Cursed (2 page)

“Fab,” she said rubbing her hands together. “How much caffeine is in a mocha chocolate?”

Evan appeared surprised. “Lots,” he said. His lips twitched as if he were holding back a smile.

“I know, stupid question,” Sasha said blushing slightly. Evan was making her nervous. She wasn’t used to a good looking guy waiting on her. He continued to stare at her, although it was clearly professional rather than personal interest.

Feeling slightly stressed, she decided to cope with insomnia. It was Friday. There was no school tomorrow to worry about.

“I’ll just have the hot chocolate please,” she said eyes downcast. She was embarrassed at her silliness. She hemmed and hawed over what to order and then came up with the ever brilliant hot chocolate. He’s going to think she’s an idiot.

Evan pressed a button on the cash register and turned around to prepare the drink. He got the milk out of the bar bridge and poured the white liquid into a frosted metal cup. He added chocolate syrup and then used the steamer spout to heat up the concoction. The noise masked the sound of two men coming into the cafe.

It was late and the only other patrons in the cafe were a couple sitting by the side exit getting ready to leave as Sasha approached the counter to order.

Sasha didn’t realize anything was wrong until Evan stopped working. His eyes grew wide and his mouth gaped slightly. Sasha turned and followed his gaze to see two men wearing black knit balaclavas walk toward the counter.

Sasha had never seen robbers except on television. They were dressed in black and their eyes were black holes surrounded by the knit mask.

She froze like Evan, unsure of what to do. She’d never been robbed before. Her biggest irrational fear was that she’d get carjacked when she drove her mother’s car. She’d never been afraid at the Second Cup. It was in a good neighborhood. It was her neighborhood.

The would-be robbers didn’t say anything. Out of the corner of her eye Sasha saw the other couple leave by the side door seeming unaware of the robbery in progress. Obviously they wouldn’t be calling for help.

Evan placed the milk on the counter, freeing up his hands. He moved toward the cash register, appearing to get ready to open it up and give the men cash. It probably wouldn’t be a lucrative holdup. Drinks weren’t more than $5.

Seeing no way to escape, Sasha tried to remember where she put her phone. Was it in the front pocket of her purse? In her jacket pocket? She spied her jacket on the lounge chair by the fireplace. That wasn’t good.

She tried to catch Evan’s eye but he wasn’t paying attention to her. He was staring at the men. One came up beside Sasha staying about two feet away.

She clutched the shoulder strap of her purse and casually scanned for a weapon. Seeing none, she gaped at the man. He glanced at Evan and pulled a gun from the pocket of his thigh-length leather coat. It was black and ominous. He waved it in the air, turned it sideways like some street gangster on TV and paused, the barrel pointed at Evan’s head. Sasha guessed he really wanted money from the register.

But the strangest thing happened. He didn’t ask Evan for money.

“Don’t move,” he snarled his gun focused on Evan, who hadn’t moved since the men came into the café. Sasha hoped Evan wouldn’t resist. Money was so not worth getting shot, especially money that wasn’t his.

Surprising the man turned to Sasha. “Give it to me,” he said in a guttural snarl. She had no idea what he was talking about. Give what?

Impatient, he motioned with his hand toward her top. He wanted her shirt? She was not going to take her shirt off. First, she was wearing a very old bra. Second, she wasn’t a wet T-shirt kind of girl. She didn’t even wear bikinis.

“What are you talking about?” Sasha said shrinking away from him. She glanced toward the side door and figured she might be able to make it before the guy shot her. Then what would happen to Evan?

The man leaned toward Sasha and reached into the neck of her sweatshirt. She was wearing a fitted hoodie that was tight around the neck. He was only able to get a couple of sausage-like fingers in the top of her sweatshirt.

Sickened, she pulled away and his fingers dropped from the neckline of her sweatshirt.

“Listen perv don’t touch me,” she said with false bravado. She was scared to death but disgusted by what this man might do to her. How could she get him to stop?

