Cursed and Crazed

by Sophia Stafford

  Thornton only made it a few pages before he stopped, a sick feeling building in his stomach. Jaycen had been struggling, suffering, and doing it all in silence. Right in front of him. He didn’t help then, but he could now. Keeping hold of the book Thornton rushed out of the room and the main library, Ignoring the people who tried to stop him on his way.

  The library itself was new and very modern with a large glass wall and glass bookshelves. Thornton hated it. When the library had first opened Thornton had seen a Warlock walk into one of the glass bookshelves, busting his nose open. Thornton hadn’t been in the library since, but he had no choice now.

  A short dark-haired librarian walked around the corner, her step faltering when she saw him. “Oh Mr Krull. How can I help you?”

  “I need everything you have on the original Emka’s line.”

  The woman’s face softened with pity. “Everything we have is over here.”

  She led him to a wall of what looked like floating books. “Help yourself. And I’m sorry for your loss.”

  Thornton waited until she was gone before he started pulling out a bunch of books, keeping the ones that mentioned one particular witch, Isabella Emka. Within ten minutes he had a pile that would keep him busy for at least a week. He went over to the librarian who took note of the books before he left, returning to Benedict’s office where he read and he read, and he read. He read every single word about Isabella Emka that he could find, he was living and breathing this woman, and yet nothing was jumping out at him. Nothing was adding up. But he carried on reading day after day. On the fourth day, Thornton had read them all, and they had all said the same thing, Isabella was a first-generation witch, she helped set up the system of magical order that they still used today. She married her cousin, Reginald Emka, and they had two sons. Isabella caught a fever and died quickly. The information, although mildly interesting, was nothing new. He threw the last book across the floor, cursing as it knocked over another pile of books.

  This was pointless. He picked up the notes he’d been making, his finger tapping on one thought.

  Maybe Jaycen wasn’t seeing anyone at all, maybe the magic within her was making her see memories that weren’t her own?

  It was interesting, and if correct, far more complex than her seeing a ghost. It was possible, but it just didn’t feel right.

  A knock at the door made him sit up straight, covering his notes with another piece of paper as he said, “Come in.”

  The librarian poked her head around the corner, smiling at him. “Hello.”

  “Oh, erm, hi.” Thornton slowly stood; his eyebrows raised in a silent question.

  “I’ve got a bunch of other books about the Emka family that I thought you might want to look at? I could bring them to you…?”

  Thornton twisted his head from side to side. “Oh, thanks, but there really isn’t any point if they’re anything like these. Different books saying the same thing.”

  The woman walked over and picked up the book he’d just thrown. “They’re an interesting family, and really only getting more interesting with Jaycen.” Her head shot up as she made eye contact, “I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything; I shouldn’t have brought her up.”

  Thornton felt uncomfortable, and this woman was just staring at him with pity. One thing he had learned from the past few weeks is that he was a terrible actor. “It’s fine.”

  “Think about it, she’ll be in these books soon.” She lifted one in the air and shook it a little.

  “Yeah, I suppose.” She wasn’t leaving, he didn’t know why but this librarian was not leaving. And as if to solidify that she was staying, she sat down in one of the chairs nearest the window and casually flicked through the book she was holding.

  “Her memory will live on through books and teaching. If they tell it right, of course. They got so much wrong about Isabella its almost criminal.”

  Now that got his attention. “What did they get wrong?”

  She flicked through the book, stopping and pointing to a particular page. “This isn’t how she died. Izabella lost her mind and was burnt by her coven. Someone decided that it didn’t match with their perfect image so they changed it. It’s so stupid.”

  “What?” At first, he wasn’t even sure if he’d heard her right.

  She looked over at him, her face showing the confusion that he was feeling. “Yeah, you didn’t know that?”

  What he wanted to do was scream how would he have known that? Instead, he shook his head slowly, trying to fake a look of mild interest. “Nope. But please, carry on.”

  She shrugged, looking back at her book. “I don’t know that much about it really. I just know this isn’t how she died. There’s a whole section of the library that’s sealed off from the general public. The librarian who I took over from used to break the rules and read from them all the time, she was a bit obsessed with the Emka’s in particular and used to talk about them constantly, it was so annoying. They’ve moved the books now anyway to somewhere more secure. Not like it’s done them any good. Apparently, an old spell book went missing. They’re not making it public because it looks bad on them because only a few people knew how to actually get to the books. It’s a mess.”

  Thornton was sure his mind was exploding. “That’s very interesting.”

  The librarian looked over at him, smiling.

  Thornton straightened with realisation: she wasn’t leaving, and he had places to be. “I should get going.”

  A little put-out, she stood up. “Okay. Well, call me if you need help.”

  Thornton didn’t even see her leave as he thought about who would have access to classified books in The Cure. Grabbing a jacket, he headed to the third floor and knocked on the door.

  “Come in.”

  Thornton peeked his head around the door to his father’s office. “Can we talk for a minute?”

  His father held up a bunch of paperwork. “You’ll have to be quick. Lots to do.”

  Thornton walked in, closing the door behind him. “Do you have access to the classified books in The library?”

