The Cursed Girl, #1

by Maria Vermisoglou

  “It worked. Wow. You are good.” After all this time, Alec didn’t have faith in my abilities?

  The woman started to talk again, but I didn’t understand a thing, so I tried some Italian. “Informazioni? Guerra?”

  She seemed to understand, and she pointed at the street and said, “Henri.”

  “Gracias!” Who knew the French could communicate with the Spanish? I nodded and we walked away from the woman.

  “Did anybody of you understand where to go?” asked Jonathan.

  “I don’t think it’s a street, but a person. I think Henri is the equivalent of Enrique.”

  We saw some stands, but there weren’t enough for a market. There were only a few people. A woman was arguing with a man and she threw her necklace at our feet. I bent down and picked it up.

  “Now what?” asked Alec.

  I took the necklace and gave it to Jonathan. “Now you go talk business.” He smiled and took the necklace. In a matter of minutes, it was transformed into a necklace with a shaped flower. How did he do that? He must be good, but I was not admitting that. The woman saw the necklace in Jonathan’s hands, and she was delighted and started talking French. Jonathan said, “Información? Henri?”

  She nodded and called, “Henri.” When she turned and I saw the other side of her face, I recognized her. I knew Madame Tenise, and she was dangerous as a snake. A young man with black hair and amber luminous eyes approached her. He had a short conversation with Madame Tenise and then he addressed us. “Che posso fare per voi?” She must have told him we were Italians.

  “Now what?” said Alec.

  “Oh, you are Spanish,” the man said. We nodded and he smiled. “I speak many languages, so don’t worry. I am Demon.”

  Demon? He didn’t mean like a real demon, right? “I am Eva, and this is Jo and Lex.” I smiled.

  “That’s great. So, what do you want in Paris?”

  I was careful with my words. “We left Italy not too long ago to find a quieter place. So how is the war going?” I asked.

  “Oh. The war. Is great for us. We have the best army.”

  “I see. Where is the palace?”

  He looked strangely at us. “Did you come for the palace?”

  “Of course not. But we were just wondering where it was. Never been to France before.” I giggled to give the impression of a silly girl.

  “Well, you are not in luck. It’s in the south of France.” This is good news. “So, what are you going to do now?” He looked at me as if he could see into my mind, it was a little uncomfortable. “We are—”

  “Going for a walk to see the city,” Jonathan said.

  What? See the city? Why? I looked at Jonathan and his expression was kind of hard like he was angry but why?

  Demon nodded. “I see. I will accompany you then. I know every street.”

  Demon showed us most of the city, but I was tired, and he was always near me and always talking to me. If I was not mistaken, he liked me a little, but I didn’t have time for this. We had to go settle somewhere for the night. My dear Alec was the one who saved us.

  “Oh, dear,” he exclaimed. “Look how late it is. Our friends will be waiting. I am sorry, Demon but we have to hurry. It was nice meeting you, and thank you for everything.”

  Demon seemed startled. “Oh. Sure. Goodbye, Eva.”

  We walked for several streets, until Alec said, “Now where are we going to stay? The t—”

  I put my hand over his mouth. “Shh. You don’t say these words aloud. I don’t know. Maybe an inn?”

  “How about that lady?” Jonathan asked. “She would know...”

  Leave it to him to notice her. “I would prefer cutting my hand.” We continued walking until I saw a sign that read “French Inn.” I motioned to the boys. “Well, there is an inn here.” The boys followed me inside. The inn was nice in comparison to the streets of Paris. It was built out of stone and the main room had simple tables with candles on them. Once I had secured a room for us, we went upstairs to the room. We set our cloaks and bags on the bed. I sorted through our supplies to see if we needed to get anything. “Do you know her?” asked Jonathan.

  “Who?” I played dumb.

  “The lady whose necklace I fixed.”

  I ignored his question and said, “I will go downstairs to see if they will give me any food.”

  “Eva,” he called before I closed the door. I was not going to talk about that “woman.” She was not a woman. She was a monster.

