Cursefell

by C. V. Dreesman

  CURSEFELL

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Walking down the streets of my town with the quiet buzz that always filled semester's end felt odd. It was weird to see everyone I had known for the past year scurrying around the salt scrubbed faded buildings and scuffed stone sidewalks as they went along like everything was normal. I guess for them their lives had not changed. As much as I wanted to I couldn't look at my life that way anymore. Just being amongst them reminded me of that fact. If my condition hadn't sunk in yet, and it had not, not fully, this was when it became real to me.

  The itch that had been crawling up my legs the moment I had climbed out of our car intensified the longer I stayed there. It rolled over the sloping contour of my hips even as I tried to push it from my mind. But standing there, watching all the forms moving in what looked to me now as their ugly ungraceful angles, I could think of nothing more but how beautiful they would be if I could capture them in sculpture. The youthful awkwardness shed in the surety of stone. The charms they held within would be forever reflected and unweathered by time's withering touch. What then is fifteen minutes spent on foolish fame compared to eternal remembrance carved in marbled stone, I mused.

  I twirled the trailing strands from my hair between long fingers as the desire fermented in my mind's eye. The vision showed me where best to place these odes to humanity once the creations were done. The design must be as fair as the statues themselves.

  "Thera."

  A warm touch from Galead's hand entangled my fingers in mid twirl, bringing me back to myself. They were my classmates and neighbors again instead of blocks to be chipped and hammered into clean lines and strong features. I felt weak and ashamed.

  "I can't be here," I told him.

  "You can. You are stronger than your blood alone," he told me. "I believe in you."

  "I was just thinking about turning them. I think I was going to do it."

  "It would have already happened if you had lost control. Just focus, as Isabel taught you. It will be fine," he promised, squeezing my hand as I separated it from my hair.

  Despite Galead's faith in me, doubts did their best to eat away at the idea that self-control was within my ability. Isabel had warned me that my curse could only be guided to a certain point. The magic that accursed Medusa, which flowed through our line from her to me, would demand that my new born abilities be used no matter if I wanted to or not.

  She said the curse controlled my life as long as it existed. She said it would make me a monster one day. She said I had no choice.

  But I did. And I would make mine knowing that every choice carries a consequence.

  "Thera!" an excited voice exclaimed.

  Lily ran up, her arms catching me around the middle, wrapping me in a fierce hug. Face buried in her hair, I couldn't help laughing as I hugged her back. I feared to let go.

  "Where have you been?" she chided.

  "Mom and I had to go out of town for a few days." Keep it simple, the lies I would need to tell my friends, silver tongued Tristan had advised.

  "You couldn't answer a text?" she asked, breaking our embrace. I couldn't help but feel it was a metaphor for the distance my lies were sure to cause to grow between us. They were necessary, however, if my friends were to be kept safe.

  "Sorry, Lil. I'm really sorry."

  "You better be! I was worried sick." She threw a hooded glance at my companion, whispering in my ear, "It's about your boyfriend. We need to talk."

  "Okay," I mouthed before saying out loud, "Well I'm back now. There's nothing to worry about."

  "I guess not. You, blue eyes, couldn't you have let me know?"

  Galead stood silently, just shrugging his shoulders, which had Lily responding with that stubborn fist on her hips stance she used whenever she felt like being standoffish. That would lead to trouble, the kind I didn't need right now, if I didn't diffuse the situation.

  "I didn't tell him either." I hoped that would get her attention away from him and back on me. "Don't be angry, Lil. It was important for my mom."

  "I'm not angry. I was just worried about you."

  I hugged her again, wanting to cry, thankful for such a good friend. I had missed her, I realized, since that last night she and Evony and Anna and I had been shopping. I had missed them all. Maybe there was still hope for me.

  "But you, buster," she pointed a finger at Galead, "are on my watch list."

  "Lily!"

  "It's alright," Galead said. "She's just looking out for you. Lily, I promise I will always be looking out for Thera too."

