Death (Cursed)

by Tara Brown

  She shivers, "She tastes nasty. Alise you taste sick."

  I laugh.

  Alise coughs again and shakes her head, "What the hell was that for bitch?"

  I narrow my eyes, "Stop now. Neither of us has a hold on this." I look at Blake, "You know me. You know I wouldn’t make this up."

  He nods and crosses his arms over himself, hugging. "Aimes, you need to tell me everything."

  Alise gets up and staggers, "She tried to kill me and that’s all you have to say. You're pathetic. You two are freaking crazy." She storms down the hall.

  Blake tries to go after her but I shake my head, "She gets past things quickly. This is important."

  He clears his throat, "Okay. Start at the beginning."

  I sigh and start where I think it started, with chocolate soymilk.

  By the time I finish the story his face is cold, he looks confused and scared.

  "Do it one more time."

  I blink my eyes a few times and then shut the right eye. I wink my left and think about the other side of the room and then I'm there.

  He takes a deep breath and nods once, "I believe you, but I'm having a hard time with it all. The science doesn’t make sense. You two, why her? I can see you becoming like this but her? What does she do for society that she deserves a super power?"

  I laugh and look back at Giselle, who has fallen asleep on the couch.

  "She will look killer in the leather suit." My laugh is bitter. My heart is breaking. I don’t know what to do and I know Shane is out there, with those others.

  He nods, "Duly noted. Skintight shiny leather is definitely going to be killer on her. So no oddly glowing space rocks or weird visits in the night by strange men and you haven’t been to any test facilities?"

  "No."

  He grins, "Just checking."

  The air warms. The sensation is familiar.

  "There you are." The blond man smiles at me. Behind him is the dark haired girl. She's with a redhead I've never seen before.

  "Blake, stay back. They're weird like us." I speak in a warning tone.

  The redhead cocks her head at me and grins, "Aimee, we need you and Giselle to come with us."

  "How do you know me?"

  She shakes her head, "Long story." She looks past me and waves, "Hey Blake."

  I look back at him. He shakes his head, "This is awesome." He almost chuckles. "It's like Doctor Who."

  "What are you?"

  The dark haired girl with the black eyes looks like she might cry, "We're the Devil's Roses. We need you to come with us."

  I know that name, although I've never heard it before. I take a step toward them and look back at Blake. "Make something up. Tell them Giselle took me prom dress shopping so my parents don’t worry."

  The others laugh.

  I look back confused, "What?"

  The redhead shakes her head, "Prom dress shopping."

  Blake points, "They know you for sure."

  I scowl.

  He puts a hand up, "Just saying."

  "Dorian has gone to speak to both your parents and told them stories. Giselle you're going to be filming a movie and getting paid a lot of money and Aimee you are part of a research grant."

  Blake nods crossing his arms, "That actually sounds good."

  The redhead smiles at him, "We've gotten good at this." She shoots a look at the dark haired girl.

  A dark haired man, more beautiful than anything I have ever seen, is in the room suddenly. He grins at me like he might devour me, "Aimee love, you look well." He has an English accent. It makes his dark hair and eyes even more attractive. He claps his hands together, "Well, parents are all done."

  My face splits into a smile. I swallow and have a hard time focusing.

  Blake crosses the room, "Who are these people?" He whispers into the side of my face.

  I shake my head, "I don’t know. But I know them, somehow."

  "I know. Me too. I totally believe all this and I never believe anything."

  The sad face of the dark haired girl is torturing me.

  I know her, I know I love her. Like a sister.

  The dark haired man saunters toward me. He bends his face and plants a soft warm kiss on my cheek, "I've missed you." My stomach twists. The smell of him is amazing, like incense and lust.

  My breath gets lost in my lungs. He walks past me to Giselle and scoops her up. He winks at me and he's gone. Panic fills me. I turn.

  "Where did he take her?"

  The redhead looks annoyed, "Home." The blond grabs my hand. The air is warm as I see the redhead walking toward Blake.

  "NOOOO!" I shout but it's too late.

  Cool damp air and squishy grass are the first things I notice.

  "Aimes!" A cute guy with green eyes and dark hair runs at me. He scoops me up and kisses my cheek.

  I struggle, "What are you doing? Who are you?"

  His face drops. He raises an eyebrow and looks past me to the blond guy, "Damn. Both of you?"

  The blond guy shrugs and walks up to the house, "I'm out. My father is nearby." He speaks to an old woman standing on the front porch of an old mansion.

  My feet touch the ground again as green eyes puts a hand out, "Ben."

  I scowl, "How do you know me?"

  He puts his hand that’s lingering, waiting for me to shake it, up to my face. "You are one of my best friends."

  "How?"

