Cursed

by Owens, Wendy

  The two walked on a few moments in silence as Gabe tried to figure out what exactly Sophie meant.

  “He has been so helpful through all of this.” Sophie added.

  “What? Who has?” Gabe asked anxiously.

  “Uri. He has been there with answers to all my questions and he has been so patient with me.” Sophie continued.

  Gabe felt his face turn red with heat. The admiration was clear in Sophie’s voice. He had been warned not to allow Sophie to know about their relationship, told she needed time to heal. He feared he in fact had been betrayed and all along Uri wanted a second chance at Sophie. He knew Uri had feelings for Sophie before he had arrived. Perhaps this was the perfect opportunity.

  “What do you think?” Sophie asked.

  Gabe realized he had heard nothing else Sophie had said after her gushing about Uri. “I’m sorry, what do I think about what?”

  “Dina told me about the Fall Festival Dance. I was going to ask Uri, you seem to be his close friend, what do you think? Do you think he would say yes?” Sophie asked, her beautiful big blue eyes peering up at him.

  Her blue eyes still sparkled like he remembered. He wanted to cup her face and kiss her until she remembered that she loved him, not Uri. Gabe didn’t know what to say, he didn’t want to traumatize Sophie but he couldn’t let her fall in love with Uri. They were meant to be together. Everything he had done was so they could be together.

  “Sophie, I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Gabe hoped that would be the end of it. She would drop the infatuation.

  “Why?” She prodded with a wounded stare.

  “Ummm…” Gabe desperately tried to think of a reason without telling her that she couldn’t ask Uri out because they were in love with one another. “I’m pretty sure Uri has started to date a girl at another manor, like this one.” The words just fell out of his mouth.

  “Oh… Really?” Sophie looked away, clearly disappointed by the news. “He hasn’t said anything about a girlfriend to me.”

  “Well, it’s a newer relationship, but seems pretty hot and heavy.” Gabe emphasized.

  “What’s her name?” Sophie asked, consumed by the idea of this other girl.

  “Artis.” Gabe didn’t hesitate, he needed Sophie to drop this infatuation and he knew Uri did like the girl, so perhaps in a way he wasn’t actually lying to Sophie. At least that’s what he told himself.

  “She sounds exotic.”

  “I don’t know, I suppose,” Gabe agreed, trying to think of any way to change the topic.

  “You know, you were the one that first showed me images of what we were up against here.” Gabe said.

  “I was?” Sophie asked, clearly still distracted by thoughts of Uri’s love interest.

  “Yeah, we spent a lot of time alone together.” Gabe said, trying to hint at the depth of their relationship without actually saying it. “You took me to the storage room under the library and showed me these amazing crystals. Is that something you would like to see?”

  “Gabe, I’m sorry,” Sophie started. “I am not feeling very well. Would you mind terribly if we continued this another time? I think I prefer to just go back to my room and lie down.”

  “Of course, I’ll walk you to your room.” Gabe quickly replied, frustrated by their lack of connection.

  “No, no,” Sophie quickly replied. “That’s alright, I prefer to go alone.”

  “Oh, alright.” Gabe added. “I’ll check on you later then.”

  “That won’t be necessary.” Sophie added. “It was nice meeting you. Perhaps we’ll see each other around.”

  All Gabe could do was watch while Sophie walked away from him. Her thoughts were clearly on Uri, no idea that not so long ago it was he that she loved so dearly. He resisted the urge to run after her and tell her she loved him, not Uri. To tell her how he had gone half way around the world to save her life. To tell her all her memories were gone because he had forced Michael to wipe her against his better judgment.

  As Sophie walked out of sight, the desperation and guilt quickly gave way to anger. Uri couldn’t be innocent in all this. He didn’t believe she just fell in love with someone besides him without some sort of prompting. He needed to find Uri and now. He had questions that needed answered.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  Gabe could hear popping in his head as he rushed towards Michael’s office. All sounds had given way to that and a dull pulsing white noise. His skin was hot and red as if his blood were actually boiling. He kept hearing Sophie’s words over and over in his head.

