Cursed

by Jamie Leigh Hansen

  Mary Beth clenched her fists in preparation to attack. “You let her go. Now,” she snarled.

  Beth Ann tried to escape, but Grady tugged her hair, forcing her to be still. He pushed his nose into it, sniffing. His eyes, small and evil, stayed on Mary Beth. Beth Ann’s eyes were wide, her chest heaving as she struggled for breath. Her hands scratched at the arm around her waist, trying to make him release her.

  “Well, you think Leslie is a little too used. But—” He ran a hand down the front of Beth Ann’s dress, stopping over one breast and giving it a squeeze. Beth gave a high-pitched cry of distress. “I bet this little thing is the freshest piece around.”

  Alex held in a low growl, but there was no way he could hide his anger from Elizabeth. Beth Ann quit straining against Grady’s arm, and planted the sharp heel of her shoe against his foot. The spike broke against the steel toe of his boot, but Grady’s surprise loosened his hold. Beth Ann’s elbow to his side gained her even more freedom.

  Alex grinned. “Good girl.”

  Unfortunately, she stumbled on her broken heel as she brought it down. Grady grabbed for her, but Mary Beth launched herself at him, her nails shredding his face, her knee ramming hard into his crotch.

  Elizabeth jumped, huddling into Alex.

  Beth Ann fell, her ankle twisting as she went down. She screamed. The tide of the battle had turned. Grady had hit back and knocked her mom into the vanity. Gasping, Beth Ann looked around her mom’s bed, to the phone on the nightstand. They needed help, fast. Carefully, she slid around the edge of the bed, toward the phone, her hand stretching for it.

  At her movement, Grady glanced over. Seeing her reach for the phone, he knocked Mary Beth to the side and ran toward Beth Ann. Her mom grabbed him, pulled one arm back, but he swung with the other and Mary Beth’s eyes rolled back in her head.

  Elizabeth gasped as her mother slowly fell. Tight as he held her, Alex felt every tremor.

  Grady slammed his fist into her mom’s face again and twisted back to Beth Ann. She turned to face him, the phone in her hand. Grady circled the end of the bed and stared down at her. His fists were clenched tight, scraped and bloodied, though she knew the blood wasn’t all his.

  “911, what’s your emergency?”

  “Help—”

  Grady rushed her and she turned away, shielding the phone. He pulled her by the hair, flipped her over, and stretched out over her body. Releasing her hair, one hand wrapped around her neck, squeezing, and the other hand clicked the phone off. “Not so fast, precious. We’ll have our fun long before they get here.”

  His free hand roughly dug under her skirts, grabbing the waistband of her pantyhose and underwear and pulling, his fingernails leaving welts on her thighs. Beth Ann struggled, gasping for air as he squeezed harder. She dug her fingernails into his wrist and grabbed blindly behind her, searching for the statue that had fallen when she grabbed the phone.

  Just before she passed out, Beth Ann swung. The arch of the stone angel’s wings slammed into the back of Grady’s head and he slumped over, unconscious. His weight crushed the air out of her lungs and sent Beth Ann reeling into blackness right after him.

  The entire room turned black for a moment, then brightened again as Beth Ann’s eyes struggled open. Grady still lay over her, unmoving and barely breathing. She shoved him off her, struggling free from the small space between the bed and the wall. Tears had soaked her face by the time she was free.

  “Mom?” Beth Ann sobbed, crawling closer until she could lean over Mary Beth. Her mom’s eyes were swollen shut and cuts from Grady’s ring marked her face. Her lip was split and her nose was broken. Beth Ann brushed hair away from Mary Beth’s injuries, her hands shaking but gentle. “Mommy?”

  Mary Beth coughed, slowly coming round. Beth Ann helped her sit up so she wouldn’t choke. Using the hem of her dress to help staunch the flow of blood from her mom’s broken nose, Beth Ann shook her head. All this over sex and money. Hurt pride and a prom dress. Still crying, she said, “I think you were wrong, Mom. It really is better to be alone.”

  Her mom blinked, trying to open her eyes. When she couldn’t, she turned her head to the side and lay limp.

