Cursed and Crazed

by Sophia Stafford

  Only realising that had been a mistake when she reached the second floor.

  “Oh my gosh.” She stopped and gasped for breath and the mental note that after all of this was over, she was going to start focusing on her cardio.

  She started again, and by the time she reached the fifth floor, her jacket was off and sweat was pouring down her face. Swung the door open that led into the corridor, she stopped, trying to get her bearings and work out what side of the building she was on. Then she heard gunshots and just ran towards the noise. She still didn’t have a plan, and that became very apparent when she saw a man and woman, both carrying guns run down the corridor opposite her. Keeping her head low, she veered into the nearest room and closed the door, praying that neither one of them saw her. She watched them pass through the window in the door, waiting for them to be as far away as possible before she stood up and moved around. The room was empty apart from an unmade bed with sheets folded neatly at the bottom. Was it ideal? No. but it really was all she had, so Jaycen took the sheets and wrapped them around herself like a homeless person. She entered the corridor again, this time making sure it was empty.

  With the itchy sheet still wrapped tightly around her and covering most of her hair, she shuffled out of the room and into the corridor. Following the gunshots and blasts only slowly when she came to a corner, so she could peek around it. Then, when it was safe, she started jogging again.

  Then she saw them at the far end of the corridor she was on. Rebecca pushing a scared-looking Gemma in a wheelchair, Sebastian and Lilliah were nowhere to be seen.

  “Rebecca,” she hissed, running after them.

  “We are evacuating this floor, please follow me to the stairs and everything will be okay. We have trained for terrorist situations just like this, it is all going to be okay.” A young man in scrubs appeared from nowhere and was now in front of Jaycen, taking her arm and trying to guide her to the corridor she had just come from, sweat dripping down his face.

  Jaycen pried her arm free and let the sheet fall to her shoulders. “What? No no, you need to evacuate. Get out of here as fast as you can.”

  “Patients are my first priority and together we will get out of this, I know it’s scary, I’m scared too. But you will be okay.” The man was probably in his late twenties, and he smiled through his fear.

  Jaycen took hold of both his upper arms. “You need to get out of here, keep as many people as you can from this floor okay?”

  Confused, he took in what she was wearing. Her plain jacket and jeans and the hospital quilt thrown over her shoulders, clearly confused he smiled. “I can help you get to safety.”

  Jaycen didn’t have time for this. She stepped back and lifted her arm from under the quilt. “I don’t need help. Leave me alone.”

  “Don’t be scared, come with me, please.”

  He was a nice guy only trying to help, so he was confused as hell when Jaycen started to push him away. “Leave me alone. I’m fine. Leave me alone.”

  “What the? I’m just trying to help.”

  She pushed and pushed and pushed. “I don’t need your help. Leave me alone. Do your job and find someone that actually needs your help,” she hissed, aware that screaming would draw far too much attention.

  “Fine. Get taken hostage by terrorists.” Finally, he turned and left.

  Then she felt bad. “Follow your training and you’ll be fine. You’re the real heroes in society,” she shouted after him before turning and running towards where she saw Rebecca and Gemma last. She ran as fast as she could rounding the corners without stopping until she saw them. Or running right into them is probably a better description.

  Rebecca was fighting two men, one with their hands around her throat while the other was trying to stand from the floor, blood pouring from his forehead. Gemma was also currently on the floor, moaning in pain and her wheelchair lay empty against the wall.

  Jaycen dropped the sheet and ran full force towards the guy currently choking Rebecca, knocking him off her and onto the floor.

  Before the man under her could turn and look her way, he was hit hard on the head with a black gun, knocking him unconscious.

  Jaycen looked up at a not very amused Rebecca. “You’re welcome?”

  She shot her an annoyed glance before turning her attention to the other guy, who was now on his knees and looking disorientated and hit him on the head with the gun, making him drop to the floor again.

  “Who are they? Are they from The Cure? Darius?”

  “Believe it or not I didn’t get a chance to ask. I mean come on, Jaycen, Lilliah told you to stay away. That was her one rule.”

