Cursed and Crazed

by Sophia Stafford

  Now, Jaycen was finally ready to leave the comforts of her new house and head next door where Lilliah and Rebecca had been staying. So far they’d both been great at keeping out of Jaycen’s way, only coming in to either drop off food or to check she was okay. It had been nice, being alone. It was something Jaycen was used to. She spoke to Benedict twice since arriving, and unfortunately, she hadn’t spoken to Thornton once.

  “Maybe remind him I’m not actually dead,” she’d starkly told Benedict on their last phone call.

  “I’ll pass on the message you want to speak to him,” Benedict told her before hanging up. It was busy for him, it was Jaycen’s funeral which she had just learned, he was heading.

  “Because you don’t have any magical family, they thought it might be appropriate for me to step in,” he quickly explained.

  “I don’t have any family, magical or not. I like the idea of you stepping in.” And it might have just been in Jaycen’s head, but Benedict seemed to like that idea too.

  Now she was heading next door to watch her own funeral. It was an odd feeling and something she would have actually liked to watch alone, unfortunately, the TV in her house not been enchanted to watch magical television. Luckily, the one in Lilliah and Rebecca’s house had.

  Jaycen didn’t even have a chance to knock on the door before it flew open, a smiling Rebecca standing on the other side.

  “You’re late. You’re missing your own funeral!” She laughed, stepping back so Jaycen could walk into the house.

  “Finally, Benedict’s already arrived. Here we opened wine. You can’t watch your own funeral sober.” She held up a glass of something bubbly.

  “I’m not twenty-one.” Jaycen declined, taking the seat next to Lilliah, right in front of the TV. The screen was focused on the outside of The Cure, crowds were kept back by barriers and police as cars pulled up just outside the main doors.

  “You’re in Scotland, and the age of drinking here is eighteen. Here.” Rebecca took the glass from Lilliah and passed it again to Jaycen, who this time took it.

  “Oh, Azrael’s arrived.” Lilliah sat forward in her seat, her eyes fixated on the screen as her husband stepped out of the black car. And damn did the man look good, dressed of course in his signature all black. The crowd went wild: even through the TV their screams were almost deafening. She couldn’t even imagine what it sounded like there.

  “It’s disgusting how much they love him.” Rebecca laughed, rolling her eyes as she sipped her drink.

  Lilliah joined in laughing. “He hates it so much.”

  Azrael didn’t spend too much time with the pleasantries and headed straight into The Cure as more people arrived, people who Jaycen did not know. Now and again the Camera would switch to inside The Cure where people were gathering. It focused on Benedict now and again as he spoke to guests. His light brown hair was kept back from his face, his beard, as always, was trimmed to perfection. He looked good but tired. The dark circles under his eyes aging him. Finally, the camera panned out again, giving them a view of the whole room, and there sat at the far end of the room was a dark wooden coffin.

  Oh. Dear. Lord.

  “What’s even in it?” Rebecca scrunched her face up and downed her drink.

  “God knows. But not me.”

  The camera flipped to the outside where another car pulled up. Jaycen’s heart skipped as Thornton stepped out. His black suit and white top pristine, and his eyes shaded by aviator glasses. He looked amazing.

  “Damn.” She couldn’t take her eyes away from the screen where her boyfriend raised his hands to the crowd, and of course, the crowd went wild.

  “That’s your guy? Well, damn girl, he is nice.” Rebecca leaned over, patting Jaycen on the knee.

  Before she could finish talking Thornton leaned into the car, helping someone out.

  “Who’s the girl?” Lilliah asked, pouring herself another glass of wine.

  Images of Thornton and Gemma filled the screen, tears streaming down her face. Thornton put his arm around her shoulder, pressing her to his chest.

  “She’s my friend. My best friend who actually thinks I’m dead.” Jaycen’s heart was breaking watching Gemma’s heart break. Her loss was written all over her face. Her pain seeping through the screen and gripping all of those watching. Thornton guided her into The Cure, the camera following them.

