Cursed and Crazed

by Sophia Stafford

  It worked, it actually worked. She pointed the gun at Darius, rushing over to him before he could react, pointing the barrel of her gun to his head before he could even think of reacting. The other guards, in their confusion firing at the illusion and Thornton. He moved fast and jumped behind the plastic chairs as the bullets shot around him.

  “Hold your fire, otherwise I kill him,” Jaycen threatened, pressing the barrel of the gun harder against Darius’s head.

  “Do as she says,” he gritted out, slowly holding up his hands.

  Jaycen leaned up to whisper in her father’s ears. “I could kill you before a spell can even form in your head. So, don’t even think about it.”

  McKenzie just looked at her, a smile playing on his lips. “Clever girl.”

  Both he and Jaycen glanced up at Thornton, both checking if he was okay but both for very different reasons. Thornton stood up, straightening his shirt as he eyed the guards and the guns all pointed at him. But he was fine, that was something.

  “What exactly is your plan right now, Jaycen? You’re surrounded.” McKenzie asked, toying with the blade in his hand.

  “Let everyone here go, including Benedict and Thornton, and you can have me.” She had barely finished her sentence when Thornton protested from the stands.

  “No, Jaycen, that wasn’t the plan.”

  McKenzie smiled. “Do you two want a minute? Maybe to reconvene? Figure what exactly is happening here?”

  “I know what’s happening. You are going to let everyone go, or I will kill him.” She squeezed Darius, making her point clear.

  “She means it, son,” Darius stuttered, feeling the gun against his head. And she did, she would burn this building down to save Benedict, and she wanted them all to know it.

  “I’m not letting Benedict go. I’m not that stupid.” McKenzie shook his head, his attention solely focused on her.

  Thornton, who was still standing in the pews knew this and moved fast, casting a quick spell at the closest guard. Jaycen had no idea what he had done to him, but the guard fell to the floor in a heap, the gun he had just been holding flew through the air and into Thornton’s waiting hands.

  The guards, all of them clearly rattled and all of them focused on Thornton.

  “Should we shoot, sir?” one asked.

  Jaycen shook Darius’s body, trying to remind everyone that she had him. “No. Don’t shoot. I swear I will kill him. Do not push me.”

  McKenzie didn’t take his eyes off Jaycen as the men around him panicked and shifted nervously.

  His smile dropped, but he didn’t look scared as he turned fast and threw a spell at Thornton. A spell he deflected quickly, but it had been close. Too close. The guards around him inched forward.

  Thornton pointed the gun in one hand and held out his other hand, ready to cast a spell at anyone.

  Jaycen shouted out as McKenzie turned back to face her. “We could kill him. I could kill him.”

  “And I could kill Darius. I suppose we’re even and I suppose…”

  Before she could even finish her sentence about killing Darius, McKenzie threw the dagger their way, the blade cutting into her father’s chest.

  Darius wheezed, his body shaking violently and the blade, which now stuck out of his chest lit up as it pulled out his magic, just like it had Jaycen.

  “Oh my God.” He killed him, McKenzie had actually killed his own father.

  “Shoot him,” McKenzie ordered. The guards not waiting to be told again before they sprayed their bullets.

  Thornton cast a spell, blocking most of the shots with one hand while shooting the gun with the other.

  Two guards fell before a bullet eventually hit Thornton, making him fall to the ground the same time Darius did. Jaycen pulled out the blade and jumping in front of a still dazed Benedict, protecting him from McKenzie’s magic the best she could. She was running out of options, she knew it, and he knew it.

  “Thornton? Thornton are you okay?” She screamed, holding out the knife with a shaky hand. She got no reply.

  “It doesn’t sound to me like he is.” Mckenzie folded his arms. “He might need medical help. He could be dying.”

  McKenzie’s two remaining guards edged up the steps to where Thornton had gone down.

  “Stop them. Stop them from going anywhere near him,” she gritted out.

  Mckenzie shook his head. “No.”

