The Thousand Year Curse (The Curse Books) (10 page)

Junior starts in first with a steady beat.
 

Boom. Boom. Boom.

It's hypnotizing. Ollie comes in after sixteen counts, strumming his guitar immediately sweeping me away with the rhythmic tones.
 

I keep expecting him to sing but he doesn't. The song doesn't need his voice to lead it as the music sings to me. The beats might as well be speaking directly to me. The solid bass line makes the song almost like a spell.
 

Faintly inside my head, I hear his voice calling to me. I get dizzy but don't let it take over me. I focus on only Ollie's voice—everything else vanishes. I close my eyes to truly listen to what he's playing. I want to listen to the words in his notes. I've missed the beginning of the song but I pick up a couple lines.

Love has led me here,
 

Love,
 

a god all powerful with us who dwell on the earth,
 

and, if old traditions say true,
 

not less so here.

I implore you by these abodes full of terror,
 

these realms of silence and uncreated things,
 

unite again the thread of Eurydice's life.

Then the singing stops abruptly no longer whispering to me as if the song is at a standstill. The beats go strong but silence is all I'm hearing. I try to listen for the words again but nothing comes to me.
 

Maybe I imagined the words. They couldn't be Ollie's lyrics. They sounded too old, the words like
dwell
and
implore
don't fit.
 

My name was definitely thrown in the lyrics at the end. My real name. Of course I must be hearing things. Ollie doesn't even know my real name. Nobody knows my real name.
 

What just happened? I know I heard a voice.
 

I open my eyes and Ollie is sitting in the identical spot, his eyes closed still strumming his guitar. I notice Junior and he has a blank face as his hands move hitting the pads. They both are almost entranced, fully engaged in the song.
 

They play the same song over and over. I don't know when they will stop but I don't want them to end it. The song sounds sad, ringing of despair and longing.
 

What could make Ollie play this? He said this was an original. I want to know more about him—I need to. I want to find out more about the story behind the song.
 

I am scared to move because I don't want Ollie or Junior to stop so I lean back in the sofa and let the music take me away. Before I realize it, I am being torn into a new place, my vision blurring and my mind becoming fuzzy. The world goes black and I fall.
 

When the light returns I jump. I awake on the floor of someone's bedroom. I get up looking around the unrecognizable room. The walls are stone and the floor is as well. Luckily I am laying on a rug so my back isn't completely destroyed although it aches. I stand up twirling around looking in every direction.
 

The bed in the middle of the room is enormous. It seems regal, due to the canopy draped around it. The gold stripes on the canopy scream money. This is nothing like the cave in my last dream last.
 

Nobody is in the room with me. The loneliness worries me. I decide to search the place for someone. Before I leave the room, I check the window. What a surprise I get—I am at least five stories high. In every direction I see green pastures. At the edges of my vision are woods but they are far off in the distance. Acres upon acres of land belong to this place.
 

I am definitely not on the East coast anymore, let alone America. This place feels and smells ancient, smelling like moth balls and dirt. I don't think anyone has entered this room in thousands of years by the dust layering the windowsill.
 

My body starts reacting the new area. I feel nauseous and my heart rate spikes. I try to push away the panic but I can't help myself. The craziest shit is happening to me and I have no idea why. These dreams are scary. I'm completely alone here.
 

I try to focus on my breathing. In and out, in and out. Finally my nerves cool and I decide to keep moving before another attack comes along.
 

I open the bedroom door and find a long stone hallway. I follow the hallway until I get to a set of stairs. Quickly, I run down the stairs wanting to get to the bottom as fast as possible.
 

I run straight into some sort of meeting. I hide behind a door peeking through a crack. The room is filled with men—at least fifteen people congregated sitting at a long table. Each person has a golden goblet in front of them.

I scan their faces but I don't recognize any of the men. I slip past the room and go out the back door craving something familiar. Panic creeps up on me but I try to keep it at bay—not now. I need to be brave.
 

I end up on a patio filled with only a simple table and chairs. The deck overlooks the backyard giving me a better view from here than the upstairs window. The woods are closer to the house and appear magical. It's straight out of a fairytale book. I imagine a dragon living in the woods and trolls down by the pasture.
 