  They all watched silently as Thornton led Gemma to a seat up front, right near the coffin. He leaned forward and whispered something in her ear, she nodded, her shoulders still shaking with her sobs.

  “Oh, he’s looking after her. That’s the sweetest thing.” Lilliah sighed as the camera panned out, allowing them to see Thornton walk across the space, people stopping him to say hi. He spoke to everyone for a minute, working the room perfectly. Until a small brunette stepped forward. The camera stayed focused as they greeted each other, kissing on both cheeks.

  The woman, whoever she was, was young and petite, her light brown hair pulled back in the perfect bun. Wide black sunglasses shielded her eyes, but even the frames couldn’t hide her perfect cheekbones. They were talking to each other when Thornton’s mother and father walked over to them, all of them embracing like old friends.

  Jaycen could see it then, why people at The Cure wanted Thornton to step into a leadership role. He was made for it.

  The family and the unnamed woman, all standing together and looking nothing but perfect. This is what they wanted the first family of magic to look like.

  “That family reeks of money. Old money,” Rebecca commented as the screen stayed transfixed on the family.

  Jaycen nodded. “Oh yeah. The oldest.”

  Finally, the camera went back outside where Edmur and his wife had just arrived. He raised a hand to the crowd and not quite receiving the same reaction as Thornton or Azrael had.

  “What’s that noise?” Lilliah sat forward in her seat, straining to hear.

  Rebecca and Jaycen both fell silent as they tried to listen to the muffled shouts.

  Lilliah leaned forward and grabbed the TV controller, turning the volume up high.

  The word murderers were being chanted somewhere off the screen, starting quiet but getting louder with each second and drowning the cheers of the crowd.

  Edmur and his wife were rushed inside as the procession of cars halted, making the guests in the car get out and run inside.

  Jaycen watched and listened, not quite sure where the noise was coming from.

  “Is that coming from outside, or inside?” Lilliah asked, straining to listen as well.

  The chant got louder, followed by a loud clang of what sounded like metal hitting metal.

  “Murderers.” Clang.

  “Murderers.” Clang.

  Another group could be heard then, just as loud as the first, this time shouting at the top of their lungs, “Hey Ho, don’t you know, mongrel blood has got to go. Hey ho, don’t you know, mongrel blood has got to go.”

  Lilliah made a disgusted noise at the sight of the newcomers. The meaning behind their chant very clear. They didn’t support Jaycen’s magic. They supported no magic that they didn’t see as pure.

  “I’ve heard about this lot.” Rebecca shook her head. “They’re magical nazis, nothing more.”

  The guards from The Cure stepped away from the building and stood in between the two gathering groups, trying to halt an altercation before it even started.

  “They’re not going to actually fight, are they? Surely not at a funeral,” Lilliah asked no one in particular. “I mean have some respect.”

  Before they could find out, the TV screen blacked out.

  Jaycen froze. “What’s just happened?”

  “Oh for the love of. . .” Rebecca stood, remote in hand as she pressed a number of buttons. “I bet it’s this TV, I told Azrael it was old, but did he listen? Nope.”

  Lilliah looked less convinced. “Maybe they stopped the stream? Until they could get the protest under control?”

  “M
aybe.” Rebecca was already half behind the TV, wiggling wires and shouting out. “Is it on yet?”

  “I don’t think it’s the TV, I think they stopped the connection,” Lilliah said again, sitting back and sipping her wine. She looked over at Jaycen, clearly seeing how worried she was. “Don’t worry about it. I bet The Cure will have it all under control in no time. They train for stuff like this.”

  Jaycen was less convinced as the guilt started to build in her again. They were there for her, either because they believe The Cure had something to do with her death or because they didn’t agree with Jaycen at all. Either way, they were fighting for her.

  The TV flicked back on as fast as it went. The screen focused on the outside of The Cure, smoke almost clouded their view and with people running out screaming as the two sides of the protest clashed in a bitter altercation out front, seemingly completely oblivious to the burning building just behind them.

  “Oh my God.” Rebecca stumbled backward as she watched the people on the TV all running for their lives.