  "Yeah? Well, okay then. You'll have to deal with me if you break your word. Understand?" he nodded. "Good. I have got to get Anna and Evony. Will you hold a table for us at the Lair, Thera?"

  It wasn't really a question if you listened to Lily's tone, so I agreed. It was a good idea. School had just finished and a lot of students would be spending the rest of the day downtown, celebrating. Leary's Lair, the only pizza place in town, was going to be busy. If I could make it through the rest of the day without turning anyone into a living statue then I could certainly reward myself with a slice of pineapple pepperoni and some time with my friends. Lily smiled brightly after I promised to wait for them and dashed down the street to gather up our friends.

  "Feisty," Galead said, watching her dance between the crowd, ducking and dodging and slipping past careless feet and elbows before turning a corner.

  "She's a good friend."

  He grunted.

  "And so are you," I told him.

  I felt him stiffen all the way to the tight grin he showed me. Something had displeased him and put him on the defensive. I could only wonder what when we parted, he to run an errand, I to save a table at Leary's for everyone, where he would meet back up with us.

  That question was distraction enough to almost get me to the pizza parlor without feeling the itch running under my skin. As much as I tried to ignore it though, the prickling returned as fiery stabs by the time I had secured our table. My eyes watered with the pain I was holding in. I wanted so badly to lift my eyes from the menu over which letters rippled and lost their place with each jarring jolt to my body, but I feared what would happen if I did. The fight between my new nature and my old one raged as I waited.

  I knew the restaurant well. Normally I would enjoy the wood beams, the nooks and crannies and the loft seating the architecture held, and all the shields and arms inspired by the Dark Ages hanging on the walls. The owner was a history buff, specifically ancient history, like me. So much so that he modeled the inside of his pizzeria after the old crossroad taverns. But I barely noticed it this time.

  Spacious as Leary's was, it was still packed as I sat there with my head bowed and alone. The noise of boisterous students happy to be free of school for a few weeks roiled all around me. The heavy footsteps of exhausted, bustling waitresses thundered through my head. The urge to give in to the nature of my blood tested me like no final ever had before. It went against everything I had been. Medusa's curse called on me through the ages that had been to the present, and would run its course to any future generation I might make. Mine was the cup from which the curse would flow as long as there was a line waiting to drink.

  Day was counting down along with my strength to ignore the need to unleash the curse. With the pressure mounting I knew I had to get away from the crowd. Leaving my book bag on the chair beside me, I practically sprinted into the restroom. It was empty, thankfully. Slamming the last stall door I dropped my head between shaky legs, focusing on just breathing to calm the thundering beats in my chest. I was very close to passing out.

  By the time I had calmed myself enough to sit up without dizziness accompanying even the slightest movement and the fear of what might happen haunting each step, the lights began to flicker. Voices were raised loudly outside the door. The words were muffled and distorted, sounding like the nattering of clicking bugs. Then the lights went out.

  I gave it a few minutes, but everything stayed dark.
I could hear my classmates being herded out of the building by a few adult voices raised over the sudden deluge of drumming rain pelting the roof. It was sudden and sounded heavy. The snap of lightning showed through the small rectangle of glass above the stall I was in. It was followed almost simultaneously with the loudest thunder I had ever heard. The wooden boards that made up the wall rattled against my back. I thought the whole building would collapse.

  Most of the students would be gone now I reasoned. I resolved to wait out the storm in the bathroom, or at least for awhile, when my cell trilled with a text alert.

  It was Galead wondering where I was. I tapped in the letters telling him where but not why. My fingers were unsteady and it took three attempts to get it right. He said he would be there in a minute, he was across the street. The whole town was down, no electricity with the unexpected storm, he told me. Very bad outside, stay put. I texted him that I would until he was here.