  Jaycen didn’t look up as she crawled towards Gemma on the floor. “Hey, hey Gemma it’s me. Are you okay? Can you see me?”

  “Jaycen? What? How? How?” She looked scared, her body shaking slightly.

  “I’m alive. Surprise,” she said smiling, quickly realising her mistake. All of this was too much, and right now Gemma was looking at her like she couldn’t decide if she was awake or still dreaming.

  “Jaycen look at me. You shouldn’t have come. We had this under control,” Rebecca stressed.

  Now Jaycen looked up. “Is under control you holding a gun while there are two unconscious men on the floor? Is the bar set that low? Really?”

  She pointed to one of the men. “This is his gun, not mine. He brought this; I just took it. The plan is still underway. Okay?”

  “And that’s okay. I wouldn’t, however, call it, the plan.” She helped Gemma to her feet, weaving an arm around her waist to steady her until Rebecca wheeled over the chair.

  “I’m so confused,” Gemma muttered with a faraway look in her eyes.

  Jaycen started to wheel her down the corridor with Rebecca falling into step beside her. “I promise I’ll explain everything as soon as we get out of here. Where are we going?”

  Rebecca pointed to the exit sign. “We’re all meeting at the back entrance.”

  They both heard the sound of heavy running and a man barking orders, and they slowed their walking, both trying to figure out where they were coming from.

  “Well, that doesn’t sound good.” Jaycen looked down both the corridors that were both currently empty.

  “You and Gemma need to hide. I’ll draw whoever is coming away. Meet us at the back of the hospital, okay?”

  “Oh okay. Can’t you just hide with us?”

  “You’ll be safer if I draw them away. Stay hidden until you’re sure it’s safe to get to the meeting point?” Then she was gone, running off down the hallway and being as loud as possible without literally shouting.

  Jaycen wheeled Gemma into the nearest room, closing the door behind them and staying low, the sound of people running only getting louder. Jaycen carried on moving as she wheeled Gemma into another smaller room filled with boxes. She closed the door behind them, leaving her and Gemma in darkness.

  “Gemma, are you okay? You’re not hurt?”

  “I don’t understand, how is this possible? How are you alive? You, you died.” Her voice broke at the end. Jaycen’s eyes had adjusted to the darkness enough to see Gemma wipe her face.

  “I know. And I never wanted to lie to you, Benedict thought he was protecting us. I’ve lost all my powers Gemma; they took it all.” She could have carried on for hours, but the sound of the outside door opening stopped her.

  “Shh.” They both sat in the dark, listening to someone moving around in the room next door.

  Jaycen moved as close to Gemma as possible. “Listen to me, if they come in here you need to use your magic. Do something, anything. Okay? Stun them, knock them back, anything that gives us enough time to get away.”

  Gemma nodded in the dark. Then they waited, hidden from the door by two large boxes. The door opened slowly, Jaycen could see the figure of someone as they stood in the doorway as they leaned into the room, switching on the light.

  Jaycen’s body was buzzing with anticipation, ready for Gemma to make her mov
e, so she could get them out of there. Then it happened: the light went out.

  At first, Jaycen wasn’t sure what happened. Had the guy changed his mind and decided to leave?

  “What the…?” The light switched back on, the man was still there in the doorway, looking as confused as Jaycen felt.

  Then the light went out again and Jaycen noticed the concentration on Gemma’s face. This was her. This was what she was doing with her magic. Jaycen wasn’t sure what she expected but the light being switched off was not it. Underwhelmed could only be described as an understatement.

  But, it was all they had. So when the lights were out Jaycen moved her and Gemma closer to the door. Light on, stay still. Light off, move a little. On…. Off…. On….Off until eventually the guys made an odd frustrated sound and held up his gun.

  “Who’s there? Who’s doing this?” The light stayed off, he fired into the darkness. The bullets flying past Jaycen and Gemma and hitting the boxes behind them as they stayed low, covering their ears with their hands.

  “What the hell is going on in here?” a woman asked from the other room.