  "Aimee, come inside. We need to debrief you. Giselle is already inside." The old lady on the porch speaks impatiently.

  My feet move, even though my brain argues with them. I trust her. Her old face and white grey hair reminds me of someone I love.

  My cell rings. I ignore it and walk up the creaky old steps. The old woman takes my hand in hers and pulls me inside.

  The house smells familiar. "I've been here before."

  She looks back at me and nods, "You have. Many times."

  She pulls me to a huge room with many couches and fireplace.

  She sits and begins speaking, "Two years ago, in two thousand and ten, I met you. Dorian, the man who changed you into what you are, was given a task. He was asked by the leader of the Devil's Roses to create one like him. A soul sucker, death deity, angel of death, death dealer, whatever you want to call it. He needed one like himself to end the battle between good and evil on earth."

  I frown, "It's two thousand and ten now. You know that right?"

  She frowns and puts a hand up, "Let me finish my story."

  I nod and she continues, "Dorian was also asked, at the same time, to save you. Aleksander had fallen in love with you and needed you to be spared. The only way to save you was to change you. Dorian was in need of one like himself so he agreed. He agreed on the condition that Aleksander gave up his lifetime of useless wandering and become a Rose. Aleksander agreed and you were changed. Fearing you would begin to understand your own power, Dorian used threats and cruelty to handle you. You ran from him. That is when I met you. I was walking past an alley and I sensed you. You were living on the streets, starving and cold and wet. You had forbidden yourself to kill anyone and thus you were starving. You had swam into the Portland harbor and hidden amongst the homeless. I brought you home here and cared for you. It took months to get you to stop being so crazed and ravenous. Things like you have to eat, often."

  My head spins. I don’t know how to argue with the words. They feel like truths. I can almost picture every moment she has described. I glance at the floor and close my eyes to listen to her voice.

  Chapter Nine

  "Do you believe it all?"

  I look at her and nod, "I don’t know why but I do."

  She bites her plump lip, "Me too."

  I lie back on the bed in our room. "It makes more sense than rocks from space or science labs."

  A knock at the door interrupts us. The handle turns and a guy close to my age walks in.

  "Damn." Giselle whispers. I nod in agreement.

  "Hi."

  He beams
, "Aimee and Giselle. Back from the never lands I see. Did you miss me terribly?"

  I want to say yes. My heart twinges and I have the strangest feelings for him.

  "I'm Sam."

  I frown and mouth the name. "I know you."

  He nods, "Yup. You know us all obviously, but you and I were special to each other. Me and you and Ari."

  "The dark haired girl?"

  He climbs on my bed. His proximity to me is intense. I want to touch him. "What are you?" I ask. I feel like I've been saying it all day.

  He grins, "Nephilim and Siren. My dad was one of the fallen, like Lorri and Dorian."

  I grimace, "They can have babies?"

  He laughs. I glance at Giselle who is batting her eyelashes, "So did you and I, like know each other?"

  He grins, "Yes. Of course. We did Roses training together. You both are my dearest friends."

  Giselle scowls, "Just friends?"

  I laugh. I feel the same way.

  Giselle leans forward and sniffs the air around him, "You guys are all so hot and you all make me feel, well different."

  I turn to her, "Dude."

  "Naughty." Giselle blurts out, ignoring me.

  "Angels all make everyone feel like that. Automatic attraction. Plus I'm part Siren. So yeah, it's not going to help you out at all."

  "It's the strangest feeling. So intense."

  He nods and purses his lips "Aleks has it too. And Marcus."

  I frown, "Who?"

  "The one with the fangs. Marcus. The OG."

  I laugh, "Right. Lydia mentioned him." I glance at Giselle, "When you were a vampire for a short stint."

  Giselle shakes her head, "It feels like fog is in here." She rubs her head.

  I laugh, "I know. Like I can't get past a wall in my mind."

  "Maybe Marcus can get rid of it."

  Sam shakes his head, "No. We don’t want him to. We still have some monsters to collect. Ophelia and her brother Tristan and Phillip and Oliver. We don’t have time for the whole Shane versus Aleks fight." He rolls his eyes.

  I feel a stab in my guts, "What?"

  His face reddens, "Oh nothing. You just dragged out the whole whoever will I pick for about two years."

  I swallow hard, "I dated them both? Shane and the big blond guy who does the flashy thing and makes me feel funny?"

  "Yeah, and believe me it was brutal on everyone. I've died once, Aleks has died once and Ben has died once and Marcus I think once or twice and all of it could have been avoided if you weren’t such a sucky baby."

  His words cut into me.

  "Dude, what the hell?" Giselle growls.

  He puts his hands out, "No. I didn’t mean it like that. It's just better with you focusing on work and not boys."