  Jaycen was in shock. Complete shock, her brain unable to understand what she was seeing. It was Lilliah that voiced the question they were all wondering.

  “What the hell just happened?”

  Again, Jaycen just couldn’t move as she watched in horror. A male, commentator spoke as the screen switched to the inside of the building where chaos had been unleashed. Thick, grey smoke was everywhere as bits of debris and rubble fell from the ceiling above them.

  It was hard to make out who was who in the chaos of people trying to run for the exit, as well as help those that were hurt. And there were a lot of injuries.

  Bodies, especially near the back end of the room were scattered over the floor, a few moving but many not. Pieces of what was once Jaycen’s pretend coffin lay scattered around them.

  “An explosion has just happened at the funeral of Jaycen Reece at The Cure headquarters in New York. Emergency services are on their way; we will keep you updated as soon as we know more.”

  The screen then flicked at the sky, clearly not wanting to show the fighting or what was left of Jaycen’s funeral. Jaycen wanted to scream. Was everyone okay? Who the hell would do such a thing?

  Lilliah pulled out her phone and started to call someone immediately, her face strained with worry.

  “Damn, he didn’t answer. I’ll try Benedict.” She dialed again, putting the phone to her ear as she waited for someone to pick up.

  “It was my coffin that was blown up. Someone put an explosion in my coffin.” Jaycen was working through everything she had just seen. Apart from the smoke, the actual building looked untouched from the front, it was the back of the room that had been affected the most. Which meant one thing, whoever planted it knew it was empty.

  “Benedict, thank God you’re okay. We’re just watching it on TV when it happened?” Lilliah stood and started to pace the small living room.

  Jaycen was on her feet too as she tried to pry the phone from Lilliah’s hand.

  “No, you can’t.” Lilliah easily got out of Jaycen’s grip and shook her head while covering the speaker. “Let’s not make a bad situation worse, okay?”

  “Say she’s me,” Rebecca whispered and raised her eyes brows at Lilliah, who really contemplated the situation, before sighing. “Wait, Benedict, Rebecca wants to speak to you.”

  Jaycen grabbed the phone from Lilliah. “Its Rebecca, is everyone okay? Is anyone hurt?”

  Benedict didn’t say anything directly in the phone, but she swore she heard him curse. “A lot of people are hurt. I need to deal with this here. Is everyone okay your end, are you okay? Do you have any news?”

  She knew it was his way of asking if she had seen anything suspicious. “No, nothing. But from what I saw on the TV the explosion came from the coffin.” She moved her weight from one foot to the next, needing him to understand the underlying meaning to her words.

  “Yeah, I know. I’ll have new information for you later today.” Translation, we’ll need to move you again.

  While he spoke the TV resumed to the front of The Cure again. The emergency services had now arrived and were helping the injured. Thornton was seen with the same woman from earlier, their foreheads bloodied, and her neat bun now a mess. But they were okay. They were both okay.

  Then without thinking, Jaycen said, “Benedict, where is Gemma?”

  Chapter 21

  “This is the second time Gemma has been hurt because of me.” Jaycen twisted her hands together, her foot tapping nervously on the floor.

  Gemma had been front row at Jaycen’s funeral, right next to the casket when it had exploded. According to her doctor and then according to Benedict.

  “Don’t worry about her. She’s awake, her injuries aren’t life-threatening. She’s going to be okay,” Benedict told her down the phone, the wind howling around him.

  Jaycen shook her head. “She shouldn’t have been hurt in the first place.”

  “You couldn’t control that. She was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

  “Because Thornton put her there, then walked away.” She winced, even in her anger knowing that wasn’t justified. “Where even is Thornton? He hasn’t called me.” She hated how pathetic that sounded, but she couldn’t deny it. Every day he didn’t call her the angrier she got. It was hardly like she had been asking for him to visit, just a chat. A ten-minute chat. Then her funeral was bombed and people were hurt, she understood that her chat shouldn’t be that important right now, but to her it was.

  “Yeah, I know. His family are busy, right now,” Benedict hedged down the phone. “I’ll get him to call you tomorrow. I promise.”