  I came out from the stall, feeling vulnerable in the small space when another flash of lightning and boom of thunder struck. The wind and rain lashed the area unabated, sounding as if it would not ever end. If my father could see me now I imagine he would say something funny about this. Clowns had always been the scariest thing in the world to me. Lightning storms, close ones, were also on that list. Reaching out a shaky hand I reached into the dark to feel my way around. The cold porcelain sink felt solid under my touch, an anchor to hold up against the slowly rising fear. The water from the faucet was even colder as I splashed it on my face.

  "Nathera. Nathera," a voice cawed through the restaurant. "Your table is ready."

  What now? That was not Galead's voice. Nor the voice of anyone I recognized. And who would call me by my full name but my mother?

  The voice was followed by the sound of a scream. It had come from outside the window, distant but distinct even through the raging storm coming from the ferocious sky. Another shout, brave at first then faded to pleading, this time from inside Leary's. I swear my heart was skipping beats as it pounded.

  I cracked open the restroom door. The hallway was dark and, as far as I could tell, empty. Pressing my back to the wall, I crept along it as silently as I could. The strange light thumps followed by a scrabbling noise racing across the roof helped to muffle the occasional creak the floorboards made under my feet. The sounds on the roof were not rain or due to the continuing rumbles. I couldn't figure it out, but felt thankful for them nonetheless.

  The hallway turned, opening up to the dining area. The lights were out there as well, of course. Even the front window gave off no light. The sky had gone pitch black, streetlights snuffed out too, at least as far as the curtain of rain would allow me to see. Inky blots of darkness lay scattered about inside where the tables and chairs were laid out, unattended and empty, just as the restaurant was. Or nearly so. There was a soft panting breath coming from somewhere within the gloom. Listening closely, I could pick out another sound in the forbidding dark.

  I almost jumped out of my skin when my phone trilled its alert tone for another text. Fumbling to silence the sound as it broke the ominous quiet I ended up dropping it instead. My heart thudded, expecting to see a painted white face with wild orange hair popping up right in front of me any minute thanks to all the racket. The only thing I saw after several seconds was the pelting rain outside shifting directions with the whipping wind.

  The phone seemed whole, no cracked screen, although the case would carry another scar I bet. Galead's text popped up as soon as I thumbed it on. It was short, a warning.

  Stay. Hide.

  The noises came as I read the words. Uncountable high pitched screeches and heavy thuds louder than the thunder battering the roof outside. It jerked me this way and that, but it was useless to try and pinpoint any one spot above me. From somewhere in the direction of the kitchen a young man's voice was cut off just as he began to shout.

  Throat constricted, heart pulsing faster than its normal rate, legs pumping with adrenaline, I ran. I had a fleeting notion to make for the restroom again before I realized I was dashing towards the stairs leading up to the loft. As I painfully bounced off a table, knocking chairs aside, I shouted out in pain. I threw myself onto the stairs and began crawling up them. And froze.

  Clickety-clack. Clickety-clack.

  The sound ran up and down the walls. It was accompanied by the hard snapping ruffle of a windsock in the wind. All the other sounds from outside were hidden beneath it as it captured all my focus. My breathing came in ragged gasps that were entirely too loud. Clamping my hands over my mouth only made me breathe harder. Even growing lightheaded, I realized hiding on the stairs was not going to work.

  I felt up to the next step and began slinking my way to the loft above. My knees jammed against wood steps and clipped painfully on the edges they came in contact with. I couldn't relax when I reached the loft, still being out in the open of the large space. I needed somewhere to hide.

  Clickety-clack.

  Whatever it was that was hunting me was coming up the stairs. I crawled on all fours, carefully, until coming to a corner table that I could ball myself up under and hide. This time I clamped a hand over my mouth and left it there as I peered into the darkness. Maybe it would take a quick look and leave.

  Clickety-clack. Clickety-clack.

  That awful sound did as much to unnerve me as the thunder above. As I lay there waiting, hoping that whatever this unseen danger was would pass, a wave of noxious odors wafted in the air to mix with the many other smells from the recent after school rush. I don't think I can properly describe it, but it forced a silent dry heave from my belly.