  ‘Uri really had a lot of faith in me. He has been so helpful through all of this. Dina told me about the Fall Festival Dance. I was going to ask Uri, you seem to be his close friend, what do you think? Do you think he would say yes?’

  Approaching Michael’s office, Gabe raised his fist high into the air, banging vigorously on the door. “Uri, are you in there?” he yelled, no attempt to control his volume.

  Gabe heard muffled voices inside and then heavy footsteps making their way to the door.

  “Gabe,” Michael said, speaking out. “What is the meaning of this?”

  Gabe pushed past his leader, no thought of how it made him appear in his eyes. “Haim said Uri had come to see you. Is he here? That yellow bellied coward.”

  “Umm… Excuse me?” Uri asked from the far side of the room.

  Catching site of his so call friend who had captured the attention of Sophie, Gabe became overwhelmed with rage and rushed full speed, head down, at Uri.

  “What the hell?” Uri said dodging Gabe’s attack and shuffling behind a chair for protection.

  “Gabe!” Michael bellowed. “Stop this now!”

  Gabe had never heard Michael so stern and immediately halted, looking over at his leader who was rushing towards him.

  “What has gotten into you?” Michael demanded.

  “Maybe you should be asking Uri why he is trying to steal my girlfriend.” Gabe shouted.

  “What? Are you daft?” Uri spat, overwhelmed by the accusation.

  “I was just with her, Uri! All she could do was talk about you.” Gabe argued.

  “Well, can you blame her? I do have quite a sparkling personality.” Uri laughed, glancing over at Michael who simply shook his head no in a disapproving manor at the joke.

  “You think this is funny? You think destroying my life is some kind of joke?” Gabe felt himself becoming angrier by the moment. “She just told me she was thinking about asking you to the fall festival dance.”

  “Really?” Uri asked in disbelief.

  “What’s your game?” Gabe demanded.

  “Look, Gabe, I didn’t do anything. I have only been helping Sophie understand who the Guardians are and how things around the manor work.” Uri insisted.

  “Yeah, I bet!” Gabe said lunging at Uri again.

  “Gabe!” Michael bellowed. “If Uri says he didn’t intend for this to happen then I believe him and you should too. The two of you are friends!”

  “Yeah man,” Uri continued. “No lies! In all seriousness, I would never do that to you.”

  “I know you were interested in her before I came here.” Gabe argued.

  “Yeah, before you came here.” Uri reiterated. “But you did come and the two of you hooked up. That took Sophie out of the game for me.”

  Though Gabe still felt frustrated and overwhelmed by the situation, he could see in Uri’s eyes that he meant the words he spoke. He wanted to punch something with all of his might, but couldn’t justify it being Uri.

  With a huff, Gabe walked over to the sofa and plopped down.

  “Are you going to be alright?” Uri inquired.

  “I don’t know. What am I going to do?” Gabe muttered, hopelessness consuming his voice.

  “Gabe, this is going to take time, you have to be patient.” Michael assured the young boy.

  “Time, Michael? She doesn’t even see me. Hell, now she has fallen in love with my best friend. How can I possibly be
patient?” Gabe groaned.

  “She will come around, I’m sure of it. And I would hardly say she’s in love with me.” Uri added.

  “It just feels so hopeless. I wish I could say to her ‘Sophie, I am in love with you and you are in love with me.’ And we would be back to the way things were.”

  “What?” Sophie’s small voice gasped from the doorway. As the three had been talking, no one noticed Sophie had quietly entered the room in search of Michael.

  “Sophie!” Gabe exclaimed hopping to his feet. “I can explain.”

  “No! Stay away from me!” Sophie cried running from the room.

  Gabe turned to give chase but Michael grabbed his arm, holding him back. “No Gabe, let her go.”

  “But—” Gabe began.

  “You will have time to talk to her; right now she needs to be alone with it. Alright? Patience. We can’t rush her through this process.” Michael said reassuring his young student.

  Gabe looked at the door, though he wanted to chase after her he knew his teacher was probably right and chose to wait. Every fiber of him wanted to give chase, but for now he would give patience a try for the sake of him and Sophie.