  There was food available downstairs, and after I had taken some for myself and the boys, I returned to our room. The boys were searching through their bags. “Why did you put Midnight in your bag?” asked Alec.

  “She likes it there. No walking.”

  He smiled. “Sometimes I wish I was a cat. They would carry me too.”

  “Maybe in your next life.” Meow. Midnight had been quiet for a long time. She hated Madame Tenise, but she probably thought she was not worth her time.

  I prepared the food, put it on the plates and poured water in glasses. How did our dishes survive? Well, my bag was magically enhanced and nothing broke or spilled when it was in my bag. Now let me continue. Meow. “Yes, no more walking tonight. Yes, it’s feeding time,” I said and kissed her on the head. Midnight climbed out of the bag and waited for the food patiently, so I gave her some fish. She started munching happily, and she ate it without a second glance at us.

  We ate in silence mostly, which was weird. I think the gray mood of Paris was getting to us. I cleaned the dishes and then Midnight jumped into a bed. I sat there and petted her. “Yes, it’s bedtime,” I said.

  “Eva, can we talk?” Jonathan asked. “Why don’t you trust that woman?”

  “Because of who she is.” He stared at me. “You don’t know who she is?” Jonathan and Alec shook their heads. “Oh. Of course, you don’t. You are not in the lower class.”

  “I gather she has a not nice job,” questioned Alec.

  “Job? I’d prefer to burn in hell than to do what she does.” Maybe I shouldn’t yell and maybe I shouldn’t swear, but it was the truth.

  “What is that she does?” Jonathan asked.

  “The worst thing in the world. She buys people.” They stared at me as though they didn’t believe me. “She buys people who are too poor. She takes children from families who can’t feed them, and she sells them. Servants, people for entertainment, among other things.” I didn’t want to elaborate. It was disgusting and sad.

  I wanted to curl in my bed and cry, but I couldn’t so I put on my cloak and left the room without a word. I went downstairs. The inn served alcohol in the main room. I normally didn’t drink, but I couldn’t hold it together right now. I sat and drank some beer.

  I heard someone approach my table and looked up to see Jonathan in his cloak. “Mind if I join you?” I shrugged and he took a chair right next to me. “I didn’t know you were into drinking.”

  “There a lot of things you don’t know about me, but I don’t normally drink. This place makes me feel so sad and helpless.”

  “I am sorry we made you upset,” he said.

  “Maybe I am just tired,” I said, avoiding the subject of what made me sad.

  “Can I ask you about that?”

  I shrugged. “You can ask, but I can’t guarantee I will answer.”

  He laughed and drank from my glass. Wait. Did he drink from my glass? “Why are you so mad about that? I mean, I understand, it’s not nice and it’s cruel, but I don’t know... is it something personal?”

  How did he know? “One time, we were so poor we barely had enough to eat. My mother was working, but it was difficult. I was five and then that woman entered the house and said she would buy me and my mother would live like a queen.”

  He took my hand. The hood of his cloak obscured his face, but I could sense his shock. “She was going to buy you? For what?”

  “She usually told people that their daughters would become princesses or dancers. Boys would be sold
iers. I don’t know why she told my mother the truth: I was going to entertain men.” He gripped the edge of the table. “My mother kicked her out of the house, and she was kicked out of the village as well.”

  He turned to look at me. “How? Only kings can do that.”

  I smiled. “We had no money, but we knew some important people.” My mother didn’t cast magic that night; I thought that she should have transformed her into a rat. A rat’s life was better than Madame Tenise’s could ever be.

  “I don’t know what to say, that was so... so...”

  “Exactly. That is what it was. Indescribable.”

  “Is that the reason you have kicked boy after boy?”

  Hmm... he had heard the stories. “No. I just wanted to live my life with trips and drawings once...”

  He smiled. “You can still do it.”

  “No, that life is gone. Now I have to help people.”

  He knitted his eyebrows, which I found cute. “Why do you have to? It’s your dreams and your life and you can do whatever you want no matter what the others say.”

  “Since when did you became so sophisticated?”

  “I learned from you. You are so free, and you do whatever you want, and you say what you feel no matter if it’s a king, a peasant, or a soldier.”