  Alex sighed. “I’m so sorry, sweetheart. I wish I’d been there for you that night.”

  “Don’t worry, Alex. You were. Later.”

  He frowned, confused, before turning to watch mother and daughter. “She fought hard for you.”

  Elizabeth sighed and wiped at her cheeks. “I never doubted that she loved me.”

  “Then what did you doubt?” Because there was something. It was in her tone, her expression, every time she thought of her mother. And he was beginning to believe it colored her actions in more areas of her life than even Elizabeth realized.

  Elizabeth shook her head. “This isn’t about my mother, Alex. Pay attention.”

  “Trust me, honey. Nothing escapes me here. Where were your brother and sisters?”

  “Bobby and Felicia were at a friend’s. Dallas was with Shelly’s dad, trying to get him to spend time with his baby.”

  “He didn’t want to?”

  “By then, Shelly was three and the novelty had worn off.” Elizabeth shook her head. “Dallas got home as the paramedics were taking Mom out. She’s really squeamish about blood and hospitals, so she let me go with Mom while she stayed here.

  “I followed the ambulance in Mom’s car, filled out the forms, gave a statement to the police, and sat in the ER for several hours before driving her home.”

  The room changed to show Beth Ann tucking her mother into bed, leaving a glass of water and her pain pills within easy reach. Beth Ann glanced at the clock. Prom was almost over. Not that she could have gone. Her dress was ruined.

  As she stepped away from the bed, Mary Beth reached out and caught her wrist. For a second, her mother stiffened in pain, but she fought through it and peeled open one of her eyes. “I remember what you said, Bethy. It’s not better to be alone. You just have to choose better than I have.”

  Beth Ann frowned. “How can you still believe that? Mom, Grady almost raped me. Almost killed us.”

  “I know it was bad, Beth.” Mary Beth’s eyes closed and her head relaxed against the pillow. “But you’ll see. When it’s right, all the bad stuff just fades away.”

  Beth Ann choked back the words she wanted to scream. Her mom was drugged, ready to sleep off the events of the night. She was in pain and deserved a few hours to dream. The problem was, when she woke up, nothing would have changed.

  “I’ll show you.” Mary Beth patted her hand, her eyes closed. “Next time, I’ll show you.”

  Beth Ann’s eyes filled with tears as she backed away, quietly shutting her mom’s door. Shaking her head in refusal of her mom’s plans, she tiptoed to her room and stared into her mirror. Blood soaked the pink dress, staining it beyond repair. Her mom wouldn’t be able to return it. Shedding the blood-smeared dress, Beth Ann pulled out a duffel bag and filled it only with absolute necessities.

  No way in hell would she stick around for her mother to show her “next time”. Within minutes, Beth Ann was packed. She stole into the twins’ room and kissed each of them on the cheek, then silently made her way downstairs. Dallas was there, walking a fussy Shelly. The little girl had laid her head on Dallas’s shoulder and, her sleepy eyes blinking, cried in a weak, miserable voice.

  “Going somewhere?”

  Beth Ann looked at her solitary bag, knowing it didn’t look like much. By the time they knew she was gone for good, she’d be too far away for them to drag her back. “Yeah.”

  Dallas shrugged. “Have fun.”

  Beth Ann paused, her hand on the doorknob, and smiled slightly. “Thanks.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  The images dissipated, and like a theater when the credits have rolled, the room brightened. Alex’s hold loosened and Elizabeth forced herself to pull away completely so she could face him. Bile still sat at the back of her throat and nausea twisted her stomach. El
izabeth pushed hair from her eyes with shaking hands.

  Why had she done this? To show him her dreams, yes, but why start with the worst, most brutally disturbing of all her memories? She should have started at a different time altogether. Then she wouldn’t have had to face this again. It could have remained a memory locked away on an endless loop deep in her subconscious, but easily ignored.

  “You were coming to me.” Alex leaned against the wall and slid his hands into his front pockets. “I’m sorry you didn’t make it.”

  Elizabeth took a deep breath and hugged herself, already missing the caring support he’d given her. “Me, too.”