  She snorted. “His family doing the rounds huh? I expect nothing less from them right now. You know, I’m actually kind of impressed with them, nothing could happen that they wouldn’t turn into an advantage.”

  “Mm, they’re actually kind of annoying me, to be honest.”

  Jaycen raised her eyebrows, half impressed and half shocked. “Good. Tell them that. I would.”

  He laughed. “Oh I know you would have. That’s why I’m glad you’re not here. Although it would be mighty entertaining to watch.”

  “Has, has he even asked about me? Thorn?” She hated that she had to ask, but god she needed to know.

  “Every time he gets me alone for more than two seconds he asks. God does he ask. And again, it’s annoying me.”

  Thrilled, Jaycen beamed. “Why does that annoy you? It’s nice he cares.”

  “Because I’m starting to get the impression that he doesn’t trust my judgment with you. He wants to know it all. Where you’re kept, who’s looking after you, what are their magical qualifications? I mean, come on. It’s ridiculous.”

  “Tell him that too. I don’t think he’d be that offended. And then tell him to channel all that energy into Gemma. I don’t want her alone and bored in the hospital.”

  “Gemma’s fine. In the meantime, you stay put, I’m sorting out another safe house for you. Darius and his son must know you’re alive now. I refuse to give him proof.”

  “Okay.”

  “I mean it.”

  “I know, I know. I won’t leave,” she promised before hanging up and then started packing her bag, stuffing her clothes and toiletries in it without care. She needed to get back to America and Gemma. She was not Benedict’s or Thornton’s priority right now, and she needed to be. She needed someone there to look after her. And when it was over, and they were safely back to where Benedict told her to go, he’d understand why she lied. She hoped. Either way, he’d forgive her. She hoped.

  She scribbled down a quick note, telling both Lilliah and Rebecca why she had left, and when she would be back, before throwing the bag over her shoulder and heading to the door. She opened it and stumbled to a halt at the man who was waiting for her.

  Gulping, she eyed him up as he smiled easily down at her.

  “Who are you?” She was ready to bolt at the slightest hint that she need
ed to.

  “Don’t worry, I’m a friend.” He leaned against the doorframe. “Benedict thought you’d try and run. I’m not sure he thought you’d be so quick though.”

  Letting the bag drop to her feet she groaned: of course Benedict would know her plan even before she’d make it.

  “I can’t stay here. I’m useless here, at least back home I can help Gemma, my friend. At least I can do something to help.”

  The guy didn’t look convinced as he rubbed his hair, while even cut short, Jaycen could tell it was a dark brown. “Yeah, I’ve heard about your friend. Do you really think putting yourself in danger is helping? Really?”

  How would this guy know? “Who even are you?”

  “Sebastian Daniels. Becca’s husband and Lilliah’s brother. We’ve already met though.” He smiled, motioning his head behind him. “Come on, let’s get out of here for a bit.”

  They had already met? Jaycen wasn’t so sure, but she kicked her bag away and followed him out of the house anyway, locking the door behind her.

  At a pace that could only be described as leisurely, he walked past the house Lilliah and Rebecca were staying at and carried on walking.

  “Where are we going?” She jogged, easily catching up with him.

  “You’re in one of the most beautiful places in the world, and you’re stuck inside like a caged animal. Well, that’s how Benedict described you anyway.” He didn’t even look at her as they crossed a country road, and he climbed over the old stone wall to a nearby empty field.

  “That’s one way to describe it. I’m a tiger, without her teeth or claws.”

  He laughed. “Stop feeling sorry for yourself. Pity doesn’t suit you.”

  “It’s not me feeling sorry for myself, it’s the truth. You must know about me, what happened to me. I’m powerless and on the run. How can I be of help to anyone? Seriously? There are a whole bunch of people fighting for me. I’m just sat in Scotland. Chilling.”

  Sebastian pulled out his phone, typed something really quick before looking up at her. “No, you’re in Scotland staying safe. Staying out the way. Sometimes doing nothing is the most help.”