Cursed

by Brent Miller

  Garrick watched as the skin on his arm seemed to sew itself back together. Watching the process with utter amazement, Garrick lost track of time. A thin layer of new skin stitched itself together, and though he knew it was impossible, he felt like he could see the individual cells dividing before his eyes. Layers formed on top of layers, sealing the wound, and within half an hour, it was as if it hadn’t been there in the first place. Where there should have been a scar, there was nothing; no way at all to tell that there had just been a gaping wound – one which should have been fatal – in his arm.

  Continuing to stare at his arm, Garrick stumbled back and fell against the wall, sliding to the floor. For the first time since it happened, he allowed himself to think about what he’d seen. It had been plaguing his mind since then, but he hadn’t granted himself the luxury of actually sitting and just thinking about it. All he’d done was tried to forget it – tried to keep the thoughts out of his head.

  Garrick had watched Cailean turn into a monster. He had seen another – he assumed Hayden – save his life. He’d watched beasts fighting and had been caught in the middle. Now, the only possible explanation he could think of was that he was one of them. A werewolf.

  His phone rang again. Hayden. Not ready to talk to her yet, he let it ring, ignoring the call. He didn’t know how to feel. He still loved her, and his problem wasn’t even accepting what she was – it was the fact that she’d been so good at hiding it from him.

  He was also scared to talk to her because he didn’t know how to act. Part of him felt like he should apologize to her. He’d accused her of cheating on him – but how could he have suspected what was really happening? Every sign pointed to exactly what he’d thought before there was some sort of supernatural explanation. He felt justified, and was actually angry that she hadn’t been open with him before. They’d dated for over half a year, so she’d transformed at least six times during their relationship. Any one of those times would have been perfect to talk to him about it. Instead, she just waited until he caught on that something was going wrong. That just made him feel even worse. Somehow, as close as they were, he’d been stupid enough to let her hide something so big for so long. How had he not caught on?

  Maybe he should have trusted her more, though. She had never given him a reason to question her. Except acting strange, sneaking around, and hiding a big part of her life from him. He ran his hands through his hair, frustrated. Anyway, how was he supposed to trust her when she obviously didn’t trust him? How was he supposed to feel about all of this? And how could she expect him to know the answer to that so quickly?

  He sunk further to the ground and stared up at the ceiling. Eventually, he’d find an answer. Eventually, the conflicting thoughts in his mind would settle on one answer. Eventually, he’d stop arguing with his own thoughts. Until then, he just had to wait.

  Present

  23 Days until the full moon

  “Let’s start with the easiest part,” Cailean began, “but also the most vital.”

  “What’s that? Don’t get caught?”

  “No. Breathe.”

  “Oh good, I have practice with that one,” Garrick tried to joke.

  “You have to control your breathing. You’re going to be nervous – terrified that you’ll say the wrong thing. You have to get over that. Say what you’re going to say with confidence – convince yourself it’s the truth. You’ll have to watch your movements. But at the core of it all, you’re going to have to breathe.”

  “Right,” Garrick acknowledged, matching Cailean’s serious tone.

  “It’s a lot harder than it sounds, and it isn’t really something you can practice on its own. That’s why I started with that – because it has to be in your mind through everything else.”

  “Okay, so what is something I can work on?”

  “I think we should start with movements.”

  “Right. I mean, I know in theory that I shouldn’t twitch or fidget, but I think the hard part is actually doing it.”

  “That’s a good start,” Cailean offered, “but you need to do more than just stop yourself from twitching. It’s everything. Your head jerking, looking away, shuffling your feet. It’s about acting natural.”

  “Easier said than done.”

  “Much. Give it a try. I am going to be your mother, and you have to lie to me.”

  “I hate chocolate pudding,” Garrick lied, looking Cailean straight in the eye.

  “That was an easy one, but I still heard hesitation. You had to think of something to lie about. If you were telling me the truth, and I asked about pudding, you’d tell me you liked it instantly,” he explained with a snap.