The man swore in frustration and took a step toward her. “Give me the necklace,” he said spit flying from his mouth.

“What?” She was thoroughly confused. A couple of years ago her mother gave her a pendant hanging from a leather rope necklace. It was junk jewelry, something Willow Bean got at an art fair. Why would this guy want a meaningless piece of jewelry? There was something seriously wrong.

The man reached for her neck again but she stepped back. He grabbed a fistful of her sweatshirt and pulled her toward him. Sasha yanked free and twisted away as the man snatched her upper arm.

“Maybe we should just take her,” the other man said hesitantly.

“Maybe,” the gunman said. “You know what I want. Give it to me.”

She had no idea what he wanted. He drew her closer and shoved his face near hers. He leered at her and she leaned away. Was he trying to hypnotize her? He wasn’t successful. His voice was so grating it set her nerves on edge. His repulsive breath stank of onions, making her stomach churn.

When the man lowered his gun, she saw her chance. She jerked free so violently she stumbled to her knees. She scrambled out of reach and hoped Evan saw her move and found his own escape.

“Come back here,” the man growled. She was only a few feet from him, not exactly a clean getaway. The man turned to Evan, swung the gun up and pointed it in his direction. She froze and saw Evan drop to the floor as the gun went off.

The antique gilded mirror over the rear counter exploded and mirror shards rained over Evan as he rolled across the floor. He came to a stop by a stack of trays and grabbed one. Sasha saw him peer over the counter from his lower viewpoint as the robber lunged at her.

The gunman wrenched Sasha to her feet as Evan vault over the counter and smashed the tray across the gunman’s hand holding the weapon. The man roared as he lost his grip on the gun and Sasha.

She heard the weapon skid across the tile floor. Evan brought the tray up and hit the man in the face. Blood spurted from the man’s nose like a geyser hitting Evan in the chest and face.

Unfortunately the man didn’t go down. He clawed at this face screaming obscenities.

“I’m going to kill you,” he shrieked.

The gunman scrambled around to find his gun while Evan used the bottom of his T-shirt to wipe the blood from his face. He dodged the gunman, grabbed Sasha’s hand and pulled her toward the front door. They were almost there when the second guy jumped in front of them.

This man had no gun that Sasha could see so she kicked his shins while Evan punched him in the gut. The man doubled over and Evan knocked him out of the way. Evan pushed the front door open when the gun went off.

Sasha glanced behind and pieces of ceiling tile floated between her and the gunman. She pulled Evan’s hand to make him halt. With blood still running down his face, the gunman pointed his weapon at Evan with his uninjured, trembling hand.

That was when Sasha felt a surge of energy course through her body. It might have been adrenaline or fear that triggered it. She wasn’t sure. She knew nothing about the blue sparks except that they were leaking from her fingertips.

“I’m going to make you pay,” he said as blood ran down his face. He pulled the trigger and smiled.

As if in slow motion, Sasha saw the bullet leave the barrel. It traveled toward Evan’s head at such a slow speed it was as if time had slowed to a crawl. She raised her hand and the blue sparks intersected with the bullet and made it veer over Evan’s shoulder.

The shattering of the glass front door over Evan’s shoulder jolted her alert as if she had been in a trance. She wasn’t finished and didn’t direct the blue sparks with any real thought. She just wanted the gun disabled. As if they understood Sasha’s thoughts intuitively, the blue sparks surrounded the gun and melted the end of the barrel.

The sparks winked out of existence as fast as they appeared. It happened in the blink of the eye although it seemed longer to Sasha. Evan and Sasha didn’t hang around, they ran.

CHAPTER TWO

The cold January air hit Sasha like a slap in the face. Glass crunched underfoot as they ran over shards and headed to the gas station across the street.

Sasha tripped on the curb and nearly fell if not for Evan holding her hand in a tight grip. He steadied and dragged her across the parking lot. Surprisingly she felt weak like as if she hadn’t eaten in a week.