  Tension eased from his shoulders. “You told me it wasn’t my fault, but this explains so much. Why you left. Why you stayed away. Why you said no.”

  Elizabeth frowned. He didn’t seem to see the deeper meaning. He was talking as if they were still standing in her dining room, not here, surrounded by stone walls. “What do you think it explains, Alex?”

  “That you’re afraid I’m just like Grady or any number of other guys your mom and sister have dated. Okay at first, but suddenly a monster.”

  Elizabeth swallowed, but returned his gaze steadily. “Actually, as many fears as I have, that’s never been one of them.”

  “But you don’t trust yourself enough to know, beyond a doubt, either.”

  She blinked and looked away, her lips twisting ruefully at his insight. “I’m sorry. I wish I could be different.”

  “I don’t. I like you as you are.”

  Elizabeth returned her gaze to him. “Don’t you notice anything strange here?”

  He shrugged. “You showed me a very vivid, painful memory.”

  “While we’re sleeping.” Elizabeth narrowed her gaze. Why wasn’t he reacting? Why wasn’t he freaking out? Didn’t he understand what she’d done?

  Alex’s lips quirked. Withdrawing his hands from his pockets, he took hold of hers and pulled her closer. “Of course I understand. You have a gift similar to the one Kalyss has. She can see someone’s memories and show them to others, very similar to what you just did. Only you do it in dreams.”

  Elizabeth blinked. “Kalyss sees memories?”

  He smiled. “Yeah. And—”

  Elizabeth shook her head. “This isn’t all of it, Alex. I have more to show you, because I still think you’re missing the bigger picture.”

  He shook his head. “Elizabeth—”

  She turned and headed for the second door, ready to move him to the next memory. As she reached for the latch, his hand on her shoulder stopped her. “Elizabeth, what’s behind the other door?”

  The third door. The one she had desperately needed him to miss. Closing her eyes and bowing her head, she said, “Nothing anymore.”

  “Then why is it there?”

  “It was once used.”

  “Who tried to escape?”

  Opening her eyes, Elizabeth turned and leaned back against the door. He was too relentless to simply let it go. She’d have to tell him. Have to explain. “Someone I let go.”

  Alex tilted his head, and stared straight to the heart of her soul. Then his eyes widened and he looked at the door. “Grady.”

  “He woke up in the hospital the next day.”

  Alex strode to the third door, touched the frantic grooves of a man digging to escape. He swallowed and looked back and Elizabeth had never felt sicker in her life. There was fear in the back of his eyes. A dawning realization. “But until then, he was here.”

  “I let him go, Alex. As soon as I realized what I’d done.”

  Alex opened the door and looked at the solitary cot with dingy blankets. The room was bare of all but the scrapes Grady had made. “There were no satin sheets to make him want to stay.”

  Elizabeth swallowed and squeezed her eyes shut. “I tried to warn you.”

  Alex swung back, staring at her with betrayed, furious eyes. “And from that one high school memory, I was supposed to understand this? How the hell could I do that?”

  She watched him, hurting. She had no defense, no words to say to make it better. She’d endangered him. Nearly killed Grady. And he still didn’t know—

  Elizabeth’s eyes flew wide as Alex moved toward her. “What, Elizabeth? What do I still not know?”

  He angled her chin up so she couldn’t look away. Then he looked behind her, at the door she leaned against.

  “No.” She couldn’t show him now. Not like this.

  Alex met her gaze again, his eyes hard and cold. “Open the door. Show me the rest. Show me everything.”

  She laughed bitterly. “That’s what you wanted, right? Everything.”

  “Be careful what I wish for, right?”

  Elizabeth swallowed. “Exactly.”

  Alex relaxed, releasing her chin. “Open the door.”

  Elizabeth looked down as she grabbed the latch. How ironic to have relived the last conversation she’d had with Mary Beth that night. About whether or not it was better to be alone. She’d finally begun to agree with her mom, far too late.

  “Why would you agree now?” Alex all but growled in her ear.

  “Because I finally realized how much those conversations affected my actions for the last twelve years.”

  “Yeah.” Alex prodded her through the doorway. “Talks with our parents can do that.”

  “I really should have thought about that before letting it control me.”

