses and find a pair of two red eyes appear from the shadows. The shadows separate, with two shadows moving closer to me and farther from the original shadow cast by a big rock and tree. Slowly, they take form into two human shaped beings, but as they get closer I notice the fangs like the ones I saw in the man that killed Bryan, and the shadows around their eyes.

I freeze in terror as they look at Nene soothing the horses, who is completely oblivious to the two people standing just a few feet from her. They move as if they aren't actually there, quieter than Nene, and blending in with the night as if they don't exist as two separate entities at all.

A chilling thought pops into my mind though, making my heart stop and making them smile directly at me. They...aren't people.

In a blink of an eye, one of them grabs and pins me to the ground, snarling and biting at me as I wriggle under its arms, trying to keep it away from me. I look up panicking, finding Nene scream and try to run from the other one who just picks her up off the ground by her neck, shaking her in the air. Nene begins to go limp from the shaking as I notice behind her two more creatures appear and circle the horses, who are thrashing violently as the scene unravels. The horses try desperately to break free from the ties to the tree, while Jasper cries out loudly as one creature latches onto his side like a leech, turning my blood ice cold.

Then...everything slows down. I can suddenly clearly see Nene, struggling to breathe, but slowly going limp. Jasper, crying out in pain with Perry kicking wildly in all directions. Then finally, my focus turns to the creature on top of me who's smiling devilishly as he tries to grab my head and push it to the side to reveal my neck, having nothing but ice in his eyes. My heart begins to beat louder and louder until all I can hear is the music of my heartbeat...empowering me.

I can't explain it, but the battle drum from my heart unites every cell in my body. I can feel the muscles in my body exhale and inhale. I can feel every muscle in my body that contracts and relaxes. More importantly though, I feel like I can control it. I suddenly become...aware of me and my body. This drum gives me knowledge to the very thing that's the greatest mystery to me.

Me...

And it feels good.

I curl my legs underneath the creature, kicking him off and making him fly backwards in shock. I get up quickly, rushing towards Nene's attacker, tackling it to the ground. Nene drops to the ground next to us gasping while I roll on the ground with the creature snapping at me in all directions. I charge my arm backwards and collide my fist with her face, pushing her off me. She charges at me again and I kick her, square in the stomach, propelling her directly into the creature attacking Jasper. Both of them tangle in each other as they crumble to the ground in shock, but as I begin to smile I hear Nene scream.

Another creature then tackles me, pinning me between a rock and themselves, viciously choking me and smacking my head against the rocks. I blink, clawing at the creature's hands, feeling myself getting a bit dizzy from my head getting whacked around, before I reach towards the side of its face, twisting out of the choke and screaming as I ram its body towards a tree with every ounce of strength in my body. My heart feels like it glows just in that second, almost congratulating me...guiding me.

A howl pierces the sky as it crumbles into dust and gets blown away by a supernatural wind. I feel my heart jump with joy, excitement, pleasure, and peace, until I find the rest of the creatures have started to surround me. Like they got drawn to me in that instant... I turn around quickly, although it feels slowly because it seems as if time slows down again, allowing me to snap off the branch that killed the first creature and thrust it into the second one, who crumbles into dust as well.

Nene then jumps on the back of one the creatures, strangling it and screaming, “HOW DO YOU LIKE IT?!”

It fights viciously to get Nene off her back, finally practically dislocating his arm to reach around and grab Nene, smashing her in the ground over and over again. The branch flies from my fingers without a second thought, and lands directly in his heart, blowing ashes all over Nene. A few seconds of surprise pass by before Nene turns to me, pointing weakly next to me as a creature wrenches its arm back and swings it directly into my face. I fly to the ground a few feet back, but it appears right on top of me in an instant, pressing the heel of its foot into my chest.

“Nice try, but there's nothing like killing someone who's cursed,” he snarls out at me.

Instead of paralyzing me with fear, my heart pounds and anger rushes into every vein in my body like liquid fire. I crane my eyes to Nene and take a deep breath, harnessing my anger, and then letting everything go in an eruption of fire directly onto the creature pinning me to the ground. He screams and wriggles around on the ground in pain before crumbling to ash...as if he never existed. Slowly I get up, taking a few deep breaths to try and calm myself down before looking at the scene before me.

The little clearing suddenly looks like it always has, and even the horses are calm now. But Jasper's wound on his side gives away the serenity of the place, and the look on Nene's face reveals a very large question on her mind before she even says it.

“What the HELL just happened!?” she exclaims, shaking visibly.

Written By Melissa Seeger.  2014.

5: Cursed: Chapter 5

Cursed: Chapter 5

I stutter blankly, forcing Nene to repeat her question with even more emphasis.

“What. The. HELL. Just. Happened?!”

I whisper under my breath, looking at the places where the creatures turned to ash, “I-I don't know.”

“Well WHAT were they?!” Nene demands.

I look at her sternly, “I DON'T KNOW!”

Nene runs her hands through her hair nervously, “They...they weren't HUMAN, Carwen!”

I nod slowly, “I know...I know...but then...w-what were they?”

Nene nods, and then slowly her eyes grow wider as her finger points directly at me, “And h-how did you know how to k-kill them?”

I take in a shaky breath, “I don't know...” I crumble to the ground, staring at my hands and shaking, “It felt...n-natural. Almost easy-easy...if that's the right word.”

“I seriously doubt it is,” Nene quips without thinking, making us both laugh for a few seconds before falling back into our somber silence.

“Well...w-we should get away from this place,” Nene states while walking towards her horse.

“I need to research this. My f-family must have some-something...” I wonder out loud.

Nene's eyebrows raise, “Whhhhhyyyyy would they have something on this stuff?”

My eyes fly up to Nene's in shock, openly gaping before putting my head in my hands, “Oh crap...I can't...I can't believe I just said that!”

Nene rushes over to me, smacking me upside the head, “You need to tell me now! I'M involved now and THAT'S what friends do!”

I look up at her slowly with a sad, surprised smile, “You s-still consider me your...friend?”

She smiles wryly, “Well...you didn't let me die, so...yeah. Quite a bit, actually.”

“I still consider you my friend too,” I admit quietly.

Nene sits down next to me, “Good, so then talk to me.”

I sigh and take a deep breath, finally making eye contact with Nene after I spend a few seconds staring at either the ground or the stars, which in that moment, seems to take up way more time than it actually does. “My family and I are...w-witches,” and I quickly stop to interject, “And before you roll your eyes and think I'm crazy, it's true!”

Nene lays back on the ground, “That would explain how you did the stuff you...did...r-right?”

I shake my head slowly, “Only...On-only some of it, like the moving things and stuff. B-but...I don't know how I knew how to fight or kill them suddenly.”

“Or how you could actually hurt them when you hit them?” Nene adds questioningly.

I nod, “Exactly...I wonder...”

Nene sits up, “Wonder what?”

I gingerly touch my chest, hearing the words that the man told me all over again like a song in my head that I can't forget. Curse, curse, curse.

“Curse,” I whisper out.

“Curse?” Nene repeats, confused.

“Y-yeah...you see, there's a...SMALL chance I'm...cursed,” I say slowly.

Nene raises her eyebrows again, “A small chance?”

I pull the neckline of my shirt down to show her the mark, “Maybe a bit...bigger than that, honestly.”

It feels almost as if the mark starts glowing in that moment, despite being a dark spot. Nene's eyes shine with confusion, wonderment, and finally fear, as she becomes mesmerized by the black spot covering my heart. Yet, a strange sense of peace falls over me, washing over my body with relief that no longer was it just MY burden.

This feeling of relief only lasts a few seconds, though.

“Oh my god, Carwen! Have you gone to a doctor?” she exclaims.

I roll my eyes, “And say what? Do you have a cure for curses!?”

“B-but how do you know it's a...curse then?” she asks, furrowing her brows.

“It looks like one and...it f-feels like one. It happened after I got bit by that wolf, and the...nightmare,” I answer, trying desperately to discover a new magical word that will get my point across better, but finding none.

Nene slowly nods, her face showing that she's clearly having to force herself to understand everything, “And...your family might have stuff on curses?”

I shrug, “Sure. We have this big library below our house where we keep all these magical, special, spooky books.”

Nene gets up quickly, “Then let's go ask your family if they know anything about this curse!”

I pop up immediately, grabbing her arms, “No! We can't TELL my family! They'll worry and they're already...disappointed with me enough. I don't want them to think I'm some trouble magnet...after all they've done for me since L.A....” I say in a flurry of words at first, but then more slowly towards the end.

Nene watches me carefully, “W-what happened in L.A.?”

I shudder and feel my heart pound with a beat of sadness, “I lost control...it was...h-horrible.”

Nene takes in a slow, deep breath, “Did...did someone get hurt?”

I nod and rub my arms to stop myself from shaking, “Yeah...”

Nene frowns, “I'm...sorry.”

I rub my arms more, looking at the ground with tears swimming around in my eyes, “I didn't mean to...”

“Why would you?” Nene asks sincerely.

I look at her directly, ice shooting into my blood with the truth, “Because she hurt me so bad! They...both did.”

Nene raises her eyebrows, and then cautiously sits next to me on the ground, “H-how?”

I shrug carelessly, trying to hide the pain, “The...typical stuff. Boyfriend cheated on me and I...lost it...you know, like a typical girl.”

Nene rolls her eyes at my sexist joke, but returns the mood to a somber atmosphere. “And how much did you lose it?” she inquires.

“Enough to turn my whole world upside down and...” and I pause, thinking back to Ms. Thorn's face before she started to disintegrate, “And enough to...e-end someone's world.”

Nene unconsciously sucks in some air without thinking, smiling awkwardly afterward. “So...THAT'S when you moved here?”

I nod and sigh while looking up at the sky, “Prrreeeetttttty much.”

“It really bugs you, huh?” Nene asks rhetorically while looking up at the sky with me.

I shake my head quickly, “Naaah, I like Wyoming. It's...pretty...and stuff.”

Nene laughs and flicks me in the arm, “Not that! The situation that brought you here! I mean you're obviously better at controlling that stuff now...r-right?”

I wink at her, “For the most part. But yeah...I mean OBVIOUSLY it bugs me...but it also makes me feel like I can...n-never get clean enough. I can't run away from it far enough and all I want to do is...run away from it all...”

“I get that,” Nene says, and then clears her throat quickly to edit the statement, “I mean, I've never...h-hurt someone before...but I've wanted to RUN AWAY many times. I never did though because I didn't think anyone would chase after me or ya know... miss me.”

I smile at her and give her a hug, “Well I'd miss you! And if you do decide to run away, I'M coming along.”

“Trouble seems to follow you, though...I don't know if I want you to come,” Nene says dramatically, laughing loudly.

I bite my lip and touch my chest gingerly, “Yeah...as funny as that is...it's sort of true. I don't know why though...”

Nene shrugs, “Who knows...but why – and I know this is stupid to ask – but why did you lose control that time?”

I run my fingers through my hair, “My powers just had to awaken that day.”

Nene rolls her eyes and laughs, “Seriously? That sounds like something that would happen to me!”

I laugh and kick some dirt with my shoe, “Yeah! My brother's powers awakened when he had a cold and he lit a TISSUE on fire. My mother's powers awakened while she was in the shower because she made the shower turn to ice, and my father's powers awakened when he woke up in the morning and he found himself flying. I got...screwed.”

Nene laughs, gets up and begins to dust herself off, “Yeah, that sounds exactly like me. I can't believe your brother lit a tissue on fire, though!” she says giggling for a few seconds before quickly switching the subject as she gestures towards me, “C-come on, let's go find out more about this...stuff.”

I slowly smile and have Nene help me onto her horse and grab Jasper's reins so he can trail behind us slowly. We walk extra slowly back to Nene's house, putting the horses back into the stalls and cleaning Jasper's wound. I just watch as Nene gingerly takes care of Jasper, calming him down the entire time. The horse's fear just seems to melt away as she takes care of him as if she really can connect to him.

Eventually, Nene comes out of his stall and sits down next to me outside. “Have you called your brother?” she asks.

I nod, “Yeah, he'll be here soon. Gosh...what a craaaaazzzzzzy day...I miss the days when all I was scared of was school...”

Nene laughs loudly just as my brother pulls up in his red truck. The big wave he gives me as he climbs out of the car makes my heart feel warm, and safe again. After that, Nene and I rush back into her house to say good-bye to everyone, while Nene assures her mother she'll be fine over at my house. We squeeze into the truck after that, with me in-between Nene and my brother, which leads to a silence in the truck so awful that I make odd noises just to fill the time in-between my brother opening his mouth and then grunting, and Nene looking out the window as if the world is made of gold. I finally get to the point where I can only sigh, because not even my funny noises lighten the mood, and begin to count the seconds until we get home, REALLY not wanting to deal with more strangeness.

Upon getting to my house, I introduce Nene to my family, and just reintroduce my brother for fun. My brother remains rather quiet though, despite being around my father, so I grab Nene and bring her safely into my room to save her from more awkwardness. We wait in there, talking about the day until one by one we hear all my family members go to bed. Once we both agree that everyone must be asleep, we quietly sneak down towards the cellar, tripping over things while in the kitchen...and struggling not to laugh about it the entire time. It WOULD escape in squeaks here and there, though. Finally, we make it into the cellar and we both stumble around in the dark, looking for the light switch, which Nene finds first, revealing the crates upon crates of books stored down there.

We both look at each other, seeing the exact same look in each other's eyes; a mixture of annoyance, despair, determination, and, of course, sleepiness. Without another single word, we begin to comb through the books, looking for titles that have things mentioning curses, but finding the whole situation quickly becoming like finding a needle in a haystack.

Nene sighs loudly, “I've read this book already!”

“I know,” I agree despairingly, “I've read this one too!”

“There's got to be an easier way to find what we need,” Nene muses.

I shrug and grab another book, “I don't know...I'm still so NEW at this.”

“That makes TWO of us,” Nene says sarcastically, smiling in my direction.

I grin brightly until I hear some footsteps by the cellar door. I panic and point vigorously towards Nene to hide. Frantically, Nene looks around for a place to hide before shoving herself into a crate that's partially empty of books, clearly trying her best to not make the rest of the books in the crate come tumbling out like an avalanche.

A knock on the door zaps my attention back over to the door just as my brother gingerly opens it slowly, “Carwen, it's laaaaatttttte. WHAT are you doing?!”

“I-I-I'm researching,” I stutter out.

Caleb scratches his back and yawns, “CAN'T this wait until tomorrow?”

“N-no?” I defend pathetically.

Caleb looks around slowly at the books scattered all over the place, “Whhhhhhy?” he asks slowly.

“Because it's...it's serious,” I state confidently before blanching as my brother picks up one of the books in a pile that Nene and I had made.

“How to Break a Curse,” my brother reads slowly before grabbing another book in that pile, “List of Common Curses,” and then he pushes some books around so he can read more titles, “The Origins of Curses, Curses on Witches, The Curse of the Black Arts...Caaaarrrrrwwwwwen...”

“J-just curious, ya know,” I stutter nervously out...again.

My brother grabs one of the books and sighs sadly, waving it in the air, “Curses are NO joke, Carwen. Sometimes it's even better to not research them because that knowledge can make you more open to the damaging world that they're from.”

“I kno-,” I begin before being cut off by my brother.

“No, you don't know! You think that this is just some stuff you can research like how you can research stuff in school without bearing any consequences, but THIS is serious,” he says passionately. “I just...don't want to see you get hurt...that's all.”

I nod and grab my brother in a hug, “I won't,” I say slowly.

Caleb pulls away and looks around, “Soooo, are you going to tell me why you're researching curses so fervently?”

I start to shake my head, but just as I do Nene moves a bit, making all the books in that crate tumble out like an avalanche of guilt. She cries out in pain and pops out, meeting my brother's confused and shocked eyes that quickly switch to anger once he flicks them back over to me.

“You...brought her here?!” he exclaims as quietly as he can while still sounding seriously furious.

“It's not what you think!” I exclaim, trying to calm him down.

“I can't believe you would do this!” Caleb says as he grinds his teeth in frustration.

Nene pipes up, “She just needed help!”

Caleb freezes and stares directly at me, “H-help with what?”

“M-my research?” I mutter quietly, losing confidence in every cell of my being in that instant.

“On curses?” he asks rhetorically confirming.

I nod, “THAT'S all...”

“But why?” he asks slowly, never moving his eyes from me.

Nene clears her throat, making me look at her, “Just TELL him. Maybe he can help.”

I choke on fear, “I-I can't!”

Caleb grabs my arms and looks straight into my eyes, “Tell me, NOW!”

I wriggle out of his arms and walks towards a wall, sliding down it slowly while shaking. “I might be...cursed.”

Nene frowns at me and I clear my throat, “I...am cursed,” I say, altering my statement while I pull down the neckline of my shirt to reveal the black mark on my heart.

Caleb backs up and gasps, “WHAT?!”

I gaze at the ground sadly, “P-please don't tell Mom and Dad.”

“Why?!” Caleb asks, baffled.

“B-because it will worry them...” I say slowly as I try to process the entire situation that's going on before me in my head.

“We don't even know if it's something to worry about yet,” Nene insists, trying to be helpful and clear the air a bit.

Caleb frowns and says, “If it's a curse, then it's ALWAYS serious.” He stops and looks around the room, “How did this even happen in the first place?”

“When the wolf...bit me,” I answer while I slowly crawl back up to stand.

Caleb sighs, “How do you even know it's a curse? It COULD just be a spell that went wrong...or...or a MILLION other things!”

I shake my head as Nene frowns, “No,” I say slowly, “It feels...wrong. Like...like an invasion. It's w-weird...it's WRONG,” I assure him, emphasizing as much as I can through my voice how it feels wrong...how somewhere in my body I can feel danger looming over me.

Caleb runs his hands through his hair and paces a bit before rummaging around through the books, “Then you need to find out what this is and how to break it. Like NOW.”

I walk up next to him, “What are you looking for?”

“The Tome of Identification,” he states plainly. “It helps witches discover what spells or curses are being used on them. It won't give us much,” he begins, “ but it'll tell us what this is...which will be a good place to start.”

I nod at Nene and we all begin to comb through the books in the crates, hunting for the tome before I finally stumble upon it. I hold it up in the air and announce I found it proudly right before I begin to quickly search through the pages. All the pages are blank though, and I glare at my brother while pointing at the blank pages. “There's NOTHING in here, Caleb,” I exclaim, worry taking over my voice.

Caleb grabs my hand and takes his beloved pocket knife, which is never far away from him except when he's in the shower, cutting my finger and placing it onto the page. “It identifies through blood,” he says in a scarily, calm way.

Nene takes in a slow breath and peers at the book cautiously, “How will we know when it's working?”

The book begins to glow and grow warm to my touch, making Caleb smile. Then, he turns to Nene smiling widely, “Oh, you just know.”

I gasp as the book grows hot, and then quickly the light and heat begins to fade as letters on the page start to reveal themselves. Slowly the page creates three words, and as I begin to read them I feel my heart beat shake my entire body with each beat.

“The...Savior's...Curse?” I say slowly.

Caleb scratches his head, “I've...never heard of that one...”

Nene gasps, “But I'VE seen that somewhere in a table of contents of a book here!” Then, she rushes over to her pile of books and rummages around, smiling as she grabs a book confidently, before flipping to a page and handing it to me.

I hold the book shakily, feeling my heart sink with dread. Not much is on the page...but enough to confirm my fear is. It makes me drop the book and begin to shake so hard that I can't breathe. Without thinking, Caleb grabs me into a hug and gestures towards Nene to read what's on the page as I just stare blankly at the ground with dread while the words twist my mind up so much that I can see them wherever I look.

Nene slowly grabs the book, visibly shaking now too. “T-there's...not a lot on here,” she says slowly before reading what's on the page. “The Savior's Curse...created by blood mages to save humanity from unholy offspring. It's purpose is to...a-absorb the host's...soul,” Nene says, choking on the words. “K-killing them, but...but never letting their soul find peace because...it traps them for eternity. There is...no way to break this...curse,” Nene finishes, dropping the book and crumbling to the floor.

I begin to cry, choking on my sobs so much that I find the room growing dark before finally going completely black. Despite it all going dark though, I can feel the words still hanging in the air like fog. Thick fog. I don't even want to open my eyes for a while because I know that all I'll see are those words when I do. Once I do finally open my eyes, I wake up in my room with Nene sleeping next to my bed on the ground peacefully, and instead of waking her up I just stare at the ceiling.

'Are you ready to die?' he says in my memories as I close my eyes.

I touch my fingers to my face and frown at my frailty. For once...I feel like I'm going to die, instead of hoping against it. Those books know way more than me...a brand new witch...and they say there's nothing I can...do.

“Do I have a choice?” I whisper out to my ceiling before rolling over to my side and squeezing my eyes shut. Darkness finally comes back to me, but my dreams are nowhere to be found. Only dreams and thoughts involving other people. Then, I quickly realize that these are the other souls within the curse. THIS is my future. THIS is what I get to hope for.

THIS...is my only future now.

Written By Melissa Seeger.  2014.

6: Cursed: Chapter 6

Cursed: Chapter 6

I curl up into a tight ball as my mother gently knocks on my door, telling both Nene and I that it's time to get ready for school, and also that breakfast is on the table downstairs. I hear Nene's sheets crinkle as she rolls over to face my bed, yawning and muttering about how she hates mornings as if it's just an average morning. I can barely breathe though, and don't move an inch. It doesn't take long for Nene to notice that I'm not moving, and when I hear the creaking of the floors around me, notifying me that Nene's moving, I can feel long seconds pass by right before I feel her gently sit on my bed next to me.

“Your mother knocked on the door,” Nene says with another yawn, watching me curiously for any clue on how I might react this morning, which I catch through my peripheral vision.

I stare at the wall without moving before switching my gaze to my sheets, and finally moving my gaze to my hands. I've brought so much misery with these two hands...and that's all I can think about. Even Nene is tied up in it all now, and THESE TWO HANDS...made it possible. How did I even manage all this?! I'm just one girl...

Nene pokes me gently, “Time to get up,” while eying me still with worry in her eyes. She then gently rests her hand on my shoulder and frowns in her body language as I shudder under her touch. Without even blinking she scoots over to the other side of me to lay down next to me, stretching a bit before going a bit limp, “Sooooo...I take it you didn't sleep well.”

My voice cracks, “How could I?”

Nene shakes her head, vibrating my bed a bit, “I...I don't know...I honestly...don't know.”

I stare at the friendly wall again, and it's a useful wall too. A nice wall that has a purpose. It helps people, protects people, and guides people too. A wall with a destiny built within every fiber of its being. I have to wonder though, that when it was a tree if it knew it was going to become a wall. Do you truly ever know your destiny? Even if it seems like a good one? It seems like the only destinies you become aware of are the ones that do harm. The others seem to go unnoticed, and still people...and trees stumble upon them. How did I stumble upon this destiny, though? With my two hands? With my magical birthright? Everything seems so tied together with all that I do and am except in moments like these...where I can't possibly feel more far away from myself.

Suddenly, the wall doesn't seem so friendly anymore. It feels trapped...just like me.

Nene clears her throat from the receding sleepiness, “I-I know this sounds silly, but it sounds like your curse has been around for a long time. There just HAS to be more information on it,” Nene says confidently. “If we can just, you know, just learn more we might be able to...stop it. I mean, that's what witches do, right? Break curses and...light stuff on fire.”

Tears form in my eyes and I choke on some air I try to breathe in, “Y-yeah, that's all we do. I'm really good at lighting stuff on fire, that's for sure...”

Nene hugs me in an awkward, side hug, “You do a lot of good too! Don't start doubting that now. You just...can't.”

I break the hug, sitting up abruptly to look down at Nene, “REALLY?! Are you so sure about that?!” I whisper furiously. “All of this is unnatural! That's WHY it happened to me! I deserve this curse! I'm unnatural and I...I screwed up! I DESERVE everything that's happening to me!”

Nene sits straight up with astonishment in her eyes, “You can't be serious! You're 16! Nobody deserves to die that early!”

“Doesn't mean it...doesn't happen,” I say defeated, feeling my inner fire dissipate. “Besides, I do deserve this. I really...REALLY do.”

Nene runs her fingers through her hair, “Because of what happened at your last school?”

I groan and put my face in my hands, “YES! What do you think!?”

Nene shakes her head, “THAT'S in the past, and you're trying soooo hard to get better at magic so that DOESN'T happen again,” she says while poking me with her finger, making me look up out of my hands just enough to see her comforting smile. She touches my hands and smiles even more, “You are better than this.”

I look up at her with tears beginning to cloud my vision, “That doesn't forgive what happened!”

Nene lays down next to me again with a long sigh, “The only person who hasn't forgiven this is you...”

I wipe my eyes, “Yeah, I...I know. I mean, the magical w-whatever council and my family protected me so it's like...it never happened, but I just...I feel like I cheated. And I don't...c-cheat...” I say, stopping for a second to whisper, “like some people.” Then, I clear my throat and wipe my eyes roughly, “I want some kind of atonement, b-but how does a kid my age even get atonement, y-you know?! I can't do anything except...live with this...and-and...I don't think I can.”

Nene frowns, “Yes you can! You'll be okay!”

I stare blankly at the wall and whisper as my mood falls deeper into a darkly somber nature, “Have you ever been so angry that you scare yourself because...you lose yourself?”

Nene shivers unconsciously and shakes her head slowly, “N-no...”

“I have,” I whisper quietly. “I've been angry many times before that, but in that instant I just finally showed it... It's part of me, and it's so easy to lose myself like that, and maybe I'm supposed to be lost in this curse too...”

Nene shakes her head furiously and insists, “No! You won't lose yourself to this...thing!”

“It's NOT a thing, Nene!” I whisper passionately through my tears. “This is ME! The magic is me! The curse...is me... I feel that with everything I've just...sh-shattered into a bunch of sides of m-me, and now there's not enough room in my body to fit them all back in.”

Nene sniffs and grabs my hand, “Everyone feels like that. It's called...growing up.”

I frown, and then start laughing sardonically, “This was not part of my plan...”

“There's no way to actually...PLAN for growing up,” Nene says with a smile, making me smile a true smile for a bit.

With a deep sigh, I hug my knees to my chest as I touch my heart, “H-honestly...it's all making me question who I truly am at my core...b-because...because what if I am just that angry person? What if I'm just wrong and...and that's why I'm cursed...”

Nene inhales deeply before giving me another awkward side hug, “It'll be okay.”

I clear my throat and laugh harshly, “WHY are you okay with this?! You should-should be running!”

Nene shrugs and laughs a bit, “Well I do have to be a little bit stupid, right? That's why you're tutoring me, remember?”

I laugh with her, but then I stop once my brother knocks on the door and walks in shortly afterward. His tender smile tries to mask the sadness in his eyes, but it doesn't, “Are you going to school today? I can tell Mom and Dad you aren't feeling well,” he offers. “I'd honestly understand if...if you wanted to stay home.”

I smile, and feel a bit of relief sit on my shoulders because of the fact that I don't have to put everything into words right away. Nodding towards Caleb to agree to his offer, I also whisper a small, “Thank you,” while he leaves my room.

Nene tries to smooth her hair down anxiously, “I-I should probably go home then. Get ready for...school and stuff.”

I frown, and then turn to my nightstand to hand her my hair brush. Thankfully, she sighs in relief and I chew my lower lip nervously as my thoughts return to the situation, “I don't know how to face them,” I finally admit.

Nene puts the hair brush on my bed and sighs, “It'll get easier once we figure this out some more. We just need to find out everything we can about...this. Say,” she says with another tone before switching to a more quizzical one, “how did you know this was a curse in the first place, again?”

I breathe in deeply, “Well it felt like one and I was to-...told,” I start to say before dropping off my sentence awkwardly as my mind begins to race towards an epiphany.

Apparently Nene follows me there and her eyes widen as she gasps, “Told by WHO?!”

I frown again and rub my eyes with frustration, “I don't know his name, ugh!” I throw my hands down to my sides and sigh deeply before grabbing my pillow to smother a yell in. Once I calm down a bit, I peak my head out to find Nene's face in pretty much the same position as it was before my scream. Clearing my throat awkwardly in order to resume the scene after my awkward scream pause, I say, “He actually told me I was going to die by this curse before I really even found out. I mean,” and I sit up with a strange sense of excitement, “He was right! If I can...e-even be happy about that,” I muse to myself a bit out loud.

Nene rolls her eyes in a lighthearted manner, “Yeah, that's a really crappy thing to be right about.”

I smile and laugh a little, “Yeah...but still, he probably knows more than we do right now.”

“Which means he knows more about it than basically its name, right?” Nene points out sarcastically.

I laugh and smack her on her shoulder, “Yeah, yeah, essentially that. Waaaaay to rub it in.”

Nene gets up and straightens her clothes in a determined manner, “Then you just have to find him and make him talk to us,” she states as if it's the easiest thing in the world to do.

I blink, “H-how?”

She shrugs, and then begins to chew on her lips as she tries to work out the puzzle before us in her mind, “I don't know. Trap him?”

I roll my eyes and laugh again, “Trap him? Should I play a damsel in distress too?”

Nene sticks her tongue out at me playfully, “Only if you want to, although I don't see you ever truly being in distress...you'd probably go down biting the person's ankles, in all honesty,” she says laughing as I roll my eyes at her. “But I mean, how did you meet the last time?” she finally asks after sobering up from laughing.

I plop back on my bed, thinking back to that memory like I'd just been shot by it, “When he ate Bryan.”

“Well then...let's um, try to find another way to bait him this time,” Nene says awkwardly, smiling a bit as her dark humor starts to poke through.

I roll my eyes, silencing her dark humor for now before laughing cynically, “Maybe I can be the bait...I like trying new things and I think I could be the damsel in distress for once. I won't bite his ankles, I swear.”

Nene frowns and grabs a shoe on the ground to throw lightly at me, “I don't want to risk you getting eaten! NO DEATH WISHES!”

I smile and jump up to hug her, “I promise I won't! I can't leave you alone now...after like everything,” I say, finishing awkwardly and looking at my fingers.

Nene hugs me again tightly, “Exactly.”

Nene then leaves my room, waving as she closes my door and I can hear the faint conversation of my brother jumping up to take her home so she can get ready for school. This makes my father laugh so hard that I can feel it all the way in my room, and I can also feel the glare coming from my brother towards my father all the way in my room too. Shortly after my father stops laughing, our front door closes, gently shaking the house a bit, and then my mother knocks on my door lightly as she enters with a plate of food and some juice in her hands.

“How are you feeling, dear?” my mother asks, worryingly. I never miss school so it's pretty understandable that she'd get worried over this.

I change my sitting position on my bed to where I'm sitting on my legs and shake my head slowly, “I just feel so...off and...gross,” channeling all my inner turmoil into that sentence to really sell it.

My mother smooths down my hair with her hands and kisses me on the forehead, “Probably due to so much excitement yesterday with your new friend. Just take it easy, okay?”

I nod and drink some juice with my best sick face plastered on until she leaves my room, and then I pop up to begin pacing. All I can keep coming up with is that I have no idea how to get a hold of this guy. I haven't heard from him at all since that day. All I know is that he has to know something! I can FEEL that he does. I mean...he knew about me. How did he even know about me in the first place?! Honestly, if I wasn't so desperate for answers...I'd find it creepy.

Once my family leaves the house, I sneak out for a walk, knowing very well that if I'm caught outside my parents will certainly ground me until who knows when, but I figure they'll be gone for a while and won't come into my room all day so I can get some rest, THEREFORE...I should be fine. Emphasis should always be put on the conditional stuff though, so I sneak out very carefully...as if I'm sneaking out of prison or something. Whenever I am sick though, I sleep like the dead, so my normal sick schedule will help cover for me a lot. I also leave my bedroom window open just in case they come home before I can get into my room through the front door. Of course that plan hinges on me being able to actually climb into that window...

I can confidently say that I THINK I might be able to. However, the last time I climbed up anything it was an apple tree...which ended with me basically hugging the tree and my brother having to climb up there to carry me back down. All for a silly apple too. An apple I never got, at least from the tree. My brother did walk me to the store and buy me an apple afterward, though.

I jump on a few dead leaves as I walk into a part of our property that leads to a dense forest. I'd never been in it until now, and it all looks like a secret hideout of some sort. The sunlight just barely graces the ground, so there isn't a lot of plants. Mostly just pine needles, a few bushes, dead leaves, and lots of rocks to trip on. I carve my own path through the forest and walk in a straight line so I know how to get out, admiring the giant pine trees dominating most of this forest as I walk in. They seem so strong and so definite to remain forever...they'll probably become a wall someday, though.

I shake my head from the depressing thoughts and move confidently further in until I hear a rustle of leaves and pine needles behind me. I start to turn around just as I hear another crunch from squished pine needles, lighting up my heart to start beating faster. It's probably just an animal...juuuuussssst an animal.

Then, low, deep breathing reaches my ears and I freeze entirely. A really big animal. A really, really big animal!

Shaking visibly, I turn around slowly and jump backwards as soon as I meet a pair of big, black eyes staring straight at me. Tripping on a rock as I jump backwards, I collide with the ground to find 3 more of them, all of them standing on two feet and seeming very human, save for the stone white skin that appears to have burns all over, and veins visible in their face, throbbing around their eyes and mouth. Then, they all slowly smile at me in unison, revealing a mouth full of teeth just like a shark, but it looks like the teeth go all the way into the back of their throat. I try to gasp, but it gets stuck in my throat as one hisses, showing off their forked tongue as it moves closer towards me. I shuffle backwards on the ground, still in shock as one of them smiles wider, wider than humanly possible, with the ends of their smile practically reaching their ears, while it follows me with slow, steady steps. Like an idiot, I squirm right smack into a tree and find myself staring straight at it with no where to escape to. Watching in terror as it raises its hand towards me, its hand changes to a set of long, black, thick claws, right before my eyes as it prepares to strike.

I scream and feel my heart stop for a second, but then suddenly burst into a loud thumping drum, forcing me to open my eyes and throw my body to the side of the tree, making the thing strike the tree accidentally, and slicing through it as if it's butter. The rest of the tree begins to fester, rot, and turn black starting from where it was struck and spreading to the rest of the tree, causing it to shake before it topples to the ground. I scream again, squeezing my eyes shut as some of the pieces of the tree topple towards me, only to find a great force press up against me and push me away from the pieces. I open my eyes and find the strange man...well vampire, as I know now, standing in-between me and the things that are now snarling in a low, throaty way.

“Back off! She's ours! WE found her first,” one of them growls without moving their mouth at all, making me stare at them in terror as it almost echos out of them from all around me.

He steps towards them, “SHE belongs to no one!”

Another one laughs with a high pitched laugh, sounding like a banshee wail...if I ever heard one, “She belongs to death. It's written on her heart,” it says menacingly while pointing at me with its claws.

“Back off, demons,” the man/vampire says forcefully with a growl as I feel the air instantly grow colder and denser around us.

One of them steps up to him confidently, “She will taste so good. They always do...”

The man who drained and killed Bryan, who let me find him, toyed with me, hinted at something I didn't fully know at the time, now stands between me and these things...and strangely seems unfazed, which worries me in a totally different way, all together. He said that one time he would never kill me, but assured me I would die nonetheless. Yet, here he is standing between me and those things, not moving, not afraid, and clearly preventing his own prophecy.

His head turns slightly towards me, revealing a small grin that's gone in a flash to be replaced with an emotionless face as he grabs one of the things and throws it into the others. He turns around, quickly grabbing me and pushing me towards the way out of the forest...actually, to be honest, practically throwing me towards the way out.

“Go!” he yells.

I blink in fear as one of those things rushes towards him in a fury, knocking him to the ground and pinning him there. Another jumps towards him, and begins slashing at the man who saved me, sending shreds of his clothes, blood and flesh into the air. The vampire who just saved me is getting destroyed...for me. The one who saved me is doing this, and while still screaming out in pain, holds their attention with almost...a smile.

I feel the pounding of my heart as if it's music and throw myself at the creature slashing at him with my short, nubby nails, throwing it off balance a bit before I kick it square in the chest, propelling it backwards. Then, I feel the whole scene freeze as all their eyes turn towards me, and my heart plummets to the ground with the realization of what I really just did.

“She's going to be a fun one,” says the one who's sitting on the guy who saved me, pinning him down as he writhes underneath it, yelling at me to run away.

I shake my head slowly and back away without thinking, and then quickly, that guy throws the creature off of himself and pins it down, placing his hands on the sides of the creature's face and ripping off its head with a grisly crack. The creature's eyes blink in shock even after its head has been removed from its body, chomping violently at the man before he throws the head into the forest. Then, the man jumps off the body as it wriggles and bursts into flames, finishing in a small explosion to reveal nothing there anymore except a burnt spot where it once was.

I stare in shock as he collides with another, clashing with fists and kicks, completely unaware of my staring. However, the other ones come after me, and I turn my gaze to them for a split second before I turn around and start running towards the edge of the forest. My lungs burn and I feel their breath on my neck for a second, making me duck, jump and dodge out of the way as one swings in my direction. I look around frantically for anything I can throw at them and grab a tree branch, banging one upside the head, but as I go in for a second strike it grabs the branch with its claw like fingers, making it rot and crumble before my eyes. I scream and jump behind a tree as another one flings at me, jumping through the air with its claws pointed at me, but it strikes the tree instead and gets stuck. I jump around and grab a rock, pressing its body into the tree and smashes its head with the rock as hard as I can. I scream and yell in fury until the other one crashes into me, throwing me to the ground.

I tumble along the forest's floor, and then look over in astonishment as the one in the tree plucks its claw from the tree, causing the tree to snap like a twig and tumble down before turning its head all the way around towards me to reveal its head healing. I wriggle on the ground, trying to get back on my feet and feel my heart pound like a drum giving me orders. Then, one lunges at me, but the shock of this doesn't phase me suddenly as I take a slow, deep breath, grabbing the creature's arms and begin to whisper “Winter is coming, and it burns your heart and eyes, freezing your body, with blood of ice.”

I scream and release it all into the creature, watching it turn into an ice statue before me, fumbling backwards in shock just as its head turns to ice. Pausing for only a second to register what just happened, I smash my fist into its head with all my strength, shattering it, with my adrenaline clearly covering the pain in my hand. Then, I quickly jump away as the pieces begin to spark, bursting into flames just like the other one.

I start to get myself straightened out just in time to get kicked in the head by the other one of those creatures, wheeling my head around just in time to see that vampire guy rip off the other one's head and start rushing over to me at the same time. I blink, and then look up just as the creature kicks me again, knocking me to my knees and raises its claws to strike me.

“No!” I scream, grabbing its claws midair to completely render him immobile for a few seconds and leave that guy just enough time to jump onto its back so he can tear off its head right in front of me. He then grabs me and pulls me away from the creature as it falls to the ground to writhe and explode.

I look up at him in shock and breathe out, “I found you!” and then slowly smile in relief.

His eyes widen a bit in sarcastic shock, “I THINK I found you.”

I smile wider, and then grimace in pain, crumbling to the ground, “Ow! My leg! OW, it hurts so bad!”

He kneels down instantly and starts to examine the leg I'm pointing furiously to, “You probably strained something while fighting and didn't realize it,” he says thoughtfully. “Can you walk?”

I whimper a bit and feel tears flood my eyes, “No! Oh my god, how am I going to explain this to my family!? How am I going to get home?!” I say, panicking and frantically looking around.

Without a second thought he picks me up into his arms, as if I don't weigh anything, and starts walking out of the forest, “Just tell me where your house is and I'll take you there. It's not safe for you out here.”

I flinch a bit as he walks, and bite my lip in pain, “Okay...th-thank you.”

He instantly slows down his pace, “I'll walk slower for you.”

Then I stare at him with worry sinking in again, “Won't the...sunlight kill you?!”

He laughs, and then quickly stops as I wince from his laughter that causes his body to shake a bit, “Um, no. It'll hurt a bit, but the Sun's not really bright today because of all the cloud cover,” he says while gesturing with his head up towards the sky.

I frown and rub the sides of my head, “I barely even noticed...I've got a lot on my mind these days.”

“Feel free to tell me about it to kill the time,” he says nonchalantly.

I nod slowly and turn my gaze to where the end of the forest is, quickly realizing that at this pace it's going to be a while so we WILL have a lot of time to kill. “Um,” I start, trying to breathe through the pain throbbing in my leg, “W-what were those things?”

He looks at me surprised, “Didn't you hear me call them demons, or were you too afraid at the time to pay attention when I said that?”

I narrow my eyes at him, “I was afraid, but it didn't make me stupid,” I spit out.

He turns his gaze ahead, “Well...they're demons.”

I move a little, trying to alleviate the pain in my leg a bit, “Were demons.”