  The sound of gunshots scared Jaycen more than she could say. Only when she saw the two guards tumbling down the steps did she breathe easier. Thornton was alive, probably injured but alive.

  McKenzie saw the guards too and screamed in anger as he spun around, shooting spell after spell in Thornton’s direction. When he hit nothing but concrete, he turned back to her again, his face red with anger.

  “I’m going to kill you both so slowly. You will beg me to kill you fast. Do you understand this?”

  “You can do whatever you want to me. But let everyone else go,” she gritted, holding up the knife.

  McKenzie just looked at her. “Or what, Jaycen? What are you really going to do to me?” He shot out a spell, it was mild, Jaycen could feel it. But not because it touched her, but because the blade in her hand shielded her from it, absorbing its attack.

  Both her and McKenzie stared for a minute, both confused and transfixed.

  McKenzie sent another, more powerful spell, a spell in which the blade absorbed.

  “Oh, would you look at that, looks like I’ve got options. Now release them, Benedict, the clear bloods. All of them,” Jaycen gritted out.

  McKenzie stared back at her, long and hard, before he waved his hand and Benedict started to moan behind her.

  “What was that? What have you done?” She didn’t dare look back, too afraid to take her eyes of the man in front of her, Benedict’s groan’s the only thing she could hear.

  “He’s fine. It will just take a while for the spell to wear off. Enough time for me to kill you.” McKenzie took a step forward, giving Jaycen no other option to shuffle backward, her legs hitting Benedict as he slumped over.

  “I told you, you can have me but you must let him go. I’ll give you whatever you want, but you must let Benedict and the rest of these people go. Deal?” She tightened her grip on the knife, pointing the blade at McKenzie.

  “You know I could just kill you, and take your magic, right?” He was taunting her with his smile, taking small steps forward.

  Jaycen should retreat, get as far away from him as possible. But she refused to leave Benedict, so instead of moving she leaned forward. “Maybe. Or maybe I’d dodge all your spells and kill you with my bare hands. We both know I could. You’re not exactly physical.”

  McKenzie shot spell after spell at her, moving closer and closer with each attack. Jaycen fended it off, the blade glowing as it warned off each magical attack. She wasn’t sure how much longer she could endure this, or how much longer the blade could.

  Knowing he was within arm’s reach Jaycen lunged forward, the knife cutting into McKenzie’s cheek, making him stagger back in shock.

  “I said stand back,” she shouted, holding out the knife.

  “You want me to let them go? Fine.” With a wave of his hand, the group of clear bloods started to moan as the magic lifted.

  “Jaycen? What’s happening?”

  Benedict’s tired moan distracted her as she shot a quick glance over her shoulder, just to make sure he was okay.

  McKenzie saw it, using her second of distraction and lunged at her, knocking them both to the ground, his weight pressing down on her as they both fumbled with the blade.

  He tried getting his hands in place for a spell, as Jaycen frantically knocked them out the way, hitting him in between each try as hard as she could.

  Her fighting skills were far superior to his, and now they both knew it. But one wrong move and Jaycen would be dead.

  McKenzie grunted, his body flinching with each blow, his face red with fury as he focused on killing her.

&
nbsp; Then he was gone, his body lifted off hers. Her body reacted by breathing in deep as she shot up, seeing McKenzie had landed not too far away on the floor, looking as astonished as she felt.

  An exhausted Benedict was also sitting up, his hand slowly lowering from the spell he had just performed.

  “No!” Jaycen got to her feet when she saw McKenzie take aim at Benedict, knowing what he was about to do. “Take me. Kill me, not him.” She dropped the blade, letting it fall to the ground as she opened her arms wide, ready for the impact she was sure would come.

  McKenzie smiled as he stood, his hand reached out as he cast the spell.

  A spell that would have hit her had Benedict not ran out, taking the brunt of the clash.

  To her, it all happened in slow motion. She saw him being hit, his already weak body jolting as his eyes caught hers. His was all Jaycen saw as he started to fall. She saw it then, the light start to fade but refused to believe it. Instead, she screamed and tried to catch him as he fell, his weight too much for her.