  “Yeah, but that’s just because I had to think.”

  “Okay, what’s your favorite class?”

  “Art,” Garrick lied again, focusing on everything Cailean had told him. He tried to keep his eyes pinned on Cailean and stay perfectly still. Garrick was a math person, art was the single worst class he’d ever had to take, and it was back in elementary school.

  “I thought you weren’t in art?”

  “I’m not,” Garrick answered truthfully. Then, he added, “But it was when I was in it in third grade, and it’s just stayed at the top of my list.”

  “Do you want the good or the bad first?”

  “Surprise me,” Garrick groaned.

  “Good news: you have a good technique. You sprinkle in a little bit of truth because it helps you convince yourself that you aren’t lying.”

  “How’d you know I actually took an art class in third grade?”

  “That’s the bad part,” Cailean continued. “That is the only part you convinced me of, so I figured it was true. You were focused so much on not twitching that you didn’t allow yourself any natural body movements; you were stiff as a board. Also, you didn’t pay any attention to your breathing. The nerves of trying to impress me with your lying prowess got to you, and your breath sped up. Finally, you looked away for a second, then looked back at me, trying to maintain eye contact.”

  “This isn’t going to be easy, is it?” Garrick sighed.

  “I can be easy on you, or I can teach you what you’ll need to know.”

  “Okay, okay.”

  “So we’ll try again. Something trivial like the art class, because it’s easier to start lying about things that you know I don’t care about at all. What’s your favorite color?”

  “Orange.”

  “Why?”

  “Because it makes me think of a sunset,” Garrick fumbled for a response. He sighed, knowing that the response took too long.

  “Maybe I’m going about this wrong,” Cailean grunted, standing. “You’re just too tense.”

  “I’m trying.”

  “I know. Let’s try some training that you might be better with. Close your eyes.”

  “What? Why?” Garrick asked.

  “Just do it.”

  Garrick closed his eyes, but he could feel the nerves start to build. His breathing was intensifying. Fear was starting to set in as he felt blinded, and Cailean spent over a minute in perfect silence. Suddenly, Garrick felt Cailean’s fist slam into his stomach with enough force to tip the chair over. Garrick opened his eyes and rolled over the back of the chair as it landed, then jumped to his feet, instinctively landing with his fists up, blocking his face and chest.

  “What was that for?” Garrick accused, relaxing his arms.

  “I wanted to take away your trust,” Cailean explained calmly. “Now lift the chair up, sit back down, and close your eyes.”

  “Why? Why on Earth would I do that?”

  “Because I said to, and I’m currently training you.”

  “I’m not sure of that,” Garrick muttered, but he still did as Cailean instructed. He kept his eyes closed for about four seconds, but his instincts pulled them open.

  “Keep them closed.”

  Garrick tried again, closing his eyes, breathing deeply. He had to fight to keep them closed, but he was
sure a punch was coming. Just as he thought that, Cailean’s fist connected with his face. Garrick fell out of the chair and onto the ground.

  “How is this going to help?” Garrick rubbed his jaw as he stood.

  “We’re used to learning with violence, so I’m going to teach you how to relax. If you weren’t so tense, you could stop me. Relax, breathe, and focus on the sound. You’ll hear me move, you’ll hear my shirt snap, you’ll feel the air.”

  Garrick tried a few more times, but he kept getting hit. After getting knocked out of his chair a fourth time, he got angry, and it was even harder to focus. Four more times and Garrick had completely lost faith in Cailean’s training. Given the fact that he had no other options, though, he tried to compose himself. He breathed slowly, attempting to remain calm. He sensed something coming from his right, and he raised his hand to catch Cailean’s wrist just before his fist connected with Garrick’s head.

  “Good,” Cailean congratulated Garrick with a smile.

  “What did that prove?” Garrick asked, breathing slightly more heavily than usual. He was excited that he didn’t have to get punched anymore – at least until they started training with Aldric in an hour.