  “I don’t understand why this is so hard.” Gabe muttered.

  “What?” Michael asked, a confused look in his eyes.

  “If Sophie and I are destined to be, then why has it been so hard for her to fall in love with me again?” Gabe inquired.

  Michael sighed, saddened by the state of his student’s heart. “Gabe, it’s just like you and your destiny. You may be the protector of the prophet, but it is your choice to actually fulfill it.”

  “Are you telling me that even if Sophie is my soul mate we may still not end up together?” The question slipped out of Gabe’s deflated body.

  “Would you want her to love you if it wasn’t of her own free will?” Michael posed.

  Gabe thought on his mentor’s words for a moment. “I suppose not.”

  “Gabe, she loved you very much. I think it comes down to you needing to be patient and give her time. I am sure she will come around.” Michael reassured the boy.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  “Have you seen her today?” Gabe asked Dina, eagerly waiting for a sliver of news about Sophie.

  “Not yet…” Dina hesitated, it was clear to Gabe that something was on her mind that she was reluctant to share.

  “Is something wrong?” Gabe prodded.

  Dina peered over her shoulder as if to make sure no one was listening. In a low voice she muttered, “Honestly, I’m a little worried about her.”

  Gabe leaned forward, unsure why they were whispering, “I think we are all worried about her.”

  Dina quickly stiffened, realizing she had probably already said more than she should.

  Sensing she may be hiding something, Gabe continued to push. “Is there something you want to tell me about?”

  Dina stood silent, simply shaking her head and glancing down at the floor to hide her telling eyes.

  “It has been over a week since she overheard Michael, Uri, and I talking in his office about our relationship. Michael told me to give her space so I did, but things aren’t getting better. Now, as soon as she sees me she turns and runs the other way. I can’t even get close enough to talk to her if I wanted to.” Gabe groaned.

  “I think she just needs time, Gabe.” Dina reassured her friend, wishing she herself could avoid this exact conversation.

  “Yeah, that’s what Michael keeps telling me, but I am starting to think he has no idea what he is talking about.” Gabe rebutted, tired of being told the same thing by everyone around him.

  Dina shifted uneasily where she stood, glancing around again.

  “Are you looking for someone?” Gabe questioned, aggravated.

  “No!” Dina exclaimed a bit too quickly.

  “Dina?” Gabe urged his friend to reveal her secrets.

  “Umm…” she began, still hesitant if she should be telling Gabe this information. “I guess I’m… Well… I am actually hiding from Sophie.”

  “What? Why on earth would you be hiding from her?”

  “She keeps pressing me about her mother. It’s like every time we are together she is asking me if I have heard when her mom is coming for a visit or if she could possibly call her. I keep telling her she has to talk to Michael about it, but she seems to be avoiding Michael like the plague as well.” Dina explained.

  “I’m not really surprised, after her running out of his office the other day like she did, that she is avoiding him. She must be embarrassed. I wish she hadn’t heard all of that.” Gabe confessed.

  “I get that, but I don’t know what else I can possibly say to her when she asks now.” Dina confided.

  “I know you don’t want to hear this, but someone is going to have to tell her about her mom sooner or later.” Gabe stated flatly. “I think sooner the better. The longer we wait, the less she will trust any of us when she does find out.”

  “Not only that, but I’ve run out of excuses. I really don’t know what else to say. Do you know how hard it is to change the subject when she brings her mom up about every five minutes? Before Michael left I told him how bad it has gotten and he said he would talk to her when he returned, but I’m not sure how much longer I can keep this up.” Dina worried.

  “Wait, what? Where did Michael go?” Gabe was surprised to find out he would leave the manor with the state Sophie was in.

  “Oh, you haven’t heard? The council has requested his presence for something.” Dina disclosed.

  Gabe’s mind began racing, could it be about Sophie and the wipe? Perhaps they wanted to talk to him about the tracking device Michael had found inside Gabe’s stomach, or worse, what if Baal was coming? “Do you know why they needed to see him?”

  “Nope, it was kind of sudden though. Seems odd to me.” Dina replied.