He shakes his head slowly, “No...wherever you kill a demon on Earth, another one will be born from its ashes 3 days later.”

I blink and gasp, “So they'll come back after me?!”

He shrugs lightly, making me gasp in pain a bit and forcing him to apologize really quickly. He then clears his throat, “No, totally different demon, from what I can gather. Besides, after rebirth they get sucked into hell for a while, and then whether or not they come out again depends on whether they can climb out.”

“Okay...so what happens if they can't climb out?” I ask, quizzically.

“It's either trapped or it dies,” he answers while he dodges a few rays of sunlight peering through the trees effortlessly, and apparently without worrying too much about them at all, as well.

“Buuuuut...you just told me they can't die,” I point out while rolling my eyes as I laugh.

He looks down at me and smiles while I laugh, “I said they can't be killed here on EARTH. They can be killed in hell, though.”

I sigh in relief a bit, “Well...I don't want to ever see one of those things again.”

He face suddenly shows a bit of pain, and then quickly switches his gaze up ahead, “Yeah...I suppose.”

I look up at him, studying him quickly before I feel another throb in my leg. “Ow! OW! Um-um, that's my house up there.”

He nods and I shift again, worrying if my parents are home or something. Without a second thought, I try to crane my neck up ahead to check, making him finally stop completely and stare straight at me.

“What are you doing?” he asks blatantly.

I sigh at the annoyance of my luck, but suddenly very thankful for the window I left open in my room, “You have to take me straight to my room,” I say, forcing the last few words through my teeth as my leg throbs again. “My parents might be home.”

He shifts uncomfortably, “Are you sure you want to?”

I look up at him annoyed, “Prrrreeetttttty sure, yeah.”

“Then you'd have to invite me into your house,” he says slowly, still shifting awkwardly.

I take in a deep, slow breath to help numb the pain, “I'm like really okay with that! Just help me get home, okay?”

He starts to move again right after that and we make it to my house eventually since he slows down every time I gasp in pain. Not to sound like I'm ungrateful or something, but that's just what he did. We don't talk the rest of the way though, and with him slowing down all the time, it seems like a really long, quiet, awkward silence. Nothing pops into my mind though, and all those questions I had about my curse really pale in comparison to the present awkwardness of the situation.

Once we get to my house, he stops right where I direct him to, which is right under my window, and he begins to shift uncomfortably again. He looks up and down, and makes an obviously conscious effort to not even touch the wall of my house, making me roll my eyes a little bit.

“Are you sure you're going to be able to even get me up there?” I ask, chewing my lip and noticing that climbing up there without carrying a person will be hard enough. I'm not really a climbing expert, though...

He nods and sets me down on the ground gently while still eying my house, “It won't be a problem as long as you invite me.”

I blink, puzzled, “How do I even do that?”

He gingerly grabs my hand, making me almost jump out of my skin in shock and surprise because he does it so tenderly despite being so cold, and how he does it so suddenly almost feels like an invasion of my personal space that's strangely welcome. Though, that might be because he did just finish carrying me from the woods. After grabbing my hand, he gently places it against the walls of the house and lets go of my hand, revealing the spot where his hand was on mine to now be suddenly very cold...which is weird when you think about it...

“Just say my name and invite me in,” he says quietly.

I shudder a bit without thinking, and then meet his strange, red eyes, “So...w-what's your name?”

He smiles a little smile that is revealed more in his eyes than on his lips, “Asher.”

A grin pops on my face without thinking as I clear my throat to sound official, “Asher, as part of the O'Kelly family, I hereby invite you into our house.”

He chuckles a bit and effortlessly picks me back up into his arms, “All that was a bit unnecessary. You could've just said 'Asher, come in'.”

I laugh and pout a little, “You really didn't give me detailed instructions! I was JUST being thorough.”

He laughs openly, and then crouches down before jumping into my room as if physics are only an option and not a law to him. Once inside my room, Nene jumps off my bed in surprise, openly gaping at both of us.

She points shakily at him, “Is this him?”

I nod and grimace in pain, “Yes. Are my parents home?”

She shakes her head slowly, “N-no. They went out to spend the day together, and yo-your brother brought me here after school.”

“Good,” I say confidently as I hop out of Asher's arms, rushing towards the window and slamming it shut. “Guard the door, Nene!”

Nene scrambles to guard my bedroom door, turning to face Asher with her most confident face, “So you WERE actually able to pull it off....”

I nod and smile, “YOU'RE the one who suggested I be a damsel in distress.”

Asher turns slowly to me, shaking his head and laughing, “You know I could get out of here if I wanted to, right? And for the record...I had a feeling you weren't really hurt,” he says, trying to clarify, while quickly rolling his eyes to hide his brief flush of embarrassment.

Oh yeah, I caught that.

I laugh, “Right... And you just wanted to carry me for 3 miles in your arms.”

Nene and I snort at the same time as Asher shakes his head again before he gracefully sits on my bed. “All right, soooo you got me. Why though?”

“First,” I start off, “No biting! I just felt like I should get that out of the way. I know you won't hurt me, but you can't hurt Nene either.”

His eyes move slowly over to Nene with a smirk as she frantically looks back at me, “W-why would he bite me?”

He points lazily to his chest, “Vampire,” and I nod as he does.

Nene takes in a shaky breath just before she squeals and is pushed forward by my brother flinging open my bedroom door. “W-what the hell!? WHO'S THAT?!” my brother exclaims.

“A vampire,” Nene says blatantly, obviously still not fully okay with that fact.

“Nene!” I cry out in frustration.

“What?” she says, rubbing her elbows absently.

My brother glares at me, “FIRST you get cursed and THEN you start bringing vampires in your room!?” my brother exclaims, making his whole body twitch in anger.

Asher leans back, “Ahhh, the curse. Is THAT why you brought me here?”

I turn quickly to him with a frustrated gaze, “Yes! Obviously!”

“It's called the Savior's Curse,” he says while grinning at my brother.

“We know that, bitey,” my brother points out sharply while taking a step towards him. “Do you know more than we do, though?”

“That's WHY we trapped him!” I exclaim, clenching my fists in anger. “You really should listen to me before you start...FLIPPING out like that!”

“Not now, Carwen,” my brother says forcefully, dismissing me and making my blood boil as he points sternly to Asher. “You. Speak now.”

Asher shrugs and turns his gaze to me, “I just know the usual stuff. Ancient curse, soul sucker, created to stop the unholy offspring of a vampire and a witch, and a magnet for all supernatural creatures,” he states plainly. “Just the stuff EVERYONE knows.”

Nene clears her throat awkwardly, “We...didn't know all that.”

Asher turns to her, “Really? Which parts?”

“What the unholy offspring was, like between a witch and a vampire, and...the magnet thing,” I answer slowly.

Asher looks at me, almost sadly, “I would've thought you would've figured it out by now.”

I shake my head sadly as my brother sighs, “Do you know anything else? I'd like to get you out of our house as soon as possible,” he says with annoyance in voice, not really understanding how learning any tidbit of new information meant like...the WORLD to me.

Asher grins, “I've been INVITED. I can come whenever I like.”

My brother glares at me again and I snap out of my thoughts to wave my hands defensively in the air, “How else do you think he's here, Caleb?!”

“Did you really have to invite him in?!” my brother counters with a mixture of anger and whining in his voice.

“I didn't know if Mom and Dad were home!” I exclaim.

“Mom and Dad are far less worse than a VAMPIRE!” my brother says with his voice raising to the point of yelling.

“I'M DOING MY BEST HERE!” I scream at him, causing all the books on my shelves to fly off.

Asher then gasps, looking at me and then the books that just flew off the shelves before returning back to me, “You're a witch?!”

I nod slowly and rub my temples, “Yes, so is all of my family. That includes my stupid brother,” I say, glaring at Caleb as he pretends to not notice.

“That...curse can't happen to witches,” Asher states with confusion.

I pull down the neckline of my shirt to reveal the black spot on my chest, causing an exasperated sigh to come from my brother, whining about how I shouldn't pull my shirt down in front of vampires. “Trust me, I'm cursed.”

Asher gets up and gently touches the spot for a second, shocking it briefly before my brother throws him back away from me. “You really are cursed...but-but that's impossible,” he says, not evening noticing that my brother pushed him away from me.

Caleb flicks at my hand, making me let go of my neckline and points at Asher, “You said it was made to stop a witch and a vampire from having a child. She's a witch. What's the big deal?”

Asher looks at me with wide eyes, “The door to magic is wired through your soul, and that door is tied to the very essence of what is good and pure. The curse is soulless, and it consumes the soul. But it can't consume a witch's soul because,” and he pauses, cocking his head to the side in bewilderment, “it has that unbreakable tie. It's why vampires and demons can't do magic. We...can only use the natural gifts of our race, and it's why the curse worked...as well as it did,” he says slowly, still watching me as if I'm the next great wonder of the world.

The room falls into silence for a second before Nene clears her throat, “Soooo...does that mean we actually have a shot at breaking this before it consumes her soul?”

“He just said it can't consume her soul, so Carwen is fine and doesn't have to worry,” Caleb states as confidently as he can.

Asher then breaks his constant gaze with me and shakes his head sadly, “You're still going to draw all sorts of supernatural creatures to yourself, and that's how it consumes the soul. They kill you, tearing you apart to feed on your life while the curse absorbs your soul, so instead of leaving this plane to escape the truest eternal pain of death, you'll feel every second of it as the curse keeps your soul alive...making you relive it for eternity,” he says quietly, looking at me with sad eyes.

I choke on the air and wildly grasp around for my bed to sit down on as the world begins to spin before me, “S-so...there's nothing we can do?”

Asher furrows his brows together, “Normally that would be correct...b-but you're a witch. There just might be something you can...do. I just don't know what,” he admits honestly.

“Then we need to tell Mom and Dad,” Caleb states.

I nod slowly while gulping at the terrifying thought of having to tell them, “I suppose...I do need to tell them.”

Asher clears his throat, “I should probably get going then...” and he turns to look at me straight in the eyes with a piercing gaze, “I wish you the best of luck, Carwen.”

I blink in confusion, “H-how did you know my name?”

He smiles, “Your brother said it while you two were arguing,” making me blush after he points that out.

Caleb sighs and grabs Asher by the arm, “I'll walk you out.”

Once they leave the room, Nene and I sigh at the same time in relief as Nene plops on my bed face first, “I suppose this is a good thing, huh?” she says, slightly muffling herself with my blankets.

I shrug, “The best thing so far to happen to me in a while, honestly.”

Nene turns to me with a confused face, “He's a vampire right? It's day time... How was he able to be outside?”

I look up at the sky through my window and sigh, “Cloudy day.”

Nene rolls over to look outside and widens her eyes in disbelief, “Wow...I didn't notice that until now.”

I shrug and look outside, “I didn't notice it either until he pointed it out.” I then take a deep breath and let out a long sigh with a loud gush of air, “I suppose we just have TOO much on our minds.”

Nene nods and sighs again, “Speaking of which...do you think you're ready to tell your parents?”

I gulp and shake my head while looking up at the clouds in the sky as if nothing was wrong in the universe at all, “Not at all. But it's time I do.”

Written By Melissa Seeger.  2014.

7: Cursed: Chapter 7

Cursed: Chapter 7

Nene stays at my house for support, which is something I don't think I need up until my mother and father walk through the front door. That's when it hits me like a tidal-wave. That's also when it hits them like a tidal-wave that something must be wrong due to the scene in front of them. It's a scene consisting of me looking up at both of them from the couch like a deer caught in headlights, while my brother paces, as Nene holds my hand with one of her hand's and hugs me with her other arm, ALL clearly conveying that something is wrong, making them both sit down instantly. Worry springs up into their faces, but my father's hand on my mother's shoulder calms the questions that almost spill out from her lips in that instant. Finally, my brother joins us and sits down next to me, lightly pushing me on the back to encourage me to get up and talk to them.

But...everything in my mouth decides to stop working in that instant though, and even breathing becomes one of the most difficult things I could ever do. I find I can't stand up, I can't talk, and I can barely breathe, all quickly pushing a thought to the front of my mind like a big, shining light.

How am I supposed to do this?! How am I going to do this?! Is there any other option out

there?!

My father notices that the tension isn't dissipating, so he clears his throat and smiles kindly at me, “Carwen...what's wrong?”

I take in a deep breath that betrays me, making me burst into tears, “I'm so s-sorry!” I sob out, quickly turning to frustration, “I a-apparently can't do like...ANYTHING right!”
Nene shakes her head quickly, “You know that's not true so stop saying that!”

I look at her as best as I can with my eyes full of tears, “I'm a freak, and you know that! I'm not supposed to even be able to get this...this CURSE in the first place!”

My mother and father both stand up in fright, “Curse?!” they cry out in unison.

Caleb gestures with his hands as calmly as he can, but even I can see that he's shaking, “Please sit down and just let her explain. Come on...just please.”

They both sit down on the edge of their chairs, looking directly at me and making my whole breathing process fly out the window completely this time. The world practically begins to swirl and bend before my eyes, and for once, I can feel the entirety of the curse. Such as how much its taken root within my body. I can feel the curse not just on my skin right there, but on my heart, weighing it down and spreading through every vein in my body. It begins to hit me how much this curse is becoming a part of me. It's now part of my heart and body, giving me strength when I need it to, even if it knows that it'll be detrimental to me in the end...and explaining this to my family not only gives me a death sentence, but a death sentence for a reason I know...

I can't be separated from it anymore, can I? It really is...me.

For some strange reason this gives me strength to calm the world down around me and take in a deep breath. I can feel right my heart pounding along with my curse in unison like a song, as if for the first time they both realize that they need each other. I...need it right now, and maybe in the future I will need it too, but I also need to know what to do, which is where my family comes in.

“I'm cursed,” I state plainly, feeling my spine straighten, and my body calm down despite the rhythm of my heart. “That night I got bit by that wolf I got this...c-curse.”

My father crumbles in his chair, looking at me destroyed at the same time as my mother bounces up and rushes towards me, smoothing down my hair while she touches my forehead tenderly, “What kind of curse is this? And are you sure it's a curse?!”

My brother runs his hands through his hair, and then places his face in his hands after looking at them for a brief second, almost as if he was hoping they'd give him some secret answer that he missed, “Yeah...we are all sure it's a curse, Mom.”

“It's called the Savior's Curse,” Nene adds, piping in as helpfully as she can despite the mood.

My father sighs, “Well,” and he clears his throat, “That doesn't sound so bad...”

I look up at my father and feel a few tears stain my cheeks, “It's going to kill me, Dad.”

My mother pulls my face close to her's earnestly with her hands, “No Sweetie, curses can be broken! We can fix this!”

I shake my head in unison with my brother and Nene, making my mother's face begin to crumble right before us. This takes only seconds, but it feels like forever, and finally my brother just gets up and begins pacing, “Mom,” he begins, “It's not like that. It's not...normal what's going on here!”

“Of course it's not normal,” my mother chides, “It's a-a curse!”

“But it can't be broken!” I exclaim, feeling the loudness of my voice scratch my throat. “It's just going to kill me and then move to the next person!”

“It's contagious?!” my mother exclaims, backing away subconsciously and making me wince a bit.

My father pulls my mother down to her chair and frowns deeply, “No Carrie-Anne, it's a living curse isn't it, Carwen? It chose you.”

I nod slowly, “I...I think so...but I don't know why. I'm not supposed to get cursed.”

My mother begins to chew her lips, “Witches get cursed all the time, and...and they break them all the time too! We c-can break it!” she says shakily, looking around the room desperately for support.

“This curse wasn't supposed to ever happen to a witch, Mom,” I explain sternly, snapping her out of her hopeful daydream. “I'd say its made a mistake but...” and I pause to look at Nene who smiles a little, “I don't think it has. It's...saved me a few times now, actually.”

“It's saved you, but it's going to kill you?” my father asks, confused.

“Well,” I begin, choosing my words carefully, “It's going to get me killed. It's a beacon, drawing...b-bad stuff to me.”

My father then begins to smile, making everyone in the room look at him strangely, “But it chose you and saved you, despite knowing it shouldn't choose you, correct?”

“Um, yes, I guuueeesssss...” I say slowly in a way where it sounds more like a question than a statement.

“Then maybe it's looking for a way to be broken. Living curses can do that sometimes,” my father says with a confident smile that makes a smile flicker on my face for a second.

Nene breathes a sigh of relief, “I had a feeling that was the case...I mean, I DON'T KNOW much about curses, but from an unbiased view that's...um...what it seems like...” Nene says, finishing off awkwardly and looking down at her feet by the time the last word leaves her lips.

I smile at Nene for a few seconds until my mother clears her throat and wipes her eyes, almost as if trying to wake up or something, “W-what does it do, Carwen? H-how is it...living?”

My father frowns, as if he knows exactly what I'm going to say, and then I feel the words suddenly choke me as the truth is not only terrifying to me, but it's actually horrifying in general. “It feeds on souls, Mom,” I say slowly, dropping down to a whisper. “It takes the souls of those who've died with the curse and moves on.”

My mother begins to shake as she starts crying, and my father holds her in his arms, kissing the top of her head, “How much have you looked into this curse, Carwen?” my father demands as calmly as possible, looking between my brother and I with a set of determined eyes.

I stare at my mother, completely stunned and mesmerized by her convulsions until my father clears his throat and repeats the question. “Uh...um, not much. Only what we could get from our books and As-a-a friend,” I say, quickly realizing that bringing up I have a friend who's a vampire might not be the greatest idea right now.

Nobody seems to notice my little correction except for Nene and my brother, who rolls his eyes at my correction and begins to mutter a little bit under his breath. Then, silence falls across the room, with only my mother's sobs bringing life into the somber area. After minutes that feel like hours pass by, my mother finally calms herself down enough to speak, with an idea bringing light and hope to her eyes.

“S-she needs to look more into this,” my mother explains, almost as if to herself. “S-she needs to go to Helen's bookstore,” my mother says as the hope of this statement wakes her up and makes her look directly at me, “Y-you need to go to Helen's bookstore.”

I blink, “Why?”

“It's a bookstore that's got a portal which connects to a mythical library for the witches,” my father explains confidently as hope grows in his eyes too. “It's got records on many things...one would say almost all things. Things from demons to curses...it's...it's got to have something on your...” but even my father's constant foundation of strength for everyone falters for a second, preventing him from saying the word 'curse'.

“Where is it?” my brother asks hopefully, starting to smile once again.

“It's in town, actually,” my father answers with a silly grin. “It's one of the reasons we moved here.”

Looks of realization rush to my face and my brother's face as our parents nod at each other, probably silently congratulating themselves on moving so close to the bookstore in the first place. They wanted us to be able to study our heritage, especially with everything that happened before we left, but now it wasn't just about that.

“Well, then we will all go in the morning,” my brother states definitely.

My father and mother then shake their heads, “No, you need to stay here,” my father explains. “You need to help us set up a protective barrier around the house.”

My mother nods in agreement, “Yes, if this really is a beacon, then we need to either disable the signal, or make it so they can't enter our house,” my mother explains, sitting straight up with all her strength changing the air around her. “We have to make sure that at least HERE...Carwen is protected.”

“Why me, though?” my brother asks as his shoulders drop with confusion, and almost a pitiful sort of annoyance.

“You know more about this stuff than your sister, so you'll be strong enough to help us,” my mother states. Then, she looks down at the ground and sniffs loudly before mumbling, “Besides, she's the one who has it.”

“Soooooo...I have to go to this bookstore place by myself?” I ask, puzzled, and not entirely fond of having to do that by myself, to be honest.

Nene shakes her head and smiles, “No I'll go with you. It'll get me out of school, at least,” she says with a small laugh. “I-I can go, right?”

My parents nod, before my father starts laughing, “But you BOTH are still going to school tomorrow.”

We all sigh in unison and I fall back on the couch with another sigh, staring at my still shaking mother that despite everything, manages to seem strong, and my father with his cool confidence pulling everyone out of their despairing emotions to come together. My brother is staring at the floor, but his eyes that normally are dancing with life are narrowed down into sheer determination, and Nene looks straight at me with a look that feels like she'll keep me going even when I can't anymore. It makes air rush into my lungs, because I know I'm not alone while pushing through this.

“Tomorrow then,” I say, feeling confidence and a glimmer of hope slip through even to me.

My father and I take Nene home after that, and I close my eyes for a second only to have to open them back up just as my alarm clock rings. The air downstairs is heavy in my house, but my family tries their best to keep going as they normally would, up until as I'm getting ready to leave with my brother for school our mother hands me a list of things to look up at the bookstore while I'm there. The world at school seems the most normal though, despite me having this nagging feeling that everyone should be looking straight at me. Judging me or something since I feel so...different. Nothing like that happens though, and throughout the day it feels just like another day where I'm another student out in the world, living a fabricated life within a larger playpen. It doesn't make it any less real, because the life in school is real. It's just...not my only life anymore. Sometimes I wish it was, though.

Once the last bell for school rings, we all flood out of our classrooms while my brother finds me at my locker to give me a hug and explain how he wants to get home quickly so he can help Mom and Dad with the spells. Nene stumbles up to my locker once my brother leaves and we start to walk towards the bookstore at first in silence. Then, second we step out of school's range, the strangest thing happens and we begin talking as if nothing is wrong at all. Just like how we did the first day we met. On the rest of the way to the bookstore we have conversations about school, teachers, outfits, girls, and of course boys.

“Do you like anyone at school?” I probe innocently.

Nene shakes her head quickly, “No, no, I'm pretty much set on like always being single, ya know?”

I nod and laugh, “You and me both. Boys better stay away from us. We are faaaaar too much trouble.”

Nene shrugs, “At least it keeps our life interesting.”

“True,” I agree. “But maybe one day we won't be single. You know, when our complex needs don't demand so much.”

“I don't think it works that way...” Nene muses thoughtfully. “I think they just start to understand that we have a lot of demanding, complex needs.”

I smile, and then playfully mention, “You know...because my brother lives with me he's pretty good at that stuff.”

Nene laughs forcefully, “Y-yeah, I'm sure he is. That's good...to know...” Then, she stops and points towards the bookstore, whispering now, “That's it, isn't it?”

I nod and we make our way to the entrance cautiously, as if it's going to jump out at us or something. I'm even cautious while opening the door, pulling the door open so carefully because I feel as if it's all going to be a trap or something, but once it opens it reveals just a completely normal looking bookstore inside. I blink and search around for something that says 'I'm a witch bookstore with loads of magical tomes', but I don't find any. Just the smell of musty books and the appearance of a typical bookstore, complete with a shelf dedicated to silly bookmarks and all.

A smiling lady with mousy brown hair and a round face with big dimples comes around the corner with her hands full of books, “I'm sorry, I didn't hear you come in! I was just cataloging. How can I help you?”

“I...er...am I in the right place?” I ask, looking back and forth between the lady and Nene, who just shrugs, since she's apparently in the same state of confusion as me.

The lady chuckles, “Well that depends, what are you looking for?”

“Books,” I say quickly, mentally smacking myself for blurting out such a dumb statement.

The lady chuckles again and plays absently with some pens on her front counter, “What kinds of books are you looking for? We have history books, romance books, fa--.”

“We need books on magic and curses,” Nene blurts out, cutting off the lady. I blanch, smacking Nene on the arm while she just shrugs awkwardly and glares at me for a brief second to silently say 'You were going nowhere! You're welcome.' The stare would've actually lasted a lot longer, but then a long sigh and a giggle comes from the lady at the front desk, snapping us out of our telepathic war.

“Oh okay,” she says laughing still, “Follow me.”

Nene and I follow awkwardly behind her to the back of the store where the lady places her hand on the wall and whispers a few words suspiciously. Then, the wall quickly fades, as if it wasn't there in the first place, revealing a fuzzy doorway to a room full of books as far as the eye can see.

“Just ring the bell by the door when you're ready to leave,” she says with a gentle smile, and then walks back to the front desk as if nothing strange had happened at all.

I gingerly touch the doorway, and then hold my breath as I go through, with Nene following shortly behind me and crashing into me slightly as we tumble into the huge library on the other side of the door. We both gasp in shock as we see towers of books upon even more towers of books all around us.

“Where...where do we even start in this place?” Nene asks in a high pitched voice filled with wonderment.

I shrug and spin around, “There?”

We shuffle awkwardly and as quietly as possible, nearly screaming as a person walks past us, surprising us. They barely notice us though, and just nod in our direction as they continue on their way. We finally make it to a section and look around at the titles, both of us quickly noticing a pattern.

“Werewolves,” Nene states, picking up a book and ruffling through the pages to a picture of one. “Look! Daaaaannnnnng, these look scary!”

I gently touch the book and scan the picture of a drawing of a werewolf that's drawn next to a person for comparison. The werewolf in the picture stands on two feet like the person, but is at least 2 feet taller than them, is covered with animal fur, has long arms that nearly touch the ground, sharp claws, and the snout of a wolf. It looks barely human...

“Says here that they serve powerful vampires, and are normally mindless, vicious killers, but vampires for some reason can communicate with them,” Nene says, pointing to spots next to the picture saying this.

I giggle and smile, looking up at Nene, “You know what this means right?”

She looks at me puzzled, “What?”

“Well obviously you're going to become a werewolf, or you are one already,” I say, busting up with laughter.

Nene raises her eyebrows before her face narrows down into annoyance, “Oh yeah, just because I'm Native American and I'm supposedly connected to nature and all that stuff, meaning I'm doomed to become some form of animal.”

“Or something,” I playfully add.

Nene rolls her eyes with a laugh, “Your 'something' is starting to worry me.”

I nod and hold my sides to keep my laughter from hurting me too much, “Well, I didn't write the rules here! It's fate, and you know it. Shoot, it even happens in children's movies! I mean, at the very least you'll probably be able to talk to them.”
Nene playfully smacks me upside the head with the book before she puts the book back, “Glad to know that you don't get wrapped up in silly stereotypes.”

I laugh and shrug, “You know what they say...stereotypes originated from some truth somewhere.”

Nene groans and smacks me again, but harder this time, “Yeah, from stupid people with too much time on their hands.”

“And people who love animals...like...oh I don't know...nature respecting Native Americans,” I add thoughtfully before breaking into another burst of laughter again until Nene smacks me on my arm again so hard that it hurts both of us. That just makes us both laugh though, so much so that we have to grab the bookcases to keep us from falling to the ground.

We finally catch our breath and wander around the corner to see what books are on the other side, smacking straight into a man who feels like he's made out of concrete, knocking both of us on the ground. I look up and gasp as two crystal red eyes meet mine in shock, causing Asher to drops his books awkwardly while he pulls both of us up from the ground.

“I'm sorry, I didn't see you!” he explains, effortlessly pulling Nene and I up from the ground at the same time as if he was lifting pillows or something.

Nene rubs her arms, muttering about how solid he is while I kneel down to pick up the books Asher dropped when he had to rescue us from the floor. An odd sense of curiosity strikes me though, so I scan the titles on the floor quickly, feeling a smile rise to my lips and my heart skip a few beats as it all registers in my brain. “The Origin of Curses, The Other Side of Curses, The Witches and the Curses: Harmony, Nostra's Curses, The Dark Curses,” I say, listing the titles I see as my smile grows wider with each title that I read out loud. I even catch a large smile from Nene in my peripheral vision too.

Asher kneels down and picks up the books quickly, “Y-yeah, just doing some research...”

“On curses, apparently,” Nene says with a giggle.

I hand Asher the books I picked up and smile at him, “You didn't have to do all this, you know?”

Asher smirks as he shrugs, “I know, but...I wanted to.”

Nene smiles and laughs, “Did you leave any books for us to look into?”

Asher grins, “Oh yes, I'm actually looking for the Black Codex right now. It's normally a very reliable source of information for curses, and can show how to break them, in most cases.”

I confidently raise my hand with my palm flat and pointed towards the library, “Seek out before, find us a book, it's called the Black Codex, bring forth so I can look.”

Nene looks at me annoyed, “Why didn't you do that earlier!?”

I smile sheepishly and shrug, “I just remembered I could...like now.”

Nene sighs and leans up against some books as a book flies towards us and lands at my feet. “Is this it?” I ask Asher, and he nods in confirmation. I pick it up as if it's a piece of glass and open it to the middle of the book. I feel little whispers flood my ears as I stare at the pages blankly. The words seem to change, and the book feels like an open door, pulling me in and promising me answers while the words of Asher and Nene fade in the background like white noise.

I find myself unable to pull my eyes away from the book as it opens a vision inside my head, revealing a man hidden within stone that crumbles as he claws his way free. People bow before him as he shakes off the debris from the stone as if it had been fluff, and then looks directly at me as if I'm there. ACTUALLY THERE. Slowly, he walks towards me with a dangerously quiet smile placed on his lips. He has these pale, thin lips, on stone white skin, and crystal blue eyes staring straight at me as if I'm there, but also like he can see right through me as well. He walks into a little thread of light to show his disheveled dirty blonde hair, some of which that had been pulled into a ponytail, but most of it hangs out in strands now, probably because of him having to claw his way out of the stone. Tense muscles seem to be contracted around his entire face, showing a dark sense of determination to his entire being, while his lips seem relaxed, and enjoying every second of his walk towards me. I breathe hoarsely as I feel his presence right in front of me, although I know that it's impossible, but regardless, my heart pounds loudly and frantically, as if trying to gear me up to run away.

He looks at me quizzically, studying me as if I'm a precious artifact, “Hello my dear, I'm Dominic.”

My heart pounds so strongly that it hurts, and I drop the book to hold my chest in pain as the vision crumbles before me to reveal Asher and Nene looking at me in fright as I crash to the floor breathlessly. They both kneel down, and Asher throws the book away from us, staring at me with worried eyes as Nene grabs my shoulders and shakes me.

“CARWEN!” she exclaims desperately.

My chest stops hurting suddenly, and my body seems to return to normal sensations within seconds as reality begins to wash back over me, allowing me to let out a massive exhale. I touch my temples and sigh again in my hands, shaking because...it seemed so real. “I think I need some fresh air,” muttering that almost to myself as I stare at my hands which are shaking, almost violently...with fear.

True fear.

Asher nods and pulls me up, letting me lean on him as Nene rushes up ahead to ring the bell so we can get out. Asher moves slowly at the same pace as me, not revealing any annoyance or problems with me leaning some of my weight on him. I look at him quickly to study his face and his body, honestly finding myself a bit shocked that he looks so normal...yet he clearly isn't. You can feel it when you touch him, as if something is different and he isn't human. That connection just seems to be missing, despite what your eyes insist that they're seeing. It's...confusing. Yet, even though I know he's not human, and can feel he's not human, I feel this odd connection grow, making me gasp in shock and cause him to stop.

I feel a blush creep up from my neck and I scratch it fervently to try and hide it, “U-um, what?”

“Are you sure you're okay? I can carry you,” he says insistingly. “It'd be no problem. You aren't heavy or anything.”

I quickly smile and roll my eyes playfully to help cover up the awkwardness, “I'm glad you don't think I'm fat.”

He clears his throat quickly, “That-that's not what I meant, I mean you aren't...but-but still.”

“Yeah, yeah,” I say, pushing a bit so that he'll start moving again. “I KNOW what you meant.”

We turn a corner and Nene looks at us curiously before turning around quickly to hide her smile. I gently nudge my weight off of Asher and try to move towards Nene with confidence, “I'm fiiiinnnnne, trust me,” I say.

I get to Nene who's covering her mouth with her hand to hide her grin now, pretending to scratch her nose, “I trust you, nooooo worries here.”

“Come on,” I say as I start to walk through the doorway, “Let's just g—ahh!!!!!” I scream as I go through the doorway and get shoved up against a wall. I open my eyes in shock to find a creature biting viciously at me while I unknowingly hold it back with my arms. My heart beats louder to a rhythm of a drum as I look around in terror, finding the entire bookstore in ruins, and flames growing everywhere around.

Nene screams as she pulls the creature off of me, “WHAT are these things!? And WHY do they keep finding us!?”

I cough and see two red eyes charge back at me in fury, only to be stopped by Asher grabbing it by the arm in the blink of an eye, and slamming it up against a wall. It almost seems like the scene stutters because it happens so fast. Then, he quickly grabs a chair by its legs and smashes it on the creature, throwing two of the legs to Nene and I.

“They're vampires! Stake it in the heart or remove the head!” Asher commands as he thrusts the stake into the vampire's heart, making it scream and then crumble into dust, replaying a scene both Nene and I know all too well.

Nene points next to me as a vampire smacks me against my head, flinging me to a wall with the strength of the strike. Nene gasps and plunges the stake into its chest, but misses the heart, making the vampire laugh in glee. I quickly scramble up and grab the stake in its chest, ripping it within the vampire towards the heart, making it scream and crumble to dust.

Then, Nene and I look over as two vampires launch at Asher, but are fought off calmly in a flurry of swift punches and kicks, coordinated as if he had years to perfect the technique. We watch in awe as they crumble around him until a vampire throws Nene into a wall and kicks me in my back. I stumble forward and then turn around quickly, catching their following kick mid-air, pushing their foot backwards to make them tumble to the ground. I launch myself towards it, pinning it to the ground with my knee as I thrust the stake into its heart, screaming the entire time for...extra emphasis.

I thump down to the ground as it crumbles into dust and look up at Nene struggling to breathe as a vampire chokes her against the wall. Asher and I rush over, with me pulling him off of her and grabbing Nene as she crumbles into my arms gasping for breath. Instead of killing it right away though, Asher then pins the vampire to the wall growling.

“What are you waiting for!?” I exclaim. “Kill it!”

Asher shakes his head, “No, I need to know why they did this. They were after you! How did they know you were here!?”

I point to my chest obviously, “Evil beacon thingy, remember?”

The vampire laughs and Asher smacks it into the wall over and over again so fast that it all happens in the blink of an eye, “YOU'RE working for someone! This was too organized to not be like that!”

“Organized?!” I exclaim in shock.

“They were waiting for you,” Asher says, gesturing to the rest of the store with his head.

I shudder. “Who are you working for then?” I ask the vampire in Asher's clutches.

The vampire laughs darkly, showing no fear in its eyes. Asher growls louder and instinctively I close my eyes while Nene buries her head in my shoulder as screams fill the room, piercing my ears to the point that I honestly think they are going to start bleeding. After a few seconds, I cautiously open my eyes to find the vampire covered in blood and charred on part of his body, with Asher still pinning him to the wall as if he never moved.

“Tell me now!” he demands with a dark sense of calm in his voice that scares even me.

The vampire stutters and shakes visibly, “Mathias...I work for Mathias.”

Asher drops the vampire in shock, and it then begins to make a mad dash to get out of the store, but Asher quickly snaps out of it to throw a stake at the escapee, crumbling him to dust before it reaches the street. Then, Asher smooths down Nene's hair, making her remove her face from my shoulder before he sighs and looks at me with worried eyes, gradually moving them down to the ground.

“We should get you both home,” he says solemnly, getting up suddenly like a robot.

Nene and I look at each other confused, but follow nonetheless, jumping into Asher's small, black car. He only talks to find out where Nene lives, and then he drives there without another word. The entire way there Nene rubs her arms awkwardly, clearly wondering how she's going to explain to her family why she's so beat up. I smile and grab her hands, closing my eyes and recite a little charm to clean her up as if she never was in a burning place fighting vampires...which makes me dizzy for just a second, honestly. She notices this too, but a grateful look that silently says 'thank you' is all I need from her to feel back to normal. We arrive at her house just after that, and she hops out of Asher's car once we stop, hugging me briefly, and whispering in my ear to call her once Asher explains what's going on. I smile and wave as I get back in the car, finding the silence almost unbearable as he drives me back to my house.

Finally, I hit the point where I can't take it anymore. “Asher,” I start off calmly, “W-what's wrong?”

Asher grips the steering wheel tighter, “You're in danger.”

I laugh darkly, “THAT I already know.”

He quickly pulls over to the side of the road and slams on the breaks, looking at me sternly, “No, you don't understand. Mathias works for Dominic.”

I blink in confusion, “Dominic? Y-you mean the guy from the book?”

Asher smacks the steering wheel in frustration, “That book must've acted like a conduit and alerted Dominic about the curse, and NOW he's coming for you! It screwed you over!”

I look at my hands, fiddling with my fingers, “I-I'm sorry. I didn't know.”

Asher leans back in his seat, running his fingers through his hair before grabbing my hand, “I know. You don't...have anything to be sorry for. It's not your fault...” he says, gripping my hand firmly as he stares straight ahead ominously, while I struggle to focus on anything other than the sole fact that he's holding my hand, “Dominic is just...power hungry. He wants magic.”

Still staring at Asher's hand, I raise my eyebrows, “But he can't have magic. No vampire can, right?”

Asher turns to me, moving his hand away from mine and making my eyes fling up to his as the mesmerizing spell breaks, “Normally yes, but the curse has tainted your magic, remember? He might...be able to get it now,” he says slowly as he obviously tries to process this idea himself.

“H-how?” I ask, then quickly shaking my head, “Wait wait, do...do I want to know?”

Asher leans back and grabs my hand again, drawing my eyes back to his hand with all my focus, despite my valiant effort to resist, “It's done in the obvious way, I'm guessing. It....a-always is,” he answers quietly.

I sigh, which tightens awkwardly as Asher removes his hand from mine again, “Killing me...right? Well...at least I know what he looks like,” I say, trying to finish hopefully with a weak smile.

Asher looks at me and smiles, but then furrows his brows, “That's not enough. You aren't safe anymore.”

I look at him and nod slowly, “Yeeeeaaaaah...I never really was to begin with...sadly,” I say, adding the last part with a strange sense of heaviness that I didn't know I was capable of.

Asher starts his car back up suddenly and gets back on the road, “I can protect you, or at least give you a chance,” he says slowly before becoming quiet. Then, we drive in silence for a bit more as I watch his face through my peripheral vision, clearly seeing that he's obviously so deep within his thoughts that he doesn't have the words to talk anymore. Once we pull up to my house, he clears his throat awkwardly and turns to me, “I'd feel better if I stayed the night.”
I blink and laugh loudly before dropping my laugh down awkwardly to a less crazy level, “Um, are-are you sure that's a good idea?”

Asher nods, “I know Dominic, and I know his ways. At the very least I can give you time to get away.”

“Why would he attack so soon?” I ask, thinking to myself that it would seem like a dumb move.

“He attacked you within minutes of finding out about you,” he points out. “He'll do it again and again until he gets you. Trust me.”

I look up at Asher and smile gently, “I do trust you.”

Asher looks at me and smiles, but then jerks his body quickly as he gets out of the car robotically. I turn around to find my brother standing in the doorway staring straight at us with his arms folded, and a pair of eyes that scream annoyance. Asher rushes around to get my car door open and I sheepishly get out of the car, as if I'd been busted making out with a boy or something. Once I meet my brother's eyes though, they widen with surprise upon seeing the state that I'm in, and all annoyance seems to disappear for a second.

“WHAT HAPPENED!?” my brother exclaims while running over to us.

I sigh and hug him, “It's...a long story, and I'll fill you in. By the way, Asher's staying the night.”
“Uh...no he's not,” Caleb points out as obviously as he can.

I look straight at Caleb seriously, “Trust me, he is.”

Asher nods towards Caleb, and I swear it's a smug nod, as he walks into my house, making Caleb look at me incredulously and muttering a bit while all I can do in return is shrug, following them both inside. I swear, these things could only happen to me...

Written By Melissa Seeger.  2014.

8: Cursed: Chapter 8

Cursed: Chapter 8

Explaining why Asher should spend the night at our house to both of my parents went over smoothly...surprisingly, but considering the circumstances, I suppose they just figured that something like this would happen too. I mean, this is ME we're talking about. As if I didn't attract enough trouble all by myself, this curse has magnified everything by a tenfold, at least. Before I know it, the government will start coming after me too or something.

As I said, it was all understood by everyone rather easily...save for my brother, who, even when presented with the fact that a crazy vampire now had killing me on the top of his to-do list, still found Asher staying with us an idea that he couldn't hide his disdain for. Caleb wouldn't budge, even when Dad tried to calm him down too. Asher assured Caleb that he would just be guarding the door, but in order for Caleb to join the bandwagon, he insisted that he guard the door with Asher.

And even though I love to argue with my brother, especially when he decides to be silly like this, the weariness in my mother's eyes makes me cut my argument short by making it nonexistent. My mother, who has always looked just barely older than me, suddenly seems to be years older than she ever looked. All this worrying has drained so much of that beautiful and kind energy that's always circling around her, replacing it with bags under her eyes and a body that suddenly seems so frail.