  I shake my head, "I've never even dated a boy. My first kiss was a near death experience for the boy I like and then some stranger on the beach." I feel sick thinking about it. My face pales, "How is Shane?" His face comes crashing back into my mind.

  His eyes dart, "What? Why? What happened to him?"

  I look at Giselle, "Has anyone said anything to you about him?"

  She shakes her head, "No."

  I climb off the bed and run down the hall and the flights of stairs.

  When I get to the kitchen I see something more horrifying than anything I've ever seen. A dark skinned girl is standing in the kitchen cooking, but I can see through her. Her body is see-through.

  I scream. I blink my eyes, panicking. I close my right eye and wink my left.

  Instantly I'm on the beach. The secret beach. I shake.

  "You okay?"

  I look at Sam and start to cry, "No. No. I'm not okay. I'm never going to be okay."

  He drops to his knees in front of me and hugs me. His warmth and smell are more than I can bear. My hands spark. He shoves me suddenly and I'm across the beach on my back. I groan.

  "You can't do that to me. I could die."

  I moan and sit up. The pain is fading fast. He walks to me and offers me a hand. "This was why they locked you up in the room last time."

  "Why?"

  "You couldn’t control your powers. Let's go back."

  I take his hand and instantly we are back at the old house. The dark haired guy is there. The one with the black eyes and dirty smile. He makes me think things I shouldn’t.

  "Thanks for fetching her, Sam. I'll take over from here." He walks over like he owns the world and offers his arm. I take it. A spark hits my hands when he touches me and then we're in a dark room. I gag from the way we start and stop.

  He slides a hand up into my hair. "You owe me something, Aimee."

  I pull back, "I don’t know you."

  He grabs me and crashes his lips on mine. My body erupts. My hands slide up into him. Sparks fly. He grabs my wrists, laughing in my mouth. "Tsk, tsk, tsk, you naughty thing. If I didn’t know any better I'd think you remembered more than you’re letting on."

  I jerk my hands out of his, "Why? Did I hate you? Did I want you dead?"

  He steps into my face, "You wanted me as much as I wanted you. You were just stubborn."

  I cross my arms, "I'm not stupid. I can feel your effect on me. You all have it." My stomach aches.

  He grins, "You haven’t been eating."

  I shake my head, "I have. I've eaten a sandwich and some eggs and some cereal and a bowl of pasta. I've never eat so much in my life but I'm starved still." Sweat trickles down my face.

  He sighs and grabs my hand. Warm thick air crashes into me like a brick wall. I pull my hands away, "Okay enough. I'm done with the flashing here and there and everywhere. Jesus. Stop."

  He puts a hand out, "Pick."

  I look around at the seedy alleyway and dirty concrete. I step closer to him. He chuckles and puts an arm around me.

  "I'll keep you safe."

  The warmth of his body is comforting. My nose catches something. A smell. It makes my belly rumble. The dark seedy alley moves with something I never noticed before. I notice a figure staggering towards us. He trips. My nostrils flare. A guttural sound rolls through me. I step away from the dark haired guy and immediately notice the sparks in my hands. I snap my fingers making flashes of light flicker in the dark alley. As the staggering man gets near enough, my hand lashes out at his throat. I pull hard and fast. I cry out as the intense heat and seductive warmth fills me in a rush. I drop to my knees next to the dead man who has dropped to the ground in a heap.

  "Oh my god." I moan.

  Chuckles fill the alley behind me, "You really are an animal, Aimee."

  I glance back, "What have you done to me?" My heart is aching but the glorious feeling inside of me is too much. It wins out over my guilt and pain.

  "Made you something so strong, even time can't change you back apparently." He sounds like he is in awe of the horror show in front of him.

  "Where is Shane?" I ask, terrified he has shared the fate of the man on the ground.

  "He's in Portland. He's safe. Stop worrying about him. You have work to do. Did Lydia tell you the entire story? About the things we need to accomplish in the next few months?"

  I nod and look at the ground, "It can't be real. This can't be real. I must have some kind of tumor. I need an MRI and blood work done."

  His fingers bite into my arm and we are standing on the porch of the old mansion. The redhead is standing on the porch, as if waiting for us. "It might be easier to give her back her memories."

  The redhead stands, "Do you remember me?"

  I nod, "Somehow. I know you but not in a memory."

  She shrugs, "Good enough for me. This way is better. No more mopey Aimee."

  I frown, "Hurtful."

  She shrugs, "It's the truth. You were god awful to be around. One minute it was Shane then it was Aleks and then it was Shane and then it was none of them and you were kissing Dorian here in secret and thinking no one knew." She rolls her eyes and storms into the house.

  I glance back, "Dorian. I know you. I know you al
l."

  He grins, "Not quite as well as I would have you know me."