  “And it gets me into trouble.”

  “What’s life without a little trouble?” He laughed and I laughed too. He had made me feel better; and it was like he made the sun come out from behind the gray clouds.

  “Can I ask you something too, then, Jonathan?” He nodded. “Why were you angry at Demon?”

  His smile disappeared. “I just don’t like him.”

  Why would he not like him? “He was kind to show us the city.”

  “I guess.”

  I wanted to make him feel better like he did for me. “It’s like, I don’t know, I feel like he’s a... a...” I tapped my fingers on the table as I tried to find the right word. “A demon?” He tried not to smile, but we both burst into laughs. “It’s such a ridiculous name.”

  He nodded. “And it sounds more ridiculous in French: De-mon.” We laughed more. I hadn’t such fun with anyone except for Ritta. “Coincidentally, he reminds me of that guy in that story I heard...” Jonathan described the man from the story.

  “You are right. They do sound alike.”

  He smiled and reached for my glass again. “Do you like to read?”

  “Very much. I like it because when I read—”

  “... it’s like I am traveling into other worlds and forgetting every problem.”

  I nodded. Why didn’t I know he liked reading? Maybe if I wasn’t so negative I would have known. Well, it was never too late to start something.

  We sat together and talked for what it felt hours until Midnight jumped onto our table. “What? Didn’t she fall asleep?” Jonathan asked startled.

  I petted Midnight. “Yes, I am coming.” Meow. “Yes, but she always keeps an eye on me.” We went upstairs, but Jonathan was a little unstable.

  “Goodnight, Eva,” he said and lay down in the large bed where Alec was asleep. I guess they didn’t mind much now.

  “Thank you for hearing me out. It was nice,” I said.

  “I am glad you are feeling better.”

  “Come on, Midnight.” She jumped into the bed with me, and I pulled the covers up.

  In the morning, Alec woke us up. “Good morning. Time to get up.” Midnight walked on the bed and she sat on my head. I groaned and tried to push her off.

  “Alec, we are not on schedule. It’s too early,” Jonathan complained and I mentally agreed.

  “Why are you like that? What time did you go to sleep?” Alec was loud.

  Jonathan mumbled, “I don’t know. Two? My head hurts.”

  I opened my eyes. The sun was too bright. “You should not have drunk so much,” I said and sat up slowly.

  Jonathan groaned. “I, drunk? What about you?”

  Alec turned to me. “What, you both drank last night?”

  “No. I only drank once, and after that, he drank every drop from my glass.”

  I went to the bathroom to get dressed, and then I started preparing breakfast. Alec had brought up some food from downstairs before he woke Jonathan and me. Somebody knocked on our door, and we all froze. “Room service?” Jonathan asked. We had our weapons ready, and Alec went to the door and opened it. He lowered his knife, but we couldn’t see who it was. He closed the door halfway.

  “Who is it?” I asked.

  Alec pursed his lips. “Demon.”

  For a moment I thought there was a demon at the door and I was about to ask him “Why didn’t you kill him?” Then I remembered that was the guy’s name from yesterday. “Oh. What does he want?”

  Alec hesitated. “To see how we have been...”

  Something was off. How did he know we were here? I went to the door, opened it, and let him in.

  “Eva. Hello. How are you doing?” Demon asked.

  There was no time for pleasantries. I was going to ask my questions now. “How did you know we were here?”

  He seemed a little lost. “Umm, I, well, I followed you.”

  “You followed me?” I arched an eyebrow.

  “Because I was worried about you.”

  My look could have killed a person. “Stop lying to me. What do you want?”

  He waved his hand. “Ahh, to see you again...”

  I was no longer listening. His hand had drawn my attention. There was a mark on his hand, but I knew that mark. She marked her people. Yes, Madame Tenise. That monster that collected people like possessions. He continued talking and telling excuses, but I was so angry I grabbed him and pushed him into the wall.

  “Who sent you?”

  He froze. “Wha—What?”

  My anger was growing. “I said who sent you?”