So I sigh and hug my parents before going up into my room. Of course I have to glare at my brother as I walk away, but I do make sure that I do it from an angle that our parents can't see. Once I get into my room though, I plop on my bed, sitting on my knees and drumming on my bed with my fingers until finally the tension leaves me enough so I can grab my phone and quickly dial Nene's number to fill her in.

“Hello?” Nene asks, not really in a questioning way, but more so in a routine like way.

“Nene!” I exclaim in a whisper, “Are you okay?”

Nene sarcastically laughs over the phone, “I'm not the one with a PSYCHO vampire wanting to make me his play thing, soooo yeah, I'm pretty good. My back hurts a little bit, but that's about it.”

“From the fight?” I ask, worrying and feeling a bit guilty instantly.

“No, more so from the reading,” Nene admits with a short, high pitched giggle.

I nod and laugh a little bit with her, “Well so faaaaaaar, no sign of mister crazy here. Oddly though, I feel pretty safe because Asher's here,” I add absently.

“ASHER'S THERE?!” Nene exclaims, and I can hear a faint, annoyed voice in the background of Nene's mother telling Nene to talk a bit quieter.

I giggle so loudly that I drop the phone because I have to clap my hands over my mouth. I can hear Nene huffing over the phone though, so once I finish smothering my giggles, I scramble to pick up the phone and start talking as if nothing is wrong, “Yeah, he said he wanted to protect me. He's guarding our front door...with my brother too, actually,” I say, starting it all off nonchalantly, but ending the sentence with twinges of annoyance in my voice.

“Is your brother safe like that, I mean, guarding and stuff?” Nene questions quickly.

I nod, “Sure, I mean my brother is actually a full blown witch technically...or warlock...or well whatever. Basically, he's got waaaaaaay more training than me.”

Nene pauses for a second, “Well I'm sure he's okay with Asher...who's at your house! Wow, what are you going to do about that?”

“Stay in my room because my brother is really actually guarding Asher from me,” I admit blatantly while I stare up at my ceiling and make mindless pictures with the strange patterns on my ceiling until Nene's voice snaps me out of it.

“It's still really sweet that Asher would drop whatever plans he has to protect you,” Nene chimes brightly, and I can hear her biting her lip to hold back her laughter.

“I suppose,” I muse, ignoring the opportunity to laugh, and instead start thinking about how I know nothing of Asher's plans or life. What if he has a girlfriend, or a coven...or a job?! I don't know anything about him except that he's a vampire. I don't even know the answers to the really important questions...like does he eat people?

Well...I suppose I kind of know the answer to that one...

“Don't over think this,” Nene says strongly, snapping me out of my thoughts again. “Take the good gesture and ENJOY it while it lasts.”

I sigh and lean back on my pillow, “I'm really not like that, you know...not thinking a ton over little things. I over think things a lot. Like...all the time, in fact.”

“Well then I guess that's part of your charm,” Nene remarks while giggling.

“That and to get people I care about killed or very injured,” I say with a dark laugh, wincing a bit from it even.

Nene frowns so loudly I can feel it with me in my room, “You need to move on, Carwen! How could...how could you have possibly known that was going to happen, huh?”

“I'm a smart girl,” I say with a snap, “I should've figured it out and stopped before it was too late!”

“People aren't perfect,” Nene states. “You can't put that much pressure on yourself.”

“Nene,” I say slowly as I clench my fists. “It COULD happen again,” I emphasize.

“And it'll be different if it does,” Nene assures calmly without another second passing.

“Maybe, I...I can't really say...I mean I lost myself,” I whisper timidly.

A pause comes from Nene before she clears her throat, “You found yourself again though, and THAT'S what matters.”

“What matters is never letting who or what I am hurt anybody else,” I whisper passionately, clenching my fists so tightly that my hands cramp up.

Nene groans, “Seriously, you cannot expect yourself to be perfect like that!” Nene then takes in a slow, deep breath, clearly showing that I'm starting to grate her nerves with my depression, but instead of lashing out at me, she changes the topic. “Besides, Asher knows about the curse, so it's not like he doesn't know what he's signing up for.”

“My question is, what does he think he signed up for?” I ask thoughtfully, latching onto the new topic. “I mean, why is he doing all this?”

“Maybe he likes you,” Nene points out.

I shrug and try to swallow my stupid, little girl grin, “Ooooooor it could be something else...”

“Whhhhhhhy don't you ask him?” Nene asks, and I swear I can feel her dangerous smile through the phone. “I mean...he iiiiiiiiisssssssss spending the night there.”

I groan, “But you forgot about my brother. You know, the tall red-head who jumps to conclusions really fast and practically never changes them...despite most of them being stupid.”

“He seems reasonable to me,” Nene admits hastily, “It'll work out.”

“Yeah sure, of course you'd say that. Also, news flash, leprechauns ex--,” I start to say, but then I'm cut off by someone knocking on my bedroom door. “Uhh, come in.”

“What?” Nene asks, completely lost.

“Someone is at my door,” I whisper into the mouth piece before I look up, instantly feeling my face break into a large smile as I see Asher walk in and gently close the door behind him, “A-asher's here, Nene. Got to go!”

“Don't forget to ask hi-!” she starts to say before I hang up and cut her off. I wince for a second afterward, knowing full and well that I'll hear about that tomorrow.

“That was Nene?” Asher asks awkwardly while standing in the middle of my room.

“Um...yeah, I just called in on her to make sure she's okay and to, you know, fill her in,” I say, waving my hands in the air like it isn't a big deal. “Er, let me get you a chair so you don't, um, have to...just...stand there,” I say awkwardly while rushing over to my computer desk to grab my chair.

He nods and thanks me before he sits down, and for a second I just stare at him until I quickly realize what I'm doing so I throw myself over to my bed, making my mattress jump in the air with the force of me crashing down on it. I laugh awkwardly, and then run my hands through my hair, rushing through ideas on what to talk about, “Um...sooooo I take it everything's okay down there,” I say very calmly, but with a higher pitched tone.

He nods again, “Yeah, your brother just fell asleep so I figured I could talk to you now.”

I laugh awkwardly again, “Yeah...sorry about that. He's so...weird sometimes.”

Asher smiles, “He's just trying to do what he thinks is best for you, that's all.”

I nod in agreement slowly, not getting distracted by his VERY understanding comment of my brother, “Soooo...what did you want to talk about?”

His eyes widen in surprise all of a sudden, “Oh yeah, that's right! Well, you see I got you a book that'll help you out with what will target you. From the library. I...figured it could be useful.”

He hands over a book with the cover saying 'Origins' in lovely, bold, gold letters. I flip the book open to the the table of contents without thinking to find a long list of creatures, listing everything from angels to dragons to zombies even. “Dragons? Seriously?” I absently ask out loud.

He laughs and nods, “I've never seen one personally...luckily. Mostly because a lot of them hide in underwater caves.”

“Underwater caves? So I take it they can breathe underwater then?” I muse with my eyebrows raised playfully.

He shakes his head, “No, the only way you can get to the entrance is underwater. They can apparently hold their breaths for a long time to reach those entrances, though.”

“Why?” I ask perplexed.

Asher gets up from his chair and sits next to me on the bed, pointing to a line in the book, “The Earth's core is closer to them that way.”

“Oooooh, so like a big heat lamp. Got it,” I say, laughing awkwardly again as I feel the air between us get tense. I flip absently to a random page, landing on vampires as fate would have it, making the air between us grows thicker as I read quietly and chew on my lip every time I pause, “You...really are a vampire, huh?”

Asher nods slightly, “Yes, you could...say that.”

I look at the descriptions in the books, explaining how vampires retain their human features until they're feeding, or unleashing their inner demon, which is when they reveal their red eyes and pulsing veins around their eyes. I quickly look up at Asher and then back down at the book a few times before making him sigh and shift awkwardly on the bed.

“I know,” he says, noticing my obvious scientific observations of him.

“Okay, so...you know that your eyes are always red. Do you know why?” I ask while still reading the book out of the corner of my eye.

He looks at me solemnly, “Because I was born this way.”

My eyes widen and I fling my gaze fully back to the pages of the book to find that vampires were originally created from the offspring of a demon and a mortal, which always ends with the mortal dying in the process. If he's male, then the life energy is sucked from him while the demon orgasms, and if they're female, their life energy is sucked from them while giving birth. I frown at the thought, looking up at Asher who's eyes are fixed on his hands.

“You...killed one of your parents?” I ask gently.

He nods and takes in a shaky breath, “In a way...yes. Both of them, in fact.”

I chew on my lip, flipping to the page on demons and seeing an image of the creatures that attacked Asher and I in the forest that one time. Creatures that have giant claws that cause death and atrophy whenever it touches something. “So your father or mother was...one of these?” I force out awkwardly.

“They...don't always look like that,” Asher says, leaning over to flip the pages of the book in my hands to a picture showing a very normal looking person, though underneath it it says that they're a demon. “They are technically formless, but frequently take on the form of humanity either because of jealousy or because it makes it easier to get around down here.”

“Yeah, because...having giant claws WOULD attract attention,” I blurt out without thinking, making Asher laugh quietly while a bright red blush creeps up my neck.

“THAT they would,” he agrees, once he finishes laughing. “The fact that they have no form and can be any form makes them incredibly dangerous. They can't take on the form of something with a living soul though, at least...that's what I've heard,” he says, finishing slowly as he enters his thoughts.

“So they could look like my grandma, but not like my brother?” I question while looking to his face for confirmation.

He nods, “Nor can angels for that matter. They have the same power, mostly because at one time they were all the same from what I've gathered.”

“Right, but angels are good,” I say, smiling until I notice Asher shaking his head.

“They just have different missions, but it doesn't always mean they are out to...help you,” he informs. “Both are really dangerous. It's better to meet a dragon than them, in my opinion.”

“Wait...so I can attract all of these things? Like my choices basically boil down to fighting an angel or fighting a dragon?” I ask, being more annoyed at the moment than scared.

“Yes...but you'd have to work really hard to get the attention of a dragon,” Asher says, smiling at me.

I smile back, “That's comforting,” and then I raise my eyebrows curiously, “Wait...have you known someone else who was cursed before?”

Instantly, it feels like Asher shuts down, “Um, y-yes,” he answers, almost coldly.

I sit up straighter and look at Asher directly in the eyes, “Who was it? Tell me about them.”

He quickly stands up and walks to my door, “Nobody I really knew for very long. It doesn't matter now, though. I just...always try to make sure that the one who's cursed stands a better chance against what comes after them.”

I stand up and walk towards Asher, “If it wasn't somebody who mattered, then why did they make you want to focus your entire life on protecting those who are cursed?”

“It doesn't matter now,” Asher says, sucking all the warmth that was in the air from before. “Good night, Carwen, sleep well.”

“I will...” I say quietly as he walks out of my room. I crawl back onto my bed and close my eyes, briefly feeling my thoughts wander over what just happened with Asher right before sleep engulfs me. Once I wake up the next morning and go downstairs, Asher's gone.

I look at Caleb as I wander around the house, “When did he leave?”

Caleb rolls his eyes, “Obviously before the Sun came up, Sis.”

I frown and sit on a chair at the breakfast table, “I didn't get to say goodbye...”

Caleb sighs loudly, “I'm sure he'll be back again once the Sun is less...sunny to him.”

I shake my head and drink some of my mother's coffee that she left at the table, “I should've figured that he'd leave before the Sun. Reeeeeaaaaalllllly stupid of me to not think of that.”

“Really stupid of you to let a vampire spend the night here too, but who cares at this point?” Caleb points out harshly. “He's obviously not the bad one,” he adds smugly, literally using a quote from my own speech that I used last night against my parents to get Asher to stay there in the first place.

“Thanks,” I say with an eye roll. “You were using what I said as a compliment though, huh?”

He nods and smiles at me, dropping the cold frontier, “Glad you caught that. That just means I've taught you well about how to understand man-speak.”

I laugh, mostly at Caleb, before a knock on our front door makes us both freeze. I look at Caleb with wide eyes, “It's day time so it can't be him, RIGHT?!”

Caleb's eyes turn icy and cold as he walks cautiously to the front door, opening it slowly before swinging it wide open with a loud laugh. I hear some muddled conversations, mostly because my ears are still sleepy, until the person holding the other end of the conversation steps into our house. His eyes meet mine and I freeze in an instant, just absorbing the moment of seeing a tall, thin man with wavy blonde hair and an eyebrow piercing right above one of his chilly, gray eyes.

“Carter?” I whisper in disbelief.

Carter starts to walk towards me before he's stopped by my mother and father rushing down the stairs to give him a hug, welcoming him to our new home. My brother and him slap each other on the back, making a few jokes while my parents hug him tightly.

Everyone in my family loved Carter, and he was practically part of the family. Caleb and Carter were actually best friends throughout all of their childhood, really. Carter and his father came over for every celebration...so I really don't have a single family holiday memory that didn't include him. He always watched out for me when I was little, attacking any bullies when I was a kid if my brother wasn't there. When we started dating, it was almost as if it wasn't a secret, and everyone welcomed the idea. Almost...as if it was expected. For a second in that moment too, it feels like everything is back to normal. As if nothing bad has ever happened to us until I look out the window in our kitchen to see the beautiful Wyoming landscape.

Despite the scene I used to know so well, everything is different now. It was so simple back then, too. In my heart, I know it can never be the same way again. Those days are gone because today is so different from my old...happy life.

“Why are you all the way out here, Carter?” my father asks, slapping him on the back like how guys do.

“I'm actually here to talk to Carwen...if that's okay with you guys,” Carter admits, making my eyes widen ridiculously fast.

Caleb looks between him and I, and nods before patting Carter on the back one more time, “Sure, I get it. It's about time you do too! I knew you would,” Caleb adds with a smile. “Before we leave you two alone though, where are you staying, man?”

Carter laughs, “What do you think?”

Caleb shakes his head and laughs, “You didn't make a plan, huh? Alright, alright, you can stay here, okay?”

My parents nod and I feel my entire stomach drop to the ground in shock. Carter laughs nonchalantly, agreeing before turning his gaze directly to me again. It feels like my memories of him and the current scene blend together, erasing and rewriting reality as I know it. Despite what I have been thinking all this time, everything from that life seems to return all so effortlessly. Things from back then like Carter being impulsive, and my brother bailing him out, meet up again today. I even had to bail him out too a few times, because he never thought anything through. He just feels things, and goes with it without another thought. He always does it with complete conviction and commitment every time too.

But Carter and I are different now, I think forcefully, almost to remind myself. Even though Caleb just bailed him out once again, I'm not obligated to do the same thing. Ever again actually.

As everyone walks out of the room and leaves just Carter and I together, I look up at him sadly, suddenly feeling part of me wanting to bail him out of stuff, or have him convince me to do something impulsive. It was a nice thing we had there...until we both ruined it with him cheating on me, and me sort of lighting him on fire.

In my defense though, he started it.

“Carwen,” he whispers heartily as he walks over to me, “I'm soooo sorry.”

I choke on my emotions and grip the coffee cup in my hands tighter. Clearly, I'm not ready for this confrontation. What if I lose control again?! Everything is a jumbled up mess as it is...and now it suddenly feels like I'm falling through the ground because nothing can hold me here.

“You should leave,” I state, staring intensely at the cup in my hands, shaking.

Carter brushes his hand against my hair gently, “Please don't make me leave. We need to talk...a-about what happened.”

I look up at Carter furiously, “REALLY?! You want to talk about how the day after I give myself to you completely you end up screwing my teacher?!”

Carter retracts his hand quickly and frowns, “I'm sorry, it's just you kept...changing your mind about when it should happen, and whether or not you wanted to--.”

“So you both were doing that for a while then?” I ask, feeling my blood begin to boil and my vision darken.

Carter nods slowly, wincing with the nod, “And I'm sorry it hurt you, b-but I never turned against you. Even after...what...what you did...”

I freeze and feel my heart stop at the realization that he saw me use my powers, “Right...that.”

“Your brother explained to me what you all are, and it's one of the reasons I didn't mention it. That...and everyone would think I'm crazy if I had. Besides, I LOVE you, and I couldn't do that to you,” Carter explains, shaking with emotion.

“Don't say that!” I exclaim. “You have no right to say that! You are NOT THE VICTIM!”

Carter frowns and places his face in his hands, “I don't know what to do...I messed up so badly.”

I stand up abruptly, “Yes. Yes you did.”

“How can I make it up to you?” he asks, pulling his face from his hands to look up into my eyes, pleading with a look that's so broken and humbled. “I just miss you so much... I feel like I can't...BREATHE knowing what I did to you and that I can't see you everyday anymore.”

I glare at him, “You have no idea what you put me through. You were like a catalyst for making my life completely SUCK, you know that?!”

Carter raises an eyebrow, “What else happened?”

“Wouldn't you like to know,” I spit out, actually spitting on him a little. “I don't have to tell you anything anymore, though.”

Carter stands up and grabs my hand, “But I can tell you want to.”

I gulp and pull my hand out of his, after letting it linger there for a second, though. Then, my emotions begin to boil inside me, making my entire body feel like it's being tossed around in the ocean. I gulp again, trying to shove it all down, but I start to shake. Carter reaches out to grab my hand with concern on his face, but I quickly step back, moving my gaze to the ground in hopes that it'll help steady me.

I'm not strong enough for this...I'm not ready!

“I have to go,” I mutter, and I rush back upstairs to my room. I quickly grab my phone and call up Nene, asking her if I can stay at her house for a bit. Thankfully, she agrees to my request with no questions, probably because my voice sounds like something is seriously wrong. I quickly pack a bag and pull my hair into a ponytail before knocking on my mother's door to ask her if she can take me to Nene's. She agrees, and as we walk out the door I look up to find Carter's eyes staring straight back at me while he's surrounded by my brother and father. Despite the open, free emotions flooding his eyes, I turn away and walk out the door, closing it behind me.

There's no way I can handle this right now. I might be able to fight vampires and other creepy creatures, but I can't face Carter. I loved him so much... I can't...deal with my feelings for him and...survive at the same time. That much I know now. Then, I feel a realization slip over me as we drive away from our house, bringing up a question that seems to be tied directly to my fate..

Will I be able to survive at all, anyways?

Closing my eyes as the car bumps along the dirt road, I erase everything with one thought...

It'd be easier if I didn't.

Written By Melissa Seeger.  2014.

9: Cursed: Chapter 9

Cursed: Chapter 9

Now while it's clearly evident that something is wrong, Nene doesn't press me to talk about it when I get to her house. Once I get there she actually makes me breakfast, and even though we eat it in silence, it isn't awkward at all. She doesn't watch me cautiously, waiting for the moment where I try to jump off some cliff, but instead she's just there...making me feel that if I did decide to jump, she'd jump too. It's strange, but I find it comforting because it makes me feel like I'm not alone.

Which is exactly what I need.

Her mother takes us to school, and then the day goes about the same as they always do, except that all of my teachers feel that today is the day that they should call on me for everything. Now I know the answers to their questions, so that isn't the problem. The problem is it's just hard to put my answers into words because frankly...it's one of those days where it's difficult to put ANYTHING into words. I want to blend in for the time being, and having the spotlight directly on me rattles my cage a bit more than I think my teachers intended on doing.

At the end of our last period Nene and I go to our lockers before she finally breaks the silence to actually ask me something that I have to respond to. It isn't a question that puts the spotlight on me though, but it is a question that has to be asked out of necessity. It's also something I can finally stomach.

“Are you coming back to my place?” Nene asks quietly as she shoves her books into her bag.

I shrug just as my brother walks up to me and hugs me, “How are you doing, Carwen?” Caleb asks before nodding awkwardly and quickly in Nene's direction.

I look up at him with big eyes screaming the obvious without actually answering the obvious, “I'm going back to Nene's house.”

Caleb nods thoughtfully, “I understand, but...he's staying until he can talk to you, ya know that right?”

I shrug again, “It might be a while...” Then I blanch and turn quickly to Nene, “If that's okay with you...I-I...I didn't really ask.”

Nene laughs and throws her backpack over one shoulder, “It's not a problem at all. My mother thinks it's about time, seeing as I spend sooooo much time at your house. Besides,” she adds coyly, “I could use some help on my Chemistry homework...so that right there gives you a legitimate reason to stay over.”

I smile gratefully to her, and then turn to my brother, “Well you heard her, I'm needed there.”

Caleb pulls me into a hug again and whispers in my ear, “Don't forget that you are needed at home too.” Then, he pulls away before adding, “He's really sorry, and he honestly hasn't stopped talking about it since he arrived, but I...I understand why you need your space. So does Mom and Dad too. Look, I'll drop some of your stuff over at Nene's later today so you don't have to see him until you're totally ready to.”

I smile tenderly, feeling tears climb into my eyes before I shake them away and wave at him as I begin to walk towards the parking lot with Nene, who had just gotten a phone call from her mother telling her that she's there to pick her up. Once we get to the car, we both quickly begin to act as if nothing had happened and that nothing was wrong. Without wasting a second once we get back to Nene's place, we both go up to Nene's room to drop off our stuff. I somehow find myself just sitting on her bed like a robot, looking up at her and preparing myself on how to explain to her what happened that had made me so upset.

“Sooooo, Carter showed up at our house this morning,” I state blankly.

“That's...your ex, right?” Nene asks absently as she sits on her bed next to me before giving me her full attention.

I nod and take in a deep, shaky breath, “Yes, b-but...he was more than that. At least at the time, that is.”

“Annnnd it's hard to face him,” Nene finishes sympathetically.

I nod again and feel a tear slip out that I quickly wipe away, “Yeah, I-I mean...you'd think I'd be over it and we could call it even seeing as I like...LIT him on fire.”

Nene's eyes widen instantly with this realization, “HE'S THE ONE YOU LIT ON FIRE?!”

I laugh without thinking and awkwardly change my laugh to a somber nature quickly, “Um...yeah, sort of...well y-yeah, not sort of. I actually...well did.”

Nene leans back on her bed and sighs, “Buuuuut...he's not dead.”

“Yeeaaaah...okay so I TECHNICALLY lit two people on fire,” I awkwardly say while wriggling a little bit under her stare.

“And only one got hurt?” Nene asks for clarification.

I frown and mutter, “Depends on what you consider 'got hurt'. I think...I think it'd be stupid to assume I didn't...h-hurt him either.”

“W-why?” Nene asks cautiously.

“He...he h-hurt me so badly with my teacher Ms. Thorn,” I whisper as I replay the events in my mind.

“I'm sorry,” Nene says after a few minutes of silence.

I look up at with tears crashing down my cheeks, “D-don't be! I don't deserve that! I KILLED her, and h-hurt him!”

“You were just reacting to the moment,” Nene reminds softly. “That's all any of us do.”

“Still doesn't give me the right to light a person on fire,” I say quietly, while trying to hold back a really disturbing urge to laugh again.

Nene laughs though, making me smile. “Just because it isn't right doesn't mean that people who've been cheated on haven't imagined doing just that too. You probably just avenged a ton of women in the world, honestly.”

I finally let myself break out into laughter freely, “Yeah, I'm just THAT special that I can actually make that stuff happen.”

Nene nods and laughs, playfully hitting me on the arm, “See! Exactly!”

I move my legs and sit on my knees facing her, “Have you...ever been cheated on?”

Nene awkwardly fidgets and frowns, “No. Worse...I've never had a boyfriend.”
My mouth drops and she rolls her eyes quickly afterward while my mouth drops further open. “Wait, seriously? You have a way better figure than me...seeing as you actually have one, but SERIOUSLY!? You should've had at least one by now.”

Nene shrugs limply, “I don't get asked out a lot, due to a mixture of thinking I'm too much of a tomboy, and all of them being scared off because they don't want to worry about their racist remarks completely backfiring.”

I frown, “It's weird how that still exists...sad mostly though, but I'm going to go with weird on this one just because of my perspective.”

She nods, with her eyes laughing a little bit at my rambling while still chewing her lower lip nervously at her own recent confession, “Yeah, but I suppose there always has to be an underdog...somewhere.”

I smile and pounce on her with a hug, “You are an underdog with a great heart...and with boobs. Trust me, you won't be an underdog for forever.”

Nene laughs and throws me to the floor just before her mother calls from below, asking Nene to make dinner since she had just been called to cover someone's shift. We both look at each other and shrug, knowing very well that our desire to be lazy will get out-weighed by our hunger eventually, so suddenly making dinner doesn't sound too bad.

We both bounce downstairs and begin making some pasta with sauteed vegetables for her cousins and her grandma. We also make a little bowl of corn for the youngest cousin, since she has decided that this week she only likes corn. We laugh and joke, flicking water at each other until all of Nene's cousins burst around the kitchen and Nene has to scare them out by threatening to lock them up with the horses for the night. After the kids go outside to play, her grandma emerges from her room and greets me kindly, trying to snack on a few vegetables while she waits for dinner to be ready.

“Thank you for helping us with dinner, Carwen,” Nene's grandma says with a scratchy voice. “We barely get to see her these days since she started hanging out with you. Real nice to see both of you here together, finally.”

“She's been here before, Grandma,” Nene says before she gives her a gentle hug.

“I know, I know! It's just we haven't seen you both since then. And you left in such a terrible hurry that day,” her grandma says while looking at me curiously.

I awkwardly flash a quick smile, and then quickly turn around to resume cutting up the vegetables before her grandma asks me to get her a glass of water. I put the knife on the corner of the cutting board absently, reaching up just barely above my eye level to get a glass, but as I'm getting it I hear a crash from behind, making me fling around to see Nene's grandma on the floor. She had missed the chair she was going to sit on, which caused a few plates to crash to the ground in her desperate attempt to prevent herself from falling. Nene and I rush over to attend to her Grandma, both of us helping her up into the chair. I smile and touch her hand kindly once she's sitting safely in a chair, suddenly then noticing some blood on my hand.

“Oh wow,” I whisper, and then look up at her worryingly, “You must've cut yourself on a plate as you fell.”

Her grandma's eyes widen while Nene gasps and exclaims, “Carwen! The knife!”
I look down and find the knife from the cutting board lodged in my side, making me jump back and begin to hyperventilate, “Oh my god! What do I do?! WHAT DO I DO?!”

“Leave it in, sweetie,” her grandma insists as she hobbles to get up to the phone. “I'll call 911, and you just stay calm.”

Nene looks at her incredulously, “She has a knife in her gut, Grandma!”

Her grandma turns to her sternly, “I know that. Stay calm, Nene.”

Nene instantly sits down after that like she got put in time-out or something, and I just stand in the middle of the room awkwardly with a knife in my gut. I glance down and touch the knife gingerly, noticing that I feel the pain of the knife, but strangely...not a life threatening pain. Then Nene's grandma curses her son and slams down the phone, talking about how he forgot to pay the phone bill again, making me jump suddenly, pulling my hand back as I snap out of my dark thoughts.

However, my hand moves so quickly against the knife's handle that it twists a bit in my gut before sliding out. I gasp and scream, putting pressure instantly on the wound, feeling a new pain because of a gap in my side that makes me feel like the inside of my body is cold right there. It's weird...because it's a pain that comes from an area I didn't know could get feelings before this.

Nene and her grandma rush over to me quickly, and without another second wasted, Nene's grandma rips her shirt to press on my wound. They quickly lift up my shirt, and then both of them gasp, making me fling down my eyes to where I was stabbed, by myself I feel I should add, to find nothing there except a stain of blood around where it had happened.

“What...what just happened?” Nene asks slowly with her voicing raising up 2 octaves in pitch.

I take in a slow breath, racing through my thoughts. Maybe it's because I'm a witch? No, my mother has cut herself with a knife before and it's never just vanished. She actually did so just recently too and it took almost a week to heal. Maybe, maybe it's something else...

“Something else,” I whisper, quietly voicing my thoughts and making Nene's eyes widen in realization with me.

Nene's grandma crawls backwards and begins to panic though, pointing in my direction, “You need to go! Now! You are NOT welcome here!”

Nene looks at her grandma quickly, “No, no Grandma, you don't understand! Carwen just...bleeds a lot, even from the s-smallest of...cuts.”

Her grandma looks at her as if she's crazy and shakes her head furiously, “No, no! She's cursed! CURSED! And I've seen this one before! It's a bad one,” her grandma says with passion making both of us blanch. “She'll attract trouble no matter where she goes. I-I should've sensed it right away,” she says more so in a howl while grabbing Nene and trying to pull her closer to her...and farther away from me.

Nene stands up straight and roughly shakes out of her grip, “Hey! That's my friend! Don't say that! She's a nice person!”

She shakes her head in fear, “You don't understand how horrible and how dangerous it is to have her in our company!”

I clear my throat, shattering the illusion that it's just the two of them arguing, and then turn to her grandma, “H-how do you know about the curse?”

Her grandma frowns, “I only know what I've witnessed, which was a small episode that happened when I was a little girl and someone on the reservation got it. He...he had to be chased away into the woods.”

“So...he could die? THEY JUST LET HIM DIE?!” Nene demands furiously, standing up even straighter, and puffing out her chest in anger.

Her grandma looks at her sternly, “Him being there summoned a whole coven of vampires into a nearby town, nearly leading to the slaughter of everyone in it! The ONLY reason he got out was because he was cursed, but the innocents there...they were not so fortunate, because they didn't have his strength!”

“How do you know he wasn't innocent?!” Nene spits out. “Carwen's innocent!”

“She can't be! The curse only chooses those who've flirted with the control over life and death!” her grandma exclaims, silencing the room. Her eyes then pierce straight through me, “It only happens to those who've killed.”

Nene looks at me sadly and grabs my hand as she slides down to the ground while we both travel on the same thought.

I brought this upon myself...

“I d-didn't mean to,” I sob out, crumbling to the ground next to Nene. “I just lost control of my emotions and it all went so...red! And-and then there was f-fire...my f-fire...just acting out as if my heart was truly...free to do whatever it wills.”

Her grandma freezes and looks at me curiously, “You're a witch?”

I nod and loudly sniff, “Yeah.”

“But-but, that's not possible! Witches can't get that curse!” her grandma exclaims in disbelief.

I pull down my shirt to reveal the black spot, “Trust me, I got it.”

Her grandma furrows her brows, “Then...perhaps it chose you for a different reason... It would've required a lot of energy to get the curse to actually stick to you.”

“Soooooo? What does that mean?” Nene asks suspiciously.

Her grandma rubs her chin thoughtfully and smiles, “We can't know until we talk to the power source of the curse.”

I lightly touch the spot on my chest where the curse is and bite my lip, “Souls are the power source though, a-aren't they?”

She nods and hobbles over to her room, but then turns around once she gets to her door, gesturing with her hand. “Come on! We aren't going to find out just sitting around, now are we?”

Nene and I briefly look at each other before Nene smiles and laughs, “Isn't she awesome?!”

I wipe my eyes with my hands until I hear Nene whine and yank her hand out of mine, making us both laugh, but her cringe a bit while laughing. “I'm sorry! And yeah...she is totally awesome.”

Nene wipes her hand dramatically on her pants before offering it again to me, “Come on! We obviously aren't making dinner now, sooooo there's no reason to be in the kitchen anymore.”

I nod and grab her hand, making it awkward for the both of us to get up. We start to head to the room, but then I quickly turn around to the mess in the kitchen, whispering under my breath “To shine like the stars, to shine like those new, a reflection of all, that cleaning can do,” making the area that used to be filled with blood and vegetable carnage transform into the clean kitchen I remember before everything happened.

Nene's eyes grow wide and she points the the kitchen weakly, “I-I...I need to be able to do that.”

I laugh and pull her towards her grandma's room, “All you have to do is ask me and I'll do it for you whenever,” I say, giggling.

We make our way into her room, which is dark since her grandma pulled the curtains to cover up the windows. Dust is everywhere, but the room is neat nonetheless, with everything in its own place. This is pretty obvious too because of all the layers of dust surrounding each individual thing in her room.

I look around and freeze in my spot as her grandma pulls out candles and incense from under her bed. Panicking I look around for an excuse on why we shouldn't do this. I don't know if she can handle this, or if this is even supposed to be done, or can be done.

“I can see the look on your face, girl. I'm not that old, and humans can practice magic too. It...just takes on a different form, and it isn't easy at all, to be perfectly honest.” She smiles again though, most likely because my face had started to go white, “It's not blood magic, dear. It's just connecting to the energy of the door that you can freely open. I've been doing it since I was younger than you.”

“Door?” Nene questions with her eyebrows raised up until she smells the candles her grandma lights and starts gagging over the smell.

She nods again, “Yes, all witches have access to the door that allows them to do magic. While I can only connect to the energy and be at its mercy, the door is at the mercy of witches, and can be opened or closed whenever they wish it to be.”

“An-and what you're doing isn't...blood magic?” I ask, wishing to be reassured again.

“Yes, I would never force the door to obey me,” her Grandma reassures.

Nene gasps, “So THAT'S what blood magic is!” She then looks at me since I look at her with incredulous eyes, “What?! You never told me what it was! I don't have a family to tell me all this stuff, and your family never brings this stuff up, but I kept reading it in the books while we were researching your curse...and...and...”

I smile and shrug, acknowledging the fact that it's true. My mother and father never really told me much about the dark arts, save for that curses are a favorite for those who practice it. “You could've just asked me,” I point out, trying to breathe through my mouth as the smell from the candles starts to make my eyes water.

Nene puts on a super fake, innocent smile, “Hey Carwen, care to explain to me what blood magic is?”

I nod and laugh, “Okay, okay, I get it! THAT would be weird.”

“Yeeaaaaaahhhh...but seriously, what's the big deal with blood magic anyways?” Nene actually asks this time, shown clearly by the awkwardness and sheepish nature in the way that she asks.

I open my mouth to answer, but her grandma cuts me off with the flick of her bony wrist, “Blood magic is used by normal humans to allow them to have the similar powers that witches have over the door to magic. As you can tell from the name, it requires blood,” she says darkly, looking directly at Nene to make sure she understands this. “Every spell requires blood. Every. Single. One.” She then pauses to make sure Nene understands the gravity of what she's saying before she clears her throat to talk again, “Make no mistakes, witches can use blood magic to boost up their spells, but this is normally considered black magic. That's when a witch abuses magic, and makes it so the door is always open, and forced to push out even more energy.”

“Which is bad,” Nene obviously states. “I've...watched movies before.”

I nod, “It's like an addiction, from what I gather. They lose the ability to not use magic and it consumes them eventually.”

Her grandma watches me cautiously as if I'm going to turn evil right before her eyes, “It's something that every witch must be cautious about.”

I scratch my arms nervously under her gaze and mutter under my breath, “Yeah, well luckily I'm not stupid enough to get hooked like that, so there.” Then, I look up to meet her judgmental eyes, making me shiver and quickly hunt for a new topic. “Soooo, umm, before we go on, can I ask you something?”

Her grandma looks straight at me, but then her gaze softens and she smiles finally so I continue, “Why did my wound from...you know, the knife wound, heal?”

She blinks at me a few times, probably confused on how I don't know this already, and then frowns. “No mortal weapon or injury can seriously hurt or kill you, my dear. Only through supernatural means can you die.”

Nene sighs and voices my own thoughts, “So you can't even kill yourself?!”

She shakes her head, “You know how you're supposed to die already, though. Why did you ask?”

I play with my fingers, kicking myself for even briefly considering to kill myself or something. “I was just curious...um, let's get started, shall we?”

Her grandma smiles knowingly and lays out her hands for us to hold before silence envelops the room. Only a few questions from Nene, such as asking what we were supposed to be doing, can be heard, but they're briefly cut off by her grandma squeezing our hands. I sigh and begin to mutter as it starts to feel like it's been hours since we started doing this, making my patience begin to wear thin.

“I don't think this is wo--,” and I open my eyes to gasp and see the world around me completely different. Nene and her grandma are no where to be seen, and the ground I'm stepping on can't actually be seen either. I'm not falling into the white abyss though, just standing...out like a sore thumb.

“Hello?” I call out, not even hearing an echo of my voice. It's as if it vanishes, and for some reason that seems more unsettling than that echo that always happens in movies. I begin to slowly walk out, stepping cautiously with one foot in front of the other to make sure I don't fall through some invisible hole of some sort. Staring at my feet intently as I walk, I freeze and gasp when I find two feet standing right in front of me. Slowly, I move my eyes up to find a young woman with brown hair, pulled into a bun, but with strands of her wavy hair escaping. She isn't old at all, easily under 30, but her crystal green eyes seem to hold more history than the world could possibly ever know. Her stature is of a taller than average height, meaning that we're basically at the same eye level, but her body has gentle curves, unlike mine which are more...pole-like. Her entire face is blank though, just staring at me with hollow eyes until I flick my eyes down to look at her hands that are covered in blood. Suddenly, her eyes begin to cry blood upon the second I return my gaze to her face, and then she touches the sides of my face with her hands, sending a shock through my entire body.

I collapse to the ground and start convulsing as other people start to surround me. Hundreds. Maybe even thousands. All with blood on their hands and crying blood as well. Suddenly, the shocks stop and I gingerly sit up, gasping for air in the strange dimension while looking around with wide eyes. Then, all in unison, they cry out, “See the pain you have caused!”

I scream and writhe in pain as my curse burns, lighting images on fire in my head of people before me that it had consumed. It starts with the one just before me, and I feel the suffering he went through when he got physically eaten. The one before him is just a child, who's ripped in two the day before their 14th birthday. After that, it all becomes a painful blur as I feel these people become part of me for a second only to be destroyed, ripping from my entire existence and taking a part of me with them. Like a band-aid that keeps getting put on and then ripped off.

It all makes me feel like I know them somehow, but now...they're all dead. Dead because of horrible, gruesome deaths. They felt it all too, every single second with no shock or passing out to save them from the agony. They were awake as they bled out until the last spark in their brain fired into nothing. Even worse though, is that I can tell they still feel it, and their agony just builds up in my body as each vision ends. I scream and cry, looking at their faces as the burning memories from the curse create a scar on my own soul.

As if it was its own form of life, the curse shadowed these people, keeping them alive, but slowly siphoning off their life, as well...to survive.

“MAKE IT STOP!” I beg as I begin to claw at my chest in pain.

Images keep flooding through me though, until they go so far back into time that I'm sure it's starting to thwart all our history books' knowledge. Then, a cold hand touches my shoulder and I look up at the woman with green eyes for a second before my eyes flood with the images of her past.

I gasp loudly as it dawns on me, “You were the first one cursed!”

She was in a traveling tribe of people, from what I can tell, but ran away with a great man who saved her from demons. The people of her tribe claimed he was a vampire, but she gave no heed to their warnings, leaving everything behind to be with him.

But they were right, he was a vampire. Yet, he did no harm to her and cherished her. Most left them alone, until it came to light that not only was she a witch, but was also pregnant with his child. Those of the vampiric line are supposed to be incapable of creating life except through traditional biting means, with the only other option of creating a vampire being when they are born from the union of a demon and a human. So either the child had to be a product of her cheating or it was black magic, but no claims towards her cheating could be validated. It was the man's child, the vampire's child....the love of her life's baby. This made the humans jump to the conclusion that it had to be an abomination. So they concocted a curse, and set it upon the woman.

Her lover protected her until the monsters tore him apart right in front of her, which is where she discovered that she had great strength from this curse that made her attract supernatural creatures by tainting her core. Fighting for as long as she possibly could, she eventually had to hide and give birth to a little boy with brown hair and crystal green eyes. The woman cherished the child, but mourned greatly over the loss of her love, leading to her finding a place to hide the child before going out later that night to die.

The humans rejoiced over her death, however, once the woman's soul was consumed, the curse changed. Morphing into a living being because of her connection to magic, it sought out another host as if it had become a machine programed to only spread. Originally, it was fueled by the woman's anger, which made it target every single person who helped cast the curse. After they were all dead though, the fury vanished from the curse, yet it had to continue because of the endless fuel caused by the souls trapped within it. Seeking one victim after another in a constant state of monotony drove not only the souls within the curse mad, but the curse itself.

The burning in my chest stops instantly after the vision ends and I look up at the woman, who is no longer crying now. “So you do understand now?” she asks cautiously.

I widen my eyes and shake my head slowly, “I don't think so...”

“We sought you out, Carwen O'Kelly, because only you can truly end the curse,” she explains. “You are now the unity of the holy door and the dark passage, as I was. The curse will finish its circle with you.”

“How?!” I demand.

She kneels down and whispers in my ear, “It will end.”

I feel tears begin to rush to my eyes, “End?! How?! I-I don't want to die! Why can't you all understand THIS!? Just tell me I don't have to die and I'll...I'll do anything you want!”

“It will end,” she says again cryptically with a slow nod.

I hear Nene's voice scream in the distance and I frantically turn away from her to look around, “How do I get out of here?!”

“You will always be here,” says a voice that's lower than the woman's voice, and also a great deal more familiar. I fling my gaze back to her to catch a glimpse of her son...except he's no longer a boy. Instead, he's a man.