  “I thought there was someone in here. The light, it kept turning on and off. It was weird,” he said, still staring into the darkness as a bullet-riddled box fell to the floor. He turned the light on, then stood perfectly still. Gemma turned it off again.

  “See! Did you see it? What is going on?”

  Jaycen, for one, had no idea.

  “It’s a faulty socket. Goddamn, save your bullets. Come on, we’re being called to the front.”

  With one last survey of the room they finally left, and once she was sure they were definitely gone, Jaycen said, “We need to work on our communication because when I said do something, turning the light off wasn’t what I had in mind.”

  “I don’t think I’ve got enough power to stun him or move him, or anything really. I did what I could.” Gemma shrugged.

  Jaycen wheeled her out and headed for the back entrance. They reached the door when she saw the crowd of Cure guards all gathered outside, all their attention focused on Lilliah, Rebecca, and Sebastian.

  “We need to leave.” Jaycen started to turn them around when she caught Lilliah’s gaze. With her face neutral her eyes spoke what she couldn’t. And they screamed, “Run.”

  Jaycen wheeled Gemma to the nearest empty doorway and into the busy New York street.

  “What do we do now? Is there a safe house we can go to?” Gemma questioned nervously.

  “No, Benedict doesn’t know we’re here. I need a payphone to get hold of him. And a place to stay low for a while.” Her mind raced with their limited possibilities.

  “I don’t know anyone who isn’t connected to the school or The Cure,” Gemma stressed, looking behind them to make sure they weren’t being followed.

  “Yeah, same.” And then she remembered, she knew someone that wasn’t connected to any of it. “Actually, I might know someone. I just need to get to a phone.”

  Chapter 25

  Jaycen and Gemma stood outside the trendy coffee shop, hopefully far enough away from the hospital that they wouldn’t be seen. They both kept their eye out though, ready to bolt at a moment’s notice. A car stopped in front of them, and while Gemma hedged away, Jaycen stepped forward.

  “I can’t believe you called.” Sampson stepped out of the driver’s side, smiling over the car at her.

  Jaycen didn’t smile back. “You left me your card.”

  “Yeah, but I didn’t actually think you’d use it. I’m stoked you did, though.” He joined her on the sidewalk, as Jaycen motioned to Gemma with her head.

  “This is my friend Gemma; Gemma this is Sampson.” Jaycen helped Gemma to her feet and thought long and hard about the wheelchair. Should they take it? Leave it?

  Without asking Sampson put the wheelchair down and struggled to drag it to the car. “Nice to meet you, Gemma. I can’t imagine what Jaycen’s said about me.”

  Gemma smiled awkwardly. “She’s actually never spoken bout you before.”

  Still trying to get the chair in the back of his car Sampson stopped and looked at Jaycen, his eyes narrowing. “Really? She hasn’t told you how we met?

  “I thought he was going to attack me. I hit him on the head. Now that’s out the way let’s get going.”

  “That actually doesn’t surprise me,” Gemma said as Jaycen helped Gemma in the car first, then got into the passenger side and waited. She had no shame with how she met Sampson, and if she was honest, she’d do it again.

  After a few more minutes he got into the driver’s side, threw her a big smile, and started driving.

  “So where are we going? Where do you want me to drive to?”

  “Just someplace we can stay low, and as far away from the city as possible.” Jaycen shifted as low in her seat as possible.

  “I’m not going to lie, that’s concerning. But okay.”

  Jaycen spent the two-hour drive telling Gemma everything, the words pouring out of her like water.

  She told her about losing her magic, about Scotland, and her trip to Heaven. She told it all, not holding anything back because she didn’t have to. Gemma listened, as she always did, asking a question here and there. Sampson however, was oddly quiet, so much so that Jaycen had forgotten he had been there, also listening. That was until they stopped in a busy parking lot outside what looked like a community center, the smell of the saltwater in the air.

  “We’re here. Do you need help with your chair Gemma?”

  “I should be okay; I think I just need to stretch my legs a little.” Gemma got out the car first and left the door open as she took a few small steps.

