Cursed and Crazed

by Sophia Stafford

  “I’ll take her. We can say I’ve gone home to mourn by myself,” Thornton suggested with an easy shrug. Jaycen nodded eagerly, time alone with Thornton? Hell yes.

  Benedict dashed her hopes with a simple, “No. There will be a memorial service for her, maybe even a funeral. You’ll need to be there for that.”

  “How will they have a funeral without a body?” Jaycen tried to keep the horror out of her voice, but the thought of there being a grave with her name on it was too much, too permanent. She started fanning her face with her hand as her body heated up, as her mind began to race. Where would the grave be? What would happen to it when they found out she wasn’t dead? Would they ever find out she wasn’t dead?

  “We’ll figure that out when it comes to it,” Benedict said, just as his phone blared out. Benedict pulled it from his pocket and for a second stared down at the screen. “They know already.”

  Caleb blew out a breath. “I knew it would happen fast, but damn. These people do not mess around.”

  Benedict nodded. “Yeah, we need to move Jaycen, and we need to do it now.”

  Iris took a tiny step forward, so small that if Jaycen hadn’t seen her she wouldn’t have known she’d moved at all. “We’ll take her to the next safe house. Me and Caleb, or just me. No one won’t notice that I’m not there.”

  “Fine, just you. Everyone pack-up.”

  The group scattered, leaving only Jaycen standing in the middle of the living room. She could still see Benedict through an open doorway. “I want to tell Gemma that I’m alive. I can’t leave her thinking I’ve died. It’s too cruel.”

  “Who?”

  “My friend, from school. My best friend, really.” She laughed uncomfortably while rubbing the back of her neck.

  Benedict shook his head. “No, what would be cruel is putting her in that kind of danger. If anyone, and I mean anyone, has the slightest hint that she knows something they will do whatever it takes to extract that information. Do you understand me Jaycen?” He walked until he was standing at the doorway, his features grim.

  “But surely there is a way? If we tell her and make her understand how important it is that she doesn’t...”

  “No, Jaycen,” Benedict cut in sharply. “The only people that know you’re alive are the people who I decide. Is that understood?”

  There was so much she wanted to say, instead, she bit it back and nodded once before turning on her heels and headed for the shot-up bedroom where her bag still lay.

  “I get why you want to tell Gemma.”

  She jumped as she entered the room, not expecting Thornton to be sat on the bed, surrounded by shards of broken glass and pieces of brick.

  “I’m glad someone does. Because Benedict will not have any of it.” She shook her head and walked in, taking a seat on the messed-up bed next to him.

  “He’s just trying to protect you.”

  “And I’m just trying to protect her,” she shot back. “Gemma isn’t close with anyone, not her family, not any more friends. And she’s okay with that, she always has been. But she feels so deep. This will break her.” She coughed, trying to hide the way her voice broke at the end.

  Thornton wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her to him, not too close, but enough, so she could rest her head on his chest as he enclosed her in a two-arm hug.

  “I’ll look out for her, I promise you I’ll look out for her. Whatever she needs.”

  Jaycen pulled her head back, so she could see his face. “You’d do that? You’d look after Gemma for me? And for her? Make sure she’s okay?”

  He smirked, but nodded his head. “Whatever you need me to do I’ll do it.”

  Jaycen’s mind started to race with just exactly how she needed him to help. “Gemma applied for an internship at The Cure. Could you maybe, I don’t know, pull some strings? Make sure she gets it? Then she’ll be close to you.”

  “I don’t see why not. The board will probably take pity on me after losing my girlfriend.” He smiled a little and rocked her back and forth.

  “Good. Use my death to your advantage.” She had meant for them to sound funny, instead, they sat heavy in the room. Neither her nor Thornton knowing what to say next.

  Then after the silence was just getting too much, Jaycen said, “So I’m your girlfriend now huh? Don’t you think you should, I don’t know, maybe ask me first?”

  Thornton snorted then, still unable to take the smile off his face. “You’ve been my girlfriend for months now, and you know it.”