In the blink of an eye though, he's gone, leaving me just staring at the woman again in disbelief. “Is he alive?!”

She smiles and I blink to find myself back in our world. My eyelids flutter rapidly to remove the fuzziness of everything returning to me, hearing only muffled cries and screaming. After rubbing my eyes, I look around frantically before finding Nene's grandma laying on the floor motionless, and Nene shaking her vigorously. I quickly crawl over to Nene and push her off, putting my ear to her mouth to see if she's still breathing. Then, I quickly check her pulse and feel a faint heartbeat so I turn towards Nene sternly, “Go call an ambulance! Tell them I'm starting CPR!”

Nene just sits there still frozen, holding her hands to her face and shaking, “She was fine and then she just started convulsing, and shaking and...and...”

“NENE! NOW!” I bellow before moving her grandma gently to a completely level and firm place on the ground. Nene quickly snaps out of it and scrambles towards her cell phone, dialing quickly and sobbing in-between the questions asked by the operator.

It feels like forever until the ambulance comes, and when they finally rush in, they ask if Nene wants to come along. I can see it in her face that she wants to, so I insist that she goes and that I stay behind to call my parents. I tell her my parents can watch the kids, and that my brother can take me to the hospital as soon as possible. Before she goes, she hugs me, but it isn't a full hug. It feels like a shell of her hugs me, while the rest of her remains in the corner, scared and crying.

Once they leave, I call my folks, and thankfully my brother makes sure they get here in timing that I'm sure isn't entirely legal. Like a well oiled machine, we all break up into teams, with my parents taking care of the kids, while Caleb and I make our way to the hospital. On our way there, I quickly understand how they all got to Nene's house so quickly in the first place...because my brother honestly drove us to the hospital as if he was on speed and steroids at the same time.

We scramble out of the car as fast as we can once we get there, but it all feels like time is moving so slowly no matter how fast I run towards the hospital door. Then, time stops when we enter and I find Nene just sitting quietly on a chair in the lobby. I step cautiously towards her and touch her shoulder, making her twitch before she looks up at me with puffy eyes and bright, red tear stains all over her cheeks.

“She's dead.”

Written By Melissa Seeger.  2014.

10: Cursed: Chapter 10

Cursed: Chapter 10

After hearing Nene tell us that her grandma died, no words can come out of my mouth. All I can do is calmly sit in the chair next to her, as if I'm a robot, and just pull her into my arms. We both close our eyes and hug each other until we find another pair of arms around us, and I snap my eyes open to find my brother holding us. Gently, he breaks off from our hug and offers to get Nene and I some stuff from the cafeteria until her family comes. It's then that Nene remembers she forgot to call them and tell them what happened, but apparently my parents already thought of that, because shortly after she panics about that, they walk in through the door. Nene and I break off our hug completely after that so she can explain what happened...and surprisingly, she still covers for me, in the end.

In a way...I killed her. I knew she shouldn't have done that stuff, but I let her do it anyways because I was curious. I've been getting zeros practically everywhere or getting myself into more trouble, so to have a chance to really understand what's going on just seemed too...good to pass up. While I still have a lot of questions, I finally feel like I have a foundation about all this now. Yet...it was too good to be true.

How can anything be worth someone's life?

I don't think my conscience can take much more of this...

My brother arrives with some food and sits next to Nene without reservation, being incredibly nice to her and wrapping an arm around her comfortingly. Nene, clearly distraught and explaining to her family how she didn't even make it to the hospital, stops mid-sentence to look straight at me as I start to back away from everything with the thoughts of this new burden starting to weigh down on my soul.

“Carwen?” she asks sternly, knowing very well already what I'm thinking.

“I-I'm sorry,” I say quietly, begging with my eyes. “I just...need some air.”

Nene gets up instantly and hugs me, whispering in my ear, “Please don't think what you're thinking.”

I force a smile, “That's a really silly sentence. We need to work on your English homework some more.”

Nene smiles forcefully too in return, but I can see the strength in her eyes. Her grandma just died, right in front of her too...yet she still seems full of fire. Despite whatever is making her this strong all of a sudden to even think about comforting me in her time of need, I can still tell she wishes that all of this wasn't true. Is her new strength worth the price of someone's life?

I swear, life is a game of trading cards, and you never feel like you truly come out a winner, no matter how the trade goes.

“I'm really sorry,” I whisper.

Nene sniffs back a few tears, “It'll be okay...at some-some point.” Then, Nene's sadness floods into her face making her crumble into my arms, “She looked so peaceful w-when she...when she...”

I look up at my brother in fright and he reacts instantly, grabbing Nene and holding her. “Go, get some air. You look like you're going to be sick,” he orders firmly before he walks Nene back over to her family who are all crying in almost perfect unison...like a horrible song.

I back out through the doors, quickly feeling myself begin to hyperventilate until I look onto the parking lot and see Carter sitting on a bench. He's always been someone I can notice even from a long distance, and it's most certainly Carter just relaxing on a bench, looking sad but strangely comfortable there. Then, as if he knows I'm watching him, he looks up and sees my face. Without another second he rushes over and hugs me. No tears come out of my body, though. Nothing feels like it's moving in my body...I'm just hollow

“I'm a curse on people everywhere...she...she was right,” I whisper with my voice shaking with emotion once I'm able to talk.

Carter shushes me and pushes back my hair gently with his hands, “No, you're not, okay?”

I push out of his hug, “Yes I am! She-she DIED because of me! Ms. Thorn DIED because of me too! I'm a mon...I'm a monster,” I finish quietly.

“She tried to do a spell with you?” Carter questions without any judgment in his voice.

“Not a spell, just...um...connect with the...um...energy,” I answer lamely. “I really didn't know what was going on, actually. She explained it all so much better than I am doing right now! That's the problem! I SUCK at this!”

“Hey, hey,” Carter says as he nudges me to sit down on the bench. “Calm down and explain what happened.”

“It won't make sense,” I state blandly as I go to wipe my eyes, but still find no tears.

“Maybe, or maybe once you say it it will,” Carter says. “I know how you think, Carwen. You have too much on your shoulders right now,” and he touches my hand tenderly, holding it, “Let me help you.”

Tears finally leak out and I say everything in a rush of words, even repeating some stuff because of my scattered mind. Once it's all out, Carter says nothing and we both just stare into the distance of the dark parking lot while he holds my hand tightly. The warmth coming from his hand is comforting though, and I close my eyes for a few seconds to remember all the times where he had held my hand like this. Normally over stupid movies I made him watch with me, but he also did it when my own grandma died.

He's always been so great at just being there for me...

“Do you feel better?” Carter finally asks, breaking the silence.

I nod and breathe out a long sigh while still squeezing my eyes shut, “Yeeeeaaaah, but I still don't understand everything.”

Carter squeezes my hand, “I don't...think you're supposed to. Your brother explained everything with your family to me and it STILL feels like I know nothing at all. The only thing I know is that...we're here for some reason.”

“She said there was a reason for the curse...an end to it,” I muse quietly to him. “So we are on the right track...somehow. There's obviously a way to en--,” and I stop instantly as the world goes black from something smacking me up against the back of my head. The last thing I remember is Carter's hand letting go of mine before I go into a black abyss, finally waking up in a small room in a possibly deserted house with my hands and legs tied to a chair.

I wiggle and squirm, trying to get free before I look over and notice Carter sitting in a chair next to me, all tied up as well. I squirm a little more, feeling the ropes cut into my skin, and then notice that Carter doesn't seem to be moving at all. “Carter?” I whisper, but I get no response. “Carter!” I call out louder, but I still get no response, which makes the worst ideas begin to fill my head. “No, no, I can't take all of this,” I mutter to myself, feeling my tears start to blind my vision.

Then, I hear footsteps enter the room and I look up, screaming at the sight of the man before me, snapping Carter right awake. I keep blinking, over and over again, hoping that he'll disappear or something. It doesn't happen, though...

“Who are you!?” Carter exclaims, fighting the ties holding back his hands and legs.

“I am Dominic,” he says with a bow, “And it is my sincere pleasure to meet you both.”

“Sincere?! Why do you even want to meet us in the first place!?” Carter spits out.

It all feels like everything is going in slow motion again, and in this new sense of time I can't control anything within me at all. I thought I was numb earlier from everything that had happened, but now I find I can't breathe on top of all that too. Everything in my body becomes ice on the spot when I first make eye contact with Dominic, and it feels like cloud of death hovers over us all right after that.

“One of you is cursed, and I'm sure you already know which one of you that it is,” he says calmly, pacing back and forth in front of us like an animal.

“Wait, one of us?” I whisper, shaking with terror and excitement at the same time. He doesn't know which one of us is cursed... THAT'S why he grabbed us both! We could...use this to give us some time for my family to figure out something bad has happened, and then they can track us! 10, maybe 15 minutes max. That's all we need... There's a chance, right? I'm a smart girl...I can make this work...

Dominic, clearly thinking my thought process is the thought process of terror, goes on nonchalantly, “Yes, you see I felt the curse's presence from a book, and I'm just here to collect what's MINE now.”

“Magic,” I state bluntly.

He smiles dangerously, “Yes, my dear. In one of your lives is magic, mixed with that nasty curse. I'm just here to get the magic.”

“But I'm guessing that'll kill us,” Carter says, putting it all together. Slowly, he turns to me and looks at me kindly, smiling that mischievous smile he would always do before he did something stupid. Instantly, and without thinking, I plead with my eyes at him to not do anything stupid, fumbling around in my own thoughts to try and figure out what he's thinking. His smile only gets wider though, all building to the point where it looks even confident. Then, he turns his face to Dominic with his wide smile and takes in a deep breath, “Well I'm the one who's cursed, so don't hurt her and I'm yours.”

Dominic grins widely and I wriggle in my chair furiously, “Carter, no! You don't know what you're doing!” I scream at him, looking back and forth between Carter and Dominic.

Dominic slowly walks up to Carter, smiling as if they're playing a game, “What a lovely confession...”

Carter nods and smirks, “Just let her go and I'll tell you everything I know that the girl with green eyes and brown hair told me.”

Horror sinks into my veins, cracking all the ice in my body as I realize he's not only buying me time, but using exactly what I just told him earlier to do it. The words I spoke to him earlier are right there creating his grave. All I can do is blink at the scene unfolding though, because he can't be THAT stupid, right? He knows what he's getting himself into. But...he has to know that we can both make it out of here...

He HAS to know that there's at least a chance of that! Right? Right?!

Then, Dominic's eyes widen, as if completely sold, and in the blink of an eye he raises his arm, ripping off Carter's head. Blood flushes into my eyes, which I refused to close in that moment, burning every second of it into my brain as Carter's body instantly rests limply in his chair while Dominic begins to feed off of his blood from his head. I choke on the air as Carter's eyes briefly look at me and remain open. They just stare at me as the light from his soul leaves them, making them seem like glass, and revealing only the reflection of my own horrified expression.

The urge to gag and throw up rises in my throat, and I begin to openly gag until Dominic suddenly drops Carter's head in my lap and sighs annoyed. “Apparently, dear...he lied,” Dominic says as he smacks my face, flinging me over to the wall from the blow. “I'm not stupid! You shouldn't try to trick me!” He then grabs me, ripping me from the chair as if the layers of rope are just paper to him, and throws me to the other wall. I scream as my head collides with the wall this time, sending a loud cracking noise up through what seems like every bone in my body. I struggle frantically to get up, but I can't figure out which way is up and down. All I can hear are footsteps calmly walking towards me that warn me that I have to get up now.

I have to get away, I think, but just as I think that I notice two feet right in front of me. Then, a hand reaches down and grabs my back, squeezing and pulling me up into the air. I can't breath again, and it feels like he's crushing me. I gasp and look up at him in fear, but find Asher behind him, smacking Dominic upside the head just a second after we make eye contact. Dominic drops me to the ground like a sack of bricks and Asher begins to demolish Dominic in almost wild attacks, crashing him into the walls and ground over and over again until the building begins to shake. As the building starts to fall apart, Caleb rushes in from what seems out of nowhere in that second, but looking back I can faintly remember him screaming my name ever since Asher came into the picture, carefully picking me up and rushing me out of the house just as it collapses. I scream, wriggling in Caleb's arms to look back at the house for Asher, who I didn't see leave, until I turn around to find him right in front of me, silencing my screams for just a few seconds until reality sinks in.

Caleb lays me on the ground and breaths heavily, looking at me with terrified eyes because he saw what was in there. He saw what happened to Carter... My parents rush towards us, followed by Nene, and all of them pull me into a hug. I yelp in pain because of their hug and push them away as Asher becomes rigid, gingerly touching the side of my head that's bleeding. Quickly, my family begins to heal the wounds on my body before my mother stops and begins to look around.

“W-where's Carter? He wasn't with you?” she asks perplexed, and shortly after my father joins in on the same perplexed look.

I shudder and start to cry before I throw up, and then I feel my brother pull me into a hug, sobbing alongside with me. I can hear Asher explain what he saw to my parents and Nene, making them all gasp and my mother break down in tears. Quickly, they jump to telling his father and my brother and I just sit there, hugging each other the entire time as we both cry.

He was gone... Really gone, and he was torn apart by a...by a monster. Just like how I'm supposed to be torn apart...THAT'S my fate.

I'm not strong enough to handle this...

It suddenly all feels like their voices are miles away, but somehow my parents are able to reach my brother and I, pulling both of us up and taking us to the car. Despite my family urging that Nene go back to her family during this crisis, Nene insists that she stays over at our house. Nothing can make her budge. She so stubborn and adamant about staying that it even makes a weak smile come across my brother's face. She quickly claims it's because she has already mourned with her family, but now needs to get away from all that. She's just running away from her own crisis though, but I can understand why.

I want to as well...

Once we get home, my mother walks me into my room, and when she leaves I can hear her order Asher to stand guard outside my door. It's an order I think he was planning on doing anyways, but he responds confidently and calmly nonetheless when she tells him what to do.

I can only just sit on my bed holding my legs to my chest though, breathing heavily as if air isn't reaching my lungs anymore, because...Carter's dead...

I close my eyes and lay on my side on my bed, feeling my mind drift away until a voice snaps me out of my dreamless sleep. I open my eyes in shock, thinking logically for a moment that it can't be real. Carter's dead. I couldn't have heard his voice. Yet I did...somehow...

I run my fingers through my hair and sigh deeply, starting to cry again until I hear the squeaking of my floor boards which makes me look up to meet a pair of chilly gray eyes and thick blonde hair. The world seems to drop away in that instant, because there's only one thing I can wrap my mind around in that second...

Which is that I clearly am going insane now.

On TOP of everything else that I have to deal with, this is won't help me at all...and will probably help speed up the process of me ending up in the ground.

I'm mesmerized and almost happy to see him though, but eventually reality hits me that it can't be real so I begin to rub my eyes feverishly, refusing to accept the image in front of my eyes until he sighs and walks towards me in frustration. “Stop it! You'll make them all swollen and puffy,” he says. He then reaches out to touch my hands and passes right through them, leaving the feeling as if ice just slid across my skin.

“Whoa,” he says surprised, and stares at his hands in shock. “What just happened, Carwen?”

And I scream.

Written By Melissa Seeger.  2014.

11: Cursed: Chapter 11

Cursed: Chapter 11

“Carwen! It's ME!” Carter exclaims, placing his hand over my mouth instantly with an almost annoyed look on his face.

My eyes widen even wider and freeze, focusing on the feeling of Carter's hand on my face. His hand is like ice, tingling, and is almost pulsing to my heartbeat...right before it phases through my head completely. I panic and twist away from his hands just as Asher throws open my bedroom door and growls at Carter.

“Who's he?!” Carter exclaims just as Asher lunges at Carter, but passes right through him.

Asher lands on my bed and stares at his hands, bewildered, before looking up at Carter curiously. “Y-you're that boy...”

My family and Nene then pile into my room, freezing upon the sight of Carter. Instantly, the air in the room drops below freezing, not from Carter though, but from everyone stopping all functions in disbelief. Everyone's minds jump on the same exact thought...

Carter's alive? But...how?

“M-mom, what's going on?” I ask, shaking and not taking my eyes off of him, but just gesturing blindly with my hands towards my family.

Carter looks at me as if I'm crazy, “WHAT do you mean?”

Caleb cautiously walks forward and makes complete eye contact with Carter, “There's no way you're here...j-just an...illusion...because you...you're dead, Carter.”

Carter waves his hands around, “Obviously I'm not!”

Asher gets up and walks through him nonchalantly, and sighs while everyone gasps, “He's a ghost.”

Carter backs up, “A ghost? What?” He then flings around to face me with desperation in his face, “WHAT HAPPENED, CARWEN!?”

Tears begin to form in my eyes as I relive the moment, “Y-you don't remember? You died by Dominic because you were trying to...p-protect me.” Within a second my temper kicks in though, making tears form faster in my eyes, “How could you be soooooo STUPID!?”

Carter backs away from me cautiously and slowly says, “I don't know what you're talking about...”

Fuming, I glare at him and practically scream, “YOU GOT YOURSELF KILLED BECAUSE YOU JUST HAAAAAAD TO BE THE HERO!”

“I DON'T KNOW WHAT HAPPENED, CARWEN!” Carter hollers back at me, shutting my anger down and making me gasp as if a bullet sank into my gut.

“You...died,” I whisper. “I saw the body...”

Carter blinks repeatedly and rubs his face, shaking and almost flickering, “I can't seem to remember it...”

I choke on the air, “It was h-hor-horrible.”

Caleb walks over to me quickly and hugs me, “It's probably best that you don't remember all the details.”

Nene clears her throat awkwardly making us all face her, “He's a ghost, though...right?” She pauses, and then bites her lip as she says with a high pitched tone, “Hooooow is that possible?”

My mother shrugs, breaking the tension of the situation, “It's actually not uncommon. He died by supernatural causes, so...” and she walks towards Carter slowly, staring at him intently, “It's practically expected he would become a ghost.”

I gasp and rip out of my brother's hug, “B-but he touched me!”

Carter smiles widely and points at me happily, “Yeah, yeah! I touched her! So I can't-can't be a ghost, right?”

“Not really. Carwen is a witch, and probably released magic when you scared her. Ghosts can feed on that to have powers or become corporal,” Asher states blatantly, as if it's general knowledge.

“Your emotional tie to us and our magic must've made us an irresistible target for your soul,” my mother explains tenderly.

Caleb looks at our mother incredulously, “How do you know so much about this stuff?”

“I read,” my mother says with a smile. “That, and it's also a hobby of mine.”

Our father nods, “Yeah, she has been interested in ghosts for...as long as I can remember.”

“But I'm dead,” Carter states, shoving us back into the original situation.

My mother nods sadly, looking at Carter with tears in her eyes as her clinical facade dissolves, “I'm a-afraid so, dear.”

“So what do I do now?” Carter asks sharply. “I died by some vampire freak and now I just have to wander around for the rest of eternity?!”

My heart stops and I focus all my attention on Asher, “Is Bryan a ghost?”

Asher looks at me with confused eyes until realization dawns on him, making his attention instantly focus on the floor, “It's more complicated than that.”

I clear my throat, “No, it's not. Is Bryan a ghost now just like how Carter is?” I ask while my body shakes.

Caleb turns to Nene with bewilderment written all across his face, “What does he have to do with Bryan?”

Nene bites her lip awkwardly, “He sorta...ate him. That's how they...met.”

Caleb's eyes widen as he furiously turns towards me, “You let him inside and he ate your boyfriend?!”

“He wasn't my boyfriend,” I say in unison with Asher as he says, “He wasn't her boyfriend.”

“Who's Bryan?” Carter asks, confused.

“The guy ASHER ate!” Caleb exclaims. “So what's to stop you from eating us?!” Caleb demands as blood flushes into his face.

“I won't,” Asher states calmly staring at Caleb.

“Why? What's stopping you?” Caleb asks, shaking with anger.

“Because I said I won't,” Asher says before pushing his fingers through his hair. “I'm a man of my word.”

“You're a vampire with fangs,” Caleb spits out.

Asher demeanor flips to a colder degree, “And you're a human who has a gun. Does that mean you're going to go shoot people?”

My father nods, making my brother look at him as if he's crazy, “It's true. People kill people, not weapons.”

“But he killed a person!” Caleb exclaims.

“I think it was an accident,” Nene throws out with a high pitched voice again, trying to be helpful.

Asher shrugs, “No...I was just really hungry.”

I glare at Asher, who smirks at me a little. He wasn't helping at all. “Really?” I whisper in frustration.

“Couldn't you eat stuff from a blood bank or something like-like they do in TV?” Carter interjects, breaking the staring contest between Asher and I.

Asher laughs, “I'm not some domesticated animal.”

“Yes, you're a vampire that my sister let into my house because she's being a hormonal girl,” Caleb says, exasperated.

I stomp over to Caleb, “WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?!”

Caleb leans down towards me, “I'm not stupid! I KNOW why you let him in!” he says with a mocking tone in his voice.

“There's a CRAZY vampire out there trying to KILL me! I'm pretty sure that's not a stupid reason to let him in,” I spit out.

Carter sighs, “She's right, Caleb. I mean, he already...killed me,” he says, choking on the last two words.

The whole room freezes again and I play with my hair awkwardly, insanely embarrassed that I let my anger get the best of me like this right now. We should be focusing on Carter, but instead we are just arguing over pointless stuff that doesn't matter at the moment. “I'm s-sorry, Carter,” I whisper.

Carter grins, “Don't worry about it. It was...worth it. I'd do it again in a heartbeat.”

I bite my lip and frown, “But now you don't have one...”

My mother shakes her head and then gasps, running out of the room quickly before returning with a book, “Wait, if I remember correctly there's a way to trap magic to help a spirit.”

“And what will that do?” Carter probes.

“It could make you slightly corporal, or just visible to other people,” my mother says slowly, sighing desperately. “It's all-all terribly vague, though.”

“What about the jewel of Dinara?” Caleb asks, making my jaw drop. He turns to me and rolls his eyes, “Yeeeees, I do read, Carwen.” Then, he clears his throat and looks at my mother, “It has the ability to work off the ether, making its magic infinite. It just needs to first get connected to magic...would that work better?”

“Of course it would, sweetie,” my mother exclaims, making my brother cringe for a just a second. “That's perfect because an amulet with magic in it would drain over time!” my mother confirms, visibly getting excited, almost as if in a strange way this entire situation is a dream come true for her.

“But what would this jewel do?” Carter asks, desperation clear in his voice.

My mother sighs again, “We don't fully know. It's been...lost for a very long time.”

“Grrrrreat, just perfect,” Carter mutters.

Asher clears his throat awkwardly, “Not lost actually...”

“What do you mean?” my brother demands, his voice turning sharply colder because he's now talking to Asher.

“I know where it is...or who has it, to be more specific,” Asher states.

“We still don't know what it would do, though,” I bluntly point out.

Nene nods, “I mean, is there any way to just let you...move on?”

My mother shrugs and fiddles with her fingers, “Ghosts are tricky. Most don't move on because what they are looking for is fulfillment, not a solution to their death as many would believe. That's...why there's so many of them.”

Caleb sarcastically laughs, “Yes, let's thank all the vampires in the world for that one more time.”

Asher snaps his head towards Caleb, “Not only vampires create ghosts.”

Caleb rolls his eyes, but I glare at him with all the fire in my veins until he turns his head towards the ceiling in defeat. After that, I clear my throat and look at Asher and my mother, “Is he in any danger until we figure stuff out, though?”

My mother shrugs and Asher shakes his head as he says calmly, “Not really, unless he upsets a Reaper. They're...normally really busy though, so I doubt it,” he explains, making relief flush over Carter's face.

“Cleaning up vampire messes?” my brother asks, agitating Asher again.

Asher sighs and glares at Caleb, “Yes and no. Reapers are normally focusing on the people who are evil or wrong in this world, and vampires sometimes help. Like many vampires work in prisons, and welcome the Reapers to take care of the souls.”

“So vampires unleash crazy, homicidal spirits into the world because they're HELPING us?” Caleb asks sarcastically.

“Oh Caleb, SHUT UP!” I exclaim. “He's trying to be nice and explain stuff to you, but you're just being so stuck up and rude about it.”

Carter instantly frowns and whispers, “Oh...”

I turn to Carter confused, “What?”

Carter smiles sadly, “I...get it now.”

I blink at Carter confused until Nene snaps us back into reality, “So I say we help Carter, and we need Asher to do that...right?” She then stares straight at Caleb, challenging him, making him crumble under her leadership instantly without a fight. “Good.”

I smile and look between the both of them, catching in the corner of my eyes the look on my father's face, who is also smiling. My father is very astute, unlike my mother who walks into doors a lot, just like me, but in her defense she's just very empathetic while I'm just spacey. THIS one is very obvious, though...

Caleb refused to fight with Nene, and Caleb has NEVER done that for anyone.

It's a problem I blame on our Irish genetics, because there's a chance I suffer from the same problem.

Nene smiles and nods towards me, making me stand up straight and clear my throat. “Okay, so Asher can you get a hold of this jewel?”

Asher nods, “I just need...a bit of time, but once I know I'll give you directions and you can meet me.”

“Okay,” I say with another nod. Then, I turn to my mother, “So Carter is going to be fine with us here, right?”

“Well it's not like I'm going to die now, is it?” Carter mutters sarcastically.

I look at him with annoyed eyes, “We are HELPING you, okay?”

My mother plays with the edges of her book, “He'll be fine. Our magic will make him even stronger, too. Just by...being around us, really.”

I sigh with relief again, “Good, I don't want you disappearing in the night or...something.”

Carter looks at me surprised, “Why?”

I look at him with wide eyes at the obviousness of the question, “Because I lost you once already. I don't want that to happen...again.”

Asher clears his throat, making me turn to him, “Well...I guess I'll be going now to go find the jewel.”

I nod and wave awkwardly, “Oh um...bye then!”

Asher smiles as he walks out the door, and with heavy shoulders, the rest of my family begins to slowly exit my room too. My mother begins to research more into ghosts, rereading everything she has already read, and writing down whatever might be relevant to Carter's situation. My father assists her for a bit, but eventually gets out of her way and begins to make tea for everyone. Nene's family calls shortly afterwards though, so she gets a ride home with Caleb, who then stays out later to possibly kill off some steam.

Yet, 30 minutes must've passed with Carter and I just standing in my room like sore thumbs, not really sure what to talk about, but not willing to move or leave the room. It isn't uncomfortable, and it actually feels really natural at the moment. That's the weird part though, that it felt natural to just not move and attempt to freeze the world.

“Sooooo I've never seen Caleb do that before,” Carter says with a laugh, breaking the glass in the air that was originally holding us still.

I laugh and smile at him, “I know! It's quite a change for him. I don't know how to really respond to it all yet, because it's so...like weeeeiiiirrrrddd.”

Carter laughs and shrugs, “It was bound to happen eventually. There's NOTHING like the sight of a man falling hard for a woman.”

I smile and sit on my bed, feeling instantly exhausted, “She's a nice, great girl.”

“And he's a great guy,” Carter says, as if he's finishing my sentence. “You know that, too.”

I push my fingers through my hair and sigh, “I know... I do! But he BETTER be savvy on the fact that's she's my friend, so him hurting her is like...not an option.”

“Typical Carwen,” Carter says with a chuckle. “You neeeeevvvvveeeeer change.”

I look at him and frown, slowly feeling myself begin to shake. “A lot has changed, actually.”

Carter shakes his head, “Not as much as you think. You're still strong, brilliant, loyal, and very protective of those you care about,” he says tenderly and reaches out with his hand, brushing his fingers along my cheek for a brief second before phasing through me. Then, he frowns and sighs, “This...will take some getting used to.”

“We are going to get this FIXED...I promise,” I assure strongly.

“It doesn't change the fact that I died,” Carter points out.

“You didn't have to die,” I whisper, choking on the air a little bit.

He nods and shrugs, “Yeah, I did. You're FAR more important than me.”

I shake my head furiously, “No. I'm not... You're a normal, great guy. You deserve a long, happy life and I took that away from you,” I say, starting to cry again.

Carter shakes his head slowly, “No, you didn't. You're missing the point of me saving you. I mean, what would've happened if you had died?”

I look up at him and shudder, thinking about how my soul would've been trapped for eternity. He WAS right, but that doesn't make it all right...

“That doesn't mean it's okay what you did,” I say quietly under my breath.

“Actually,” he says with a mischievous grin, “It does.”

I shake and choke on some air, trying to regain my composure. “Well regardless, once we get you the jewel thingy, you can go back to your normal life.”

“I don't...think I can,” Carter muses, staring absently across my room.

I look at him and blink, “What do you mean?”

“Well I'm dead,” and then Carter laughs harshly, “You know every time I say that I still don't believe it completely, but anyways,” he says, pausing for a second before continuing, “I'm not going to change anymore. Ghosts...are timeless. Stuck, like your mother said, until they find fulfillment.” He pauses again and takes in a shaky breath out of habit, quickly exhaling once he realizes what he's doing, making him laugh a little before sobering up again, “You have to tell my father.”

“T-tell him what?” I whisper with a terrifying feeling sinking into my stomach.

“About my...death,” he says slowly, quickly adding on, “But leave out the part about a vampire causing it and such.”

“Please don't make me,” I beg.

“You have to. He has a right to know,” Carter insists. “Otherwise he'll never know about what happened to me. It's not like I can see him. I'll never age, I'll never change! I don't even know if I'll even be able to change my clothes again!”

“It's going to be so h-hard,” I whisper, choking on the words.

Carter smiles and looks at me squarely in the eyes, “But YOU are stronger than anyone I know. That's why it has to be you. I know...” Carter says, pausing and looking up to the ceiling, “I know I can trust you.”

My shoulders sag and I take in a shaky breath, “Thank you.”

Carter smiles and absently tries to pat me on the back, but phases through me again. “You know, I never realized how much I took touching people for granted until now.”

I frown again, “It'll get better.”

Carter smiles, “I know it will. I have complete faith in you.”

I laugh, “I'm glad you do. Now we just need to get Caleb on our side.”

“He trusts you too. He just doesn't trust...Asher. That's his name, right?” Carter says, finishing awkwardly.

I nod and sigh, “I know what he must be thinking...but we NEED all the help we can get.”

“I get it,” Carter says, emphasizing with his hands, “And if it's any consolation, I trust him.”

My eyes widen, “Why?”

“Because you do,” Carter says easily with a shrug.

I smile gingerly, “Thank you.”

“But um,” Carter starts off, awkwardly, “That doesn't mean I like him...”

I sigh again, making my shoulders sag more, “Why now?”

Carter grins, and then lets out a long sigh, “I have my reasons.”

Written By Melissa Seeger.  2014.

12: Cursed: Chapter 12

Cursed: Chapter 12

Two funerals in two days – that would be a lot for anybody to handle. At the moment, I have no idea how I'm handling it. I feel like I'm going through the motions by trying to be supportive, but not really supporting very well because of this wall of numbness I have inside of me. I can't help it. I don't want to deal with anything, but I remember waking up the day after everything and realizing how long the next few days were going to be, so up came this wall to help me hide.

I sigh quietly, looking at myself in the mirror, all clad in black. Gingerly, I tuck my shirt into my skirt and smooth it all down with my hands, tentatively noticing all the wrinkles disappear and reappear within seconds. They won't fully go away...and my mother's suggestion of throwing my skirt in the dryer, because she knows I never fold or hang stuff up, now sounds like a good idea. Yet, I find myself still too tired to go put it into the dryer, even though the dryer is just downstairs. All I want to do is get ready as soon as possible, as if somehow...it will make the rest of the day move just as fast. But now, I'm just stuck for another hour, doing nothing except trying to smooth my skirt down.

A gentle knock snaps me from staring at my skirt to look at the door, which doesn't open, but my mother's voice can be heard through it calling quietly, “Carwen? Nene's mother just called. She was wondering if you could stop by their house. They said they'd take you to their grandma's funeral themselves.”

“W-what's wrong?” I ask with a crackly voice from not using it all morning.

“She wouldn't say, but I'm sure it has something to do with Nene, dear,” my mother muses with a glimmer of humor.

So it finally hit her...and maybe now she will be angry with me. I knew it would hit her eventually, and I suppose today of all days today would be a good day to wake up and realize what happened. My heart begins to ache though, because I don't know what to say to her. Yet, I can feel it, her pain over her grandma. I understand it, but I still don't know how to stand up with her against it, especially while facing my own troubles that still remain topped with...confusion, among many other things.

I nod to myself in the mirror, grabbing all the strength I have in my being, “I'll head right over there. C-can you drop me off, Mom?”

“Of course, dear,” she answers through the door.

For a brief second, it seems that my plan of making the days go by faster seems to be working. The drive to Nene's house doesn't take long at all, so much so that it truly feels like I blinked and we were there. Then, once I get out of the car, I find the walk up to her front door taking forever. It feels like every step I take puts me another step farther away – even though I know that's impossible. But honestly, suddenly everything felt that way.

A quiet knock, that apparently I make, seems to shock me; it makes a deafening noise, to be honest. Then, the door opens to reveal her mother standing on the other side, looking frail and distraught. She kindly gestures towards Nene's room after giving me a quick hug. Then, as if I'm sneaking, I carefully watch my feet as I go towards her room, cautiously placing them on the ground as if stepping on a creaky board will blow up the house or something.

“Nene?” I ask as I lightly knock on her door before gently creaking it open. I frown as I find Nene sitting on her bed, dressed all in black too as if she's completely ready, but staring at the wall as if she isn't there at all.

I sit next to her on the bed delicately, staring at the wall with her for a few minutes before I sigh, and turn to face her, “Nene, w-we have to go soon.”

I imagine her skin cracking from not moving for so long when she moves to reply, even though I know that doesn't happen, but the small shake of her head just seems to rattle her entire body, nonetheless, “I...can't.”

I wrap my arm around her shoulders, “Yes you can. It's for th – it'll...help you.”

Nene's gaze finds my eyes directly, almost lighting my eyes on fire, “You don't understand, Carwen,” she spits out.

I bite my tongue and gather myself, hugging her shoulders tighter, “I'm still here for you, though.”

“She was...always there for me,” Nene mutters. “Now she's gone, and she can't be. And all those times when I needed som-someone to talk to over silly stuff like...dinner...those moments will NEVER happen again,” Nene says, her voice cracking.

“She loved you so much,” I whisper, truly having no idea what to say anymore. My brain just instantly goes blank, and that's all I can say now.

Nene rests her head on my shoulder and begins to shake, “I thought that it couldn't be true. She couldn't leave me alone like that, and she wouldn't because she loves me...right?” Nene asks rhetorically. “And I think that if she had a choice she'd...still be here...be-because,” and Nene pauses to take in a deep, shaky breath, “She wouldn't have ever left me...a-alone. What am I going to do?” she asks, staring straight through me.

I move my gaze to stare at the wall, pleading for it to give me some answers on what to say next as Nene begins to cry on my shoulder, shaking, and gasping for air in-between the sobs. It isn't fair that her grandma died while helping me. Now I have to be there for Nene...and I have to protect her. What if I can't do it, though? I'm not strong like her grandma!

“I'll help you through all of this,” I say slowly, making Nene look up at me with her tear filled eyes. “I'll protect you, I...I swear.”

Nene chokes on her laugh, making her cough, “My grandma told me, right-right before she died, t-to protect...well, you. That she saw what you w-would do, and h-how you would...need me.”

“Is that why you pretty much avoided your family to deal with a psycho vampire?” I ask bluntly, staring at her with a totally straight face.

Nene shrugs and wipes her eyes, “That and I didn't want to face...it. E-everything else, that is.”

I sigh deeply and look at her with a little smile, “I had a feeling that you were doing that. I figured it was...what you needed right then.”

Nene nods slowly, staring absently at the wall again, “It was... I couldn't fall apart at that time. You needed me too much, which was nice...and freeing from myself.”

I instantly hug Nene, shocking her for a second before she softens up and returns the hug, “You are sooooo amazing that there aren't words that can fully describe you, you know that? And-and your grandma played a huge part in that, and she...would be so proud.”

Nene begins to sniffle a bit before crying softly in the hug until a knock on her door snaps us both out of it. Her mother quietly announces that it's time to go, so I pull Nene up off the bed and hold her hand the entire time on our way to where the funeral takes place It's the first time I've ever been to the reservation near us, but it isn't like how people in L.A. figured they would be like. It feels just like a typical town, except with different outfits on the cops. Which is EXACTLY how Nene described it.

And here I thought she was just being boring when she described it that way.

I didn't get it entirely though, the burial ritual that is. During some parts I'm not even allowed to be there, so I just awkwardly return to the car and look around. It's like a little country though, despite seeming similar to the area around it. It has the feeling that it's separate, proud nation...which is something I've never experienced until now.

Nene finally returns and tells me to come back, and I squeeze her shoulders tightly as they finish...well...apparently helping her spirit go to the other world faster. Afterward, Nene explains a few things, mostly about why I couldn't be around them for a bit because they were calling on their family's ancestors, and how I shouldn't speak her name. Just little instructions to prevent me from screwing it all up and pissing off everyone around me during such a humbling ceremony.

Then, we go to a house on the reservation, Nene's distant cousin's house, and ate a bunch of food while her family all socialized. After I eat more than I probably should have, Nene pulls me aside to go out for a walk, pointing out that she really doesn't know these people that much, and doesn't want to be around them at the moment.

“Why? Do you not like them or something?” I ask her, bewildered, and slightly sick to my stomach.

Nene shrugs and kicks a rock, “It'd be like...if you went to Ireland to see your distant family and all that awkwardness.”

“Hey, what makes you think my relatives are from Ireland?!” I ask jokingly, giving a crooked smile.

Nene laughs and rolls her eyes at me, “But you get it, right? I mean, they are my heritage, but I consider myself an American. I know like...nothing else, really.”

“No, I get it. They're distant family. Blood relatives,” I say as I nod.

Nene nods in agreement, “Glad you understand. Most people think that it's me not being proud of who I am. But they didn't raise me, a bunch of cowboy Montana Americans did. THAT being said, it still doesn't change the fact that I'm still proud of my heritage.”

I laugh and look at Nene directly, “I get it. You don't have to keep explaining it to me.”

“S-sorry,” she says, shrugging and laughing. “I'm just soooooo used to having to.”
I smile and pull off a leaf from a tree as we walk by it, “Weeeeeell what should we do next?”

Nene quickly grabs the leaf out of my hand and throws it to the ground, looking around worryingly, “Don't do that! You could get FINED!”

“SERIOUSLY?!” I ask, gasping so loudly that it chokes me a little.

“Noooooo,” she says with a smile, “I'm just messing with you.”

I glare at her playfully, “How am I supposed to know otherwise?!”

“This is a reservation, NOT a commune of people who talk to plants, Carwen,” Nene points out sarcastically.

“Never realized I was THAT stupid to think on some level that that was the case,” I mutter, making Nene laugh.

Then, I pause, noticing my phone vibrating and look to see a text from my brother, saying that Asher needs us to meet him. I look up at Nene as she smiles and sighs almost in relief, “You have an excuse to get us out of here, huh?”

“It's your...grandma's funeral, shouldn't you stay?” I awkwardly ask, fumbling with my phone a bit. I'd hate to take her away from her grandma's funeral but...I don't want to want to be alone either too. I know it's selfish, but it's true!

It's amazing how in trying times where you need to stick together you normally blame it as something natural as opposed to just being...well, selfish.

Nene looks around and smiles, “That's the beauty of my culture. Her spirit is still here, guiding me. It...helps. I g-guess,” she starts to say, but then pauses to shake her head with a tearful laugh, “I guess I can still feel her. I h-hope that never goes away.”

I look around at the sky smiling, “Yeeeeeaaaaah, I seriously doubt that'll go away. There's no way she'd leave you.”

We walk back to the house after I send Caleb a text, asking him to pick us up here at the reservation so Nene's family can mingle longer with their distant relatives. Nene's mother doesn't seem surprised about Nene leaving, and despite the funeral, they all seem happy...in a way. Happy to be with family and like Nene said, comforted by the fact that she was still there in spirit.

Nene wasn't joking about them being distant relatives though, because most of the people there don't even know Nene's name. While doing the rounds of goodbyes, they keep asking me what her name is...which is awkward because I'm pretty sure I pronounced it differently every time I said it.

In my defense though, I'm no linguist.

