Cursed (7 page)

She flashed back to Nefar and his threats. She wanted to put up a brave front for Evan but her body gave out as Nefar’s words bounced in her head.

I could kill you whenever, however I want
.

She slumped against the building wall and wiped away tears rolling down her face.

"Are you ok?" Evan asked softly.

"No," she whimpered and sobbed into her hands, mortified at her display of weakness. Wordlessly Evan hugged her closer, his arms provided a protective embrace. Her head dropped onto his chest as exhaustion wiped her out and she didn’t have the energy to pretend otherwise.

His body was hot and his heat melted the chill spreading in her bones. She felt his heart beat under her cheek and tried to match her breathing with the pumping of his heart. The beat was as comforting as a soft caress. Her breathing slowed, the tears stopped and she calmed down. Even though a few minutes passed, she didn’t pull away because the embrace felt so soothing. She breathed deeply and smelled coffee and musky soap with a hint of lemon.

Evan’s arms loosened and h pulled her to her feet gazing at her with concern.

“I don’t want to leave you alone,” he said. “Come with me while I get my keys.”

They walked hand-in-hand to the coffee shop’s back door. Evan pulled it open and let Sasha enter first. The door closed with a soft click.

“Wait here,” he said and slipped away into the front of the store. She heard the low murmur of voices and then Evan reappeared with ice in a bag. He went into a closet-like office and returned with a knapsack and jacket slung over his shoulder.

“Let’s go,” he said.

In the car, Sasha held the ice bag to the burn mark on Evan’s chest. They didn’t talk about what happened and Sasha knew he would start asking questions soon. She didn’t know what she going to tell him because she didn’t even know what was happening.

Evan drove to his house, a short distance from the café. Sasha needed to come up with a plausible explanation for the fireballs. She didn’t think the truth would help.

They didn’t talk on the drive. The idea of making meaningless chit-chat was an exhausting prospect for Sasha. She leaned her head back and closed her eyes. The silence was surprisingly comfortable.

Evan parked in front of a small, craftsman-style house. The lawn was neat and trim, while the neighbors next door had let the grass grow wild. There was no car in the driveway, which made Sasha wonder why Evan didn’t park there.

They walked up the path to the front door. Evan had his keys in his hand and easily unlocked the door and pushed it open. He let her go in first even though she was the guest.

Evan drifted toward the kitchen and she followed. The furniture in the living room was worn and out-of-date. The carpet was threadbare but everything was clean and neat. There were no stray magazines or newspapers lying sloppily on tables. Everything was in its place. Someone had a compulsive orderliness disorder in this house.

Evan went into a bathroom off the kitchen and made noise pulling open drawers. Sasha didn’t follow him. She took the bag that held the ice and dumped it in the sink.

The confrontation with Nefar had exhausted her. It was funny. She didn’t do much and little damage was done except for Evan’s burn and yet her fear sapped all her energy. Evan came back with a tube, gauze, tape and scissors.

“Can you put this on for me?” He said.

“Of course,” she said arranging the chairs so they faced each other. She motioned for Evan to take a seat. Evan stripped off his shirt and sat on the chair waiting. Sasha examined the wound and found it was blistered and bright red. She squeezed some cream out of the tube and gently applied it to the burned area.

She unrolled some gauze and cut a square big enough to cover the injured area. She stretched out some tape and cut several strips. She gently affixed the gauze over the cream and taped it in place.

“Does it hurt?” she asked. “I think we should keep ice on it.”

Evan didn’t answer. He cleared up the medical supplies and returned them to the bathroom. Sasha held his T-shirt in her hands.

Evan got more ice out of the freezer, put it in a plastic bag and held it to his chest.

“Here’s your shirt,” Sasha said holding it outstretched, the large burn hole on the front hidden from view.

“Thanks,” he said taking it from her and disappeared into the back of the house. He returned in a new shirt looking as tired as Sasha felt. He pulled out a chair and slumped into it.

“So,” he said and then paused for a long time. “I don’t want to sound nuts and I have the burn to prove it, but what the hell happened?”

Sasha sighed. It was easier to tell him the truth than make up some elaborate lie. The truth was just as crazy as any kind of story she could manufacture.

“Was he using some kind of military weapon?” he asked. “I didn’t see anything in his hands but fire, but hell, what else could it be?”

Sasha stared at her hands and then gazed at Evan. He had dark circles under his eyes and looked confused.

“I don’t know,” she said. That was the truth.

“Have you seen him before?”

She told him about going to the police station.

“Did he attack you there too?”

She shook her head. “He just stared at me.”

“Creepy.”

Sasha nodded.

“Do you believe in magic?” she asked.

Evan was incredulous. “Are you serious?”

“Yes and no,” she said wringing her hands. She wanted to bite her finger nails but didn’t want to gross him out. “I don’t know what magic is. But do you believe it can exist?”

“No,” he said. “That’s not what happened. It was some kind of special effect like what they do in the movies.”

She sighed deeply. She would love to believe that too except it seemed more unlikely than believing in magic.

“I would agree with you except why did it burn you and not me?” she asked. Evan frowned and narrowed his eyes.

“Why is that?” he asked skeptically eyeing her as if she were the one who attacked him.

“I don’t know,” she said. Suddenly, Evan banged his hands on the table and jumped to his feet.

“There’s a lot you don’t know,” he said angrily. “Why is it that I am robbed, shot at and attacked with fireballs when I’m around you? Can you answer me that?”

Sasha covered her face with her hands and sobbed. “I know,” she cried. “I didn’t do anything, I swear.”

Evan took a glass from a cupboard and filled it with water. He drained the glass and filled it again. When done he set it down on the counter and turned around.

“Do you want cake?”