  Jaycen dramatically rolled her eyes but couldn’t take the smile from her face. “You know we’ve never made us official. This is just a copout so you don’t have to ask me outright.”

  “Maybe I’m worried you’ll say no.”

  “Maybe I will.”

  Thornton left a few seconds of silence before saying, “So, shall we make this official?”

  Jaycen snorted. “How about you think of a nicer way of asking me and I’ll let you know the next time I see you.”

  Before we could come back with a quick-witted remark Benedict appeared in the doorway. “Jaycen, Iris is ready to go, are you?”

  She pulled away from Thornton and stood, the glass cracking under her feet. “I guess.”

  Thornton stood with her and all three of them walked into the living room where Iris and Caleb stood hugging each other.

  Iris saw her first, and with her head still on Caleb’s chest said, “Ready to head out?”

  No, no she wasn’t. Because Jaycen knew that as soon as she left this room, she was walking into a world that thought she was dead.

  She faked a smile and looked at the four faces of those around her, a feeling in the pit of her stomach telling her this would be the last time she would see some of them. And said, “Yes, let’s go.”

  Chapter 15

  Apparently, Benedict hadn’t wanted them to hire a car, he’d said he didn’t want a paper trail. So just how they got their hands on the beat-up red truck that they were currently driving, Jaycen didn’t know. And that normally wouldn’t have bothered her, but Iris didn’t seem to know either.

  “I think Benedict stole it,” Jaycen stated, having spent the past two hours convincing herself it was the only option. He couldn’t have bought it, because he gave them the only money he had.

  “No.” Iris shook her head and snorted, but then the smile vanished as she side-eyed the used cigarettes and coins that sat just under the broken radio. “Huh. Maybe he did.”

  “We got Benedict to break the law. I could die now, and my life would be complete.” Jaycen opened the glove compartment and started looking through the old owners’ belongings.

  “Trust me, Benedict has broken the law plenty of times before now.”

  Now she had Jaycen’s attention. “Really? Like what?”

  “He worked with Azrael for years, and back before Azrael met Lilliah he was into all kinds of shady stuff. Benedict ran it all.”

  Benedict worked for Azrael? Jaycen knew they had been close, but Benedict working for him? That was something she just couldn’t imagine.

  “Is that why Benedict isn’t in The Cure? Because of his shady past?” It would make sense, Jaycen reasoned, still trying to imagine Benedict working or even answering to anyone but himself.

  “No, they very much want him at The Cure. He just chooses not to. He likes teaching and he’s good at it. He taught me to keep my powers under control. Do we come off here or is it the next exit?”

  Jaycen scrambled for the map that she has discarded into the back seat. “I don’t know. I don’t even know where we are right now.”

  They passed the junction.

  “Well, it’s gone. I guess we’ll turn around if we need to.” She sat closer to the steering wheel, seemingly paying more attention to the road ahead.

  “Why did you need Benedict’s help? Didn’t you go to school?” She traced the map with her finger. She’d never been good at reading maps. Surely using a phone would have been easier? Bu
t under Benedict’s strict instructions they weren’t allowed to use their phones or use their bank cards, and seeing as they didn’t have enough money to buy a new phone they were stuck with maps. And Jaycen was sure they were going the wrong way because she couldn’t find that junction on this map. And that was when it hit her that she was looking at the wrong map.

  Therefore, she didn’t see Iris shake her head. “I went to a normal school. Because up until about six years ago I was a recluse who thought I was losing my mind. Turned out the voices I was hearing were angels.

  Slowly, Jaycen lifted her head. “Huh?”

  “Yep. Lilliah, Rebecca, and Sebastian turned up at my door and my whole world tipped on its axis. It was crazy. Even now I look back on it and how crazy it was. Then through them, I met Benedict and Azrael, and they told me what I was, or am.”

  Jaycen waited for her to finish, and when it became clear she wasn’t going to, she said, “So what are you?”

  “I’m psychic. But not in the corny I can read your tea leaves kind of psychic.”