Eventually Caleb slowly pulls up to Nene relative's house, and as we both climb in Caleb admits that the entire drive here he was terrified that he was breaking some law he didn't know about. Instantly, I smile at Nene and we both break into laughter at the same time, making Caleb just glare at us and drive away. Once we get to the house dusk had already arrived, meaning Asher was only minutes away from coming to my house. That thought makes heart begin to pound with excitement, and even though Caleb tries to explain in the meantime how creepy it is that he knows our house number without any of us technically telling him, all I can focus on is my beating heart until a couple of knocks strike our door in unison with my heartbeat, revealing Asher to be on the other side.

“You ready?” Asher asks, looking around the living room to find Nene and I sitting on the couch. I don't know about Nene, but I was staring at him like a deer caught in headlights from the second he entered...which is probably why he didn't make much eye contact with me.

I nod slowly and Asher gestures with his hand for us to follow him to the car, with my brother walking right behind him. On the way to the car, Caleb walks with his shoulders pushed back into a super straight posture, obviously too, just to insure that Asher knows the entire time that Caleb is taller than him. It all makes me roll my eyes honestly, and as I look towards Nene to see if she's noticing the same thing, it becomes PRETTY obvious to me that she isn't registering the scene the same way as I am. Suddenly, I laugh loudly, making everyone stop to look at me as if I'm crazy, so I quickly hide my face in my hands, gesturing with my pinky finger for them to keep moving.

We climb into the car, with Caleb driving of course, and I sit right behind Caleb, flicking his hair just to annoy him as we drive along to Asher's directions. Even Asher holds back a smile as Caleb attempts to casually swat my hand away, he doesn't actually say anything until Nene squeaks out a laugh, which then causes Caleb to swear at me.

Eventually, we pull up to a field of literally nothing except...well typical field stuff, and Asher climbs out of the car, explaining that it's time to start walking now, but claims that it isn't that far of a walk. However, his definition of 'not that far' is waaaaaaay different than mine. Even Nene, who actually exercises, gets so tired that she looks at me with exhaustion in her eyes, pleading with me to ask how much farther it's going to be.

“Um...how much longer?” I ask, relenting to Nene's pleas.

“I thought you liked walks,” Asher states with a chuckle.

“She likes walks that don't take hours like every other normal person,” Caleb retorts with a prickly voice.

“It hasn't been hours,” Asher says looking down at his watch. “It's been only 30 minutes!”

“Honestly Asher, it's felt like hours because after we crossed the nice flat field it's been...like, UPHILL the entire time,” I say while breathing heavily. “Besides, it's been a long day for us.”

Asher stops and turns around quickly, running his fingers through his hair, “That's right...I'm so s-sorry,” he says slowly, while looking straight at Nene.

Nene smiles a little, “Thanks...that...means a lot.”

Caleb sighs, clearly annoyed, and Asher just smiles at me briefly before turning around and continuing to walk forward for about another 10 or 15 minutes until we arrive at a little cabin, nestled in a forest that's growing in a small valley in-between these two steep hills. “We're here,” Asher says, which is quickly echoed with sighs of relief and a 'finally' from Caleb.

“Sooooo, who lives here?” I ask, still breathing heavily.

“Me,” Asher says nonchalantly as he walks up to the door.

My eyes widen, and I quickly look at Nene who's eyes are wide too, but then she quickly winks at me, making me blush hotly. Caleb just mutters something along the lines of 'figures' before following Asher in. Nene has to pull me in though, because my feet suddenly can't move. It's Asher's house...and he doesn't live in some crazy castle. He lives in a cute, quaint cottage, that's out in the middle of absolutely nowhere. It looks incredibly normal too, save for the big drapes on the windows, and it EVEN has a garden around it. It's truly...adorable, and if I didn't know better...I'd say a woman lived here.

But just in the second that I think that, a tall, beautiful woman with bright, fiery red hair and exciting green eyes steps out from a room, surprised to see us, but still maintains to hold a strong sense of poise and grace. The second I see her though, I fall into the nearest chair in shock with a loud thump, which actually makes Asher ask if I'm okay.

“I'm...fine, just...tired,” I squeak out before clearing my throat. “B-but who are you?” I quickly ask with a tiny amount of harshness in my voice, pointing directly at the strange woman.

“Wonderful manners here, if I must say so myself,” she says breezily as she saunters up to Asher and kisses him on the cheek. To my relief though, his face doesn't show pleasure in it, and instead shows annoyance.

“Carwen, this is Daisy. Daisy, this is Nene, and Caleb,” Asher explains before sighing heavily, revealing his annoyance very obviously now.

Daisy sits gracefully in a chair across from me, “Lovely. Weeeeelllllll what brings you here to our lovely abode?”

“You live with him?” Caleb asks incredulously.

Asher shakes his head, glaring at Daisy, “No. She doesn't.”

“I do LOVE to visit him though,” Daisy coos, “He gets soooo lonely.”

Asher looks at her, clearly unamused, “Daisy, you know why I brought them here.”

“Well I must say that I don't feel like giving them my amulet after all. Besides, it does wonders for this one outfit I have...” she says with a snobbish attitude.

Asher walks over to her and pulls her up out of the chair, “I said I'd play you're little game and let you meet them, so NOW hand it over.”

Daisy smiles and kisses him on the nose, clearly not intimidated...or just very good at hiding it, “I want to meet the ghost,” she says with a pout.

“Why?” I ask, now getting annoyed and not bothering to hide it.

“Because it's MY amulet,” Daisy says while making direct eye contact with me, practically challenging me.

Truthfully, in that split second, it took a lot of strength from me to not hop out of the chair and take her on. I was tired from that long walk which happened after a long day that has happened after a series of long days that literally make up my life these days. I can't fight Caleb because I won't win and it normally ends with him pinching me so hard that it gives me a bruise, and I wouldn't want to fight Nene. Her though? I'd fight her. Daisy...yeah, I'd fight her and totally win...stupid red haired hag...

As I mentally rip Daisy a new one, everyone continues on as if nothing wrong is happening, with Asher sighing at Daisy, and my brother rolling his eyes at Asher.

Asher edits Daisy's statement, “An amulet that I gave you,” which makes Nene squeak awkwardly and my face fall, snapping me out of my mental battle with her.

I look up briefly to see to my horror that Daisy had caught my face falling, and now a wide smile is placed on her face, notifying me that the HAG is HAPPY about it. “Look, I want to help the poor ghost out, Sir. You knnnnooooow how I like to help them,” she says, proudly now.

Nene clears her throat, “Sir?”

Daisy looks at her in shock, “Are manners really that lost in this time period? He's my elder, my sire, therefore I speak to him with respect.”

Asher rolls his eyes, “Sure you do. Come on, let's go meet Casper.”

I glare at Asher, “Excuse me?”

Asher smiles awkwardly, “I meant to say Carter...really.”

“Carter sounds like a lovely name,” Daisy says brightly, clearly ignoring anything that doesn't involve her directly.

Caleb walks around us and walks up ahead, muttering as he passes us, “Oooooh, this is going to be fun.”

We walk to the car in silence basically, and I say basically because Daisy keeps talking about the lovely trees and how wonderful the walk from his house is the entire way back. Every time she talks though, it feels like finger nails on a chalk board in my mind, making me want to crawl out of my skin and run away screaming until I bleed to death...because I wouldn't have any skin, so obviously that would be the end result.

Nene even notices my annoyance, and tries smiling comfortingly as much as she can, but even she winces when Daisy talks. She talks so brightly, snobbishly, and in such a sexy way that it makes just about every woman scream for one reason...we know that guys love girls who talk like that. They don't really exist, but that doesn't stop stupid, hag imitators from using that technique to reel men in.

The car ride back is even more awkward though, because Daisy decides to sit in-between Nene and I. For someone who supposedly knows so much about manners, I'm fairly certain crawling over my lap to get the middle seat first is not something that someone who has proper manners would do. I'm just saying, though...

Yet, the sight of my house could not be a happier sight, and I honestly don't think the car stops moving before I get out. I race towards the front door, with Nene right next to me, and we both breathe a sigh of relief the second we open the door. Our faces of sheer relief makes Carter look at us both strangely, while my mother just waves before continuing to cook on the stove, clearly oblivious to the pain we had to endure just to get home.

“Yooooou okay?” Carter asks curiously.

I open my mouth to talk, but then I hear Daisy's voice laughing as she begins to walk up the stairs to our door, “This is...Daisy. She's currently holding the jewel, you know, the one that can help you...hostage.”

Daisy pushes past me and smiles brightly, making Carter seem to blush...which is something I didn't know ghosts could do. “You must be Carter! I just HAD to meet the loooovvvvveeeeelllllly ghost getting my necklace before I gave it up for good. It's a wonderful necklace, you see,”

Carter smiles and laughs lightly, “Well I'm glad that you care about it that much.”

“Of course! It also helps that you just seem so polite and...handsome,” she coos.

Carter grins until his eyes meet mine, which makes him awkwardly back away from Daisy and look at me with a shrug. My mother looks at Daisy suspiciously though, and instantly it dawns upon everyone in the room that Daisy looks VERY similar to my mother. Caleb and I gasp while Daisy just smiles confidently at my mother, who is perplexed completely.

“Who are you again?” my mother finally asks, scratching her head.

“Daisy?!” my father exclaims, silencing the room completely.

Daisy's face lights up as she rushes towards my father and kisses him briefly, “Christopher, my love. It's been so long!”

Written By Melissa Seeger.  2014.

13: Cursed: Chapter 13

Cursed: Chapter 13

My brother and I openly gape, and then cry out in unison, “YOU KNOW HER?!”

My father awkwardly nods and breaks out of Daisy's embrace. “It's a...looooonnnnng story, to be completely honest,” my father admits while nervously laughing. Clearly attempting to end the conversation.

“We used to date,” Daisy blurts out, earning an eye roll from Asher.

Carter laughs and congratulates my father until my icy glare silences him, while my brother, remains completely dumbfounded and just keeps looking between Dad and Daisy. Words obviously can't come to him though, and not for lack of trying. Yet, opening and closing his mouth is as close as Caleb can get to asking his question.

“H-how long ago did you guys date?” I ask, voicing my brother's question and staring at Daisy intently with wonder. I suppose she's pretty. If being slutty is a version of pretty, and TRUTHFULLY...I thought my father had better taste than...this. I mean, he married my mom!

“Before your mother,” my father assures, trying to create as much distance between himself and Daisy now.

“Why...haven't you ever told me about her?” my mother asks quietly, shoving so much tension into the air that it feels like the whole world's about to collapse.

My heart instantly shatters the second I look at my mother, who's obviously distraught. Tears are already forming in her eyes and ever part of her face screams the exact same thing to my father; you lied to me. “Tell me,” my mother says, shaking and stepping towards my father.

Daisy confidently walks up to my mother and smiles, separating her from my father, “Probably for TWO reasons, dear. The first being that I'm a vampire and our relationship was in nooooo way a holy one, and the second being that he found YOU conveniently two weeks after I left him.”

My mother gasps and backs away, but my father pushes past Daisy to rush towards her, “That's only partially true, dear! I wanted to move onto a healthy relationship, and her leaving was a...was a SIGN for me to finally find one.”

“But...she left you only weeks before we met,” my mother repeats, looking at my father and already beginning to cry. “I-I was your rebound?! From a VAMPIRE, no less!”

“She left me because her sire summoned her,” my father exclaims, causing Asher's face to look like he wants to disappear off the face of the Earth in that instant.

“I kept looking out for you, though,” Daisy whispers. “I couldn't let you go completely. I made sure you were always safe...and happy.”

“But you left me, bottom line, Daisy,” my father points out.

“Chris...” she begs.

“Don't you t-talk to my husband!” my mother yells, shocking Caleb and I. We had NEVER seen mom yell like that...or like ever, really. “WE have a life together now, and you can't touch that!”

“And you, woman,” Daisy spits out, “Can't touch what we had. That's why he found my doppelganger to start a family with.”

My mother sobs and holds her hands to her face, shaking, “How could you have never told me this, Christopher? I'm n-not like this! I don't freak out over stuff like this! I thought...I was better than this, but it isn't fair to spring something like THIS on me! I thought we told each other everything, but is this what you want?!”

“No, no, no, Carrie-Anne! I love you JUST the way you are! Our love is different from what Daisy and I felt,” my father reassures, trying to comfort my mother despite her pushing away from him.

“D-different,” my mother repeats with a cold laugh and looks at Daisy in despair.

Daisy smiles a little smile as she shrugs, “I told you so.”

Nene stands horrified in the corner next to Asher and Carter, all of them looking like they want to run out the front door. So I fling my gaze to Daisy, reaching up to her neck and whisper, “Unlock,” snapping the chain off her neck and throwing it at Carter. “There, NOW you can go.”

Daisy looks at me as if I'm an ant, “Seriously? I was GOING to give it to him anyways.”

“Leave. Now.” I growl.

Daisy smirks, “No, I want to help you guys out.”

“We don't need your help,” I say, holding my voice back from screaming at her.

“We might,” my father says slowly. “Daisy is very strong, and has a lot of knowledge about this kind of stuff.”

I look at my father incredulously, making my mother sigh in exasperation, but then my brother walks up to her and offers to walk her to her room. Silence only follows that scene, and the silence is only broken when my brother comes back to the living room, walking right up to Dad with a furious scowl on his face, “Don't go up into Mom's room, but that woman can help us, just not NOW. She can't stay the night here either, got it?”

Dad looks at him in shock as his temper starts to rise, “She's still my wife, Caleb. You have NO right to say those things to me!”

“When you start acting like her husband again, I'll APOLOGIZE,” Caleb spits out, and then he walks angrily back up to his room, slamming his door.

Daisy sighs and walks up to my father, “Soooo, where should I sleep?”

I grab Daisy's hand and start to pull her outside, “We have a great shed that has a lock on the outside that you can use.”

“Ow! H-how are you so strong?!” Daisy exclaims, wriggling out of my grasp once we get outside.

Asher walks up to Daisy and growls, “Just do as she says, okay?”

“She's cursed, huh? I knew it! I KNEW it! You and your little...fetish!” Daisy exclaims. “Just watch out for him, little girl. He loves them fresh, innocent, and sad,” she says darkly.

“Where's that shed?” Asher asks quickly, grabbing Daisy by the arm.

“There's one on the back of the barn...the one by the house has...um, stuff in it,” I mumble, looking at Asher curiously as he walks away with her.

I go and sit on the steps outside my front door, catching glimpse of my father carrying a pillow and some blankets to his office before I make eye contact with Nene. Nene takes the signal and steps gingerly outside to sit next to me, but does so as if she's walking on glass or something. Finally, she sighs and looks at me, but thankfully, just looking at her starts to make me smile.

“Beeeeet you didn't see that one coming,” I say sarcastically.

“I don't think anyone did, actually,” Nene says slowly. “Are you...okay, though?”

“My parents are a complete mess because of this vampire chick who's also made me question Asher and everything I thought he was, buuuuut other than that, I'm fine,” I say quickly, suddenly getting the urge to start a fire somewhere...like maybe our shed by our barn.

“Questioning...Asher? I mean, it's prrreeeetttttty obvious that he just takes care of her since he sired her. Their relationship seems pretty dead to me,” Nene points out logically.

“It's not just THAT,” I say, turning to her directly. “She knows him on a level that I don't, and what if...what if that side is exactly what I hope it isn't?”

“You mean, him actually being a completely crazy vampire that's just looking for the right moment to drain us all?” she asks bluntly.

I sigh and shrug, “Yep, prrrreeeetttttttty much.”

Nene looks up and smiles at me, slowly getting up, “Well...I think you should probably talk to him,” she says while gesturing with her head towards Asher, who's just standing there and staring at me with wide eyes.

Leaning over, Nene gives me a small hug, and then points to where she was sitting on the deck with me, “You should sit down,” she says to Asher before she walks inside.

Asher sits down slowly, and an awkward silence seems to surround us until Asher quickly blurts out, “I'm sorry! I had no idea about Daisy and...EVERYTHING else. I should've figured though...she ALWAYS does stuff like this! And...and she didn't leave your Dad to be with me, but just to follow my orders because I was moving...and...and...I...”

“What's your type?” I bring up bluntly as I cut him off, turning towards him and making him openly gape at me in shock because of my frankness.

“T...type?” he repeats slowly.

“Daisy said I'm your type. What'd she mean by that?” I ask again, rephrasing the question this time a bit.

Asher sighs a bit and relaxes, “Oh you mean the curse type! Well, what she means is that all my life I've protected people w-who have the...curse, and...it's annoyed her over the years because she doesn't understand why I do it...and she's seriously narcissistic.”

I blink and look at him confused, “Why do you do it?”

Asher stares off into the distance as if he's reliving a memory, “I owe it to someone...special.”

“Oh great! That's just peeeeerrrrrrrfffffeeeeeccccct,” I say with a groan as I cradle my face in my hands in shame. “My brother was right, and I am a stupid, STUPID girl!”

“What?!” Asher blurts out in disbelief, confusion in every inch of his voice.

I look at him in frustration, as well as an awkward sense of desperation, while I chase after the words within my mind to make a sentence. “I just...I trusted you TOO easily! I don't even know you...oh god, I-I'm so STUPID!”

Asher looks at me for seconds, just blinking, and then rests his hand on my shoulder, “Do you really believe that?”

I look at his hand, in annoyance and excitement all at the same time, “Oh god...I'm gonna die...”

Asher sighs, and then removes his hand to pull something out of his jacket, “I plan on making sure to do everything in my power to prevent that from happening. Here,” he says and places a book on my lap with a title 'Battle Mage' written boldly on the top. “I...got this for you.”

I fumble picking up the book, but finally ruffle through a few pages before sighing loudly and closing it. “I suck at magic, okay? Like compared to every other witch I know, I'm just a dork who doesn't even think to use magic right when trouble happens, and just ends up...like hitting stuff...instead. The curse probably chose me because of that,” I say, muttering the last part to myself mostly.

Asher shakes his head and flips to the beginning, reading it softly into my ear, “A rare breed of magic users have the ability to summon the ancient techniques of the Battle Mage. They are different, built for exactly this purpose, and beforehand can find themselves adept at no other magic. It's a magic that is bonded within every cell of their body which can be summoned like a battle drum...”

I gasp and shake, slowly moving my face towards Asher's, “H-how did you know about that?”

He smiles gently and pushes the book towards me, “Lucky guess.”

I push my fingers through my hair and bite my lip, “It feels like you know me so well,” I say, pausing for a second, “A-almost too well...”

“I get the same feeling when you look at me,” Asher whispers.

I smile and feel the air between us become magnetic, like an unknown force is pulling us together. Realizing I'm inches from his face though, I pull away and clear my throat in a panic. “I'll...look into this. T-thank you!”

He nods and gets up, dusting himself off calmly as if nothing had almost happened just a second ago, “You're welcome. I'll just go...guard Daisy...” he says, breaking into an annoyed chuckle.

I smile and laugh with a sigh, “Yeah, please do. I CAN'T do everything here.”

“Trust me,” he says softly, “You won't have to. You have a lot of people here willing to support you.”

I look down at the book for a second, smiling before looking up again and finding Asher gone to look over Daisy, just as he said. Slowly, I meander back into our house and find only Carter sitting in the living room, looking at the necklace intently. “Nene went up to your room, but I think she went to check up on Caleb truthfully,” Carter says with a smile. “What ya got there?” he then asks, gesturing towards the book in my hands.

“Um, oh, it's uh...uh...a gift,” I say awkwardly before sitting down next to Carter. “Soooo, you going to put it on anytime soon?”

He shrugs and grins, “Truthfully, I can feel it already without putting it on. It's feels like it can change something in me,” he says slowly, trying to explain. Finally, he shrugs, “It's hard to explain. Must be a ghost...thing.”

I laugh, and then gingerly touch it, “Do you know what kind of change? I mean maybe you can go back to normal,” I say hopefully.

Carter shakes his head and cautiously puts the necklace on, “No, I'll never be normal again. I know that. This...thing doesn't do that,” he explains, fingering it thoughtfully.

“Do you feel any different?” I ask eagerly.

“It feels like it just pieced me together...and gave me control,” he mutters slowly while staring at the necklace as if it's hypnotizing him.

“Control over what?” I question.

A large grin crosses his face right before he vanishes and then reappears, “Okay...sooooo I could get used to this.”

I gasp in shock and point towards him, “You did that?!”

“No...people can do that now. I read about it somewhere,” he answers sarcastically, rolling his eyes until I playfully hit him on the shoulders, mentally noting in excitement that I can also touch him.

“What else can you do?” I ask, now looking intently at the necklace.

He shrugs, “I don't know. I don't suppose you have any witchy books on this...”

I laugh loudly, “I THINK you might be in uncharted territory, Carter.”

He holds the necklace tightly in his hand and shakes his head, “No, someone figured out that this necklace helped ghosts in the first place, so there's got to be some information...somewhere.”

“If they knew that it helped ghosts...then why do you have it? Wouldn't it be a big deal for ghosts everywhere?” I ask slowly, racing through my thoughts.

Carter nods, “Exactly! Weird right?!”

I nod in agreement slowly, “We'll have to look into it, but until then you should just practice...I guess.”

Carter thumps the book Asher gave me and smiles, “You have enough homework as it is. I've got this one. I seriously doubt every ghost in the world has a bunch of witches supporting them, am I right? So I think I'll be fine.”

I smile, “You're probably right,” and I break into a small laugh, “But then what does that mean for you?”

Carter sighs, “That it was meant to be.”

As long as I've known Carter he's always been one to respect fate. He's always saying things like that. Despite being so rebellious, and sometimes stupid with my brother, he always has such reverence for the world and how it all clicks together, like...magic, to create its endings. It's always a hopeful thought, but truthfully, fate doesn't seem to be on my side these days. In that instant though, my view towards fate starts change, making it seem like fate isn't actually morbid. Fate suddenly feels like a giant blanket of comfort again...which is so nice that I barely want to talk just to stay in that moment a bit longer.

Finally, I clear my throat, “Carter...what are we going to d--,” I start to say before getting cut off by him.

“I can't see him,” he answers adamantly.

“He's your father,” I press.

“He was,” Carter corrects. “I'm not the same Carter I once was. You KNOW I'm right.”

“Yes b-but...” I say, fumbling at the words. “You're prepared to just fade away into history like that?!”

“I'm technically dead, right?” he says shortly. “I'm...supposed to do that.”

“But you don't have to! Not now because...because you have that necklace,” I interject hopefully.

He shakes his head and looks sadly down at the necklace, “If anything, this necklace reminds me constantly that...I'm different.”

“You still seem like the same Carter I knew,” I say while grabbing his hand.

Carter looks at me kindly, “That's just because you always could see my soul.”

I look at him and smile, feeling the whole world stand still, as if I finally belong in the world again. No longer am I a stranger, because in this moment, I'm a cherished being serving the world in this great purpose. “You can do this, Carter,” I assure him while squeezing his hand tightly.

He smiles, and then looks at the clock, frowning instantly, “It's late and you have to go to my...”

I nod and get up, “I know.”

“No wait...” Carter says, grabbing my hand again to stop me, “I have to say it.”

I sniff, “You don't need to, you know.”

“This is real, Carwen. We CAN'T pretend it's not,” he says strongly. “Tomorrow is m-my...funeral. I'm d-dead, and tomorrow is my f-funeral.”

A few tears slip from my eyes, “I know...”

He squeezes my hand tightly and smiles comfortingly, “But...it'll be okay.”

I pull my hand out of his and begin to walk towards my room, “I hope you're right,” I mutter.

The walk to my room is over in the blink of an eye, and it's not like our house is super small or anything, but I just space out the rest of the way, turning off my deep thinking mind to settle for the simple thoughts such as 'move left foot, now right, now left' and 'turn doorknob'. Once I get to my room, I collapse on my bed, landing on Nene who had actually been sleeping originally.

“Oh! I'm so sorry!” I exclaim.

Nene grumbles and scoots over without opening her eyes, “Don't worry about it, it's fine...” she says under her breath.

“Nene?” I ask quietly as I crawl under my covers.

“Mm?” she grunts out, finally opening her eyes to look at me.

“I think I'm in trouble...” I say slowly, having my deep thoughts flood back into my mind.

Nene looks at me and nods slowly as she yawns, “Me too. Boys are stupid.”

I smile and hug her tightly, “Night.”

She never says 'night' back though, because the second she closes her eyes she's back asleep. Her soft breathing then puts me to sleep, letting me fall into a dreamless state where nothing matters and nothing exists. As horrible and as scary as the thought of that is, it feels comforting right then. The world is now finally simple, clean, and easy. Something I can manage...

The next morning comes too soon though, and the whole house seems to move like robots while Carter is nowhere to be seen. Exactly when we are all ready, Carter's father knocks on the door and we all greet each other...but it's all so hollow. My father and mother look as white as sheets, knowing very well that the secret that they are hiding from him held so much gravity. Every parent dreads losing their child, but to hold back the fact that they are actually still around, especially like how Carter is, is something my parents battle with the entire time. If they were in his shoes, they would want to know, I'm sure.

But his father would never truly understand, so it's better this way.

After dropping Nene off at her house, we then go and get the ashes from the morgue, and then we all get on a plane to go to L.A. for the burial service. Apparently, his father has it all set up so much that all they need are the ashes to do the ceremony. His father has always planned stuff to the very last detail, but Carter's dad always said he wasn't like that naturally, and that trait was originally from Carter's mom. When she died though, his father took that trait and wore it with pride. It was something that always drove Carter nuts too...but he understood it, nonetheless.

It all lasts forever though, and the picture his father chooses to display as the main picture for the ceremony is one I actually took of him. Everything in my body begins to break down, and the only thing that holds me together for the rest of the ceremony is my family. My mother and father both wrap their arms around me, and my brother leans over to hold my hand just so I know that I'm not alone. That's not the problem I'm facing, though. It's the confusing reality of everything before me...

It's not real...

Yet, every time I repeat that, the real truth begins to sink in. It is real. Carter did die, and he DIED saving my life. He might still be here with us, with me, but his body that I grew up with is now just ashes in a jar...ashes that are going to be put in a box and buried in the ground.

I start to shake and cry, watching his family members stand stoically and stare at Carter's grave. His father doesn't stand, and I don't believe he could even if he wanted to. Tears constantly stream down his face, and his body shakes just at much as mine. Once the ceremony is over though, his father insists on staying behind at the grave, despite my father trying to get him to move.

“That's my boy! HOW...how would you feel if you buried all that was left of yours?!” he screams, grabbing some of the fresh dirt and holding it to his face.

My father chokes up and backs away, grabbing Caleb really fast and hugging him. “I wouldn't be able to feel, Mark.”

Mark looks up at my father with his face all burnt from his tears, “I c-can't feel. I c-can't breathe. He was all the tied me to this world...and-and I loved him s-so much,” he says before breaking into tears again. “Just leave me with him, p-p-please!” he begs, crumbling to the ground and sobbing.

“Dad, we can't just leave him here by himself!” I exclaim, shaking in my mother's arms.

“He needs space,” my father says sternly, making Carter's father smile in gratitude towards him. “Mark, I'm going to call a cab for you, and I'll pay for him to wait as long as he needs to until you are ready to go,” my father says slowly. “I-I'm...so sorry for your loss.”

Carter's father chokes and grabs his hand tightly, “Thank you, and I'll pray every day that you don't witness the death of your children.”

My father nods, and then we slowly begin walking towards the car. I glance back at Carter's father for a brief second before I enter the car, swallowing the gulp in my throat. “That was hard...” I whisper.

“But it's over,” my brother says comfortingly as he wraps his arm around my shoulders.

I look up in the rear-view mirror of the car and see my parents staring straight back at me with sadness in their eyes. They look at me as if I'm being buried right before them too. Perhaps I am... I'm walking towards the same grave Carter's body is in now, except...I won't linger like him. I'll be truly gone if this curse consumes me. My parents know that too, and in that instant, I see the fear in their eyes which reveals their darkest thoughts.

It's the thought of what they would do if the curse consumes me...

I turn my eyes from the mirror and look out the window, never making eye contact again the entire time we drive back to the airport, hop on a plane, and then finally head back home. They were watching me, though. The entire time...just watching me.

It burned.

As we drive back to our house we find Daisy standing outside the door, waving at the car, but most likely my father. My mother then hops out of the car and points at her, growling almost, “Don't you dare try to come inside.”

“Not now, Carrie-Anne,” my father groans, moving slowly out of the car.

“Excuse me?!” my mother exclaims, her voice getting louder.

I squeeze my eyes shut and listen to the fight unravel the last bit of sanity that any of us have. My brother begins to bite at Daisy with his words, and clearly without thinking, my father begins to defend her. It all heads downhill, ending with the thumps of my father's stuff being pelted at him by my mother. I squeeze my eyes tighter when my father drives quickly away in his car, kicking dust all around me, and only opening them when I start coughing to find no one around me anymore. Only a fading dust cloud remains in the empty scene. Everything else seems to be gone entirely, and now...I'm all alone.

Slowly, I move my gaze up to the sky and fall to the ground crying, “I can't do this...”

Written By Melissa Seeger.  2014.

14: Cursed: Chapter 14

Cursed: Chapter 14

I close my eyes tight and feel every cell in my body begin to react, moving in unison with my breath, my voice, and my every thought. Everything feels completely...in control. Strength rises within my body, and the curse builds upon this with a forceful push, making it seem like I'm...like I'm invincible. For only a brief second, I hear the lessons from the magic giving my body wisdom and instructs it on how to react. Things I never noticed before become so clear as my eyes quickly, and naturally, zone in on weak points while I move gracefully within my mind. Then suddenly, my bedroom door swings open and Nene bounces inside, shattering the space of peace I had created to practice in, and making me fall off my bed in shock.

“Oh CRAP! I didn't know you were practicing! Sooooorrrrrry,” Nene exclaims as she helps me up.

“It's fine,” I say, rubbing my arm tenderly. “It's not like I can't do it again. It's pretty...well I don't want to say easy...”

“Natural?” Nene helpfully throws out.

I nod and smile before looking at Nene's outfit closer. Then quickly, my face breaks into an even wider smile. Nene's normally hidden curvy frame is shown beautifully with a nice navy blue, knee length skirt, flowy but functional, and a white v-neck tank top with some sturdy, black hiking boots. “Is that...a skirt?” I ask cheekily, grinning like a mad woman.

“It's COMFY, that's all,” Nene answers awkwardly, staring at her shoes. “P-perfect for walking around Yellowstone.”

“Right,” I say slowly, “Is that top comfy too? I mean, your boobs look very snug in there...”

Nene glares at me, “I just...didn't want to get a weird tan line, that's all!”

I nod and giggle, “Yes, because being covered head to toe in your normally baggy attire would've made it so you would've gotten a strange tan line...by not letting any of you skin see the Sun at all.”

“Um...ex-exactly,” Nene says while eying me suspiciously.

I smile and jump towards her, flicking her hair playfully, “Makes sense to me. Besides, you look hot.”

Nene laughs awkwardly and plays with her hair, “I wasn't really...t-trying to look hot.”

I raise my eyebrows and grin, “Yes, because v-neck shirts don't scream hot at all on normal days.”

“Maybe I should change,” Nene mutters quickly, looking around my room.

I grab her hand and pull her out of my room, “Mom, we're ready!”

“We are all downstairs!” my mother hollers back.

“About ti--,” and my brother stops mid-sentence as we both round the corner. Awkwardly, he clears his throat and smiles, “Time. About time.”

Carter laughs and winks at me, “This is going to be fun.”

My mother drives us all to Yellowstone with Nene sitting up in the front to help get us there since she's the only one in the car that's actually been there before. On the way there actually, we nearly hit a person running towards a bison (because apparently they aren't buffalo, as Nene corrected us) with a sandwich in their hands. We are so stunned by this that we have to slow down as we drive past them, but we quickly have to speed up when Carter rolls down the window and yells 'Look! Bison chow!'.

It was the most interesting part of the drive up there, to be honest.

We finally park and head up towards the volcano area, which is called the Yellowstone Caldera according to our own personal guide known as Nene. We all seem to group together save for Caleb and Nene, who seem to be enveloped in their own conversation, full of them both laughing at each other's joke every other second. My mother smiles at them both tenderly while Carter nearly makes me bust out into loud laughter by making funny faces at me as we stroll along the path.

“Soooo how's your practicing going?” Carter asks as we walk, finally donning on a more mature composure for the time being.

“Not bad. It's actually pretty fun,” I say smiling.

“Yeah, she's getting really good,” Caleb says, tuning in on our conversation now. “It's about time too. I waaaaas beginning to get worried there,” he adds while sarcastically laughing.

My mother sighs, “EVERYONE has their own talents, Caleb. Don't let yourself get too cocky.”

I laugh and wink at Nene, “Yeah, but don't let him fool you into thinking that he can't do anything, Nene. He's actually really good with magic.”

“Picked it up fast too,” Caleb adds proudly as he puffs up his chest a bit too.

“Everyone has their own talents,” my mother repeats, lightly smacking Caleb upside the head. “For instance, your father and I are healers...” she says, becoming silent and frowning a bit after mentioning my father.

It has been a few days since my father left the house, and it's a topic we all avoid because my mother becomes distraught afterwards. He hasn't called or anything. All of this has made it so that worry is almost always present on my mother's face, which is WHY we decided to go on a hike today. She needs some time to get out of her own head. I can only hope my father returns home soon, though. I know my mother is sorry for exploding at him, but until my father returns home, we won't know if he's sorry for exploding as well.

I clear my throat and turn to Carter desperately to get out of my own thoughts, “How are YOUR talents progressing?”

Carter shrugs, “I can change my clothes and fly. I'm still working on possessing people, though.”

“Yeah, the last time he tried to possess me he didn't do much except make me really cold,” Caleb says with a laugh.

“Possess people!?” Nene exclaims.

Carter shrugs, “It's one of the many perks of being a ghost. That and now I don't have to buy clothes. I just see a picture and I can make it happen on me.”

“And you can fly...which makes me wonder why we are walking,” I add playfully.

“Go ahead and take advantage of the ghost!” Carter retorts sarcastically with an eye roll directed towards me.

“Don't worry, man, we will,” Caleb says with a laugh as he pats Carter on the back.

“You know, I've been thinking that once I become really awesome with my battle mage magic, I should start doing puns and stuff,” I jokingly say. “I mean they do it in movies, tv shows, and books. I honestly want in on the fun.”

“Only if they're funny,” Caleb states absently.

“What if they get you hurt?” Carter points out.

Nene smiles and shrugs, moving next to me as we walk, “I think it's about time. You're smart and funny. It could be fun!”

“See?! Nene is on my side,” I exclaim.

My mother laughs, and Caleb holds his hands out in defense, “I never said I was against you!”

Then everyone turns to Carter and he sighs, annoyed. “Really?! You're going to pick on the ghost again?!”

I laugh loudly, “You make yourself an easy tar--,” and then I stop walking, talking, and breathing as I look up ahead to see Dominic staring straight at me. Even though he's hidden in the shadows of the trees, I can still see every feature of his face, making my body turns ice cold. A large, evil smile grows on his face and he backs away from me slowly. Without thinking, I start walking towards him until the yelling from everyone snaps me out of it. I turn quickly towards Nene and frown, rubbing my temples, “I saw...I saw...” I say slowly before crashing to the ground.

When I crash to the ground, part of me stops on the ground and the rest of me just falls through. I scream and hold my hands out for someone to grab me, but everyone circles around my body, not knowing that I'm still falling. All around me as I fall are images of people fighting a variety of supernatural creatures, and humans. It all starts to blur together though until I look down and scream as the ground below rises quickly to me, making me crash down onto it, and start rolling down a hill.

Once I stop tumbling down the hill, I jump up and look around in terror until my curse begins to burn. I grip my chest and start to walk until a man running from a mob of people runs into me. Instantly, I begin running from the people in the mob as they scream at me too. 'Death!' Is all they keep repeating, and every inch of my body bursts with fear as I run as fast as I can. They chase me to a cliff by the sea and I turn around, terrified at the mob circling me.

“Stop! It wasn't my fault,” I yell in desperation, even though what I mean to say is that they have the wrong person. It suddenly feels as if my mouth is possessed...

“Death, death, death, death,” they chant as they start to march closer to me.

I back away and nearly trip on a rock backwards. Kneeling down, I begin to beg, “Please! Stop! It's not my fault!” I sob out.

Then, I close my eyes as one of the people raises their ax above my head, and only open my eyes once screaming pain registers throughout my body from my arm. I stare down in shock, finding it completely severed, and scream, wriggling as much as I can as they tie me up.

“Hurry, the demons will be here any second. They can smell his blood,” a person says coldly.

I fight, scream, and wriggle, but to no avail. Soon, the people disappear into the woods and their presence is replaced by the smell of burning flesh that reaches my nostrils. The world begins to grow black and fuzzy until movement in the distance catches my eye. Wriggling again, I try to break out of the binds as the figures in the distance get close enough to reveal themselves be 3 demons stalking towards me slowly, smiling with their mouths of razor sharp teeth, and burning everything they touch on their path towards me.

“I'm sorry,” I whisper and feel a single tear trickle down my cheek.

Once they reach me, one of them gets only inches from my face, and then it licks me with its sharp tongue, cutting my cheek. “I'm not.”

The spirit lets me go in that instant, and I pop out to witness the horror of him being shredded. I turn around and see two little girls crying in the distance while being held back by the people of the town, screaming “Daddy!”. All I can do is choke on the air, and begin to run blindly through the smoke, hearing the screams of the town's people as the demons move from their sacrifice to all of them. Then, I see the demons circle around the two little girls, growling and laughing darkly. One of the little girl's is unconscious, and the other one is holding her in her lap, crying and shaking. Like sharks circling before they feed, you can see the lust of death in their eyes...and only complete terror is returned to them from the awake little girl.

My eyes widen as one of the demons moves to pounce and I quickly scream, “No!” and I use flash of my energy to rip the demons away from the girls.

They turn around, and see me, and it isn't just them. It's all of them. Even the little girls see me. My heart beats loudly, and my curse screams, bursting into a powerful flame that lights up every cell in my body. “Go! Run!” I yell at the little girl, returning my gaze towards the horde of demons sulking straight up towards me.

Fear trickles into every inch of my body and into my gut, begging me to run, but my heart overpowers it with confidence, strength, and courage. It reminds me quickly what to fight for. I can't just fight to survive, but I have to protect those little girls. Instantly, everything feels so real, and the heat from the fires around me begins to singe my skin, while my eyes begin to water from the smoke. I'm really here, and now I REALLY have to win.

Screaming to clear my throat from fear, I touch my heart and I say, “Come to me, sword of my heart!” A handle appears in my hand and I pull on it, yanking out a sword I summon from my chest, which I swiftly glide through the air at the demons who hurl themselves at me, slashing them down. Shortly after that, a large blow smacks me upside my back, pushing me into a tree, and making my heart stop for a second in pure terror.

I turn around and glare at the demon for a second before touching the ground with my fingers and scream without thinking, “Shake!”

Instantly the Earth begins to shake, but I seem to be immune to the shaking that is so strong that it makes the demons around me crumble to the ground. I grab my sword tightly and scream, “BURN IN HELL YOU DEMONS,” igniting my sword instantly as I slice it through the air with a large trail of fire that catches on all the demons, making them scream and lunge at me at the same time.

I panic and kneel down, covering my head until my curse pulses so hard that it makes my head hurt, suddenly making me see a shield of light protecting me. Screams force me to open my eyes to find the demons have all disappeared into ash as the shield around me continues to glow so brightly that it practically blinds me. Once they all vanish, the shield drops and without a second thought, I run in a blind sort of fury towards the sounds of fighting and screaming. As I run there, I quickly attack any demons harming the people around me until I come to the man who condemned the spirit who had possessed me to death.

“Who are you?!” he exclaims in fright.

I glare at him, “Cursed!” I spit out.

I swing around, feeling the sword hum through the air, and I strike the demon behind me squarely in the head, carving through it as if it's nothing, and return to find the man being held up in the air by a woman. She throws him to the ground towards a group of demons, who launch at him within a split second, before she turns to me. Her brown hair blows in the wind, and her face is covered in burns, blood, and ash, make her green eyes shine as bright as the Sun.

“This is the history I have to live with everyday,” she says hauntingly. “I brought this upon them all. Upon you.”

“How?” I ask confused, stepping towards her cautiously.

She turns to the side to reveal her pregnant belly, and then suddenly grabs my hand to touch it. Electricity sparks, and I jump back in shock, looking at my red hand. She smiles sadly, looking behind me, “My baby boy. I never meant to curse you as well.”

Shaking, I turn around slowly and gasp in shock to find Asher standing behind me with a black spot on his heart, staring right into my eyes. “It doesn't burn,” he whispers. “It killed me and took my soul long ago,” he says darkly with a smile.