  “Benedict? No, no, no, no, Benedict,” she screamed as they both landed on the floor in a heap.

  Benedict didn’t reply, he couldn’t, his body stiff and unmoving.

  McKenzie’s quick movements drew Jaycen’s attention away from Benedict and to the knife that McKenzie was running to. Jaycen scrambled on the floor, managing to reach the knife just before her brother could.

  With the blade in her hand and McKenzie close by she pushed up, sliding the blade up and into his thigh. He fell to the ground screaming, his leg spasming as he tried to push away.

  “What did you do to him?” she wailed, pointing back to Benedict as he lay on the floor. “Fix him. Now!”

  McKenzie still held his leg, and for the first time since Jaycen had known him, he looked afraid. “I can’t.”

  “What? Yes, you can. Undo whatever you’ve just done. Undo it before I kill you, and I will kill you!” Her tears were running down her face freely now, her whole body shaking.

  The group of lower magical beings were starting to wake up, their grounding and Jaycen’s heavy breathing were the only sounds in the arena.

  “I can’t fix him, I killed him,” McKenzie shot out while trying to back away.

  Jaycen shook her head violently. “No, you’re lying. Save him! Save him!”

  “It seemed the only way to kill the great Benedict Ravensmith was to put you in danger. Who knew?”

  “Jaycen? Thornton?”

  She looked up as men and women of The Cure flooded the arena, all decked out with guns and flashlights.

  They made it. They’d actually made it.

  “Here! Help us!” she screamed as loud as she could, waving her hands frantically, trying to draw as much attention to herself as she could. She looked over to where McKenzie had been seconds before, her body freezing when she saw that he had disappeared

  “No. No!” she cried out, dropping the blade on the floor. How was this possible? They had been so close to getting him.

  “Jaycen are you okay?” Lilliah was now running towards her. “We’ve found Thornton, he’s been shot, they’re moving him now. Are you hurt?”

  With a shaky hand, she pointed to Benedict. “We need to save him. He’s been hurt, I, I, I think… he’s not moving.” She wiped her face, her whole body in shock.

  “Jaycen?”

  She looked up as Caleb fell to his knees next to Benedict. Jaycen crawled over to them, sobbing.

  “He said he…. McKenzie said he…” She cried, her hand hovering over the face of her teacher. No, this could not be happening. This couldn’t be real.

  “He’s not breathing,” Caleb whispered in shock. “He’s dead.”

  “No, no, no. He can’t be gone. Please no, it should have been me. We need to help him.” She cried, her body shaking violently, the cries of others joining her as they realised what happened and what they had lost.

  An arm circled around her, pulling her body to theirs, Jaycen was too distraught to care who it was.

  “He can’t be gone; no, no he can’t be.”

  Caleb cried out, lowering his head to his brother’s stomach, fisting his shirt in his hands as he screamed. His pain and loss hitting them all. Because Benedict was gone.

  Chapter 33

  The next few days passed in a blur. A blur that just didn’t feel real. But it was, he was really gone.

  Not only was Jaycen and his family mourning, but so was the entire magical community. From the highest violet blood to the clear blood community that Benedict helped save. They had witnessed him fighting for them first-hand, and for the first time started to understand who Benedict was and how important all magic was to him.

  Jaycen hadn’t been there when Suzie had been reunited with her family, but Samantha had passed on the message that her community would never forget Benedict and what he did for them.

  Jaycen had liked that, she loved that there was another way for his memory to be kept alive.

  The new bond between the communities was solidified with The Cure allowing lower born witches and warlocks into the Cure academy, they called it the Ravensmith appeal in honour of Benedict and in honour of Caleb, who, in his brother’s absence, pushed the issue into their parliament.

  Caleb had told Jaycen that Suzie had already applied.