  “Hmmm…” Gabe began. “I guess we’ll find out when he returns.”

  “Yeah, I guess.”

  Gabe’s mind shifted back to Sophie. He hadn’t seen much of Uri lately either. Though he hated admitting it, Uri’s lack of daily presence in his life had Gabe’s mind wondering about Sophie’s ill placed crush. He would have awful daydreams about the two of them stealing off together for some alone time.

  “So… I know this sounds kind of crazy, but what is going on with Sophie’s infatuation with Uri? I feel silly even asking the question.” Gabe chuckled, trying to mask his true fear.

  “I don’t know. She was pretty embarrassed I think when she overheard everything in Michael’s office. She really doesn’t talk about it a lot. She pretty much pesters me about her mom until she gets that I won’t tell her anything and then she wants to be alone. She spends a ton of time walking through the cleric’s gardens.” Dina confided.

  Gabe felt somewhat warm about the idea that Sophie was drawn to the place that had meant so much to them.

  “Oh yeah,” Dina chimed. “Raimie told me he went out with the scouts today and they found Baal’s troops trail, it seems to be headed away from Rampart. Looks like they’ve lost your scent. I suppose that’s good news.”

  “Yeah, kind of hard to get excited when all I can do is worry about Sophie though.” Gabe replied. He remembered Michael’s sudden trip to the council. It was clearly not about Baal finding him. He again wondered if it might be about the memory wipe.

  “I know sweetie, hang in there.” Dina said, patting Gabe on the back.

  Gabe felt overwhelmed by the frustration of it all. He turned away from his friend and, shoving his fist into the nearby wall, let out a moan. It wasn’t Dina’s fault, he knew that and he wasn’t angry with her. He wanted someone to understand where he was coming from. If just one person would try and be there for him, perhaps this would be more bearable.

  “Gabe,” Dina gasped, stunned by his behavior. “What has gotten into you?”

  Gabe turned and thrusting his back against the wall, slid to the floor in a huff. Dina, folding her le
gs, kneeled next to him and placed a delicate hand on his arm.

  “Are you alright?” Dina could finally see the toll all of this was taking on Gabe.

  Gabe ran his fingers through his hair, resting his elbows on his knees. His face had flushed red in his anguish. He couldn’t put into words the despair he felt. Feeling hopeless, he simply shrugged in response.

  “Come on, talk to me. Don’t shut down.” Dina insisted.

  “I don’t know how much longer I can do this, Dina. Nobody talks to me, I feel so alone.”

  “We’ll talk to you sweetie.” Dina reassured her friend who was now trembling.

  “I can’t talk to anyone about Sophie; it’s always the same thing. Everyone tells me to be patient, give her time. I feel so alone without her. Think if it were you and Raimie.” Gabe proposed without looking at Dina.

  Dina sat silent, her hand falling from his arm. Gabe wondered if he had offended her with his words. He had never thought of himself as a needy person, but perhaps he had devolved into one. He was ashamed he’d unraveled into the emotional heap he was.

  Dina slowly stood, still silent. When Gabe at last mustered the courage to look up at his friend he saw her hand extended towards him, open palm. Instinctively, he reached up and took hold. Dina pulled him into a standing position and cupped her other hand over the top of his.

  She waited for him to look into her eyes and then whispered with a slight smile, “The training area on the cliff side. Go get her.”

  Gabe’s mouth dropped open. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. At last a person was not telling him to wait, to be patient and give Sophie time. Dina understood, finally. Being deprived of the person you love is like being deprived of oxygen.

  Gabe leapt forward and embraced Dina, “Thank you!”

  With a swift pat on his back, Dina urged Gabe not to waste anymore time. “I know how you feel, Gabe. Now go tell Sophie!”

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  As Gabe left Dina’s side, he busted out into a full speed sprint. His feet burned from the intensity with which they hit the earth. If he could fly there, he would have. All he wanted to do was reach Sophie and tell her everything. She needed to know that not only was he in love with her, but before all of this happened she had been in love with him as well. Their relationship was destined according to the Oracle.