I scream and pop up to find my mother, Caleb, Carter, and Nene staring straight at me in shock. My mother quickly grabs me and pulls me towards her lap, brushing my hair with her fingertips. I begin to cry and shake, until the images of what I'd just seen flood back into my head, making me suddenly very still.

“What happened?!” Carter exclaims in worry.

Caleb frowns, and then purses his lips together, “What'd you see?”

I take in a breath and find my heart turn to stone, “I need to speak to Asher. Now.”

No one talks on the way home, but the air in the car is incredibly tense. Only Nene bothers making eye contact with me, and grabs my hand comfortingly, knowing very well something happened, but also knowing that I'd tell her when I'm ready. In any case, I couldn't form the words to explain right now anyways, because I don't fully know what I actually saw. All I know now is Asher is connected to the curse far more so than he's ever let on before.

The second we see home my heart stops beating for a second because my father is sitting on the porch awkwardly with Daisy next to him and Asher right next to Daisy, looking as if he's holding her on a leash or something. Fire bursts through my stomach, and before my mother can fully stop the car, I hop out and march towards Asher.

“I only made sure he was safe, and that Daisy didn't do anything stupid,” Asher explains, watching me defensively.

“YOU!” I yell, pointing at him, “We need to talk,” I say with a low growl.

Asher blinks and looks at Nene and my mother in confusion, “WHAT HAPPENED?!”

Nene clears her throat, “We...a-aren't really sure!”

Caleb chuckles darkly, “You pissed her off SOMEHOW, and it's about time,” he says, muttering the last part.

“I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING WRONG!” Asher exclaims backing up.

I march towards him, jumping up the last few steps on our porch and reaching up to the neckline of his shirt, ripping it downwards. Then there, before my eyes, I see exactly what I saw in the vision. A black spot. It makes everyone gasp in shock, while all I can do is take a step back and start to cry.

Nene quickly rushes everyone inside, while my brother exclaims as he's pulled away that 'he knew there was something fishy about Asher'. I just stand there shaking for minutes, staring at the curse on his bare chest. Without knowing, I start hyperventilating, and quickly find the world become fuzzy until my legs start to give away completely. I start to collapse to the ground, but Asher rushes towards me, breaking my fall. I wriggle out of his arms though, and back away from him by crawling on the ground.

He knew so much more than he was letting on all this time... It all makes sense now!

The truth always makes sense.

“Answer me!” I yell.

“Calm down, Carwen. You're going to pass out!” Asher exclaims with worry all over his face. He tries to scoot closer to me, but I scramble farther away.

“Stop it!” I yell. “I DON'T know who you are!”

“You're afraid of me...” Asher whispers, his face falling.

“Terrified,” I spit out.

Asher pleads with his eyes, “I'll tell you everything, I swear!”

“Do it,” I say lowly. “Do it NOW, then.”
“W-what do you want to know?” Asher asks quickly.

I point shakily, “Is that...is that what I think it is?”

Asher gingerly touches the black spot on his chest, “The curse? Yes...”

“How did you get it?” I demand.

“My mother had it,” he states plainly.

“And who's your mother?” I ask.

“The first,” he whispers.

“The first what?” I demand loudly as I start to shake.

“The first one who was cursed,” he says while staring directly into my eyes. “She was cursed because of...me.”

“W-why?” I ask, my voice finally lowering down to a normal level.

“Because I'M an abomination,” he spits out coldly. “My mother was a witch, just like you, and my father was...was a...vampire,” he says, his voice dropping down to a whisper for the last word.

My eyes widen with sadness as Asher's shoulders sag, “So the witches cursed her?”

“No,” he says coldly. “The humans did with blood magic.” Then, he grabs a handful of dirt and begins to squeeze it as his entire body starts to quiver, “But like every spell done with blood magic, the curse was unpredictable. It brought out things from that magical door that none of the humans could've known about because they didn't KNOW magic. The curse became an end...but it also brought on a new beginning making her strong, and making it so she could fight. The curse became a living thing, and it wanted to live...to its fullest.”

“W-what happened?” I shakily whisper.

“It killed her and my father, because he tried to protect her,” he says with an icy stare as he looks off into the distance. “But not before she had me. She was strong enough to last until then, but then after that...she didn't have the strength to fight anymore without him. She c-couldn't look at me...because I looked like him.”

“So then she died...just like how I saw in my vision...” I whisper, finishing his sentence.

He nods barely, “I guess...all I know is that I felt it, her death...even though I was so young,” he says, visibly shaking. “But it wanted to live, so it took on the appearance of a savage animal to spread the curse, while mine...burned into me.”

I cautiously crawl towards Asher and frown, “It...burned into you?”

He looks up at me distraught and shakes, either because he's afraid of me or afraid of himself, “It became my soul.”

I carefully reach up and touch his curse, “H-how is that possible?”

“It took the purest of souls. One that hadn't been able to actually form into one because I was just a child,” he explains. “I didn't know right from wrong. I was a blank slate, and could become anything it wanted me to be. So it robbed me instead of cursing me...seeing as I was already cursed with vampirism.”

I choke back a gulp and frown, pulling my hand back slowly, “I'm sorry...”

Asher looks at me shortly and grimaces, “There...now you know.”

I blink at him and stand up quickly in shock, “I HAD to know, Asher.”

“And now you do,” he spits out. “You c-couldn't just trust me, could you?”

I glare at him icily, “I had to know BEFORE I could trust you.”

He gets up and walks towards me menacingly, “Well how are you going to trust me now that you know I'm a monster with no soul.”

I back away, “You're not a monster...”

“I am,” he says darkly, smiling to reveal the morphing of his teeth to becoming razor sharp, “And that day I died.”

“I know...” I whisper. “And I'm sorry.”

Asher backs away and scoffs, “You have no idea what it's like.”

I sniff, “But I will...”

Asher's demeanor changes from defending himself to sadness as the gravity of that truth hits him, “I...I...”

I shrug and wipe the tears that start to form in my eyes, “No, don't worry. I get it! You felt betrayed and cornered by me just now, just l-like how I felt betrayed when I figured out you hadn't told me everything.”

Asher runs his fingers through his hair and sighs, “Still...” and he pauses to groan, “I don't know what to say.”

I meet his eyes directly, “You've said enough.”

Asher's eyes stare back into mine sadly until they quickly widen in fright just before I find myself crashing to the ground. I roll away just in time, but then it quickly jumps to land in front of me, growling lowly with bright yellow eyes staring straight at me. I can see that every muscle in its body is tense, despite the thick, black fur covering its body. I turn my head in terror as its snout blows hot air in my face, to see Nene running towards me with my family trailing behind her.

“CARWEN!” Nene screams, gaining the attention of the creature right by me and the others who are circling Asher.

“What are those!?” Caleb yells out in terror.

“Werewolves,” Asher whispers under his breath, making me turn to him in terror.

I fling my head around as a scream pierces the sky when all of them lunge at Nene. “NOOO!!!” I scream, scrambling up as fast as I can, but it all feels like slow motion again...just not in a good way because I know in my gut...I'll be too late to stop them.

Written By Melissa Seeger.  2014.

15: Cursed: Chapter 15

Cursed: Chapter 15

I feel my legs shake, as I run towards Nene as fast as I can, but it doesn't matter. So without thinking, I lunge at one of the werewolves thrashing at her, but Asher leaps up and grabs me, pulling me away just in time as it swipes in our direction. Then, it slowly stands up on two legs, dominating me, because it feels nearly twice my height standing on its two hind legs. It has long arms that are sculpted from sheer muscle, with fur that covers the entire beast, save for the parts where it had clearly been scarred in the past. Its yellow eyes then look at me, almost through me though, as if I'm no threat at all in its eyes. My entire body freezes with fear though, before cowering when it opens its mouth to howl loudly, revealing its long, razor sharp teeth, each one half the size of my forearm.

It's right to think I'm not a threat...

I begin to back away until I hear gargling coming from Nene, and I peer around the beast where our eyes meet for only a second before she slowly shuts them. I look up and meet Caleb's eyes, who's looking directly at me as a dark fire ignites in his own eyes. It suddenly feels as if all the air in the area leaves us...and we don't care. In that moment, my brother and I share one of those weird sibling telepathy moments, instantly rallying to each other with no fear with unexplainable hatred towards any who oppose us.

Normally it's used for weird neighbors or annoying people in restaurants, but this time it serves a greater purpose.

Caleb quickly reaches to the ground while whispering a chant, causing it to shake so violently that the werewolves are thrown to the ground. I scream loudly and close my eyes, breathing for a second to slow time down so I can race through my mind to figure out what to do. Slowly the werewolves get up, but everyone's screams are drowned out by the energy surging within me. It all happens so slowly, and so effortlessly. The curse whispers through my heart, and then it all thumps madly like a battle drum as a vision forms in my head...a vision that is not of my own thoughts, though.

“Release from my body, a weapon I truly know, let it slice through the air, make it come down like fiery snow.” I whisper, and out of my body flies hundreds of swords, all impaling the three werewolves around us. They all crumble to the ground, being seriously wounded, but clearly not fatally. While they writhe in pain though, I lose my concentration and crawl over to Nene, grabbing her limp body that's covered in blood.

She CAN'T be dead! SHE CAN'T BE!

Then, a flicker of her eyelids and some scratchy, shallow breathing reaches my ears. I feel her chest rise barely in my arms, but enough to know that we have something to fight for. Without warning, the world around us begins to fill up with shadows, and instantly fatigue seeps into my core as I get drained of the strength needed to do even the simplest of tasks in my body. Right before my eyes slip shut though, I feel it all climax around my body, releasing all of the energy in a loud wave that strikes my heart, making me crumble completely to the ground next to Nene.

I hear a series of howls after a few seconds and gingerly open my eyes to find Nene and I surrounded by dead bodies, with silver objects splintered into every inch of them. I wearily look around to find stunned faces from everyone except from Caleb, who rushes towards me in an instant as if nothing happened at all.

“D-did you do that massive spell just now?” I whisper, finding my throat incredibly dry all of a sudden.

“Did you do a spell that released a bunch of energy without enough knowledge or experience to back it up?” Caleb retorts shortly. “Never-mind. Look, she's still alive. We can argue about who did the dumber thing, OR we can save her life.”

My mother clears her throat awkwardly and kneels down next to my brother, resting a hand on his shoulder, “S-sweetie...”

“What?!” Caleb exclaims, grabbing Nene's hand and squeezing it tightly.

“She's been infected,” Asher states bluntly, as my parents nod in agreement.

“SO?!” Caleb yells. “She's still alive!”

“But not for long,” Asher insists. “Werewolves are vicious animals...with no thought of their own. All they do is get controlled by the vampires who carry the original werewolf's blood.”

“B-but that's only when there's a full moon! She'll still be Nene,” I plead hoarsely, seeing my parents' faces look as us with sadness, but not still moving an inch to help.

“No Carwen...” my mother says slowly. “The first full moon is what changes them. It changes them permanently from then on, though. They are...n-never human again until they die.”

I frown and look around, blinking away the spots in my eyes to find the huge beasts we were fighting are now just three men. Their bodies are so torn up though, that you can barely recognize them as human bodies. My stomach instantly churns, realizing that regardless of the danger...I just helped kill three people.

I deserve this pain and this life...but Nene doesn't.

My father nods sadly, “Your mother and Asher are right. It's...best to let her...die.”

'SHE DOESN'T DESERVE THIS!' I scream mentally while my mouth openly gapes at them all and I shake my head furiously, squeezing onto Nene's body tightly. “N-NO! Y-You can't be serious!”

Caleb grabs my hand and smiles, “Not today.”

Energy zaps from my body into Caleb's, as a bright light surges out of his hands and flies into Nene's limp body. Before my eyes, all her wounds begin to stitch back up as if they were never there, and even though fatigue begins to creep up into me again, I know I have to stay awake.

Just a bit longer. Just a bit longer...

The last wound on her neck finally heals, and a huge, strong breath inhales and exhales out of Nene, as if she has just been sleeping the entire time. Caleb then lets go of my hand and I fall backwards on the ground, hearing a waterfall of yelling all around me; most of it being my father yelling at Caleb for being so foolish. I mutter that it's okay, but nobody hears me I'm sure, because darkness wraps me up shortly after that, with my last memory of that moment being a light twitching from my lips as I try to talk.

I don't know how much time passes by, but it feels very sudden when my head begins to throb and my eyelids flutter a bit, revealing the secret that I'm slipping back into consciousness. Although fuzzy and muddled, I can hear people talking nearby, but none of their words seem audible until my name pops up. Fervent whispering blends together again though, until I snap out of it completely when someone slams their hand against the wall.

“She knew what she was doing the second she grabbed my hand!” Caleb exclaims in desperation.

“No she didn't!” my father howls. “She DOESN'T know as much as you, otherwise she wouldn't have grabbed your hand in the first place!”

“Nene was DYING!” Caleb yells, shaking the walls, and making me cringe as it all begins to clear up more.

“Altering the balances of life comes at a great cost, and that COST was paid by your SISTER! You used her as a sacrifice without thinking twice!” our father bellows, following another slam of someone's hand against the wall again.

“I...I knew she'd be fine,” Caleb whispers, his voice shaking.

“Does she look alright to you?! She's completely unconscious and barely BREATHING! She's been this way for days!” he yells so loudly that his voice cracks. “Caleb, we pro-protect our family,” my father says sternly, his voice shaking as he tries to dial his emotion back.

“But Nene IS family,” I whisper, tip toeing around the corner to them to see both of their shocked faces. “I'd do it again too,” I say as strongly as I can, but it comes out as a whisper since all of my strength hasn't returned back to me yet.

My father rushes to me without a second of hesitation, and wraps me in his arms. He squeezes me tightly and kisses the top of my head multiple times before finally saying, “I was so worried about you.”

“Dad?” I say weakly, trying to wriggle out of his arms for a little breathing room, “You knew that I'd be okay.”

“That doesn't matter when you're a parent,” he says while he shakes and tries to control his emotions from spilling out.

I break out of the hug, and my father rushes downstairs to go get my mother, leaving my brother and I alone in the hallway. We only stare at each other for a few seconds, but everything we need to say to each other is said right there. We are both sorry...but it was worth is. Sadness is woven within his eyes though, and I bite my lip before asking, “H-how is she?”

Caleb sighs and leans up against a wall before sliding down to the ground, “Unconscious like you were. Even still, there's a chance she won't wake up...and that...” he says, his voice cracking so much that he stops mid-sentence.

I frown and wrap my arms around him, “I know.”

Caleb shakes his head and laughs, “Yeah, but I doubt you fully realize everything.”

I blink and laugh coarsely, “Okay cryptic much? What's THAT supposed to mean?”

Caleb shakes his head and places it in his hands, “I don't know. I just couldn't lose her. It felt like everything that made me alive started to die right with her in that instant.” Caleb's head then pops up and glares at me, “I swear, if you make some emotional girl joke right now, I will h-hurt you, no matter HOW jacked up you might be.”

I laugh and roll my eyes, “Good luck explaining that one to Dad.”

“I'm done with Dad for the day,” Caleb says sarcastically before whispering. “You can have him...”

Our mom rushes up the stairs followed by Asher and Carter, who all look at me with a mixture of shock and happiness written all over their faces. My mother rushes down to pick me up off of the ground and wraps me in her arms, sobbing a little, and also pushing Caleb out of the way to do so. Caleb just laughs, grabbing Carter and Asher, telling them to let our mother have her moment. Between the sobs I can hear Mom chewing me out for being so foolish...but that she admires me. After that though, the entire thing loops and she goes back to calling me foolish again. I don't mind it though, and I just stay in her arms, feeling like a little kid again until Caleb rushes back up to us gasping.

“S-she's awake!” he exclaims breathlessly.

I pry myself from my mother in shock and blink at him, “H-how is she?”

Caleb, clearly having so many emotions swimming around his body that it actually makes his entire body seem emotionless, just stares at me, “I-I don't know, b-but...but she wants to talk to you.”

Numbly, I walk towards the room that Caleb leads me to, which is our parents room, and I peek inside to find Nene sitting on the bed very still, just staring out the window. I crack the door open a bit more to slide in, and gently close it behind me, but Nene doesn't budge. Slowly, I sit on the bed and I reach out to touch her hand, making her flinch a little before she turns to me with tears in her eyes.

“W-what happened?” she asks with a sob choking up her voice so much that it sounds scratchy.

My mind instantly races through a list of thoughts starting with - Has nobody told her?!

Which leads to a series of other thoughts such as:

- Well I am the first one in here since she really woke up so...

- Oh no. I'm going to have to tell her.

- Or maybe she just needs reassurance on all that has happened...

Either way, I take in a deep breath, accepting my sentence of having the really horrible job to be the bearer of bad news. “Nene...you almost d-died...”

“By the werewolf,” she finishes slowly, shaking as she touches her neck that doesn't even have a scar to show that she got bit. “I didn't die though...right?”

I shake my head, “Of course you didn't! We w-would do anything for you!”

“Even keep me alive long enough to become a monster?” she asks shortly, looking directly at me.

“W-what?” I ask, taken back a little.

“I can feel it in me, Carwen. D-don't lie to me!” she whispers harshly. “Wh-what's going to HAPPEN to me?” she asks, the question shaking her visibly.

I stare at my hands knowing I have to tell the truth...but having no idea how to say it. “I don't know what to say,” I admit. “Truth is...you're right. You got...in-infected.”

“And there's no cure, huh?” Nene questions bluntly.

“We don't know that!” I say, getting hopeful that maybe during the days that we both were out, my family had been researching cures for her.

Nene shakes her head, “I already know the answer...trust me.” She scratches absently at her hand before staring at her fingers thoughtfully for a few seconds, “I can feel it...just right beneath my skin.”

“No you don't,” I assure her. “There's no way to know with stuff like this.”

Nene smiles and shakes her head, “No, no, I do know. Just like how you do too. There's no cure for us. We're...stuck, huh? Really stuck...”

I shake and bite my lip, looking up at the ceiling as the truth of her statement sinks in. She's right. I know I can never get cured and go back to the way I once was. I can feel it, because the curse isn't some parasite on me...it's a part of me completely. I need it, as weird as that is. If it was gone, a hole would be left in my life that feels like it would kill me itself. I knew this from the day it happened too, and while everyone has been looking for a way to break this curse, I've been looking for a way to cope with it until it takes me down. Now Nene knows how it feels...and it's a feeling I wouldn't wish on anyone in the world.

“When will it happen? The change?” Nene inquires with a whisper.

Caleb clears his throat and walks in slowly, “Tonight. The full moon is...tonight.”

“And...after tonight?” Nene shakily questions.

Caleb looks down at the floor briefly before returning his gaze to her, “You'll never be human again.”

Nene falls back on the bed, crashing onto the pillows with a sad, heavy sigh. “So that's it, huh?”

I look at Nene, and then fling my gaze to Caleb, “Isn't there something we can do?!”

Caleb's eyes plead with mine, “Her curse is almost as old as yours! Finding out would take years, maybe even more. All we can do is make the transformation...as p-painless as possible.”

Nene quivers, “It's going to hurt?”

“You don't want to know...” Caleb whispers.

“Yes I do!” Nene exclaims, shaking even more.

Caleb whispers, “The creature is...essentially going to explode out of your body, breaking every bone that you have. You'll be conscious too, because it won't kill you since you'll...be transforming. It'll make you...” he says slowly, stopping as if he can't talk anymore.

“Really big and hairy,” Nene whispers bluntly. She cracks a smile, but it's not a smile that you return. It's a smile that makes you frown.

“You'll have no control over your mind anymore,” Caleb whispers, choking on the words. “You'll become an eternal slave for the...vampire that controls your lineage,” he says, spitting out the word vampire.

“So you have to kill me...” Nene states slowly.

Caleb and I look up at her in fright. “What?!” we cry out in unison.

“You k-know it's true,” she says sadly, biting her lip and wiping her eyes. “You CAN'T let me become a monster.”

“We'll find a way,” I plead with her.

“There is NO way,” Nene exclaims, choking on the air that she's trying to breath in.

“I...I won't do it,” I say shaking. “I CAN'T!”
“Carwen!” Nene pleads, tears now streaming down her face. “Please...you can't let me b-become some slave for the rest of my life.”

Caleb clears his throat and looks directly into Nene's eyes, “I'll do it...but only once I know for sure that you have no control over your mind.”

Nene blinks and smiles sadly, “Thank you...”

Caleb just walks out of the room right after that, leaving the room icy. We stare at the door for a few seconds before I wrap my arms around her and begin to cry, “You CAN'T be serious about this, Nene!”

She grips me tightly and begins to sob, “I'd do it again, you KNOW that, right? Alllllll over again!”

I sniffle loudly, “Noooo, because you'd still be alive if you hadn't.”

She shakes her head and pulls back a little to smile, “No, I never would've been ALIVE if I hadn't.”

“Nene, please...” I beg, pulling her into a tight hug again, “Please...I-I'm b-begging you. At least for my brother's sake!” Then, Nene freezes and I start to laugh, “You REALLY think I didn't notice? That nobody noticed?! We aren't that thick...”

“I...I never said you were,” she whispers, biting back a giggle.

“I'm fairly certain you have...but only when the rest of us weren't looking,” I say, trying desperately to lighten the mood. Another wave of sadness hits me though, and I grip her tightly in the hug, “Nene...p-please don't go...”

“Just promise me one thing,” she says, her voice giving out with so much emotion pumping through her body.

“Y-yes?” I whisper while shaking.

“Don't let me hurt him,” she says quietly.

I nod slowly and sniffle before pulling away, “I p-promise.”

I numbly walk out of the room and bump into Carter, who looks shocked, but still grabs me into a hug before I can even mutter I need one. Practically holding me together, we just stay there standing, barely moving. It's as if Carter reaches into my mind that instant and makes the entire world disappear so I can breathe again and not feel like the world is crashing on my shoulders anymore.

“How did we get here?” I mumble into his shoulder.

He strokes my hair and thoughtfully sighs, “It doesn't matter. You need to get some sleep. You're exhausted.”

“I can't sleep,” I say with a sniff. “Everything is turning out horribly, and-and if I close my eyes for a second it just gets worse. NEVER better.”

“It'll get better,” he says soothingly.

I shake my head and begin to loosen myself from his hug, “No it won't! I don't even dream how I used to when I was a kid...or even just a few months ago. Everything in me has...c-changed.”

Carter frowns and reaches out his hand to gently touch my cheek, causing the tears I had been holding back to flood out, “I don't believe that, because YOU'RE better than all of this.” He quickly pulls his hand back and looks directly into my eyes, not moving or blinking, but just staring straight at me. “You've always been better than what the world has to offer to you.”

I sniff and laugh sardonically, “Yet, I'm the one who gets cursed and spreads horrible stuff to EVERYONE I care about.”

Carter grabs my arm, pulling me closer to him and leaving us barely an inch away from each other while he breathes shallow breaths from habit. “You're the only one who could handle this because you are an AMAZING person.”

I freeze and just stare at him, realizing the only thing I can feel is this ethereal pulse beating in sync with my heartbeat. Just a gentle beating that seems to cancel out any thoughts within my mind except one. Carter's here for me. Right here. Just like how he's always been there for me...

Carter slowly moves his face closer to mine before lightly touching my lips with his. Instantly, I gasp, realizing that the entire time I haven't been breathing, making Carter jump back suddenly. I meet his eyes though, and without another word he pulls closer to me again as I lean in towards his face, returning the gentle kiss. As if I'm exactly where I need to be, everything just seems to level out, and appear not as threatening. I become that girl again...full of dreams and ambitions.

I touch his hand that's on my cheek and intertwine our fingers as we kiss, moving deeper and deeper into a state of passion, where nothing in the world means anything except that he's here with me, and...that makes me so happy. Without realizing, I begin to smile, and as Carter breaks away, he laughs lightly before resting his forehead on mine.

“I still feel like we belong together. That...I'm yours, no matter what,” he says softly while kissing my lips again briefly. “Is that weird?”

I open my mouth, but my words catch in my throat as I look behind Carter to see two red eyes looking sadly at the two of us. I break away from Carter without thinking and rush towards Asher, but in the blink of an eye, he's gone. I bite my lip and turn around to Carter, who's face is now guarded to hide away any hint of that moment where we were kindred...and the same.

Yet despite the wall guarding me away from his emotions, I know what he's thinking...

I whisper quietly, mostly under my breath, but I know Carter hears me, “I don't know where I belong anymore...I-I...I need to figure that out first.”

Carter nods and walks up to me, gently kissing my forehead, “I understand, and...I'll always be here for you until you do figure that out.”

“Why?” I whisper softly, my voice cracking a bit.

“Because I'm yours no matter what,” he says so quietly, despite it shaking with passion.

Carter then turns and walks downstairs, just leaving me with this feeling like I've been turned upside down. I lean against the wall, sliding down to the floor and sigh, because it's literally all I can do in that moment. I rub my temples from fatigue, but then slowly smile with my eyes closed, moving my hands to touch my lips gently.

It's amazing how much I've missed that...

The night rolls around as if I had blinked and it magically appeared, though. It's the very time that all of us are dreading, and it comes around so fast. I used to enjoy the night, because it seemed peaceful and full of possibilities. Now I know that all those possibilities come with a price of too much knowledge. The world is a lot bigger and more dangerous now, and that's probably the heaviest part of this curse.

With only a half an hour to spare before the full moon rises, we prepare the ritual to make her completely numb, however Nene isn't the only one who's feeling numb. Nobody else can talk, and even breathing becomes a form of labor in itself as we get everything ready. At first, Nene tries to crack a few jokes, but as the clock ticks away, her silence becomes deafening, and everyone just follows along.

While preparing the ritual, I look around anxiously for Asher, who's still had been gone since he walked in on Carter and I. The thought of him not being here worries me on deep level though, because he obviously has the most experience with this sort of stuff...among other reasons. Yet, with 5 minutes to spare, he finally walks up to us from behind the barn with blood splatters on his shirt. Without thinking, I march over to him, my emotion highly sensitive and stop, just staring at the blood on his shirt.

“W-what's that?” I ask, shaking and losing my nerve as I feel confusion when his presence takes its effect on me.

“Blood,” he says nonchalantly while licking some off his fingers.

I blanch and Daisy laughs, making my blood turn cold, “And YOU thought you tamed him? Nooooobbbbbbooooooddddddy can ever tame that man,” she says coldly, “Believe me, I've tried.”

I turn and glare at her while my brother throws a rock at Daisy's head, and then pretends nothing happened. Nene doesn't even move during the entire altercation, though. She just remains in the circle with her eyes glued to the ground. Looking at his watch finally, my brother frowns and gently touches Nene's shoulder, whispering in her ear. She nods barely, and then makes eye contact with me for a second...instantly letting me know.

“Come on. Let's give them some time,” I say assertively.

“She doesn't have time,” Asher points out.

I glare at him so coldly that he backs down instantly and starts walking towards the house as if I had verbally whip lashed him into jello. Daisy follows Asher, with Carter and my parents leaving last. Then it's only Caleb, Nene, and I left. I know I should move, but I can't, and I just smile sadly at Nene before running towards her really fast to give her a hug.

“Take care of yourself, and...never give up,” she says in-between her sobs, but with a strong voice still.

“I will, and...and,” I say, shaking, “I'll never fo--.”

“Please don't...” Nene cuts off, sniffling. “I know.”

I nod and back away, looking at my brother who appears to have no will to stand at all, but is miraculously able to, nonetheless. I grab his hand and squeeze it, smiling to try and give him strength before I turn around and start walking back towards the house. When I almost get to the front door I hear a muffled gasp and I turn around quickly, running around the corner to find Caleb and Nene kissing passionately.

If it wasn't so sad, I'd be cheering...

Then, she suddenly shoves Caleb away and he tumbles to the ground outside of the circle in horror, staring at the same scene I am. Nene begins to writhe and contort on the ground screaming, and suddenly my eyes lock with my brother's, both of us instantly wondering if we did any good at all by trying to make her numb. Crying profusely, her bones begin to snap and rip through her skin while over and over again she cries for us to make it stop because she's not ready. I crumble to the ground crying while Caleb remains stunned as blood gushes from her mouth while her skin begins to stretch and shed, revealing a thick coat of fur. Claws erupt from her hands that begin to scratch the rest of her skin off until all that's left of Nene is a pile of skin, blood, and bone chips on the ground.

Growling as the last of Nene is scratched away, it moves aggressively towards Caleb. I scream and run towards Caleb as fast as I can, and I can feel a gust of wind rush past me as Asher races to grab Caleb and pull him away from the werewolf just before it pounces on him. Daisy runs past me as well with a large silver sword and charges towards the werewolf in a fury, but then the werewolf makes eye contact with me and causes me to freeze.

Those...are...NENE'S EYES. IS SHE STILL IN THERE?!
Caleb yells just as Daisy leaps towards the werewolf and tackles her midair, throwing her to the ground. Asher and Daisy wrestle Caleb, who wriggles out enough to spit out magical bindings and then yells, “NO! Don't do it! THAT'S HER!”

I walk up cautiously towards the werewolf who doesn't move, but just growls lowly as I approach it. I reach out my hand, shaking all over, and hear in the background of Asher screaming at me to get away...but I just have this feeling... I can't walk away or shake it either except move closer towards the light that holds the answer...which is the huge, dominating beast before me.

Asher finally breaks free by somehow managing to kick Caleb in the head, and rushes over to me, but by the time he gets to me, it's too late. My hand is already resting on the snout of the werewolf. Suddenly, it kneels down to come to my eye level, making me cry, and cover my mouth in joy.

“It's NENE...OH MY...it's her!” I cry out.

Asher stops next to me and stares suspiciously at the animal, but then cautiously touches her between the eyes. “It IS her,” he confirms in shock. He backs away and openly gapes, “B-but HOW?!”

“It was her grandma,” Caleb explains with relief in every inch of his voice, while still managing to glare at Asher for a second. Then, he walks up and gently pets Nene, “I saw her come down and sacrifice her soul so that her granddaughter would be protected. I...I couldn't take my eyes off of the scene,” he admits quietly, causing a realization to pop into my mind that Caleb might not have been stunned by Nene's transformation at all, but instead by the scene of her grandma protecting her.

Without warning, I suddenly wonder jealously why he saw this and not me. I feel my head grow fuzzy and red with these thoughts as I turn to Caleb, “You really saw that? I didn't see THAT!”

“Maybe you blinked or something,” he retorts absently, still looking at Nene in her beast form as if she's the most amazing thing he's ever set his eyes on.

“How could I BLINK in that moment of horror!?” I scream, shaking as all of my emotions from that moment explode out like lava from a volcano.

Asher touches my shoulder, melting away the explosion in my heart, “It's probably your curse and how it's tainted your magic. What happened would be the...purest of all magic.”

I know I have no right to feel it, but a twinge of pain shoots through my heart, reminding me that I'm dirty. “So-so...I wasn't pure enough to see it?”

Asher frowns and shakes his head, “There are many miracles that go almost unnoticed...you aren't alone.”

I don't move for a second, but instead, I focus all of my concentration unconsciously on his hand and the comfort it gives me as I touch my own curse, frowning a little, “I just...wish I could've seen that...”

Caleb's eyes meet with mine, and he smiles as tears start to fall from his eyes, “It was beautiful.”

I smile in return, suddenly feeling the jealousy wash away because of the happiness on my brother's face, “Aren't miracles always?”

“So...what now?” Daisy asks bluntly, dropping the sword obviously and cautiously to the ground, smiling at Nene the entire time.

Bones crack as the werewolf before us shrinks, with the hair and claws receding back into her body until Nene stands before us stark naked. Quickly Asher takes off his long coat, noticing the change, and gives it to her the second she reverts back to her human self, while Caleb, and everyone else who had run back to us once they heard all the screaming, and me honestly, just stare, frozen in our places.

“We help Carwen BEAT her curse,” Nene says strongly, smiling at me once we make eye contact.

Everyone laughs and starts to head inside, with Daisy periodically checking back behind herself to make sure that Nene's still human. Caleb, Nene and I stay back though, just letting this ONE problem crumble off of our shoulders.

“Well I can't say that I didn't warn you,” I finally say with a laugh.

Nene raises her eyebrows at me curiously, “Warn me about what?”

“You know...your doomed fate of having to become connected to some supernatural animal thingy,” I say, gesturing with my hands like I have claws as I growl playfully.

Nene laughs loudly, “I...honestly have nothing to say to that.”

“Of course you don't because YOU just want to make out with my brother,” I state bluntly, instantly making them both turn bright red. “Just...go ahead. I'll tell them that he's helping you get inside because you're weak or something.”

“Thanks, Sis,” Caleb says with a big smile.

I roll my eyes and laugh, “I'm doing THIS for Nene, not you, because bottom line, YOU went after my best friend.”

Caleb stutters and looks at the ground awkwardly while I laugh and Nene giggles in-between her words, “I...truly could use a...nap.”

“Well we have...” I say, pausing to look at the time on my phone, “5 hours before we have to get ready for school.”

We all groan, and Caleb mutters something about how he's going to be conveniently too sick to go to school, but Nene and I just sigh, both of us knowing that we have an English test that we need to go to school for. I smile again, and then walk back to the house, with only giggling and mumbled words behind me erasing the tragedy with this miracle.

NOW, even though I'm happy for them, it doesn't mean that it isn't creepy and gross still.

“They could have waited until I at least got INSIDE the house...” I mutter under my breath before laughing once again in relief. I wearily crawl to the steps on the front porch and sit down, staring up at the moon. Maybe there is a happy ending out there somewhere...

Just maybe...even if it isn't entirely for me.

Written By Melissa Seeger.  2014.

16: Cursed: Chapter 16

Cursed: Chapter 16

My feet stumble through the hallways while Nene watches me suspiciously, knowing very well that the look of exhaustion on my face isn't just on my face, but is in fact in every inch of my body. Despite sleeping last night as much as I can, I'm still incredibly tired when I wake up in the morning, because all last night it felt like something was clawing at me through the back of my skull, and nothing could make it go away. So, every inch of my body has been screaming at me to close my eyes since the second I wake up, and when the school day starts to finally come to a close, I still feel the same exact way, except I'm so tired now that I think my eyes are going to roll into the back of my skull.

“Ummm, Carwen?” Nene asks awkwardly, making me stop dead in my tracks.

“Yes?” I mumble under my breath without turning around. It probably comes out incoherent though, because she says nothing after I say that. I sigh, thinking to myself that I probably should've stayed home because no test is worth this agony, and then slowly turn around to face her. I draw up every ounce of strength left in my face to raise my eyebrows pathetically, making her just jab her finger towards a door.

“This...is our class,” she states blatantly, watching me carefully as if I'm going to fall down any second. “Are you okay?” she whispers in my ear after we walk into the classroom and I manage to trip over an entire desk.

“I've had...better mornings,” I admit while trying to stifle a yawn. “It just feels like I'm forgetting something important. That there's this...THING is in the back of my mind and it's trying to claw its way forward,” I explain under my breath. “It's drrrraaaaiiiiinnnnning, honestly.”
Nene pats me on the back and shoves away a chair that's in my path that got left by some careless student near our seats. The chair smacks the person in the thigh and makes them fall over a bit, but unfortunately they catch themselves on the desk next to them. I start to giggle, making the person glare at us both, but Nene just ignores them as if nothing happened at all.

Our teacher, after fuming at a few students who are late, and always are late because they make out in the hallway before this class, she passes out our tests. I sigh, and rub my temples, feeling a headache begin to break out that feels like it's going to push my eyeballs out of my skull. Everything in the school seems incredibly meaningless except sleep suddenly, and it's all I can focus on as I mark away the answers until something strange starts to happen. Gradually, all the words on the paper begin to jumble together, despite my efforts to try to blink it away. Slowly I take a deep breath, hold it in, and exhale, a bit loudly too because the teacher just clears her throat after I do it.

“Screw this,” I mumble, glaring at the paper as if it condemned me to death or something. I then reach for my scratch paper, and begin to write 'Answers I seek, answers I know, come forth into being, from the internal throes.'

Quickly answers begin to appear on my paper, and I move my pencil across the page to make it appear as if I'm actually writing it all down. The truth is that I TECHNICALLY am, because these are all from my brain... I'm just TECHNICALLY speeding up the process of them coming out. So TECHNICALLY...it isn't cheating.

I hear a gasp from Nene, who is looking at me with wide eyes, and I mouth to her silently that I'm not cheating. She shakes her her head as indiscreetly as possible and tries to glare at me without being caught by the teacher. I sigh and write on the same paper 'to the spell just cast, spread to thee of my choosing, a friend in need, a friend indeed,' and I quickly touch her while the teacher goes into a sneezing fit, spreading the spell to Nene. Nene panics and writes on her paper quickly to appear like she's writing, gasping a little when she proof reads her work afterward.

I shrug and smile at her while I tiredly get up from my desk to hand the paper to my teacher. Nene stays back, knowing very well that she never finishes early, and that it would appear bad to turn it in so quickly. But even I can tell that she's starting to over think everything involving how she's going to turn in her test. I can see it written all over her face, and despite being so cute, even that doesn't stop me from thinking about sleep.

Oh beautiful sleep...

While faking that she's still working hard, Nene mouths silently at me to go to sleep. It's an order I have no intention of disobeying at all too. My eyes, which now burn with sleepiness, slide shut without another warning, and then numbness sinks into my entire body, paralyzing me in a state of unconsciousness. Suddenly, images flood my mind, making me writhe within my own mind. The very thing that has been clawing at me from the back of my mind completely escapes from its hidden prison, burning, scratching, and bleeding me dry.

A blood curdling scream is all I can hear through the shredding of my mind, and in a flash of blood, a group of people are revealed to be held within a mystical cage that's surrounded by menacing figures. Then, one man gets yanked through the cage, searing his flesh as he's ripped through the mystical bars. He yells and wriggles, attempting to get away from the figure, but the figure seems completely unfazed by him.

“It is His will, and His will be done,” the menacing figure says before it slices the man's throat.

His blood pools to the ground before his limp body is cast into an opening of what seems to be a volcano. Within the refection of the pool of blood though, I catch a glimpse of a sign in the very far distance that somehow gets magnified suddenly enough for me to read it, but only for a brief second.

'Please Stay on Trails. Yellowstone thanks you.'

I gasp and pop up, completely rested and finding myself waking up just seconds before the bell. Nene looks at me curiously, and raises her eyebrows before leaning in and whispering, “What happened?”

“I think...I think I just had a vision,” I whisper, almost in disbelief.

Nene pulls back in shock with her eyes now as wide as mine, “A vision? Like a 'I saw something that's going to happen' vision?”

“That...or...it's already happening,” I mutter as fear strikes me in the heart suddenly with a single thought screaming at me...

All of those people are going to die....

“We have to go,” I order, jumping up and walking hurriedly out of the classroom to my locker.

Nene scrambles up from her desk and runs in order to catch up to me, “We CAN'T just leave! We have two more classes.” she exclaims under her breath.

“We're leaving?” Caleb butts in, and then rushes to lean on my locker to prevent me from opening it. “Whhhhheeeeerrrrrre are we going?”

“No where,” I answer quickly. My answer apparently don't satisfy Caleb at all though, because he doesn't move an inch.

“What happened?” he asks much more sincerely now, while looking at me up and down. “YOU look like you've seen a ghost.”

“She had a vision,” Nene blurts out, and then just shrugs under my glare. “He HAS a right to know.”

“A vision? Like a 'I saw something that's going to happen' vision?” he questions, making me raise my eyebrows to just look blankly between Nene and him for a few seconds.

“That's...just...weird,” I say slowly, making Nene blush brightly.

“Yoooooouuuuu'rrrrrrre losing me, Sis,” Caleb admits, completely confused.

“It's no-nothing,” Nene shoves into the conversation quickly, making me laugh a little until the warning bell rings.

“Look Caleb, we need to leave school now,” I say while looking around nervously.

Instead of fighting us, Caleb shrugs and steps aside, “Oh okay. I thought it was something serious.”

“It...it is serious,” I say slowly, starting to get a bit confused now.

“You going home to sleep? Noooooot really,” he dismisses, while reaching for his phone, “I'll just call Mom and she'll let the school know that I'm taking you home.”

I shake my head furiously and grab his shoulders, “People are going to DIE. We need to get to Yellowstone...like NOW.”

Caleb's eyes widen, “Soooo, when you said we need to leave school you were including Nene too because you both have to save some people that you saw in some vision you had?”

“Essentially,” Nene admits.

“Was this a future vision?” Caleb inquires.

I nod shaking, “That or a vision of what's happening already. Either way, we need to help them.”

“Why you?!” Caleb exclaims under his breath. “YOU have enough to worry about as it is.”