  Jaycen rested her head against the seat and made a noise. “Oh that’s sad because I would have loved that.”

  “Well sad times, because I can’t do that. The only thing I can do is talk to Angels, which is very limiting. I mean, back then it was needed and was very handy. But now that Heaven is open the voices have quietened dramatically, and thanks to Benedict, when I hear them now I know what to do.”

  “I have, so many questions.” She realised just how little she knew about Iris, and that realisation didn’t sit comfortably with her. Iris had offered to come on this trip with her, potentially putting herself on the line, or at the very least giving up her weekend.

  “Well, seeing as we don’t have a radio ask away. Anything beats sitting in silence.” Iris’s eyes squinted at a road sign. “Just after we fuel up. And let’s hope the fifty bucks Benedict gave us is enough to get there and possibly order pizza.”

  “That’s all he gave you. Fifty dollars? My God, what the hell did he expect us to do with that?”

  Iris pulled off the highway and into the gas station. “Get to the cabin and survive for at least two days. That’s all I’ve been told. Want any snacks while I’m in there?”

  “I don’t think we can afford snacks. I’m not even sure if we can afford food in general. Benedict has not thought this plan through, at all.”

  “I’m going to pick some chips, maybe some soda. We still have a few hours before we reach the cabin,” Iris said, completely ignoring her as she left the car and started filling up the tank.

  “I honestly don’t think… you know what? He gave you the money. You make the decisions.” Throwing her hands in her hair, Jaycen shook her head, confident that Iris couldn’t even hear her. If she was relaxed about their money situation, then Jaycen would be too. Grabbing Thornton’s jacket from the back seat she threw it on and stepped out the car. “I’m going to the toilet,” she shouted over the noise of the cars passing.

  “Put your hood up, you’re meant to be dead, remember?”

  Jaycen stopped walking and looked around the empty gas station. Only one other car sat empty a few spaces down, and she doubted that the people who owned it knew who she was.

  “I’m hardly a Leonardo DiCaprio. I think I’m going to be okay.” Turning away she headed for the single door that was labeled toilet.

  It looked filthy, even from the outside.

  Her walking slowed. “Can I hold it in?” For another few hours? “Nope.”

  Answering her own question, she headed for the door, just as it opened and a tall dark-haired boy walked out.

  Jaycen stepped back, giving him enough room to leave.

  “Just so you know that smell wasn’t me; it was already disgusting before I got in here.” He held the door open for her and waited for Jaycen to take it.

  “Great. Good to know,” she muttered, leaning forward to take hold of the door.

  He laughed. “I swear, that came from something not natural at all. . . wait, do I know you?”

  Oh. Dear. Lord.

  This could not be happening.

  “No, sorry.” Keeping her head down she pushed past him, closing the door behind her. How could this be possible? What were the odds? She pressed her ear against the door, trying to figure out if he was still out there. What exactly would she do if he was, she had no idea, without her powers she was pretty limited.

  Luckily, she couldn’t hear a thing.

  Maybe she just looked like one of his cousins? Or maybe an old girlfriend? That surely made more sense then.

  She wasn’t even convincing herself at this point. Opening the door just a little Jaycen peered out,

  “Hello?”

  Nothing.

  Huh, maybe she really looked like someone he knew.

  “It’s fine. Everything is fine.”

  Finishing up in the toilet, Jaycen fastened up Thornton’s jacket up to the top and headed out. Their car sat empty at the pump, she assumed Iris was in the shop, grabbing snacks they couldn’t afford and paying for the fuel.

  Jaycen tried the car door, and when it didn’t open, she tried again, and again.

  “I think it’s locked.”

  “Oh my. . .” Jaycen whirled around, pressing her back against the car door. It was him, the guy from the toilet, he was smiling at her in a way that said, “I know who you are. I know.”

  “I can see that. Thanks though, I’m fine.” If he didn’t turn and leave in five seconds, Jaycen was going to make a run for it. Maybe straight into the shop to Iris, or maybe into the oncoming traffic, with her wound she wasn’t sure how far she’d make it.