  George sighed, tilted back his head as he looked up towards the ceiling. “For the love of all that is holy. Books? That’s what you want to talk to me about? We’re in the middle of an election. We’re being attacked from all sides and you want to talk about are books? That’s all you’ve been doing for the past few days. I need you here, Thornton, I need you present.”

  Thornton stared back at his father. “So you don’t have access?”

  “I have access to everything in this building.” George thought on what his son was asking for a minute. “All you’ve been doing recently is reading, studying. Why?”

  “I’ve been looking into Jaycen’s family. It’s helping me grieve.”

  Thornton could see his father’s mind working, thinking of what he could extract out of his son. “I could get you any book that you need. But you need to do something for me, something for the family.”

  And there it was. “What?”

  “We’re going to hold a rally, for my campaign. I want you there.”

  “Done. Just bring me any of the books about the earlier Emka family.” Thornton was about to leave when his father spoke, stopping him.

  “I know you’re mourning, son. But maybe it’s time to get out here, go on a date. It might help.”

  Thornton’s hand tightened on the door handle. “It’s been a week and a half since she…. since she went.”

  “Fine. It was just an idea.”

  A day and a half later Thornton stood backstage of his father’s rally, his speech already written for him and his blue suit neatly pressed. The noise from the crowd bouncing around the stadium they were in, another politician warming them up for the main event.

  “You look tired.” Benedict came over to stand next to him, looking as fresh as ever.

  “Thanks, I didn’t know you were back. I’ve been staying up late reading. You know Jaycen’s ancestor, Isabella? She was
burnt at the stake. Did you know that? She lost her mind.”

  Benedict thought on it for a minute. “I thought she died in her bed?”

  “Nope. She was burnt because she lost her mind. She went crazy.” The crowd outside cheered as the speaker ran off stage and music blared out. Thornton was next.

  “How do you know this?”

  Someone called Benedict over then, a woman in a black trouser suit.

  “For the love of… I’ll be right back.” Benedict walked away as a voice announced that Thornton would be the next speaker, the crowd went wild, and Thornton hated it all that little bit more.

  A phone ringing broke him out of his thoughts, it wasn’t his phone, but he answered anyway.

  “Hello.”

  “Hi, Thorn. I need to speak to Benedict.”

  Everything stopped, the noise from outside disappeared, the only other thing that now existed was her voice.

  “Jay… What? Why are you calling this phone?” Something was wrong, his whole body tense, knowing that Jaycen needed help.

  “I know. But I have no other choice, I really need to speak to him.”

  “Okay.”

  Thornton rushed over, getting Benedict’s attention.

  “It’s Jaycen.”

  Benedict’s eyes hardened as he took the phone, his head bent, and his voice hushed as he moved away from listening ears.

  Thornton, however, tried his best to listen in on the conversation, trying to gauge what was happening.

  “Is she okay? What’s happening?”

  Benedict threw him an annoyed glance, turning his back on him as he continued to speak. The urgency of his tone worrying Thornton more than anything.

  Jaycen was hiding from a world that wanted her dead, and instead of being by her side, protecting her, he was at a political rally.

  His shoulder slumped as if another weight had been put on them. A weight that he’s lived with his entire life, a weight that was only getting worse.

  How many times must he do this? How many times must he push aside his own needs for the sake of his family?

  The Krull name was being chanted just yards away, but all he could think about was the voice on the other end of the phone.

  That was when Thornton realised, he couldn’t wait on the sidelines anymore while Jaycen was miles and miles away in danger.

  So while she and Benedict spoke, Thornton got out his phone and cast his spell. The maps on the screen flickering until it landed on one destination.

  He was out the door as the announcer called him to the stage.

  Chapter 26

  “It isn’t much but it’ll do for you both for tonight. I’ve got a few more quilts if you want them?” Samantha asked, leaning against the doorway of her spare bedroom as Jaycen and Gemma set up their makeshift beds for the night.

  “No this is great, honestly.” Gemma eased her way into the bed for the night, which was basically a bunch of quilts stacked on each other in a small box room filled with clothes and a sewing machine. Sampson lived with his mom and sister in a four-bed wooden house a few streets down from the center they had been at earlier. It was old but clean. The furniture downstairs was mismatched, the white paint on the walls not really white anymore. Pictures of family covered almost every wall, and if they weren’t on the wall they were covering every surface possible.

  “Yeah, mom likes photos,” Sampson said, clearly embarrassed when he saw her looking at them.

  “I can see that.” She could also see that the house was filled with memories, filled with soul. And she loved that.

  “Shout if you need anything.” Samantha smiled, closing the door as much but the carpet stopping her from closing it fully.

  Gemma snuggled in the quilt and turned on her side. “So, what did Benedict say? Was he mad?”

  Turning out the light Jaycen tiptoed to their bed, cursing when she hit her foot on a chair and fell onto the sheet. “Goddamn…”

  She kicked the sheet before pulling it over herself and faced Gemma. “Honestly, no. It was surprising, but he was all business. But I told him everything.” And then she went on to tell Gemma everything about Darius and McKenzie, about them knowing she was alive and them daring her to come out, threatening her with innocent lives.