I look directly at him with my seriousness breathing a new sort of life into every word I speak, “I got this vision not just to know about this, but because I can actually STOP it.”
“How do you know you can?” Caleb questions, worry falling into his eyes.

“Because I...can,” I say slowly as I touch my heart gingerly. “Just...help me NOW. Please!”

Caleb nods and whispers into his phone a few words, a spell to be exact. I only know this because I can smell the magic that twists in the air suddenly. “Come on, let's go. Make sure they use MY phone to call our parents.”

“You know what I just realized?” Carter says making us all jump almost out of our skins.

“Carter! WHY are you here?” I ask while gasping for air.

“Learning, bored, picking on girls in the locker room,” he admits nonchalantly.

“Are you the one who's been taking their deodorant?” Caleb asks while trying to choke down a laugh as I glare venomously at him.

Carter nods, grinning ear to ear, and high fives Caleb quickly. I sigh and rub my temples, “Oh my...when did THIS become my life?”

“When it was supposed to,” Carter answers seriously, and then breaks from his seriousness to begin smiling again, “Oh yeah, soooo you guys want to know what I realized?”

“What did you realize?” Caleb asks as we make our way to the front office.

“That witches are the lawyers of the universe, finding loopholes in everything,” he answers proudly.

I look at him quizzically, “You nearly give us a heart attack because you JUST realized that?”

He shrugs, “What? I saw what you all did during your tests today. Technically not cheating, but you did use that loophole to your advantage.”

“YOU USED THAT SPELL TOO?!” Caleb exclaims with his eyebrows raised in surprise.

“I was...I was REALLY tired!” I state pointedly, walking faster than the two boys after that.

Once we get to the office, we use Caleb's phone, after both Nene and I lie by saying that our phones are already dead. It's all up to Caleb's spell after that, and it works perfectly, with his phone mimicking the voices of our parents, excusing us for different reasons and everything. My excuse is I'm sick, Nene's is a family emergency, and Caleb's excuse is that he has to take me home, and that he needs to also go take care of our grandma. HIS is the most obvious lie though, because our grandma has been dead for years now.

It's...a messed up lie, if you ask me.

We get out of school though, and that's what matters. We also do it without getting truant slips or anything, which would be nothing new to Caleb's school record, but it would completely destroy the perfect record I have going for myself. It would also cause Nene's parents to kill her, which would be unfortunate for obvious reasons.

I make Caleb drive 30 miles over the speed limit to where I know they have to be, or at least nearby where I know they have to be. They have to be close to the Caldera, and there's only so many paths up to there and around that area. Nothing really around any holes leading directly to the actual volcano, though. That's a fact that we quickly realize once we get up to the area.

“What do we do?!” I exclaim, panicking now.

“Calm down, little Carwen,” Caleb says exasperated right before he puts his hands on the sides of my head. “Just relax,” he commands.

I relax, and then all the noises are drowned out when Caleb starts talking, and the only thing I hear is his voice, “Reveal the path within her mind,” he says slowly while in his trance. “From a dream....from a vision,” he says, clarifying the directions. “There we go,” he says while exhaling in relief. “Guide us there.”

I open my eyes and look up at my brother who then wraps me into a huge, squeezing hug, “That was AWFUL. I'm...so s-sorry that you had to see that. How you managed to get this new... burden on top of...weeeelllllll everything else is quite amazing too,” he whispers a bit sarcastically at the end.

We pull apart and I look up at him confidently, “I can handle it. I promise.”

He nods, and then turns to the glowing orb dancing in the air. Carter then mumbles under his breath that he hopes no one sees it because it'll be harder than hell to explain, but luckily the orb takes us straight into the forest, despite the lovely, little signs pleading to not do exactly that. We rush down a cliff side, finding the orb move faster and faster the deeper we go in until the area begins to look familiar. I run up ahead, despite the yelling from everyone behind, and stop dead in my tracks, finding the man I saw in my vision fall to the ground in a pool of blood.

4 figures slowly turn to me, and their eyes widen in shock, while the one who just slit the man's throat barely acknowledges my presence as he throws the man into the volcano. With a dominating aura surrounding him, he slowly turns and looks at me with shocking eyes that make me gasp. It's as if he has living flames within his eyes, just shocking and sparking all around. Once he fully turns around I get to see his strongly chiseled body gleam in the Sun, almost reflecting the Sun back like a bronze mirror, and his strong jaw with firm lips. A scar runs across his cheek, with his long brown hair, defying the wind, not moving at all, despite the wind whipping around my own hair. Instantly, under his gaze, he gives me the impression that nothing on Earth can shake him, and he knows it...which makes my stomach flip with nerves.

My brother, Nene, and Carter finally catch up. Once they do they all gasp and jump back a bit in unison upon seeing the man standing in front of me. Then, we all begin to find ourselves squinting, and backing up slowly in his presence.

His booming voice shakes everyone to the ground except me, “This does not concern you, cursed child.”

Despite shaking internally, I take a step forward, “You're KILLING people! What gives you THAT right?”

“It is His will, and we will serve Him always,” he states confidently.

I gulp and observe them all slowly. They're all very intimidating and unshaken by the Earth around them. Beautiful, and most importantly...powerful. Yet, the one I'm talking to seems to hold the most dominating presence in the area...byyyyyyyyy far, I feel I should add.

“What...what are you?” I whisper, almost in fear.

“Angels, child. Now leave us,” he says as he turns his back to me.

“Why would angels kill people?!” Caleb exclaims. “I thought you guys were GOOD!”

In a flash of light, a ribbon of energy strikes my brother square in the chest and throws him backwards 15 feet to a tree. I gape openly while Nene rushes to my brother who gets up slowly, but still manages to cough and glare at the angel. In shock, I slowly turn back around to the angel, shaking in every bone of my body very visibly now.

“We are GOOD,” the angel says ominously.

I look back and forth between the angel and my brother until Caleb finally nods at me, causing every feeling within my body to return to me so I can calm my shaking body. “Last time I checked,” I say confidently while walking towards the angel, “throwing my brother to a tree isn't something a GOOD GUY does.”

The angel turns to me and dominates above me, looming about a foot over my head, and almost seeming as if he's growing too. Then, he also gradually begins to grow brighter until he starts to blind me completely. “Do. Not. Question. Me.”

“I'm not,” I spit out while shielding my eyes, “I'm questioning YOUR orders.” With that, I feel my heart pound and my curse begin to light my blood on fire, dimming the angel's brightness, “I don't see how they are good,” I finish defiantly.

“You cannot understand the higher things within this world,” he spits out at me now, “You don't even understand your own fate.”

“My fate?” I ask, touching my chest and making him nod.

“Yes. The great fear that you feel within your soul is true,” he says menacingly. “Your death will free the curse, after all.”

“What else do you know about it?” I demand, holding back my tears, and trying hard to stay strong.

“Nothing more than what I've been told. I don't see the future. I just work for it,” he says while leaning down to make direct eye contact with me. “And there's nothing you can do to me to stop me, because I am doing HIS will. You cannot harm me. You cannot stop me,” he adds, turning away from me now.
I feel my vision get clouded, focusing only for a second when I look at the people in the mystical cage who are just watching us in fear, and pleading with their eyes for me to help them. “No...there must be SOMETHING I can do,” I say quietly while I break eye contact with the angel as he turns away from me. I brace my feet to the ground confidently and clear my throat loudly before I say in a demanding tone, “I HAVE to try. I got that vision for a reason!”
“Vision?” the angel questions with worry swimming in his voice as he quickly turns back to me.

I close my eyes and find my center...a place that lies within my tainted heart...the very place that ignites my soul, “Come to me, sword of my heart!,” I command strongly, feeling a sword handle summon from my heart that I pull out with my hands. I stand back in a fighting stance and stomp on the ground, “Release!”

The mystical bars from the cage dissipate, and the angels look at me in shock for a second before launching at me with weapons that are made out of fire which appear out of their hands instantly. I back up and lean back to block the strike at my head, screaming in fury, “Wall!” just in time as an arrow wizzes through the air directly at me from another direction.

Caleb blanches, gasping loudly in shock and with twinges of annoyance, “Since when can you do that?! YOU DIDN'T EVEN CHANT!”

I turn around to him furiously, “You really want to do this NOW?!”

He nods as if it's the most obvious course of action, “How'd you do that?!”

“I'm a battle mage,” I say as slowly as possible.

Caleb rolls his eyes and grunts, “Of coooouuuuurrrrrrrrrsssssse you are...”

“SERIOUSLY?!” I scream at him in annoyance right before I get smacked to the ground with a loud twack from the angel I was talking to. I quickly grab his foot, which burns my skin, making me scream as I say, “Throw back!”

He flies away from me, but lands gracefully back on the ground about twenty feet from me, and just rushes towards me the second he lands while I scramble to get back on my feet. Just as I get up, he's right there in front of me and picks me 5 feet off the ground, growling at me, “What do you think you are doing!?”

“What's RIGHT!” I scream out, slicing wildly at his torso, slashing him deeply in the gut and making him stumble backwards, as well as let me go.

Staring in amazement at the bright red blood erupting from his stomach for a few seconds, he then waves his hand over it, healing it instantly. “You're going to REGRET that you did that.”

My eyes widen as he creates a greatsword out of fire mid swing towards me, but just as it's about to collide with me Nene launches towards me in her wolf form, throwing us both out of the way of his swing. Carter leaps towards an angel, who swings angrily at him, but swings straight through his body. Carter grins and leaps around to his side and kicks him in the stomach, but screams as the angel absorbs him into his body. We all gasp, and terror sinks into my body until the angel gasps and starts laughing widely.

“I DID IT! I can possess stuff!” Carter exclaims while inside the angel, looking in awe at the angel's hands.

We all look at him in shock before I scream at Carter just as an another angel lunges at Carter with two flaming daggers. “Look out!” I shout.

“Get out of my brother,” the angel with the daggers cries out.

Carter screams and flies out of the angel, who then crumbles to the ground, dazed, “Filthy ghost,” the angel whom Carter just possessed says at him.

“Feet of stone!” I yell, preventing the angel from moving closer to strike at Carter. “Get out of there, Carter!” I scream, making Carter just look at me bewildered, before disappearing through the ground and reappearing back right next to Nene.

“Enough of this,” the angel that I was talking to exclaims while he slices his hands. “Leave our--.”

But then he stops and looks terrified at Caleb, who's kneeling on the ground with his hands cut as well. Time slows down as I turn to him in shock as the smell of black magic fills my nose, just reeking of sulfur and giving off this feeling of electricity that you'd get from a lightning storm. Words can't even form in my mouth for a second before I scream, making Caleb freeze and lock eyes with me. “That's BLACK MAGIC!” I scream, emphasizing the words fully.

Caleb nods before turning to glare at the angels, “Yeah, but WE need to win.” He then smiles mischievously, and says, “Banish our enemy from our presence, and prevent them from following us as well, save us from danger, and drag them to...hell.”

“Black magic!” the angel exclaims in terror the instant a wormhole opens below them and dead hands reach up, pulling them down while the angels try claw at the ground to get away. The angel who I was talking is the last one to get sucked down though, and just before he goes he looks directly at me, “You're still going to DIE!”

He finally goes down which makes the wormhole close in the blink of an eye. The second it does close, Nene sprints over to Caleb, who's gasping heavily, as if he can't breathe, and is leaning against a tree in exhaustion. Carter falls onto the ground, laying on his back and staring up at the sky in exhaustion. I just stare cautiously at Caleb though, while he still manages to keep eye contact with me, despite his obvious exhaustion.

“Caleb...” I begin.

“No...don't say it,” he says breathlessly. “It's only black magic to them.”

I look worryingly at his hands which are bleeding, “But...you had to use blood as a conduit to preform that spell.”

“And it SAVED us,” he points out strongly, looking so confidently into my eyes that I have to look away.

“It was...dangerous,” I mumble.

“So is fighting angels,” he says while laughing hoarsely before he turns to nuzzle his face into Nene's fur.

“When...w-when did we start fighting angels?” Carter asks, trying to regain his strength desperately which makes his voice an octave higher than usual.

I chew my lower lip, feeling the reality of the situation sink in, “Since we became our own side...”

This is what I have become. This is what the curse has made me into. No...this is what the curse brought out of me from within. To be someone who fights. To be someone who fights for people...

I didn't intend to grab this burden. The burden I that was supposed to carry was one where I protect people by being bait for all the dark things in this world. But now...I'm out-right fighting them back. I'm...not bait anymore. Somehow along the way I became a defender, and I'll always be a defender because these things are drawn to me, and I'm...drawn to them.

And yet...I'm still going to die. That's the other thing I can't seem to resist. I can feel it. The angel's right. I do feel it in my soul. It doesn't matter what I do, because I'm still cursed. I might be more than what everyone expected, but I still feel exactly what all those souls felt too. That irresistible pull towards this curse...and the desires that seemed to be flawlessly linked to it. Perhaps my magic makes this curse take on a different form, but a curse is a curse for a reason.

And there will be blood to pay in the end.

Written By Melissa Seeger.  2014.

17: Cursed: Chapter 17

Cursed: Chapter 17

I toss and turn in my bed over and over again with my mind pounding over every single, little thought. It's creates emotions where none existed before, and nothing seems to calm my thoughts. I pop out of bed just listening to the silence in our house, sucking in some air and running my fingers through my hair. It's all sooo much to take and...I can feel death hanging over me.

My chest throbs and I untangle myself from the sheets to go look outside my window, finding two shadows lurking around outside. As if they knew I was there, they both look straight at me and gesture coldly with their hands for me to go outside. I roll my eyes, crawling back into bed, but finding sleep just hanging in the background of my thoughts. I can feel it in my blood with these whispers of...death.

I feel my curse pound in my blood...and suddenly, I know I can't be afraid of what is to come. My destiny is this, and even the angels know it. I get up and glance out the window, finding even more shadows just standing outside my house this time...as if they are listening to every thought going on in my heart. I chew my lower lip while I observe them, and then instantly all their eyes meet mine, glistening like jewels in the dark. One moves into the moonlight and gestures with their hand again and I feel everything in my soul become quiet and simple. Finally, I know what this curse means.

And even though that thought brings me peace, every inch of my body begins to shake as I neatly comb my hair, pulling it back into a pony tail before putting on my favorite pair of pants with a nice, loose, purple blouse. I look at myself in the mirror for one second, slowly raising my shirt to find my curse engulfing my heart. I gingerly touch it and sigh, nodding at my reflection and feeling my knees quiver a bit.

This is it.

I'm done, and I know it sounds pathetic, but I keep fighting against a destiny that keeps screaming at me the same thing every day, every time. It's not even a DIFFERENT variation every time. It's the same exact...truth. I'm going to die. If anything, I feel like...I need to. If anything, this is what I deserve and I'm lucky that this curse ends with me, which can justify my feelings about all this...I think. Regardless, I'm prolonging the torture of all the souls trapped within in the curse by keeping it here on this Earth. I need...to just let it be what it is and free these souls.

It chose me for this reason. I'm not some innocent sacrifice either, so I can recognize this misery. I'm slowly sucking away everything I took comfort in by destroying the calmness of my family, threatening and hurting my friends, and ripping apart my heart because I know, deep down...I deserve this. I deserve nothing else, because I'm not the cute, sweet, little girl I used to be. I'm messed up...I'm too...gone.

And...I'm scared to try anymore. What HOPE do I have to go against things that angels and demons know?! They've been on the Earth longer than me, and know the great secrets of the world. If I can end this curse, then why not? I'm just...torturing myself by refusing to accept the truth. I'm sick of feeling so gone. I feel dead already. This curse just reminds me of how hard it is to live in this world, every second of every day.

I'm just a girl...

I grab my coat, but then smile, knowing I shouldn't take it. I plan on working up a sweat...because I won't go down without a fight. I deserve that much. I've put up a great fight, in all honesty, and with this curse I plan on at least making a dent in the supernatural population before I...you know. Before I complete the curse, to be more specific. THIS is what's meant to happen, I think. The curse chose me, the souls need me.

Yet, everything in my body still shivers the second I crack open my bedroom door. It feels like this is wrong or something...or maybe just scary. And it IS scary. I mean, what will happen to me? Will this be considered suicide or a valiant death? I don't even know which one it is...

I tip toe down stairs and smile at my brother who's snoring on the couch, with his head draping over the side so his mouth hangs widely open. His face twitches lightly, as if he knows he's being watched, before he starts smiling, laughing awkwardly in his sleep, and then resumes his snoring. He gave up his room to Nene, which was sweet. I truly expected him to have tried to sneak in there once our parents went to sleep, but the dark circles around his eyes tell me otherwise. He looks so tired, even while sleeping. He looks at peace, though.

I open the door and walk around to the back of the house, finding myself in a patch of bright moonlight that's surrounded by pairs of glistening eyes. I gulp down my fear and plant my feet confidently on the ground, almost summoning a fleeting thought into my mind. It's of me and my time on Earth, and how no matter what...I'm always planting my feet on the ground over something that's rarely worth being stubborn about most of the time. This time is different, though.

Because I'm different...too different...

“So,” I say slowly, trying to calm my quivering voice, “What do we do now that you got me out here?”

One steps into the light with his bright, red eyes gleaming and practically matching the color of his red hair. He stands exactly at the same height as me, but still feels so much taller. I suddenly feel...like an ant in the hands of fate.

“What do you want to happen? You brought us here,” he says slowly, his accent deeply French.

I nod and touch my curse, thinking that it must have called them. I guess it knew what had to happen. Maybe I am special. Perhaps that's why I couldn't sleep, and perhaps it's why I knew to look out the window when I did.

I smile and look up at the moon, feeling a tear slide down my cheek, “I'm just soooo tired.”

“Good,” he whispers as walks calmly up to me. Then suddenly, he changes his pace and lunges at me, swiping with his left arm at my head.

I fall back and close my eyes, gathering my strength and reminding myself to be quiet. This is between me and them. “Protection!” I whisper furiously, raising my right arm to block his strike, singeing his arm and making him howl in pain.

I panic and delve through my thoughts to look for a spell to nullify any sound from this area. “Whispers of the ether, silence to the ground, end all noise, end all sound,” I call out, forming a little ball within my hands and throwing it up into the air, creating a dome around us. They all smile at me and move in closer, stalking me. “It's just you guys...and me,” I say with a shaky nod.

“That spell will attract many more,” growls one of them.

“Good,” I say confidently, but also while trying to catch my breath. “It's what I want, right?”

“It's what they all want,” the redhead claims, circling me.

I nod and kneel down, grabbing some dirt and blowing into it. The dust swirls around and multiplies, blowing into a great dust cloud that smashes into some of the creatures, becoming a rock the instant it hits them. The creatures writhe and scream as the rock grows smaller and smaller before exploding from all the pressure, taking out the creatures within it and those nearby as it pops.

“How powerful are you?!” one of them exclaims.

“It's the curse. It's feeding her magic,” the redhead says calmly.

“Meaning?” another one demands, inching further away.

“She has unlimited magic...but YOU already knew that,” he says, grinning and revealing his jagged teeth.

I blink and touch my heart, closing my eyes and tracing the spell's power to my curse. The door to magic HAS BEEN open wide all this time, similar to someone who practices black magic, I guess, or would be my closest guess. With this realization, my curse begins to pound with the desire to conquer. All the souls in the curse begin to scream at once at me and I open my eyes just in time to lunge backwards as three vampires fly through the air to tackle me. One behind me grabs my arm and flings me towards another vampire before opening their mouth and crunching on my arm so hard it goes to the bone. I scream and glare at them, “Blood of life, corrupt those who have stolen what is mine, feel the fires of death touch your mouth, and burn away all that is mine until it has died!”

The vampire falls back, writhing and screaming as its mouth catches on fire, and then the flames race across its entire body, reducing it to ash within seconds. I smile viciously, and then feel a whisper from my heart that seems almost blood thirsty, reach my mouth, “Fire of my heart,” I cry out, feeling my blood boil, “lash out in your true form, the weather from my heart, create a mighty storm.”

I scream and fall to the ground as flames rip out from my heart and begin to lash out around me at anything. It grabs a hold of even me and smashes me to the ground, burning me slowly. Ash from the creatures that get caught by a few blasts cloud the air, and I begin to cough as it chokes my lungs. They all die within seconds though, leaving me alone in the torrent of flames. The thought that my family must've noticed what has happening pops into my head suddenly, but then I laugh sardonically at the fact that they're probably too tired to notice all the magic in the air as another flame lashes out from my body and searches around the area before reeling back towards me. It wraps around me, making me scream and kick until it flings me 10 feet away. When I hit the ground, I cough violently for a few seconds and only stop when I find blood on the ground, causing all the hairs on the back of my neck start to stand up straight.

MY blood...

I try to crawl away and get up before another one reaches me, but all of that is halted by my own screaming and collapsing to the ground as another flame lashes out of my heart. It rushes towards a group of demons running towards me, because just like the vampire said...all this magic and my curse will summon more creatures to me. The demons deflect the flame though, making it turn its course to return back to me...along with the demons charging at me.

They all smile, and the darkness of the world spreads as they grow closer to me. It seems that even the moon leaves because it gets so dark. It's pitch black once they reach me, and I cough as I stumble as fast as I can to get away from them. Then, the flame from my heart lights the darkness and I see their smiling mouths, full of razor sharp teeth, and their eyes black as coal. Even those eyes manage to light up as the flame returns to me, blasting right into my chest.

I fly backwards, feeling even my soul cry out in pain. I slowly lift my head, before collapsing to the ground, feeling even my own head too heavy to lift. Everything starts to fade away until a hand that's as cold as ice, reaches down to my back and picks me up. I try to blink away my foggy eyes, but I find myself staring into a pair of eyes that look like a black abyss, making me feel as if I've gone blind for a second . It smiles and pulls itself closer, blowing into my face. This...spell, or whatever, makes my soul feel so heavy, like it's going to fall out of my body, so I fight to keep my eyes open as if it'll prevent my own soul from slipping out.

“I have my own skills too, as pooooowwwwwweeeeerrrrrrrrful as YOUR magic,” it says, its voice echoing through the air.

“No,” I whisper wearily, “I will take you down too before--” and I cough as its hands clenches my throat tighter, “Go to hell!” I scream, placing my hands on the side of its face and feeling my curse extend from my heart to my fingertips. I feel my soul battle with the demon, before the demon begins to collapse. The curse just lashes out and drains him, drawing everything out of me for a second to allow his being to be dragged through the magical door in my being...but it no longer leads to a place full of pure energy in that moment. Instead, it leads to a place that burns even my eyes.

My entire consciousness snaps back into my body after he's sucked in, and I start to writhe wildly on the ground as the darkness from that door slips into my soul because I can't close it. Every fear I've ever had stands out before my eyes and begins to torture me. I scream, and try to scramble away, but find each touch from them sap away my strength, until I fall to the ground, feeling them circle around me hungrily.

Then, I hear a howl and barely lift my head to see Asher attacking around me with amazing precision, yanking off the heads of the demons one by one in just sheer fury. The demons turn to stone one by one, before crumbling into the Earth. A second after the last one crumbles, Asher kneels down and cradles me in his arms.

“Oh god, oh god,” he repeats worriedly over and over again, just looking at all the open wounds, gashes, and burns on my body.

I shiver and curl up against him, “You're so...w-warm,” I whisper, choking on blood and coughing for a few seconds. “That's s-strange...”

Asher grabs my face with his hands and glares at me, “HOW COULD YOU BE SO STUPID!?”

I nod and feel my eyes slide shut, “I'm s-sorry.”

“Don't say that!” Asher exclaims, shaking me furiously until I open my eyes. He closes his eyes and puts his hand on my heart, “Please Mother, end the call. It's n-not time yet.”

I feel my curse, that's been pounding like a maddening drum, slow down to match my heartbeat. Looking up at Asher wearily as he tenderly touches the side of my face, I whisper, “I'm sorry.” Then I blink for a few seconds, only to open my eyes fully and find the burns on my body start to heal.

Nothing supernatural killed me...so the curse is healing me.

“W-what?!” I gasp, popping up out of Asher's arms. “N-no! N-n-nooo!” I exclaim, crying and resting my head in my hands. “I JUST WANT IT TO BE OVER!”

Asher scoots over to where I am and touches my shoulder, “It's SELFISH to try and choose your own ending.”

“B-but I'm so tired of this fight,”I say fervently, looking up at him with tears rushing from my eyes. “I can't...do this anymore. I don't have the strength to because it's...point-pointless”

“It's not pointless,” Asher implores. “IT'S NOT!”

I wipe my nose and scoff, “H-how is it not?”

“Because it's your destiny to break the curse,” Asher answers passionately.

“By dying,” I point out viciously.

Asher grabs my hands and kisses them, “Not like this, though.”

“Death is death, right?” I whisper, quivering.

He shakes his head slowly, “No, it's not that simple.”

“W-why can't it be?” I ask slowly.

“Because this is NO SMALL thing that you're doing,” Asher says quietly, moving his hands from my hands to my face. “It's why only YOU can do it.”

“I c-can't,” I cry out, falling onto his chest, sobbing. “I can't keep L-LIVING like this, but I-I...don't want to die!”

“I won't let you die,” he says, running his fingers through my hair. “I-I'll do everything in my power to make sure you don't die.”

I sniff and lean away a bit, “W-what do you think it'll be like?”

Asher looks away and frowns, making the tears in my eyes race faster down my face. He knows... He knows what I've got to face, and...and it even scares him! How am I supposed to face this if it even scares him?! He's been around for a long time and it STILL scares him!

“It'll be lonely, huh? Nothing? Just trapped in nothingness?” I ask harshly, moving my head to meet his eyes. “What is it like Asher?! Tell me!”

He moves within the blink of an eye and holds my face in his hands, looking deeply into my eyes, “It is nothing that you can't handle, or that I'll let you face alone,” he whispers passionately before placing his lips on mine in an instant, not allowing me to respond.

Once I realize what's happening, I melt with a little moan, making him begin to pull away before I place my hands on the back of his head and twist my fingers through his hair while pushing his face closer to mine. I breathe shallowly before moving my body closer to him, feeling his hands leave the sides of my face, having one trail down my back while the other slides down my side to rest at my waist.

I feel my mouth melt on his as we press firmly onto each other before I lean back briefly to catch my breath, only to be followed by his mouth and his body. He continues to lean forward though, and falls onto me, making both of us landing on the coarse grass. I inwardly gasp, feeling my senses come alive and revel in the moment of his mouth on mine, making us both burn hotly.

My fingertips dance around the back of his neck, never staying in one place too long because of the heat seeming to resonate off of him. His tongue begins to massage mine, and before I know it, I'm completely absorbed in the moment, moving my body in sync with his. Finally moving into small, lighter kisses, I can feel his lips turn into a grin, spreading the grin like an infection onto mine. Pulling away to be only inches from my face, he grins even wider before he traces his hand down the side of my face tenderly, as if trying to commit to memory every part of my face.

He begins to lean off of me gradually before leaning back in to kiss my cheek, lingering there for a few seconds before pulling away and whispering in my ear “I promise.”

I meet his eyes dreamily, only to open them wide for a second, realizing that his eyes are bright green. I blink a few times, pulling myself together and hiding a gasp as they begin to return back to red right before my eyes. Then, I nod awkwardly, realizing that I've just been staring at him for a few seconds with a blank expression on my face.

As we both start to pull apart, I find myself touching my lips briefly with my fingers, smiling, and then reaching my hand down to hold his, while still watching his eyes cautiously. “S-so...what now?”

“Whatever you want, I'm here for you,” he whispers lowly.

It's in that moment that I feel alive. That beating heart in my chest doesn't feel alien to me. It doesn't feel like a battle drum either. It feels like my very own heart. A safe, comforting heart. With this realization sinking into every cell of my being, I become alive with the idea of a unity in purpose. My body, my heart, my soul, and my mind finally feel as if they're one...yet, dangerously only one because of this purpose.

Then I begin to blink rapidly as a thought pops into my head. “W-wait a second...I have an idea...”

Asher turns to me with his eyebrows raised just as I pop up off the ground, ecstatically saying, “I have a plan!”

“What is it?” Asher asks, perplexed while he slowly gets up.

“We need-we need to wake everyone up!” I exclaim, jumping up and down.

“Because thaaaaat'll go over well,” Asher retorts sarcastically, chuckling to the side.

I look at him directly, “I'm serious. I KNOW what we need to do.”

“What's that?” Asher asks intently, clearly very interested now.

“Dominic. We need to stop resisting him and go to him,” I say confidently. “Because...HE knows how the curse actually works. He'd HAVE to, otherwise...he wouldn't have a plan that includes me, in the first place.”

Asher blinks for a few seconds, and then breaks into a mischievous smile, “He's so old that he probably knows a lot of things that are lost in time, so...HE IS the only one that knows that knowledge now.”

“You're pretty old too though, right? Older even?” I question, coyly.

Asher shrugs and dusts off his pants, smiling, “Well old, but still younger than him. That being said, I also haven't been nearly as obsessed with it as he has been. I've just fighting to stay alive most of the time.”

I nod, and then laugh awkwardly while looking up at the sky as the plan crosses my mind again, “Sooooo...you don't think this is a bad idea?”

“Going into your enemy's hands is NORMALLY a bad idea, but using that AGAINST them is an...ingenious idea,” he says while laughing.

“Good, then let's go wake everyone up!” I state, bouncing off towards the house. Suddenly, everything feels so different, yet the same at the same time. All of my desires channel into my purpose to end the curse, unifying myself in a way where I can no longer see myself as the girl who's being tortured by it.

She died in that stupid firestorm I summoned.

Which is also something I don't plan on ever doing again until I truly know what I'm doing.

Yet...despite my confidence in my purpose, that girl that I used to be is now obviously shattered, and while my confidence overshadows the cries that come from the lonely parts in my soul, I can still feel those pieces cut into me. Yet, my purpose to end the curse by making it work with me fuels my confidence...however, I'm still only human, as my close brush with death proved... So now...this purpose is all I have to keep myself together.

Which means even though I can feel all these doubts...I can't let them stop me.

Which also means, in a way...I can't trust myself.

Nonetheless, I rush inside and I shove the front door open, causing my brother to jump off the couch in fright. He looks at me as if I'm crazy...and chances are I probably look pretty crazy. I'm covered in dirt, mud, and little pebbles while twigs are tangled into my hair that ONCE was a ponytail...but that changed the second I summoned that firestorm.

“What the HELL happened?!” Caleb demands, looking at me up and down in shock.

Asher calmly walks through the door, grinning at Caleb, “Morning.”

Caleb shakes his head and rubs his eyes, “Oh god, it's faaaar too early for this crap...”

I walk towards Caleb and grab his shoulders, “Caleb, listen to me. You need to wake everyone up with me.”

“I'd rather live, thank you,” referring to the fact that our father is a horrible monster if you wake him up before his alarm clock does.

“I'm serious, Caleb,” I insist passionately, making him even widen his eyes. “I have a plan.”

“Good for you?” he says like a question, peering over my shoulder to look questioningly over towards Asher.

“She has a good plan,” Asher states as I hear him sit on the couch behind me.

“Alright,” Caleb says slowly, yawning for a second. “What's this plan?”

“We go to Dominic and find out what he knows,” I state confidently.

Caleb looks at Asher and I as if we're crazy, “THAT'S your good plan?!”

“He's the only one who knows stuff that we can't know!” I explain fervently.

“What about old vampire guy here? Why doesn't he know this stuff too?” Caleb asks, gesturing towards Asher with his thumb.

“He's older than me and I haven't been obsessed with it like he has been,” Asher replies, annoyed.

“Riiiiiight. It's comforting to know that you didn't get obsessed with it until it LATCHED onto my sister,” Caleb says sarcastically while rolling his eyes.

“Caleb...” I say, almost growling.

Caleb laughs and smacks me on the back, “Well tell me, do you have a plan for waking up Dad?”

I shake my head, and then smile as we both seem to move towards the kitchen because of the same thought. We grab pans and smash them together while hollering until everyone in the house comes to us...and Daisy comes in from outside. Even Nene and Carter give us looks of annoyance, while Asher remains on the couch the entire time, trying his hardest to bite back his laugh.

I slowly take in a deep breath, while unconsciously trying to awkwardly pull a twig from my hair as I move towards the center of the group, making eye contact with everyone before I open my mouth to speak, “I have a plan,” I finally state confidently.

Written By Melissa Seeger.  2014.

18: Cursed: Chapter 18

Cursed: Chapter 18

I sound so excited when I explain the plan to everyone that I'm even shocked a little bit. Every detail seems to grow off another detail that I just have to explain, and that alone is enough to make me excited. The truth is that I'm excited about facing this because it feels almost like a showdown. Just to get it over with...but in the right way. This way makes me feel like a hero, as opposed to me feeling like a sacrifice. This will give me answers and justify everything...right?

I think that's what I need...

“I know I'm being stupid,” I mumble to myself while pacing.

My family wanted me to get some sleep after explaining the plan to them earlier, because it was obvious that I hadn't been sleeping before that. I can't sleep, though. So I resort to pacing and talking to myself. It sounds crazy, but I KNOW that everyone does it.

“This isn't helping me get my thoughts straight, though,” I whisper exasperated as I flop onto my bed. “I truly think I'm the worst person to be giving advice to myself...”

I pop up and look at my reflection in the mirror, scowling a bit playfully, “Don't you look at me like that. I can make this right...”

I chew my lower lip, feeling a strange kind of excitement reveal a truth... “That fire, that fight, that...everything. I'm different. Not because I didn't survive...but because I did.”

Even if I only survived barely.

I walk up to my mirror and place my hands on the sides of it, staring straight into my eyes, “I suuuuurrrrrrvived. NORMAL people don't survive stuff like that. W-why...why didn't I die? How do I make myself...right?”

I feel tears form in my eyes and I shake my head, laughing to myself, “I really am cursed, as if I could ever doubt it. I can't even die... I can ask to, but apparently when it comes down to it, I can't seem to die. Sooo...this is all we've got, huh?”

Like two different people in the same area, I continue to stare at my reflection as I begin to break apart before my own eyes. My mind starts to rip apart that reflection, showing how it can't be me. How it isn't right in some ways. How I'm...different now. I can't even tell if this is a good or bad dissection of myself...but whatever it is...

It's separating.

A knock on my door snaps me out of it and I eye it suspiciously, feeling that I must have imagined the knock. You don't get knocks on the door at the exact moment that you want help. That stuff only happens in movies! I eye it for a bit longer before returning to my own judging gaze, only to be shocked out of it again by another knock.

“Y-yes?” I ask quietly.

“You aren't sleeping,” Carter says smugly through the door.

I laugh under my breath and run my fingers through my hair, “I think I know that already.”

“You need to, though,” Carter says in a hushed voice as he opens the door to peer at me.

“For a ghost, you suck at sneaking in,” I say, remarking on how much my door squeaks as he opens it.

Carter smiles and shakes his head, “I didn't want to sneak up on you. I wanted to check up on you,” he admits, walking towards me with concern now filling his usually playful eyes. “I...know you, Carwen, and this impulsive plan screams...problems.”

I glare at him without thinking, “Y-you don't have the right to analyze me.”

Carter looks at me incredulously, “I care about you, so yeeeeaaaaah, I do.”

“Well stop,” I say shortly, walking to my bed and jumping under the covers. “I don't need it.”

“Need help? Never,” he says chuckling a bit. “You're easily strong enough to take out ANYTHING in your path. But support...” he says, pausing and sighing a bit, “support as you take on the world...well, THAT you do need, even if you'll never...you know, admit it.”

“I'm not taking on the world,” I point out harshly.

“You're taking on everything that's affecting your world. There's hardly a difference, especially...to me,” Carter admits quietly. “I just wanted to make sure you know you have support against this...so don't do anything rash like you did earlier this night.”

I freeze and choke on the air around me, “Y-you know?!”

Carter nods and begins to walk out of my room, “I'm...glad he was there to help you.”

I pop up out of my bed to look directly at Carter, but find him gone. I sigh and lie back down on my bed, groaning a bit. ALMOST annoyed. I don't care...but I do. Either way though, it's MY LIFE. I mean, I know that he's still a part of my life, just like how Asher is a part of my life too now. All of that doesn't mean I can't live my own life, though.

Ugh, way to mess with my mind, Carter...

I get up before everyone the next morning, finding the window curtains all closed because Asher and Daisy are resting casually on the chairs in our kitchen, talking under their breath while my brother tosses and turns, obviously trying to tune them out. Once I walk down the stairs, Asher gets up and nods towards me, while Daisy just smiles and waves...however she does this in an obnoxious way that makes me scowl.

She knew it was done it in an obnoxious manner, I knew it, and Asher knew it too, and THAT'S why he glares at her afterward.

Caleb sighs annoyed, sitting up and glaring at me, “I'm NOT going to get to sleep, am I?!”

I smile and shake my head, hearing a floorboard creak somewhere behind me that's quickly followed by Nene's head peaking around the corner, grinning widely. “Who's up?” she whispers.

“Neeeeeaaaaarrrrrrlllllly everyone,” I say with a shrug before sitting down in a chair.

Nene heads down the stairs and sits as inconspicuously as she can on the couch that Caleb is on, “So...when are we going to do this?”

“Judging by the closed curtains, I take it the weather is currently not vampire friendly,” Caleb says sarcastically, winking at Asher, who rolls his eyes in return.

Then, Carter appears, phasing through the door and looking more shocked than we do, “Y-you...you all are awake already?”

I nod, “Parents are still sleeping, though. W-where were you?”

“Can't sleep...ghostly problem, I'm guessing,” Carter says, laughing. “I normally just go out and see the world at night anyways.”

I blink, somehow forgetting that he's a ghost and that he doesn't need sleep. Even Asher sleeps, but I guess that's something Carter can't do anymore. I frown, but he shakes his head slightly, silently telling me to stop frowning.

“Um, anyways,” I say, quickly trying to change the subject, “When's the best time to do this?”

“Mid day, honestly,” Asher says, making Daisy's eyes grow wide.

“Because there's nothing like little piles of ash helping you out,” Daisy throws out sarcastically.

Caleb laughs and nods before rolling his eyes, “You'll just have to trust my family to keep up that shield against the Sun for you guys.”

“I trust you,” Asher says abruptly, almost silencing the room.

After that, my parents meander downstairs and smile at all of us, hugging me briefly. “So shall we get started? We have a lot of preparation to do,” my father says.

Time passes by almost in an instant, making noon reach us before I thought it would. Although, it seems like I'm the only one who's this surprised that it came this fast. The Sun, normally something I've always relied on to be there to give me warmth and comfort, gives none of that to me when noon arrives except to tell me that it's time.

I gulp and head outside, walking for about an hour, just following the Sun west. Finally, I come to a cave and sit down on the ground right by the entrance, stretching my legs out in the Sun before I go completely inside, laughing and sadly noticing how pale I am because everything I seem to do these days involves the night somehow. I take in a deep breath and shakily pull out a knife, slicing my hand and bringing it to my mouth. I hesitate for a second, but then take in a deep breath and taste my own blood. Just a few drops is all I need...and even that grosses me out to no end.

“Are you sure you'll be able to do this? This is...dangerous,” Caleb said as he scratched his nose nervously.

“I can do this...I know I can,” I said, mostly to myself.

“It's black magic, though. You're using your own blood as a conduit,” Caleb insisted, clearly worried.

“I can do this,” I repeated, mostly to myself again, though.

I sigh and touch the Earth, feeling the energies of the Earth almost revolt as the door to magic swings open wildly within my mind. It almost takes the breath right out of me - the sheer power just screaming by me as it blows like a hurricane within my body. It races within me so much that I almost get sick from it. Just spinning...and spinning...and spinning.

“Obey my commands,” I state clearly, feeling the energy rush up my spine and make me shudder.

The energy stops spinning, but the energy keeps flooding from the doorway. So much magic at my fingertips... I could just kill him right now. End it all. I could wipe the curse from existence with this much power!

I clear my throat, shaking my head of the corrupting ideas that power brings, “This I command. Find me Dominic, the one locked within my heart and mind,” I say, thinking of Dominic within my mind as much as I can. “Obey me,” I say, shivering as the energy rushes towards my spine again, knocking me backwards.

I stand up, spitting some blood on the ground and raise my hand up to the sky, “You heard me! Obey me now!” I shout.

The energy twists and rushes around me as I stand my ground, practically trying to internally stare it all down with my own soul. “You will obey me,” I say, getting a strange sense of calmness in my soul. I wave my hand over my wound on my other hand, healing it instantly, “I chose you, and I have the power to control you. So...OBEY ME!” I shout again, feeling the energy stand still, practically silencing all of time.