Evan hauled her into the Circle K convenience store across the street from the coffee shop. They rushed inside and Evan yelled for the clerk to call 911. He pulled her to the back of the store where they crouched low behind a display of potato chips.

Sasha’s heart was pounding. She felt lightheaded and was afraid she was going to pass out. What was wrong with her?

She couldn’t believe they got out of the cafe alive and uninjured. Didn’t they? She glanced at Evan and scanned for blood. His clothes were rumpled but no bloody cuts or bullet wounds.

“I’m sorry about that,” Evan said catching her eye.

“What are you sorry for?” Sasha said confused. It wasn’t his fault the store was robbed. Part of her wondered if in fact it was her fault because maybe the robbers came for her. How did that guy know her pathetic dime-store necklace held no value?

Why did he want her pendant? It was a strange piece of stained glass molded into a pendant. It was made from clear and blue glass but wasn’t particularly attractive and certainly had little monetary value.

Her mother gave it to her two years ago and told her never take it off. She wasn’t specific on the reason and Sasha didn’t really care. Her mother said something about it having healing powers. A while back Willow Bean got involved in the mystical healing trends. Sasha recalled her mother saying the glass held power to keep her healthy. She didn’t understand what that meant and now she doubted it was bringing her positive energy. If anything, tonight was an attraction of negatives.

“I should have been able to stop it before he shot off the gun,” Evan said squeezing her hand. “I don’t even remember if he asked me for money. Did he?”

Sasha’s mind raced over her memories. She recalled the gunman focusing solely on her. Did he ask for money and she missed it?

“I don’t know,” she said reluctantly pulling her hand from his and rubbing her face. She was so tired. She felt drained of energy. Images spun through her head and made her woozy. She closed her eyes and the room felt off-kilter like a swaying ship.

“Are you alright?” Evan said with alarm. He grabbed Sasha’s shoulder and steadied her.

“I feel weak,” she said opening her eyes slowly and squinting at him. His eyes were so blue, almost too pretty for a guy. Staring into his eyes she felt calmer and it gave her a slight boost of strength. “I really needed that hot chocolate.”

Evan smiled his teeth bright white. “Next time,” he said. “It’s on the house.”

“Hopefully without bullets,” she said.

“Definitely,” he said smiling.

After a pause, he turned away and slowly rose from his crouch peeking through the chips display toward the front of the store.

“Can you see anything?” she asked.

He nodded and pulled Sasha to her feet. Two police cars skidded to a stop outside the coffee shop. They watched officers jump out of the cars and run into the café with guns drawn. They watched as more police cars came with a police forensic identification truck. They didn’t move from their spot in the back of the store.

“Did you notice anything, uh, weird,” Evan said avoiding her eyes.

“What do you mean?” she said innocently. She wasn’t sure what he saw and she wasn’t going to volunteer anything. If he mentioned blue sparks, she would deny everything.

“Well,” he said and then paused. “That bullet was going straight for us. I saw the muzzle flash. But it hit the side window.”

“Maybe he was a bad shot,” she said knowing she made the bullet veer from its path. “He was using his non-gun aiming hand too.”

Evan stared at the police. One was tying a roll of yellow crime scene tape to a light post. “Maybe,” he mumbled quietly appearing deep in thought.

Phew. She dodged that bullet, literally. She smiled at her own joke and then when Evan gave her a questioning look, she wiped the smile off her face and frowned. She didn’t want him to suspect anything. She wasn’t sure she did anything, wasn’t she?

Cripes. Who was she kidding? She made the bullet go through the window. It was self preservation and she would do it again in a second. She would have to be very careful. She couldn’t risk anyone knowing what was going on until she figured it out.

The police wouldn’t believe that blue sparks melted a gun barrel anyway. Geez. How was she going to explain that? She didn’t think that one through. Next time she would heat up the gun making it so hot he’d drop it instead of ruining it in such an unexplainable way.