  Clack. Clack.

  The creature's feet landed inches away from my hiding spot. Even without the lights on I could see a dark glint on the swollen feathers encircling what normally would be the shins. Below the feathers, the creature balanced on black stalk like ankles above three toed avian feet. They scratched along the wood like chalk screeching across a blackboard. I was going to lose it.

  Before I let slip the sound that had been building in my throat, the door downstairs flew open and I heard the hollow tap of footsteps. The bird-like creature whirled about and let out a predatory call. A girl's startled shout from downstairs was followed by the frantic taps and scrapes of someone fleeing deeper into the Lair. She tumbled over some chairs from the sound of it. The bird-like thing spread its wings and jumped over the loft railing. The girl yelled as the terror descended. I knew that scream!

  Up and running, shoving chairs and tables before me, I took the stairs as fast as I could. The smart choice would have been to try and slip out the front while the creature was distracted. I might have made it. It was what I would have done before my father died. But caution had itself been laid to rest that day. Especially when it came to those I cared about. Anna, her scream tapering off into a whispery sigh, counted among that small cherished company. It was why I could not run now. Not even when nightmares took shape in the light of day.

  A bright flash from another bolt of lightning illuminated the room for a brief minute. In that moment I saw a beast straddling Anna. It was formed partly from a bird, a raven maybe, and partly from a woman. The lower half of its body was wrapped in layers of sleek oily feathers so dark that the light was seemingly pulled into their depths. The feathers ended above her waist where the pale skin of her human form began. The skin itself stretched tightly across her bones, blue veins popping out from beneath the translucent flesh. I swear I could almost make out the flow of blood traversing its organic path. The feathers returned to form a band encircling her chest and shoulder blades, from which sprouted two enormous avian wings spreading wide above my friend. Her head was clearly that of a middle aged woman. It was bent low, close to Anna's face, a slow stream of vapor passing from her open mouth into the maw of the creature.

  I ran low, bent at the waist, full speed at the monster. My body rammed into its side, knocking it away from Anna, and sent me sprawling. Before I could recover, th
e sharp clinking from the creature's talons scrabbled towards me. I turned over just as it fell on top of my prone form. The weight was almost unbearable. The stench pouring from her glands surely was.

  The she-raven leaned over me, her face only inches from my own. I looked into eyes that were dark endless pits except for the red dot flaming at their center. I had never seen a person with a red mark in their eye, let alone burning at its core. Beginning to gag on the stench, I thrashed my head, but the stink lay everywhere and it was impossible to escape. My mouth opened to suck down the air my nose refused to breathe despite the shrieking need of my lungs. She twitched her lips, calm, before her mouth stretched even wider than mine. The woman emitted a cooing sound as our faces aligned.

  I arched in response to something being pulled from my throat. At first I thought she was stealing the air from my chest like that tale of the cat that stole a baby's breath while it slept. But I could feel winter's chilled breath still rushing in and out from my mouth to my lungs. I wasn't suffocating. This was something else, something sinister. This was the feeling of loss, the unraveling of the threads holding me together.

  As she unstitched the essence of my spirit, it spooled through the same vaporous mist I had seen pass from Anna to her. I felt as though I could almost name the parts being stripped away. They were the human parts, the knotted scales that kept the curse restrained. The more she took the less and less constrained the curse became. The more that was taken, the nearer the monster came.

  Out of the corner of my eye I could see Anna laying close by. Soft lids were shut over those warm friendly eyes, arms relaxed beside the body. Her chest rose and fell with a stuttering rhythm, lips slightly parted. Anna could have been mistaken for some enchanted princess in that beautiful repose of slumber. Relief flooded through me, tempered by the terrifying thought that Anna had been hurt because of me, because of what I was, just like my mother.

  I quickly scanned the darkness over the she-raven's shoulder. No eyes blazing like twin blue suns met my sight. I was relieved. Even though Galead had swore he would always save me, I was glad he was not there. He would not be hurt. He would not see.