“I said, OBEY ME!” I shout as the energy rushes towards my head, grabbing a hold of every inch of my body. I fall to the ground gasping as the magic rips into my mind to find the image of Dominic I was thinking of earlier. It grabs the image and rushes out of my body through my mouth, making me scream in agony as it burns my entire mouth on the way out.

Once out, I close my eyes wearily, touching my mouth with my fingers and finding all the moisture in my mouth gone. I cough and gag a little on the air around me, finding it stinging my throat. After rubbing my eyes, I open them and begin to reach into the backpack that my family packed for me.

“It's not going to be pleasant,” my father warned me as he pulled me in close for a hug.

I laughed and shrugged off his hug, “I thiiiiinnnnnnk I could've figured that out on my own.”

My mother grabbed my hand and squeezed tightly, “You'll be thirsty. Drink 2 bottles of water right after the spell. It'll burn at first, but you'll need it. The spell,” and then my mother paused for a second, “It will drain you, and you can't have that since it'll be bringing you Dominic within minutes.”

“How many minutes?” I asked nervously.

“In exactly 7,” my father said while his face fell into a strange sense of darkness I had never witnessed before.

Looking at my watch after I drink all the bottles of water, I realize that I have 20 more seconds before 7 minutes comes up. I take in a deep breath and close my eyes, repeating to myself that I can make it through this, before I open them to find Dominic staring straight at me.

“Well this is...interesting,” Dominic says slowly, almost more shocked than me.

I nod and stand up, “We need to talk.”

“I figured as much,” Dominic says calmly, smiling a little to reveal his sharp teeth, and making me shiver a bit in nervousness.

“I-I'm...tired and over this,” I say finally, feeling my shoulders drop with true exhaustion. “I can't keep fighting...well DESTINY...and stuff...”

“You may be tired...but you aren't broken,” Dominic points out cautiously. “I was not born yesterday. I know BETTER than to trust a witch.”

I glare at him, “I'm different. I have a lot more to carry than the average witch.”

Dominic nods thoughtfully, “This is...true.”

“I just want it to stop,” I plead.

Dominic eyes me warily, “Stop how?”

I look at him directly, “End the curse. I know how it ends. Everyone keeps telling me about it, honestly.”

“Are they telling you the truth or the prophecy?” Dominic questions, making my eyebrows raise up in curiosity. He laughs, noticing my expression and smiles, “So you didn't know about that, huh?”

I watch him carefully as I calm my racing mind, “What prophecy?”

“The same kind of prophecy that anybody can mix up with the facts and truth,” Dominic answers pointedly. “Prophecies are...tricky. I know this better than anyone, which is why I accidentally killed your little friend.”

I take in a deep breath shakily, “S-so I don't have to die like him?”

“You want to die?” Dominic asks quickly with a laughing sort of surprise.

“I want the curse to end,” I explain obviously.

Dominic shakes his head and laughs calmly, “It's funny how prophecies are full of facts and truths, but facts and truths are greatly different from the prophecies, carrying no prophecies themselves.”

I sigh, annoyed all of a sudden, “Niiiiiccccce riddle.”

“It's the truth, and if you want to end this curse then you need to get used to the truth,” he snaps back.

I chew my lower lip and take in a deep breath, “I thought...I figured that at least I'd be able to count on you to do this for me.”

Dominic looks at me hungrily and takes in a deep breath through his nose to smell, “I never said that I wouldn't. You reek of depression and hopelessness. It's...lovely, honestly.”

“Take a shower with these herbs,” my mother commandingly said.

I raised my eyebrows in bewilderment, “Why?”

“Vampires rely on smell, and you need to smell of sadness, hopelessness, and exhaustion,” my mother said, plugging her nose as she handed the herbs to me. “They smell, sweetie. I'm sorry.”

I cautiously sniffed the bag and gagged a little bit, “I'll need to take another shower just to get this smell off of me!”

“No you won't. It'll absorb into you. Trust me, all of us will know, especially Asher and...Daisy,” my mother said, while trying to hide the disdain of just saying Daisy's name. “Humans rely on smell for communication too, but we just aren't as aware of it as vampires are.”

I gulp nervously, and find Dominic clutching my arm tightly, almost making me want to wriggle out of it in discomfort. “W-what now?” I stutter out.

“Now you take us back to my place and I help you with your little...problem,” Dominic says coldly while touching his thumb to my forehead, smashing an image into my head of where to go so powerfully that I choke on it before the black magic surges in me again and sends us there. I blink in pain and find myself in a luxurious house with all the drapes closed, and the entire area filled with very modern furniture.

Dominic throws me down on the couch and smiles, looking around, “I like to stay relevant.”

Mathias walks downstairs, and looks at me in shock before turning quickly to Dominic, “Um...where and how?!”

“She found me,” Dominic answers dismissively. He takes another deep breath through his nose, almost in joy, “Can't you smell that?”

Mathias breathes in cautiously, and then smiles at me in a way that's full of evil, “My my, someone has had a hard time.”

I shudder and crawl further away from them on the couch, “S-soooo what do I do?”

Dominic reaches into a drawer and pulls out a nail file, “Now I grant you your wish,” he says calmly, smiling at me with just the corner of his mouth.

I jump off the couch in terror as Mathias lunges at me, smashing into the wall just behind me. I scream and scramble towards the door, only to have Dominic appear from nowhere and grab me by the neck. I wriggle in his grasp, gasping for air, before smiling when Asher appears right behind him.

Asher grabs Dominic's head and pulls it to the side, powerfully chomping down on his neck. It makes Dominic howl and release me, so I can scramble away from him as I crumble to the floor. I stare only at the floor tiles for seconds before I finally have enough strength to reach out to the doorknob so I can stand back up. I look around the room to see Caleb standing back a few feet from Mathias, chanting quietly, and Nene fighting Mathias, viciously snapping at him while he hisses at her. At the same time, Carter and Daisy are also fighting the hordes of vampires pouring out from beneath the house while my father defends my mother as she maintains this shield protecting Asher and Daisy from any rays of the Sun.

Times slows down for a second as the scene unravels for Dominic with all of us working together flawlessly, destroying a fear I've had for so long within seconds. I find myself grounded all of a sudden, and I catch a glimpse of Nene's bright yellow eyes for a second, making me smile because I know what she would say in this moment.

I take a deep breath and put my hands together, “Cover me in light, finish the fight, I stand one of many, bring an end in sight.”

Light blasts from my body, and I can only hear Caleb laugh, feel my mother smile, and my father cheer me on. We all connect to the magic at the same time, and right then, we're practically alone in a room together. We have full conversations within seconds, see everyone's current fears, and understand the current feelings pouring from our hearts. They blend together in that moment, becoming a great fury to be feared.

Which is why NOW I understand why they burned witches.

I open my eyes and find a few vampires the room covered with ash from all the vampires that I essentially destroyed, even though my family helped me fuel it. Carter looks at me with wide eyes while Daisy flinches and opens her eyes, almost as if she had been expecting to be taken out too by that spell too. Then, I hear a crunch and a scream, making us all turn to Nene who viciously rips the head of Mathias clear off of his body, making him turn to ash. Afterward, she looks at Caleb, who raises a black shield around her for a few seconds before lowering it to reveal a fully clothed and human Nene.

Nene starts gagging and plucks a hair from her teeth, “Ewwwwwww, ew, ew!”

Caleb chokes back a gag, “I'm not kissing you until you brush your teeth.”

Nene, either too horrified to hear his remark or just chooses to ignore it, begins to cough in disgust, “Worth it, but STILL...oh god!”

A hiss and bellow of pain reaches our ears seconds before Dominic tries to lunge at me, only to be grabbed mid air and thrown back into a corner by Asher. My mother and father quickly grab hands and chant, summoning supernatural chains from the ether to chain him tightly to the wall. Yet, all Dominic does is scream and howl, looking at the place where Mathias died with sadness and anger.

“You killed him!” Dominic screams, spitting at Nene.

Caleb growls and steps forward, but Nene holds him back while nodding to me, “Go ahead.”

I step towards Dominic and look straight at him, “You were right to not trust a witch.”

“I didn't,” he says sharply. “I just figured I could kill you before they could find you!”

“We were ready for that kind of attitude,” I say confidently, looking at Asher with a smile.

Dominic looks between the two of us and gasps, “I didn't smell anything like that! You dirty witches!”

“I'm sorry, but this is how it's done,” Asher said awkwardly while looking around the room as his nerves became very obvious.

“It's okay. We have to do this,” I said, feeling his nervousness rub off onto me, or perhaps my own nervousness had rubbed off on him.

“This is gross...and dangerous,” Caleb insisted as he glared at Asher.

“And it's the best way to protect her,” Daisy pointed out, looking at my father. “I would know,” she added in a whisper.

I rolled my eyes and met Asher's, finding all the air inside of me leaving instantly, “Let's just do this.”

Asher shakily sliced his wrist and held it out awkwardly towards me. I lowered my head a bit and quickly licked just a bit of it, gagging mostly at the thought of it, seeing as it was such a little amount that I could barely taste anything. Then, I grabbed the knife Asher used and cut my own hand. I held it awkwardly out for him too, but he just stared at it for seconds, watching it as it closed up right before his eyes. I looked at him annoyed and he shuddered, quietly apologizing under his breath.

“You know, problems preforming are toooootally normal for a guy,” Caleb threw out there, right before he gets smacked upside the head by our dad.

I took another deep breath and winced, cutting my hand again. This time, I pushed my hand even closer to Asher while I made eye contact sternly. He slowly lowered his head and gingerly licked my hand, quickly backing away afterward as he looked at me with terrified, bright green eyes. Gasping as the memories of those two eyes flood back into my mind, I'm then quickly snapped out of it by Carter and Caleb.

“Whoa,” Carter and Caleb said in unison.

Nene gasped and walked towards me nervously, “Is that normal?”

Daisy laughed loudly, “Only for Asher. Normally when we feed, our kind's eyes turn red, but Asher's eyes turn green because...he's special.”

Asher blinked away rapidly for a few seconds before he opened his eyes and looked back at me with his normal red eyes, “And now wherever you are for the the next 24 hours, I'll know where you are, and what you're feeling.”

I nodded and looked outside at the Sun to find it was now nearly noon.

Almost time...

“So you tricked me!” Dominic admits sourly. “What is it you truly want?!”

“I want to know what you know about the curse,” I state, moving even closer. “And no prophecies. Just the truth.”

Dominic grins, “Don't like the ending of the prophecy, huh?”

Asher scoffs and runs his fingers through his hair, “Prophecies are just a bunch of muddled up riddles.”

“Wisely said,” Dominic says with a smile before returning his gaze to me, “The truth is that the prophecy failed to mention how you end the curse.”

“In a way,” Nene says slowly. “It's truly just not specific...on anything actually, now that I come to think of it.”

“Yeah...that's a prophecy for you,” Daisy interjects playfully.

I roll my eyes and make direct eye contact with Dominic, “So what's the truth within the prophecy?”

“Ahh,” Dominic says slowly, “What a good question...” Then, he clears his throat awkwardly when the chains around his neck grow tighter while I hear from behind us, my mother trying to calm my father down. “The truth is that you do break the curse by dying and being too much of a soul to be absorbed because of your magic. Your magic is,” and he pauses dramatically, grinning almost lustfully, “blended with your soul. The curse latched onto your soul, becoming one with it. You, however, my child...just happen to have a lot of strings attached to your soul, which will make it very hard for the curse to swallow once you die.”

“And you want me why?” I ask, confused.

“Because I can absorb and nullify the curse while gaining strength from the magic bound within it from you, my dear,” Dominic is explains carefully. “If you die, without nullifying the curse, it will be over...and all those souls that you know so well will...disappear.”

“Disappear as in...be at peace?” I ask, shaking and looking cautiously at Asher through the corner of my eye, who's also shaking.

“No. They will disappear as in end,” Dominic answers sharply. “Your mother will be gone,” he then says directly to Asher, who steps back and glares venomously at him.

“How do I nullify the curse then?” I quickly question.

“You can't. You don't have the soul of a creature strong enough to fight it. Not like me, not like Asher,” he says, grinning. “You see, the reason why Asher doesn't suffer from that curse that summons all sorts of problems to your doorstep is because it's one with him. His heritage, his father's heritage, gave him something strong enough to win the battle and make it one with him, nullifying it.”

Asher steps back again, bumping into the wall behind him, “N-no...”

“Yes,” Dominic spits out. “She ends the curse because her soul is so great that when a supernatural creature devours her, it'll release them all. She is just a KEY. All of this doesn't make her end any different from the others. It just makes her the LAST.”

I feel all the air in my lungs leave my body, making everything become so clear. I close my eyes and hear the screams of pain within my heart, and I sigh painfully after a few seconds of just listening to their cries. I got my answer, and it makes my confidence switch tactics to continue with my purpose...revealing the true nature of my confidence just as desperation. Opening my eyes I meet Carter's eyes, and he shakes his head furiously before rushing towards me.

“No! Carwen!” he screams.

I close my eyes and whisper, “Travel to a world, from and to the beyond, all the same, into one filled with sleep for more and on.”

Everyone crashes to the floor except Dominic and I, and as the chains around his body disintegrate, he shrugs and walks towards me. “So now are you ready?”

“Yes,” I say without a shudder of fear in my body.

“Then let us go to a connection spot,” he says, walking outside and smiling as he looks up at the Sun covered by the clouds that my family put up to protect Asher and Daisy.

“A connection spot?” I ask, confused.

“One that connects to heaven and hell. There are only a few places where this can be done properly, which is something I know now, as opposed to what I knew back then when we REALLY first met,” he answers calmly.

“Why did you try to kill me earlier, then?” I ask, almost accusingly.

He grins a grin that practically has evil oozing out of it, “I wouldn't have actually killed you here. Just wounded you enough so I could take you to the connection spot without you throwing too much of a...fight.”

“Why do you care to answer me so openly now?” I ask suspiciously.

He smiles and turns to me, “Because you wouldn't let me near you now otherwise.”

I nod and follow after him, feeling my heart pound and my curse throb. “I'm ready,” I whisper, but once again...it's mostly to myself.

Written By Melissa Seeger.  2014.

19: Cursed: Chapter 19

Cursed: Chapter 19

This time I touch Dominic's forehead, seeing the connection place in his mind. I firmly grab his wrist, making him turn to me surprised while I just smile sadly in return, “I don't want to just follow along. I want to move.” Taking a slow, deep breath, I picture it clearly within my head. Opening my eyes, I smile as a mystical door appears in front of us, one that only I can see, though. It's shimmering, glowing, and just beautiful, but it doesn't allow me to observe it for very long because it opens shortly after appearing...pulling us both through.

Dominic gasps as we arrive at the Yellowstone Caldera before smiling at me and clearing his throat, “See...I knew you made your choice a long time ago.”

I walk up ahead of him, trembling so much that I feel like I'm going to collapse to the ground any second, “W-what do you mean?” I spit out harshly.

“You knew what you wanted to do the second you saw that curse appear over your heart,” he says calmly while pointing to my heart.

I touch my heart instinctively, almost protecting it from him before looking up at the sky and noticing that the protection spell on the Sun is gone, “The...Sun...wait, what?!”

“A connection spot,” Dominic says lightheartedly. “It connects everything from below to the sky.” He moves closer to me, grabbing my wrists and makes me cringe a little in pain, “We're the same here.”

I growl lowly, “We'll NEVER be the same.”

“Yet we both have something very tragic in common, my dear,” he says passionately in my ear. “We both don't have a soul.”

I yank my head backwards and look directly into his eyes, “I h-have a soul, and that's WHY I need to do this.”

A grin passes over his lips, widening slowly, “And that's the choice you made a long time ago. They don't say this, and it isn't in any old tomes, but that curse is an answer...to a death wish. THAT'S why it chose you. That's why you don't fear it, because it's an answer to your very heart's prayer.”

I close my eyes and feel a few tears slip out as the truth washes over me. I never wanted to be a witch. I never wanted magic. I never wanted to be able to fight with it, either. I never wanted to move away. I never wanted to change. I wish with all my heart that I could just go back to how I was before it all started. I was happy...ignorant, but happy. Everything and all this knowledge has been crushing me the second I opened that door to Ms. Thorn's office.

I hate everything about me. Everything I'm growing up to be. I deserve this because...I feel deserve nothing better.

“H-how did you know then?” I whisper.

“Because I've had many lifetimes to connect the dots,” Dominic says as he let's go of my wrist and smooths down my hair. “It's a shame that this is your fate. You could've been...sooooo many things.”

I feel tears trickle down my face, “No, I was CURSED the day I was born. Nobody should be able to do what I do... Nobody should be able to do what I've done! I can only r-run so far away from myself!”

“And yet...that power chose you,” he says with almost a tender smile. “For what it's worth, I'm sorry.”

“W-why?” I ask, shivering now.

He lets go of my other wrist and places his hands on the sides of my face, “Because despite everything, you're an amazing girl who doesn't deserve to die young.”

I wipe my eyes before pushing his hands aside, and then step back a few steps, “T-thank you?”

He laughs and shakes his head, “Humans and their insecurities! I know you don't see it, but I've lived a long time and I know it when someone is truly special and unique. That's the true curse you bear, my child, your insecurities.”

“That doesn't matter now,” I whisper.

He frowns, “Well I'll be as quick as I can. Just...close your eyes.”

I shiver and gaze up at the sky, finding it too hard to smile, but smiling without thinking anyways. The weirdest feelings begin to wash over me, and as I close my eyes just to blink, I feel arms wrap around me, and rip my head to the side so forcefully that it tears my skin wide open. Nothing scares me suddenly though, and the pain isn't too much for me to bear. Teeth begin to rip and tear into my neck, drinking up any life I have, making everything strangely peaceful because while I know I'm dying...I don't fully understand what's happening and it makes it...nice... This pleasantness only lasts for a brief moment, ending abruptly when I start to feel my connection to life itself slip away, forcing me to open my eyes in horror, shaking and gagging as I meet the red, twinkling eyes of Dominic before the world dissolves in front of me like a picture getting erased.

Gasping as I pop up, I reach up at my neck and touch it gingerly, finding no wound there anymore. I look at my hands, puzzled, before someone clears their throat, causing me to snap my head up to meet the gaze of a woman with bright green eyes. I awkwardly try to breathe, feeling nothing come into my lungs, making me start to hyperventilate. She lays her hands on me, and then pulls me into a hug, whispering into my ear, “Shhhh, calm down.”

I panic and wriggle out of her arms, crawling on the floor away from her, “W-where am I?” I demand hoarsely.

“The curse,” she says solemnly.

I close my eyes and shake my head, trying to wake myself up. As I open my eyes though, I find myself in the same place, except with more of those faces I know so well from my dreams, all of them surrounding me. “I d-didn't break it?!”

She kneels down and shakes her head, “Not yet.”

“But I th-thought...I thought...” I whisper slowly before cradling my head in my hands and falling to my knees, sobbing loudly, “I'm so T-TIRED OF FIXING EVERYTHING WRONG WITH ME!”

She wraps her arms around me again making me gasp loudly, “You're so cold!” I exclaim in shock, snapping out of my spiral of negative thoughts to register the reality around me.

She smiles and nods slowly while brushing my disheveled hair behind my left ear, “That's because YOU'RE not dead yet.”

I blink at her as if she's lost her mind, “I diiiieeeeed....I'm PRETTY sure of that.”

She shakes her head, “No...you aren't dead. Trust me,” she says as she touches me where my curse is, “I know a lot more about this than you do.”

I push her hand away and scramble to my feet to quickly look at the area around us as I back away from the people encircling us, “The...w-where am I?”

“A place where we can talk,” she answers sternly, looking directly into my eyes. “You ARE special, and we all need you to do what you are meant to do instead of doing what you WANT to do, which is fix your guilty heart.”

“It gets us nowhere,” whispers a man into my ear behind me, making me jump forward and swing my arm at him, but passing through his form futility.

“W-what do you mean?” I demand.

“Why did you do it?” she asks, not judging or pleading, but with sympathy in her eyes.

I look around, panicking a bit, “I-I don't know what you...mean...”

They all nod in unison and match the woman with green eye's movements exactly now, “We've all been there. How often do the dead get sympathy? How often do they get a chance to explain?”

“B-but you said I wasn't dead!” I exclaim, staring them all down with a strange sense of fear.

She walks towards me quickly with grace, and then touches my curse, “You were dead in here before the curse even came to you. That's why it was able to take hold of you. It...recognized something in you.”

“A monster?” I spit out.

“No,” she whispers soothingly, “It saw someone who was forced into change.”

I touch her hand this time and sniff loudly, finding myself shaking, “I...I always wanted to know who I was when I was a kid. When--,” I start to say, but stop briefly to choke back some tears, “When I caught a glimpse of wh-who I truly am...I didn't WANT to know anymore.” I look at her directly, shaking all over, “I'm afraid of who I am! I'm n-not normal, and everything I once thought has changed dramatically! I'm no longer that k-kid who can smile at the world. I'm stuck being this girl knowing very well what's wrong in the world, and knowing I'm a part of it and...and HATING it!”

She touches my shoulder, and then they all follow her action, but instead of warmth, they blanket a wave of coldness over me. “You're going to be okay...you can handle it,” they all say in unison.

“N-no, I can't,” I say as I back away from her and through a few of them behind me. “I'm wrong! I feel...w-wrong.” My lips begin to quiver as tears slide down my cheeks, “I feel so wrong. I'm not good enough and I'm being punished. I must be...”

Silence falls over us and I just stare at the ground for seconds before my curiosity gets the best of me and I look up at her. She's just staring at me sympathetically, except tears are streaming down her face now. “We all know this feeling too well. That is what curses us. That's what makes us wrong,” she says as she walks up to me, staring determinedly into my eyes while she continues to cry, “But that curse became something beautiful in you, blending with your soul. It is you, and it's fighting to keep you alive, just like how we are right now.”

They all circle around me, crying, “You aren't wrong. You are exactly what this world needs.”

“It will always be with you,” the woman with green eyes says as she touches her heart, “Just as it was supposed to be with me when it blended with my magic and became alive. I forsake the gift, though. The gift it offered to me and my soul because the world was hard...and scary...and just horrible.” She wipes some tears away and stares at them on her hand, “I wasn't s-strong enough,” she says as she moves her eyes back to mine, “That's what was wrong. Now please...help us help you, because you are our ONLY chance of redeeming our weaknesses.”

I shake my head and sob, “H-how will I face them?!” I ask, choking up. “I c-can't do it! I'm not strong enough! What-what will they say to me!?”

“Whatever happens, you will be able to handle it,” she says as she touches her mark from the curse, “It is your destiny. All of this is proof of that.”

I stare at my hands, quivering, “I don't know...”

Everyone disappears in the blink of an eye except her. She suddenly flashes forward to me, grabbing my hands tightly in hers, but this time when she touches me she spreads warmth over me, “It's time, Carwen. You can do this.”

I blink at her repeatedly, shaking all over and choking on my breath, “W-why me?”

“Because you're the one who needs it,” she says with a small smile.

I find myself grinning back, even through the tears, and strength just washes all over my body as my heart begins to thump like a hypnotizing drum. “I'm so...tired though,” I admit slowly, almost pleading with my eyes.

“Then stop fighting yourself,” she says as she places both her hands on the sides of my face. “Now wake up, Carwen.”

Slowly the ghosts of the past surround us, all chanting in unison, “Wake up, Carwen, wake up!”

Then, the woman falls to her knees, and her eyes becoming so muddled by the tears you can't tell that she has green eyes, “Tell my miracle I love him, and that I'm sorry. So-so sorry.”

I blink and just stare at her quizzically, “What?”

“M-my son,” she says slowly, whispering to me, yet her voice is heard clearly despite all the chanting. “He now carries the burden of my weakness...t-tell him I love him, please...”

Her eyes meet mine for only a second and while the tears cloud her eyes, I can still see the determined strength in them and...the love. “Asher...your son...of-of course,” I whisper, making her nod.

“I cost my child his soul...” she says slowly.

I reach out my hand and start to walk towards her before falling to the ground in pain, writhing.

“What's happening!?” I scream.

She crawls over to me and closes my eyes with her hand, “Wake up.”

Then suddenly, I pop up and open my eyes.

Written By Melissa Seeger.  2014.

20: Cursed: Chapter 20

Cursed: Chapter 20

There are images that seem to withstand time in your mind, and the second I open my eyes I find an image that will always stay with me.

There is no Sun to warm my skin, and the cold air whips around me, bringing tears to my already cloudy eyes. I blink the tears away right before I try to wipe my eyes with my hands, quickly changing my mind after seeing how dirty my hands are. After that, I glance up to see my blood rush into my fingers, absorbing away the paleness and bringing back a lively color that seems to glow in the world around me that suddenly is so gray.

It's one of those weird moments that just connects to the soul.

Snapping out of it completely, I cough as a cloud of ash blows right past me, and I blink furiously until it clears to find Carter sitting next to me on the ground in shock. Not a word is spoken, yet everything is heard between us. His face, originally torn and distraught is still in the process of changing to shock and surprise, making everything seem like a muddy puddle of emotions. His mouth just opens and closes before cautiously reaching out his hand to touch the side of my face.

I close my eyes as his cold hand gingerly touches my skin, making me shiver slightly and draw up a smile upon my face. He pulls his hand away quickly, staring at it suspiciously before returning to look at me, happiness starting to obviously crawl all over his face now.

“I...didn't want to leave you alone,” he whispers, moving his eyes downward to stare at his hands again before moving to the spot where I had fallen after being drained by Dominic, which is still covered in my blood.

I smile and look up to the sky, closing my eyes tightly and finding tears trickle down my face. “Never has the cold felt so warm,” I say as I open my eyes and look at Carter briefly before flicking my eyes to the large commotion happening to the left of us, bewildering me so much for a second that I just watch in silence.

Almost like an endless wave of dark, twisted minions that look like horribly disfigured humans, run up to Asher who moves in a fiery blaze, slashing them down with speed and precision within seconds of them coming near him, creating a mound of bodies around him that melt away slowly. Then, they trickle a few feet away, rising up out of the ooze that their original bodies gave off, just to climb up out of their demise to fight Asher again. He holds his ground though, despite the odds, and doesn't show a second of weariness. Just fury and determination...almost as if he's making a point.

I raise my hand and whisper under my breath, “Stay in the original form you are, stuck in a position of no eternal life, a cheat backfired, caused by the true, eternal strife.”

They all fall down from Asher's claws, and teeth within seconds, but not rising again after that. For a few seconds afterward, he just stands there in the stillness of all the death around him before turning around slowly to my direction. Upon seeing me, a light bursts into his eyes. He just stares into my eyes for a few seconds that seem to last forever, not smiling or making a single expression on his face, except one that seems to be just absorbing the moment.

Suddenly he falls to his knees, and Carter and I rush towards him, grabbing his arms on both sides to help him back up. Once standing, he starts laughing as he turns his head to mine to be just inches away, and whispers, “You're amazing!”

A cloud of black smoke blows past us, making me cough loudly and dissolving Asher and Carter from my view for a few seconds. Once it passes, I frown and look around, noticing a battle just down the hill from us. Then, Nene, my mother, father, and Caleb rush up the hill, freezing for a second before all of them rush towards me at a great speed, throwing themselves at me.

Nene is the first to break off though, looking directly at Asher, “We lost him.”

“How?” Asher demands, obviously showing that he took command when I fell.

“Apparently stupid vampire powers still work for an already over powered vampire, liiiiiikkkkkke the one where you guys can disappear into the shadows,” Caleb says sarcastically in the brief moment where he isn't squeezing me tightly...but after finishing his explanation, he returns back to squeezing me tightly.

“He shadow-stepped?” Asher questions for clarification.

Daisy pops up to us from a shadow caused by my father, “Yes, and I can't seem to track it!”

Asher frowns, and then looks at me before stepping behind me, “What should we do?”

I blink while opening and closing my mouth rapidly, “H-how should I know? I just...w-woke up?”

“Because you're good at what you do, Carwen,” Carter whispers, making eye contact with my peripheral vision.

I frown and bite my lip, “What exactly is going on?”

“Well, when you...” Nene starts off to say, choking for a second, and then quickly glances over actually saying that I died, “Dominic summoned hundreds of these minion guys that are REALLY hard to kill.”

“Yeeeaaaah...mostly because they don't die...” Caleb interjects.

Nene nods and runs her fingers through her hair with a sigh, “We were trying to keep them from going to town when we saw a flash of light up here which made us all run up here...to see...well...you.”

“They'll be near the towns and people soon,” my father states with exhaustion in his voice. “Before the flash...we-we were already getting overwhelmed.”

My mother nods and holds my father up, “I...don't know if we can take them all.”

I make eye contact with everyone around me for a few seconds before looking up at the sky and smiling as my heartbeat seems to whisper a breath of strength and confidence into my being. “Daisy, you said you couldn't track him, right?”

She nods slowly in an exaggerated manner, making Asher elbow her in the arm, “Ow!”

I roll my eyes, and then turn to Asher, “He fed off of me though, so doesn't that leave a new connection between the two of us?”

Asher nods slowly until the real gravity of this statement pops into his head, making him back away from, “You can't be SERIOUSLY asking me to do that again!”

“Asher, it's the only way! You'll be able to know where my blood is, where ALL of it is, allowing you to track him,” I insist with a forceful voice.

Asher's face looks torn and continues to take a step back, “You j-just woke up!” he whispers, distraught. “How do I know it won't KILL you!?”

“It won't. Trust me,” I say sternly while looking directly at him, finally making him give in with a slow nod. “Alright, Asher and I will track down Domi--.”

“Someone else is going with you guys,” Caleb says, cutting me off. “I'm not letting you go against him with just two people. He killed you before, and now he's REALLY powerful, Carwen!”

I nod slowly before turning to Carter, who nods quickly, stepping closely to my side and then nods to my brother who breathes a short sigh of relief and says, “Okay, that's better. But then what are we going to do?”

“You guys have to stop this tide of whatever Dominic created from getting out of control. Dominic is using a phoenix spell to keep them alive,” I explain.

My mother blinks in bewilderment, “How...how do you know that, dear?”

“Because I can feel every spell he does within me,” I admit, feeling a twinge of burden from all the magic he's unleashing.

“He's wearing you out,” Caleb states, clearly worried.

“I'll be fine. I have enough strength to finish this,” I assure him. “So Caleb, you remember how to break the phoenix spell, right?”

“Yeeessss,” he says slowly, smiling at me, “I TAUGHT it to you.”

I roll my eyes and laugh, “Use that, and then...Take. Them. Down,” I say, emphasizing the last few words with force.

“Caleb, teach your father the spell. I'll hold up a protective barrier around us so no one can stop us from doing it,” my mother says.

Caleb nods and grabs Nene's hand, “That leaves all the fun to us, dear.”

Nene smiles and blushes brightly before looking at me with concern, “A-are...are you sure you want me to stay back here?”

I pull Nene into a tight hug, “You NEED to protect them. I know you will.”

Nene nods into my neck and takes a shaky breath as we break apart, “Be safe, okay? No more...dying.”

“Yeah, I don't think I need anymore practice,” I admit with a morbid laugh.

She giggles as everyone stares at us as if we are insane, “Um...yeeeaaaah.”

I smile and laugh at the sky, before returning my gaze down to everyone and nod at Nene. Nene then takes a deep breath and clears her throat, “Come on, let's go finish this.”

They run down the hill, with Nene changing into a wolf mid stride, leading the pack of them effortlessly towards the battle below. Then, Asher clears his throat, still many steps away from me and groans, “I DON'T want to do this,” he admits.

“Carwen knows what she's doing,” Carter says with confidence.

Asher rolls his eyes and looks at me, “I know that, it's just...god, just forget it,” and in a flash he appears right next to me, biting gently and quickly on my shoulder just seconds after he suddenly grabs my hand. Breaking away just after getting probably two drops, he jumps back, his eyes turning bright green for a second...reminding me of his mother. I open my mouth to speak, but he holds his hand up to stop me before I do, just staring at the ground until he returns his red eyes back to mine. “I know where he is,” he says shortly before grabbing both Carter and I in his arms and jumping into a shadow.

Coldness swirls around us, and panic boils in my blood as my breath is stolen from me, choking the air out of me. Asher grips me tighter, feeling my panic of asphyxiation. Holding onto what's left of my breath tightly, I clench my fists and close my eyes tightly, feeling coldness sink into my skin like a poison. Then...it's over, and I tumble to the ground, shivering and just gasping for air, before meeting two eyes I know so well.

“Dominic,” I say breathlessly.

He blinks in shock, “It's safe to assume that I didn't see THIS coming.”

I look around and pull myself up off of the ground, just staring in amazement at where we are. It's where I first got bit by the wolf, just by my house. This place is still somewhere that I avoided, even after all this time. I would always walk cautiously around the area where it all happened, as if it was going to happen again or...something. Being near to this very place sends up shivers straight through my spine.

“Interesting...” Dominic says effortlessly, looking at his finger nails calmly.

“W-why?” I whisper, just feeling the air around us changing to ice.

Asher starts to smile, and being caught in my peripheral vision, I turn to him in bewilderment. He smiles even wider and even laughs a little while pointing at Dominic, “YOU'RE bound up by the curse still. It's holding you back.”

“Wise child,” Dominic says with a dark grin.

Carter says, “So...are you still going to try to break the curse then?”

“No...” I whisper in horror, catching a glimpse of evil in his eyes, “He's going to obliterate it, and everything tied to it.”

“Which you can't survive,” Asher says, laughing a little still. “Your plan is...RIDICULOUS!”

“You forget,” Dominic coos, “I have magic!”

“Magic doesn't make you a god,” Asher spits out, his laughing coming to a quick halt.

“I am a god,” Dominic states with confidence. “This is my dream, and my purpose. NOTHING will stand in my way!”

“Wrong there,” I say with a small smile, “I stand in your way.”

Dominic steps up to me, being inches from my face with a dangerous air leaking out from all his pores, “I can feel you...your magic...your strength...and...your life. You're so spent, and you DON'T have enough to stop me.”

I spit at his face, making him gasp and back up in shock, “Wanna bet on that?” Then, I stomp my foot just in the second that my heart begins to beat like a war drum, with every soul within the curse pounding loudly in rhythm and staggering Dominic for a second. Their hearts and souls, blend with mine, allowing secrets from the magical door begin to slip out through the cracks. “Get back!” I scream at Asher and Carter, who are flung back with the second stomp of my foot on the ground.

Dominic growls and bites his hand, raising it to the sky and whispering to the wound. Then, his blood shoots out from his hand to the ground in a large puddle between the two of us. Out from this puddle, a fountain of monsters begin to pour and crawl out. Ones that look like they have no skin or eyes.

A smile crosses his lips, “You sure you're up to this?”

I feel my knees get weak for a second as the weight of his spell hits me like a train, while the great door screams at me over his use of blood magic too. I turn to Asher and Carter who nod in unison just before I lunge at Dominic screaming, tearing my fingers into the wound in his hand. “Let the spell be ended!” causing the fountain to stop creating monsters.

Dominic throws me off with a loud howl, flinging me like a rag-doll into a wall. I crumble to the ground for only a second before hastily lifting my head up to look at him as he prepares himself to strike. I grab a handful of dirt and close my eyes for only a second, feeling the pebbles in my hand dribble out with a great weight. I open my eyes just as Dominic lunges at me, but then he gets abruptly smacked down mid air by a large boulder that disintegrates into dust upon contact with him. Throwing myself to my feet I kiss my fist, whispering, “Strength of 10, dominate!” smacking him directly in the face and throwing him backwards, making him tumble as he falls.

Dominic spits on the ground and lifts up his hand, “Within our being, sparks of life, unite in fire, an electricity bright!” Then, strands of electricity lash out at me from his hands, making me dodge roll out of the way with nothing more than just a second to spare.

I breathe heavily, closing my eyes as the weight of his spell tanks my own energy. Opening my eyes, Dominic flies towards me, grabbing my neck and slamming my head upon the ground with great speed and fury. Whiplash sets in, and everything becomes muddled so quickly, but I still manage to grab his hand on my throat, taking the energy spent from his last spell in the area and flinging it back into his body. We both jolt apart, causing him to fly feet away from me while I start to cough harshly, spraying blood upon the ground, making him laugh as I wipe it off.

“Tired, dear?” Dominic asks calmly while he moves into a poised position, ready to strike again.

“Let's just end this,” I whisper dangerously low, glaring at him before standing up with every ounce of my body pounding in anger, fury, and determination. “Fire of my heart, lash out in your true form, the weather from my heart, create a mighty...STORM!”

Dominic gasps at me in surprise as flames lick around us at amazing speeds. A flame sprouts between us, and then another flame reaches out and collides with Dominic. Another rises where his body lands, pushing him into the air, and charring his body. I whisper to my heart while touching my curse gently and feel everyone trapped within it smile as I call upon a sword of flames that I pull from my chest while the flames ping Dominic around me.

Then...the wind suddenly stops me for a second, making the hair on my arms twitch while my eyes catch a glimpse of man with bronze skin that reflects all the light in the world towards me, in the distance. His long brown hair just moving to its own pace, and his liquid fire eyes burn straight into my soul...giving me this strange feeling that he knows me better than I have knowledge of. A small nod moves his head, confirming my actions, but I can only watch him, completely perplexed, until he disappears in the blink of my eye.

Time speeds up again in an instant, and as I step back I spin with all my momentum at Dominic flies in the air from whip of fire that launches him while he releases a blood curdling scream as my sword collides directly with his neck when he flies towards me, spraying ash all over my body.

Instantly the sky clears up, making monsters disappear completely, and forcing Asher dash into some shade quickly as the Sun begins to beat down upon us all. I smile and hold my hands out as I close my eyes, feeling little specs of ash drop on me like rain. Slowly, I open my eyes, taking in a deep breath as my bond to magic relaxes and my strength returns to my body. Then, Carter and Asher begin to laugh and smile at me at the same time as I grin widely, kicking the dirt where it all started.

I'm not afraid of this anymore.

I repeat a small chant so Asher can move into the house without bursting into flames, and within a matter of minutes my family trickles in. Daisy, who's so weak that she can barely stand, collapses on the couch right away, shortly followed by my father who collapses on the other couch. I gasp, touching my father's neck which is bleeding profusely and press my hand against his wound, “WHAT HAPPENED?!” I demand.

“Daisy got hit by the sunlight when it all cleared up, so she jumped on Dad and began feeding,” Caleb spits out, glaring venomously at Daisy, who just rolls her eyes.

“It was the ONLY way to prevent me from bursting into flames!” she defends.

Asher nods and my father clears his throat, holding my mother's hand with a smile as she heals his neck, “I'm okay. I'll be fine. I...understand why she did it.”

Daisy smiles and kisses his cheek, “Thank you, dear.”

Caleb starts to growl before Nene jabs him in the ribs, “Is it...over?” she asks while moving cautiously to me, and also clearly changing the subject.

All eyes turn to me and I touch curse, causing it to spark the second I touch it, “He's dead, if that's what you mean. I'm still...very much so cursed, though.”

Asher smiles, “I can safely confirm that,” making Daisy laugh and wink at me.

Caleb looks at them incredulously, “REALLY?! I mean, where does that leave us now?!”

“A new beginning,” I whisper, staring at my hands with a smile. “I've got a lot to do, and I've...got a lot to live for.”

Nene grabs my hand and smiles, “Then...I guess things will never be boring for us!”

I look at her with some sadness, “It's all going to be really dangerous. I'm a huge target still, regardless of how I look at this now.”

Carter sits across from me and smiles tenderly, “Well I'm not going anywhere.”

“Me neither,” Nene says with a laugh.

Caleb looks at Mom and Dad before moving his eyes to me with a cocky smile, “You know you're family isn't EVER going to leave you.”

Daisy sighs, and then grows a small smile on her lips, “You're stuck with me too.”

Then, Asher whispers, “You know I'll always be here for you.”

Shivers run up my spine with excitement as the eyes from everyone I would ever need stare at me, smiling. They're all completely with me and loyal to the end. And as much as they depend on me with everything, I find relaxation with the truth that I can depend on them as well, suddenly and finally. “To our new beginning,” I say, gaining my own smile so I can join the club as we all face the future fearlessly...because this, I remember, is just the beginning.

Written By Melissa Seeger.  2014.

Author's Note - Well this is just the first book in a series that I'm making, which has 5 books in total.  I'm actually in the process of writing the second one, and I'm also in the process of getting this first book published.  So thank you for any support you can give, and be sure to check out my other sites for updates and such.  :) 

Also, yes, I like to upload stuff all at once.  I really don't even consider something as a project until it's reached its first draft, and even then, I don't start posting until I've edited it many times.  So enjoy the entire novel, for now.  :)  I plan on doing the same for other books. 

Thank God for Netflix and for making this kind of stuff normal.  XD