  “So tomorrow we take Benedict’s advice and leave?” Gemma yawned, covering her mouth with her hand.

  “Yeah, tomorrow we leave.”

  Jaycen closed her eyes,

  What felt like instantly Isabella’s face flashed in Jaycen’s mind. She jolted forward, grabbing her by the top of her arms and hissed in her face. “Look for me and you’ll find me. But you’re not looking.”

  Jaycen jolted awake, her eyes stinging in the sunlight.

  “Oh my. . .” How could it be morning already? She felt as if she’d just closed her eyes.

  Gemma was sat up and dressed and trying to plait her hair. “You were sleeping like the dead. I tried waking you but now it’s nine, the whole family is up.”

  “Great.” Jaycen got up too, tinges of pain shooting from the top of her arms dressing in the clothes she wore the day before and ran her fingers through her hair. Why she didn’t know, the only guy she wanted to impress was too far away to care what she looked like.

  “The top of your arms are red as heck, did you bang them yesterday?” Gemma stood too, her hair a complete mess. Braids were not her forte.

  She shook her head, still staring at the mess on top of her head. What had she done? It looked like a knot.

  “How does it look? Good?” She twisted her head, giving Jaycen a better look.

  “No. I’m sorry but no, and I can’t let you go out like that, come here.” She burst out laughing as she tried to unpick the mess Gemma had created.

  “You’re hurting me.” She had laughed as Jaycen pulled her hair.

  Jaycen stepped back and smiled. “You need to work on your braids because that was terrible. Come on.”

  They went downstairs where they could hear voices, a lot of voices.

  “There you are. You didn’t seem like the sleep-in sort. You kind of strike me as up and ready kind of gal,” Sampson spoke first, as he leaned against the kitchen counter, a coffee cup in hand.

  His mother was sat down with his sister and the same man who loaned her the phone yesterday.

  “Well, I’m full of surprises.” Jaycen eyed the coffee cup, the smell was a little piece of heaven. They did not value coffee in Scotland like they did in America. In the whole time they had been there she hadn’t had one cup.

  “Help yourselves.” Samantha nodded her head towards the machine.

  Suzie snorted. “Like she isn’t used to doing that already.”

  Ignoring her jibe, because it really was just too early, Jaycen made herself and Gemma a large cup of coffee before going to stand next to Sampson.

  “Deekan’s here to take you to our training center. They all want to see you.” Sampson lifted his eyebrows and smiled.

  Jaycen sipped her coffee silently because they were all going to be very disappointed if they’d come for a magic show.

  “We have to leave today,” Jaycen said instead.

  “But this has been great, thank you for the room and the coffee and stuff.” Gemma gulped down her drink then helped herself to another cup.

  Deekan, didn’t look impressed. “You can’t just stay for the morning? A bit of a demonstration maybe?”

  “No. I’ve been told to keep moving. It’s not safe for me to stay here. It’s not safe for me or you guys.”

  Gemma was nodding, Sampson was the only one that didn’t look confused, he looked annoyed.

  Suzie, however, laughed. “All those stories about you being the strongest we’ve got, clearly they were all lies.”

  What she wanted to do was wipe the smile of Suzie’s face, instead, she said, “The Cure are going to put out a message. Telling everyone to stay indoors. You need to listen to them.”

  “Why what’s happening? Is it Darius? We’ve heard
about your father girlie, even out here,” Deecan asked, pushing away his empty cup.

  “Yeah. He’s after me, and he’s willing to kill anyone who gets in his way.”

  “Put on the radio Sam. There might already be a message up.”

  Sampson did as his voice asked, and Benedict’s voice filled the room as they caught the end of his message.

  “We are doing all we can, but make no mistake, our community is under attack. We must band together, stay indoors. If you must leave, do it in groups, never alone. Darius is dangerous.”

  A female, robotic voice spoke to them. “This is a mandatory stay at home order. Anyone breaking these rules are not only risking their own lives but the lives of their loved ones. This is a mandatory, stay at home order….”

  Suzie snorted, her face scrunched up in disgust, “Like he actually cares about us.”

  And that was all Jaycen needed. “Benedict cares about everyone, that right there is him trying to save you all, in case you were confused.”

  “Hey, hey. We will not have raised voices in my kitchen, not in my house. Do you hear me?” Samantha stood up, her pointer finger bouncing between Jaycen and her daughter.

  Jaycen backed down with a nod.

  “Well, I’m a little confused, girlie, because Benedict just then was telling us all to stay in. The two of you leaving is not part of his plan,” Deacon said thoughtfully, rubbing his chin.

  “I spoke to him yesterday, the call was necessary, but it also could lead Darius straight to me. None of you can go back to the hall, you have just got to listen to what they tell you on the radio. Stay safe and stay indoors.”

  Deacon shrugged. “We only meet you there once a week so that’s fine, I’ll still put out the word though. My guess is most of the people from last would have scattered anyway. Gone to meet the others.”

  “What others?” Before Deacon could answer Jaycen’s question, Samantha spoke.

  “Can you not stay for the morning? Our group were very much looking forward to meeting you.” She collected the mugs from the table and moved to the sink. “They all want to learn a thing or two.”