  “You have proven to both me and yourself that you can breathe and stay calm in a stressful situation. I want you to do the same thing as you lie to me. Control your breathing. So, have you ever been to the beach?”

  “Yes, of course.” Garrick smiled. He wasn’t a fan of Cailean’s methods, but he didn’t have anything better to suggest. He just focused on his breathing, the same way he had when he knew that he was about to get punched.

  “When?”

  “Last year, I took Hayden for a night because she’d never been.”

  “Oh, that’s interesting.” Garrick felt incredibly uncomfortable as Cailean’s eyes bored into his own. He sat perfectly still, but kept telling himself to loosen up. He took a deep breath, instantly regretting that. In a normal conversation, he didn’t breathe like that. Trying to stay out of his head, he tried to keep his breathing steady. The lie was easy to tell because it wasn’t life-altering but it was still nerve-wracking because he was trying to do it well.

  “What was her favorite part?” Cailean asked.

  “She loved all of the shells. She tried collecting a bunch to bring home, but she ended up leaving them there anyway,” Garrick told him. He tried to fake a laugh, because he was lying about a good memory, but he was aware of how forced the laugh sounded.

  “Oh, I see. What did you like about it?”

  “I got to see my girlfriend in a bikini all day,” Garrick said with a light laugh. It was faked, but it wasn’t as painful as the last one had been.

  “But really,” he added. “It was the smile on her face. The look of pure joy that she had when she didn’t have to worry about anything that would happen when we came back, and for the first time in a long time, she got to just live in the moment.” A smile came to his face as he pictured the scene which never happened in his head. He saw Hayden standing in the sand, the sunset lighting up her eyes as she looked back at him. Her hands were safely wrapped in his as they faced each other, the world around them fading away and leaving just the two of them.

  “That is what I’m looking for,” Cailean cheered, clapping.

  “What?” Garrick asked, snapped back from his fantasy.

  “You know that didn’t happen, but I almost believed that. If I didn’t know you were lying to me, I’d have had no way of knowing. How did you do it?”

  “I guess I stopped thinking about you. I just pretended you weren’t there, and I lived in a daydream. In my mind, it was true, so I didn’t have to lie to you about it.”

  “Perfect.”

  “So you think I’m ready?”

  “Not even close. You had what, one good sentence? Now you need to step it up.”

  Garrick rolled his eyes, but he kept going. He was grateful that Cailean was helping him out, but he just wished none of it had to happen. He didn’t want to have to get so good at lying, but he would do what he had to.

  For the next hour, Cailean kept asking Garrick questions – answers to which Garrick would make up – and then picking out very minor details to criticize. It seemed that Cailean had begun to scrutinize Garrick even more after he managed to lie well once. Garrick learned to stop thinking of it as lying, and to start imagining the story in his mind.

  As they were talking, there was a knock on the door and Aldric let Tyler in. Tyler was usually the first one to get to training, probably because he felt like he had a lot to prove. He definitely had more catching up to do than any of the others.

  “Hey, what are the two of you discussing?” Tyler called to Garrick. Cailean gave Garrick a very subtle nod. Garrick was thinking the same thing, but he was glad to see they were on the same page. This was a perfect chance to try what he’d been learning. In the moment, though, it felt much harder.

  “Cailean was just tea-” he started to say ‘teaching’ but cut himself off. “Telling me what he thinks I should do for Hayden. I wanted to do something extravagant. To tell her I’m sorry.”

  “No, he wasn’t,” Tyler said.

  “Yeah, I know,” Garrick sighed.

  “I’m teaching him to lie,” Cailean shrugged. “He clearly needs more work.”

  “Why do you want to lie?”

  “Gotta get the cops off my tail,” Garrick joked, futilely trying to diffuse the horrible feeling in his stomach.

  “Oh, I suppose that makes sense,” Tyler acknowledged sadly.