  He didn’t look convinced. “You don’t look fine. In fact, right now you look like a scared mouse.”

  She did, Jaycen reasoned as she straightened up and stepped away from the truck. “I’m just wondering if I could help you with anything?”

  “No. I’m fine.” He was smiling a little, but it was his eyes that put Jaycen on edge. They were focused on her, really focused.

  “Then maybe you should leave.”

  “What’s your name?”

  Jaycen didn’t need to near anything else as she turned and ran toward the shop, that she hoped Iris was in, the pain from her stomach making every step more painful than the last. But what if this man had seen Iris and already attacked her? What then? Who would she call? How would she get rid of him without her powers?

  “Hey, stop running. I just want to talk,” he shouted behind her.

  Jaycen rounded the building of the garage, there was nowhere to run and no one to help. Thinking fast she grabbed the lid of the trash can and with her back to the wall, she waited for him to round the corner and when he did she hit him with all she had. Which apparently wasn’t enough as all he did was scream and drop to his knees.

  “Ow, what the hell!”

  So she hit again and again as she gasped for breath and felt her wound split open. She was in pain, a lot of pain.

  “Oh my God, what have you done? What the hell happened?” Iris rounded the corner, a brown bag in her arms and her mouth wide open.

  “He knew who I was. I didn’t know what else to do.”

  Iris kicked his foot. “Is he, is he dead?”

  “No. I don’t think so. Just unconscious,” she hoped.

  “Well, what do we do now? Huh? What do we do now Jaycen with your bright ideas?” Iris pressed, looking behind her to make sure no one else saw, Jaycen already knew they were completely alone.

  “I did the best I could in the situation I was in, okay?” She scouted the area again, noting that there weren’t any cameras, one plus. “We should just leave him here.”

  “So he can call whoever he works for and tell them you’re alive? No, that can’t happen.” Iris shook her head, then reached over the sleeping man to his jacket pocket, she pulled out his wallet and phone.

  “We’re not going to rob him, are we?” She wasn’t sure why, but that idea really didn’t sit
well with her, even as they were probably driving a stolen car.

  “No, I just want to know who he is. Here, take his phone, see if you can get into it.”

  Jaycen took the phone and swiped, showing a locked screen. “It has a password.”

  Iris nodded. “He had business cards. Who the hell has business cards?”

  “A guy with a business I guess?” Jaycen shrugged, taking the small, simple white card from Iris’s hand. No job title, no company name, just a man’s name in plain black writing and a number underneath.

  “His names Sampson Grenadier. Have you heard of him before?” Iris asked.

  Jaycen shook her head but pocketed the card.

  “No, me neither. One thing for sure is that we can’t leave him here. He’ll wake up and tell whoever he’s going to tell about you.”

  “Then what the hell are we going to do with him? We can hardly take him with us.”

  “We’re going to have to, it’s our only option. We’d need to tie his hands before he wakes up though, we don’t need him waking up and sneaking in a spell. You drag him back to the car and I’ll go in and see if they have cable ties.” And just like that, Iris left.

  How would they take this man without anyone seeing them? What were they going to do when he woke up? They couldn’t keep him prisoner forever. Grabbing him by the feet Jaycen began dragging him towards their car, the pain in her stomach intensifying with each tug.

  “Oh my.” She dropped Sampson’s foot and turned away, biting her lip in pain to stop herself from screaming. Her whole body buzzing with pain.

  Iris rounded the corner, a bag of black cables ties in her hand. “You didn’t get very far did you?”

  Jaycen sighed. “Nope. It’s turning out to be a little more difficult than I first thought.”

  Iris’s eyes went to her wound, she looked down to see her top soaked with blood. Great.

  “Come on, I’ll help you. Then we’ll look at your stomach.”

  Both of them took a foot and began dragging the man to the car, heave by heavy heave. The guy was heavy as hell.

  Iris dropped his foot when they reached the car. “My lord this guy must work out. He is insanely heavy.”