Sasha stopped crying and peered at Evan through her fingers. Did he just ask her if she wanted cake?

Evan opened the fridge door and withdrew a plate with a chocolate cake covered in plastic wrap. He set it on the counter, found a large knife in one of the drawers and pulled the plastic wrapping. He cut two large slices of cake and served them on plates.

He put one plate in front of Sasha and sat down with his own slice.

“I’m sorry,” he said gruffly. “I shouldn’t have yelled at you. It’s not your fault.”

Sasha stared at the cake, a lump formed in her throat. She swallowed a few times and picked up her fork but didn’t eat.

“Did you make it?” she asked.

“Naw, my grandmother is the cook. I just eat.”

He shoved a big forkful into his mouth and chewed thoughtfully.

“Do you think it was some kind of birthday joke?” he asked licking chocolate frosting from his fork.

Sasha shook her head. “A friend wouldn’t do that.”

An image of Cady flashed through her head. She dismissed the thought quickly. Why would Cady want to scare her? No, it had to be something else.

“Agreed,” he said. “Do you know anyone who hates you?”

Sasha sunk her fork into the dessert. “I’m too young to have enemies.”

Evan snorted. “You’re never too young.”

Sasha frowned as she shoved a mouthful of cake in her mouth. The chocolate frosting was very sweet. She chewed and gave his comment thought. She didn’t have many friends but she was sure she had no enemies.

“My mother probably does but not me,” she said and then stopped stricken with a revelation. Her mother had not denied she was in danger. She said the pendant would keep her safe and it had. Sasha wondered if her mother’s silence meant she knew what was going on. Unconsciously her hand reached for the pendant and stroked its smooth glass.

Nefar had said something about her grandmother and a curse. He said something about 17 years and Sasha turned 17 tomorrow. Sasha suspected Nefar was trying to kill her before her birthday but that didn’t answer the question as to why her grandmother hired Nefar to kill her. It didn’t make sense that a grandmother she’d never met would want to kill her. She didn’t even know this woman and had thought she was dead.

She couldn’t tell Evan any of her suspicions. He wouldn’t believe it and it sounded crazy. She thought it was nutty so it wasn’t much a stretch that he would too. A part of her felt like she was on the right track ant that she’d found some pieces of a puzzle and just needed to put them together.

A million unresolved questions raced through her head as she stared at her cake. She needed to figure out how to find the answers and decide who to trust to help her.

Evan noticed her trance-like behavior and scuttled his chair closer to hers. “Hey,” he said touching her shoulder lightly. “You there?”

Sasha scrambled to her feet. “Listen, thanks for all your help-,” she said moving toward the door.

“Wait, you haven’t finished your cake,” he said.

Sasha shrugged on her coat and smiled at the handsome boy who had saved her life twice. She ran up to him and threw her arms around his neck. He was stunned by the move and lightly wrapped his arms around her.

“We haven’t talked about what you’re going to do? How are you going to stay safe?”

She squeezed him tight and then let go. She stepped back and gave him a peck on his cheek.

“I don’t want to get you involved anymore. You’ve been my savior, twice now. I don’t want to put you in any more danger. I’ll see you tomorrow at dinner.”

She turned and ran out the door. She didn’t live far away and jogged home, peering frantically over her shoulder the whole way.

CHAPTER SIX

Sasha woke up on her birthday not having slept much the night before. She tossed and turned for hours before dropping off and having nightmares. In her dreams she was being chased in turn by two men. One had a gun, while the other threw flaming red energy balls that scorched everything in their path.

She pulled on her school uniform and brushed her hair. She was grateful that she didn’t have to agonize over what to wear. She wore the same outfit of white shirt, navy and grey plaid skirt and blue sweater every day. She may change it up and wear a grey turtle neck and blue pants otherwise it was the same clothes.

She stared at the dark bags under eyes as she brushed her teeth. This was not a good beginning. She was living in fear and couldn’t tell anyone about it.

She wanted to ditch school but her mother would catch her. As a realtor, Willow Bean was in and out of the house all day. Her schedule was unpredictable. She always seemed to be around when Sasha least wanted to see her and was never available when Sasha was desperate to find her.

Normally Sasha biked to school but today she just didn’t feel like it. She was tired and lacked the energy to push the pedals. She called Jenna to get a ride in her yellow VW Beetle.

Jenna was one of her closest friends from childhood. They used to hang out, play video games and talk about everything. Then came high school and everything changed. Now they hardly had anything in common. Sasha was on the track team, while Jenna avoided exercise and extracurricular activities.

Sasha volunteered once a month at the food bank unloading trucks and stocking shelves. Jenna drew dark disturbing pictures of demons and castles and posted outlandish fan fiction on the Internet.

Sasha has never dyed her hair while Jenna changed her color weekly. Yesterday it had pink stripes mixed in with the bleached blond. It looked like candy floss.

She clicked off the phone and headed downstairs. Hannah was already in the kitchen sitting at the breakfast table gazing out the wall of windows that framed the room. It was Sasha’s favorite place in the house.  The backyard was wooded and an attraction for wildlife. Occasionally a bunny or squirrel ran by and lightened her mood. Otherwise it had a peaceful view especially soothing during a hectic or drama-filled day.

“Happy birthday,” Hannah said spitting food across the table.

“Gross,” Sasha responded slipping into her chair. “Swallow please.”

Hannah smiled with her mouth full of food. Cereal was lodged in her braces. Sasha closed her eyes, trying to block out the disgusting image. Little sisters were revolting.

Sasha inhaled her own breakfast of oatmeal. She didn’t see any evidence her parents were home before a horn honked out front signaling Jenna’s arrival. Sasha grabbed her bag and ran out the door. So far it was a crappy start to her birthday.