  He smiled. “No one sent me. I came by myself—”

  “Don’t lie to me! I saw your mark so don’t bother.” My voice was cold.

  A cruel smile twisted his lips. “Madame Tenise has a better offer than the previous one. She—”

  “Can go to hell or I will send her.”

  “But just hear it out. It’s—” He froze when I glared at him.

  “You will never follow me or seek me out again. You will shut that so-called business down or I will tear it down. Got it?”

  He recovered from the shock. “But I—”

  I had enough. “Midnight. Feeding time,” I said, and Midnight, who had been hissing the entire time, attacked. She scratched and bit him, and there were loud yells, screams, and growls.

  Someone knocked on the door, and I answered it. “Yes?”

  A lady was at the door. “Is everything all right, miss? We heard screams...”

  “Everything is all right. I am just showing this boy the exit. He is a servant of Madame Tenise’s.”

  Her face transformed immediately. Midnight had backed Demon out the door and into the hallway. The woman yelled some names, and some men and women appeared. “This man is a servant of the She-Devil,” she yelled. That must be Madame Tenise’s nickname.

  Someone screamed, “You took my children.”

  Before I closed our door, I yelled, “Enjoy your stay, Demon.” I went back to preparing breakfast.

  Jonathan whistled. “You made him sorry.”

  “I am glad you are on our side,” Alec said seriously.

  “In the end, he was a demon,” I said, but Alec didn’t get the joke.

  “Yes, that’s his name,” Alec said.

  “No. I mean a demon. You know... a bad demon? Monster? Creature of darkness? Claws?” I shook my fingers. “That’s a demon. Didn’t you ever hear horror stories?”

  He shook his head. “Not unless if numerology is a horror story.” I wanted to bang my head on the table. “Fairy tales were what the queen read us when we were little so we could have happy dreams.”

  “Ah, you should hear Ritta’s. She knows the best, but that�
��s true, you might not be able to sleep.” Ritta had a way to tell the story in a way that terrified you. When she said, “Story time,” I told her to think of a happy story or she wouldn’t be telling any stories.

  I unwrapped a piece of paper.

  “What’s this?” Jonathan asked.

  “Demon dropped it and...” I froze. It was crucial information for us. “My God!” Jonathan said from behind my shoulder. The letter read:

  ALL GOOD, MEETING AT 12 IN PARIS AT CHAMPS-ELYSEE RUE.

  REGARDS,

  MAY HOPE GUIDE US

  H. P. O. Bretagne

  We stared at the piece of paper. We figured H.P.O. meant Hope People, and Bretagne must be a city of France.

  “What are we going to do?” Jonathan asked.

  “We are going to the meeting,” I said, and after a quick breakfast, we packed and left. “Where is that Champs-Élysées street?” I asked.

  Alec pointed to the left. “I was actually paying attention yesterday. It’s useful to know your way around in a foreign city.”

  It was but I had other things in mind yesterday. We followed Alec and went to the building that was specified in the letter. We knocked but no one answered the door. “Maybe they are not there yet. It’s not twelve yet,” said Alec.

  I put my ear to the door. “There is a strange sound, like running water.” I pushed the door and it opened, but when I saw the scene that unfolded before me, I screamed. It was awful. At least ten people had been murdered. Some were decapitated, and others had bled out. Some of the bodies were missing arms, and it was all so terrible. I wanted to scream and scream and scream. The boys were white as paper, but I guessed I wasn’t in much better shape.

  Who... who did that?” Alec said finding his voice.

  “Maybe they found them out,” I said. “Madame Tenise is on the devil’s side.”

  “We have to go. They can’t find us too,” he said, but I shook my head. “You... you go from the window in the back. I have to call for help.”

  “First park,” Alec said, and they left from the window.

  I started screaming and, of course, people came and saw the awful thing. They screamed too and began covering the bodies with white sheets. Fortunately, the dead would have a proper funeral now that they had been discovered. I left unnoticed through the door and walked until I reached the first park. I entered and found Alec and Jonathan sitting on some rocks. “That was really awful,” said Alec. “It was an execution. But why would anyone want them dead?”