  The bullet that hit Thornton had gone straight through his shoulder, which he had needed surgery for. His parents had been by his side for the first day before other, more pressing matters took over. Thornton had insisted he was fine with it. “That means you can be with me,” he had told Jaycen as he made room for her in his hospital bed. He pulled her close, letting her rest her head on his uninjured chest. “And it means I can be here for you.” And he was there for her, even as she cried the entire night.

  Thornton was let out of the hospital two days later, just in time for Benedict’s funeral.

  The funeral was everything Benedict deserved, with thousands of people coming out to The Cure to show their respects. Magical beings from every background all gathered in one place for the one man that brought them all together.

  His coffin lay on display in The Cure, allowing anyone from every community to come out and say goodbye to the man they were sure was their future, the man that showed them hope.

  Then, on the third day, his coffin was transported from The Cure to the Academy where he would be laid to rest in the one place, he loved the most, a place he built so everyone would feel welcome.

  Jaycen couldn’t attend either ceremony, as most still believed her to be dead, but she got to watch from far enough away as his coffin was lifted from the chapel at The Cure and put onto a waiting funeral car. Caleb and Azrael and Zena both following it out of the building, with the rest of the families following. Thousands lined the streets, throwing red roses in front of the funeral car as it passed, the guards of The Cure standing to attention, showing their respect for the man who was their leader in every way but in name.

  Thornton stayed with Jaycen, holding her as her heart broke.

  When it was all over, and the crowds had lessened, Thornton helped her into the car, and he took them to the academy.

  “Can I be here?” she asked as they pulled into the parking lot, noticing a group standing at the far end of the field.

  “Yeah, it’s fine. All the students have been sent home, no one will see you. Come on.” Thornton took her hand and led the way; it was only when they got closer did Jaycen notice who the group were.

  Caleb was the closest with Iris by his side, followed by Azrael,and Lilliah and Rebecca, Gemma and Sebastian with Benedict’s friend Zena. They all watched as Jaycen and Thornton approached.

  Caleb stepped forward first. “Hey, we thought you’d want to have a chance to say goodbye properly.”

  Jaycen nodded, grateful but unable to speak.

  Caleb smiled a small, sad smile as he turned and led the way through the trees to an opening where Benedict’s crypt sat.

  It was beautiful and si
mple. It was big enough, without being over the top and obnoxious, the light from the moon shining down on it.

  “We thought he’d want to be here rather than the family crypt,” Caleb explained walking side by side with Jaycen as the others fell back.

  She ran her hands over the cold marble, her body shaking as she cried. “I’m so sorry.”

  “No Jaycen. Benedict would have given anything to protect you, anything. You had become so important to him,” Caleb soothed, standing right beside her.

  She wiped her face with her sleeve. “Look at me, I should be the one comforting you. You lost a brother.”

  Caleb looked over at her. “He was both of our family.”

  She smiled, so completely grateful. “I can’t believe he’s gone. He was the best, he was the best out of all of us. The smartest, the most powerful. How can we fight without him? How does this work without him?”

  Caleb snickered, wiping his teary eyes. “He was the best. He was the best because he made himself it. God, he practised day in and day out. It used to drive me mad. Now I get why. We needed him to be that good, the community. Everyone. We needed someone who we could believe in.”

  “And now he’s gone.”

  “And now he leaves behind a school, training the next generation.”

  That thought should have helped her, but it didn’t. The hole in her heart only got wider. “When my mom died, Benedict helped fill that gap. Now I feel so alone again. Alone and empty.”

  “You can feel it, but you’re not alone. You’ve got us.”

  Jaycen looked over her shoulder at everyone waiting for them, she nodded slowly. “I swear I’ll make Benedict proud. I’m going to get my magic back, and I’m going to kill McKenzie with it.”

  “Well, we have the blade now. That’s good, we’ve just got to get the magic out of it somehow,” Caleb noted rubbing the back of his neck. “There was a book that I hoped could help us but it’s gone missing. I thought Benedict might have stolen it from The Cure’s private collection, but I’ve looked through his things, I can’t find it anywhere.”

  A book. Jaycen smiled, shaking her head. Even when he was not here Benedict was still finding ways to help them.