  “So, speaking of Hayden,” Cailean changed the subject, trying to avoid the awkward silence. Garrick could see in his eyes, though, that he felt just as awkward talking about anything personal. “How are things going?”

  “Fine,” Garrick replied. “I’m giving her space.”

  “What does that mean?” Tyler chimed in.

  “We haven’t talked in days, other than when we’re here and we exchange a few awkward words; it’s tearing me up inside, but I feel like she needs to come back to me on her own terms, or she’ll never really forgive me.”

  “She’ll come around,” Cailean comforted, patting Garrick on the back reassuringly.

  “Yeah,” Tyler agreed. “You two are unnaturally perfect for each other. It’s actually disconcerting at times. Don’t worry about it, Garrick Elliott.”

  There were a few seconds of silence, and Tyler smirked at Garrick.

  “What?” Cailean asked, picking up on the silent conversation.

  “Nothing,” Tyler responded. Cailean turned to Garrick for answers, clearly annoyed.

  “He said we were ‘unnaturally’ perfect for each other. Well, it’s not ‘unnaturally.’”

  “What do you mean?” Cailean questioned, still not catching their joke.

  “It’s supernaturally,” Tyler delivered the punchline. He laughed softly.

  “Really?” Cailean asked. “Is this a thing that I just heard?”

  “Yeah, it is,” Garrick laughed.

  “Don’t be bitter, Cailean,” Tyler teased. “It was humorous.”

  “It was cheesy humor, which is subjectively the best form of humor,” Garrick added.

  “Are we just going to pretend that it isn’t at all weird that you two are in each other’s heads all the time?” Cailean asked.

  “Probably,” Tyler shrugged. There was another knock on the door. Tyler just sat down, and Cailean stood up. Garrick assumed he was going to the door, but he was just walking to his dad. He held up a hand, asking his dad not to answer it, then gave Garrick a nod.

  “No,” Garrick mouthed.

  “Just do it,” Cailean urged. He and Aldric left. Aldric was slightly annoyed by the charade, but he didn’t seem to care too much because it wasn’t holding up the training, since they were still waiting for Brooke. They all knew it was Hayden at the door, though, because Brooke would just walk in when she arrived.

  “Get the door,” Garrick begged Tyler.

  “I w
ould rather avoid further infuriating Cailean. My hands are metaphorically tied.”

  Garrick walked to the door and opened it, standing awkwardly in the entryway as he did. Hayden stood in front of him. She gave him a quick smile, but neither of them said anything, so they both stood still.

  “Hi,” Garrick finally spoke up.

  “Hey,” she responded, not looking him in the eye.

  “Oh.” Garrick realized that he was in front of the door so he stepped to the side to make room for her. “Come on in.”

  “Where is everyone?” she inquired.

  “They’re hiding, I think,” Garrick answered.

  “Okay.”

  “So, uh, how are you?” Garrick asked.

  “I’m fine,” she laughed quietly.

  “Yeah, okay,” Garrick muttered. “I’m going to go find the others.”

  He retreated in the direction that he’d seen Cailean walk and found him hiding behind the wall. He stepped into the hallway with him, making sure he was out of Hayden’s line of sight before angrily whispering.

  “What was that?” Garrick growled.

  “I was trying to help,” Cailean smirked. Garrick couldn’t find anger in himself because he could see sincerity in Cailean’s eyes.

  “That was exactly as awkward as I thought it would be.”

  “You just need to make a move, Garrick. It’s like winning her over all over again.”

  “No, it isn’t like that. The first time she didn’t have a preconceived notion of me, and I didn’t have anything to make up for. Trust me, Cailean, I just need to give her space.”

  “What happened when she gave you space?”

  “Good point,” Garrick admitted. “But she isn’t me. She is so much better than me. That’s why I have to try so hard to make this work.”

  “By giving her space?”

  “Exactly.”

  “Fine. Sorry I pushed,” Cailean responded, annoyed. “But Garrick, it’s about time you quit feeling sorry for yourself. It’s annoying.”