  “Did you really go to Heaven? Or was that a lie?”

  Jaycen nodded slowly. “Why would I lie?”

  Sampson watched her slowly, his face blank before finally, he looked away, unbuckling his belt. “It’s a dream to have your kind of power.”

  He got out of the car, and Jaycen followed.

  “Used to have, I don’t have it anymore. I’m pretty much just mortal now.” She helped Gemma pick up her pace as they followed Sampson into the old grey building. The looked run down, with most of the windows smashed and the ones that weren’t were locked with bars.

  Where had he brought them?

  He leaned the way with purpose, throwing excited smiles over his shoulder.

  “Just how well did you say you knew this guy?” Gemma whispered as they walked down a dark corridor, a light flickering at the end.

  “Erm, not that well really.” This was how horror movies started she thought, walking towards the blinking light. “Where are we going?” Then she heard voices, lots of them.

  “Just here.” Sampson opened a set of double doors, that lead into a hall. A hall packed with people.

  “What the…?” Jaycen slowed as Sampson powered forward with people stepping forward and shaking his hand, someone even hugged him. It bared repeating, “What is going on?”

  Sampson was deep in the crowd at this point, shaking hands as and hugging people like he was running for mayor. “Jaycen, come over here. I’ve a few people I want you to meet.”

  She was shocked and angry. Did all these people know who she was?

  And then, as if on cue she heard, “It’s actually Jaycen Reece, she’s alive.”

  “This isn’t good,” Gemma breathed as they walked into the crowd who didn’t move out the way like she expected. In fact, they didn’t move at all. Instead, they just looked at her, some in awe, others turned to whisper to the people next to them.

  “Jaycen, this is my mom, Samantha, and my sister Suzie. Guys, this is Jaycen Reece and her friend Gemma. Take a seat guys.” He walked away, heading to the front of the crowd.

  “Jaycen Reece.” His mother, Samantha, noted with a small nod of her head. All Jaycen could think was that their family was Samantha Sampson and Suzie, that was a lot of S’s.

  “Nice to meet you.” Her and Gemma both took a seat before anyone else and
eventually everyone else followed, and even then Jaycen could feel their eyes on them. They’d need to leave after this because hanging out in a room full of people did not bode well with the stay low plan.

  The room quietened and Jaycen took in Sampson’s mother and sister. They were both tiny, five foot two at the most, with the brightest red hair she ever saw. A complete opposite from Sampson’s dark hair.

  Samantha couldn’t have been older than fifty, her hands and neck covered in jewellery. She had an aging hippie look going on that Jaycen loved. Suzie was young, younger than her, maybe fifteen or so. Her red hair hung in frizzy waves down her back.

  “Guys, thank you for coming at such short notice,” Sampson shouted from the front of the hall; his audience quietened. “And as you can see, the rumours are true. Jaycen Reece is here.”

  What. The. Hell.

  Jaycen shot to her feet and hissed, “What are you doing?”

  “I will inform the others.”

  “Are you here to train us, Jaycen?”

  “Are you here to lead us?”

  She didn’t know who had said that, but she shook her head. “What? No. You can’t tell anyone I’m here.” She shot Sampson an annoyed glance. “I’m meant to be dead.”

  Sampson crossed his arms over his chest. “I told them that. You are safe here. This magic community isn’t affiliated with The Cure.”

  People booed at the mention of their magical governing body. Jaycen twisted and hated being surrounded by people. She pushed her way through the rows and joined Sampson at the front. She thought seriously about punching him then and there. He had set her up.

  “I’m here to hide. Nothing else. There will be no training, no magic using. No nothing. Just us staying a night, and that’s it.”

  The crowd was silent in front of her.

  Noting that she had made her point Jaycen went to get Gemma, so they could leave when a pain shot through her head. She dropped to her knees and grabbed her skull, the pressure inside feeling like it was to explode.

  “Jesus Jaycen. What’s happening, are you okay?” Sampson was on the ground next to fell, his hands hovering, unsure of how to help.