  He sighed. “Sometimes, remembering a conversation with your parent is the best thing you can do.”

  Elizabeth looked back, but he prodded her further.

  “No more secrets, Elizabeth. It’s time to spill them all.”

  Then that’s what she’d give him. No more secrets, no lies, no cover-ups. No delays and no hesitations. It was time to just jump in.

  Beth Ann Raines couldn’t lie to herself, though she’d tried to all day. Now, sitting in front of Spokane Falls Community College watching prom-goers emerge into the dark night, she knew she’d barely escaped. Everything she needed was in the duffel bag in the backseat, her clothes, the money she’d been saving, and a few personal items she hadn’t wanted to leave. Not much, but it was all she’d need for a while.

  A new wave of partygoers passed through the doors, the light from above them bathing their faces. Beth Ann tightened her grip on the steering wheel, dried blood caked in each crack of her knuckles. No matter how much she’d scrubbed, it would stain her skin and under her fingernails until she could soak in a tub.

  She searched the faces of each tuxedo-clad guy as he exited the double doors. It was a strange compulsion, one she’d tried to ignore. She wouldn’t talk to him again, but in her own way, this was good-bye for both of them.

  Alexander Michael Foster. She’d sat in front of or beside him in most of their classes for the past four years. They’d talked and laughed, been paired together for projects, yet she’d never told him how she felt. Not even when she’d caught a few glances from him that said he might feel the same.

  But when he’d asked her to the prom, though she’d been tempted, though she’d tried to convince herself it would be okay, that nothing would change if she gave in just this once, she’d pulled herself from the brink and told him no. She’d told him it would never happen.

  It had probably seemed like the harshest of rejections, but she hadn’t meant it that way. It didn’t matter now, though. He’d never know the regret she felt.

  The door opened again and in the midst of another rush of exiting seniors, there was Alex. Beside him stood Kalyss and Sam, her midnight-blue dress vivid against the black of their suits. With a wide smile and a happy laugh, Kalyss threw her arms around Alex and gave him a swift hug. Sam smiled and pulled her away, waving good-bye to Alex and tugging Kalyss after him.

  Alex grinned until he turned away. As he walked toward the parked cars, shadows chased away his smile. Every few steps someone would call out his name and he’d wave his hand without turning around, acknowledging them, but remaini
ng alone. She’d done that to him. She’d put those shadows there. And there was nothing she could do to take them away.

  Beth Ann hugged her knees to her chest and watched her mother’s blood sluice down the hotel shower drain. She wanted to cry and let the steaming water wash the tears from her face, but her eyes were so dry they burned. She wanted to scream, but Beth Ann was far too controlled for that.

  Less than twenty-four hours ago, her most heartwrenching problem had been telling Alex she wouldn’t go to the prom with him.

  Just ten hours ago, her mother had fixed her hair and makeup for a prom date she’d already turned down, but something about those magical moments in her mother’s room had made it seem possible that Alex would still accept her.

  Now hatred and violence colored what should have been the best memory of her life. Instead of spending hours dancing in the arms of the boy she’d crushed on throughout her high school career, she’d sat next to her mother’s bed in the emergency room.

  Fifteen minutes could change a person’s life forever. But it wasn’t always a man that brought destruction.

  Next time it will be better. You’ll see, Bethy. How could her mother say the words with such honest sincerity? How could she have that kind of faith?

  No. Beth Ann would not see. She refused to stick around long enough to see. She had escaped. She’d run all the way across Washington, away from her mother’s delusions that the perfect love was just waiting around the corner to fix all of life’s little disappointments. And she wouldn’t go back. She would never return to that.

  The last of the blood trickled away and Beth Ann soaped up one more time, just to make sure it was gone, wishing she could feel clean again. She eventually left the shower and dressed, leaning against the sink counter as she dragged a brush through her wet hair. Alex would have loved the chiffon-and-silk prom dress with its sexy-spaghetti straps. Or, at least, she imagined he would have.

  How would he have reacted if he’d seen her covered in her mother’s blood? Angry. Ready to defend her. Protective. Nurturing. He was just that kind of guy.