As I am searching around, I spot two men out by the edge of the woods. In the woods a girl is laying down. I can barely make them out since I am too far away to fully grasp what's going on.

My legs start walking towards the woods without me driving them. Something out there is calling to me like I'm supposed to be out there. I take the stairs two steps at a time hoping to make it to the group quick.
 

As I get closer to the scene, voices and screaming emerge. The screaming seems to come from the woman on the ground. A bloodcurdling scream erupts from her small frame that makes the two men rush to her side. I rush over as well but nobody sees me. The blonde man cradles her head as the dark man holds her hands. The screaming stops, the air becomes still, the woods become far too quiet.
 

Once I get close enough to eavesdrop on them, I stop and listen. I can't clearly make out what they are saying but I catch the main idea. The blonde man is definitely furious at the black haired man.
 

I recognize the black haired man from last night—green eyes. He is just as beautiful now, just sadder. The other man's face is hidden from me.
 

The girl lay limp. She looks to be asleep, maybe dead. I'm so shocked by this whole thing—I am frozen in place.
 

Tears well at the edges of my vision but I hold them in, not knowing how to react. I want to go over and comfort green eyes but I can't move. Bile rises up the back of my throat and I almost give in to the terror.
 

The blonde man drops to his knees and starts sobbing uncontrollably. My heart breaks because I've never seen a grown man cry before. I mean in movies, sure but never like this. The dark haired man just stands rooted in the same spot.
 

The blonde swears, gets off his knees and punches black-hair in the face. He just takes the hit refusing to move. The blonde is still sobbing but he turns to where I stand.
 

Ollie.
 

He starts walking towards me and I lunge for him wanting to hug him and make him feel better. As my arms close around his neck the falling sensation swirls in my stomach. The edges of my vision start to blur and I know blackness will take over soon. This dream will be over in a matter of seconds. I don't even scream since I know what's coming.

I open my eyes and am back in the basement with Ollie. Junior is missing—he's not on the drums anymore. I panic for a second thinking I'm alone but then my gaze meets with Ollie's. He's sitting in the same exact spot as before my vision. The only difference is his guitar lay boxed up on the floor. He probably thought I hated his music since I passed out during the performance.
 

"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to fall asleep." I apologize to him fixing my hair as I sit up in my seat in an attempt to compose myself. I try to act attentive even though all I can think about is the damn dream. I keep seeing the weirdest stuff.
 

"What were you dreaming of?" He asks me coming over to sit by my side. I ruined whatever flirting I've done thus far and now he's going to hate me.
 

"I'm not sure to be honest. It was pretty weird. You were there though." I say hoping to reassure him. I lean back against the couch recalling the bizarre dream.
 

"I was?" He asks a smile playing across his face. His mood seems brightened and I feel awful because the dream wasn't good. He's going to think I'm crazy if I tell him.
 

"Yes." I smile but it doesn't even come close to reaching my eyes. He picks up on my hesitance. Brushing his finger along my jaw pausing it near my lips. "It wasn't a happy dream." I confess him fighting the urge to cry.
 

"Tell me what happened." He asks taking my hand in his before giving it a reassuring squeeze urging me to continue. I want to tell him about the dream. Maybe he'll understand.
 

"A girl died and you were crying over her. It was at this castle." The look on his face tells me it all. It's pure horror and disbelief. He thinks I'm crazy. "It was just weird. Forget about it." I brush the dream off removing myself from his touch. What was I thinking? Nobody will understand me.
 

At first he seems reluctant to just drop the conversation but he never speaks up. Ignoring it altogether, Ollie stands and walks me upstairs. We hold hands as he leads the way but I'm distracted. I want him to comfort me and tell me it's no real but he doesn't.

"Where's Junior?" I ask Ollie as we make our way to the kitchen.
 

"He went to the main house to meet the other guys." He explains to me.
 

We get something to eat from the kitchen, which has the bare essentials. I grab chips and a Sprite hoping for a much needed pick me up.
 

"So where are you from?" I ask Ollie as we sit on the stools. I pop the top of my can and take a refreshing swig. Ollie does the same and throws some chips in the back of this mouth.

"My family is from Greece originally. I was born in Athens but I hardly remember it." He answers me, mouth still full.
 

"Why'd you move here?" I ask him trying to gain more insight into this man.
 

He takes a moment to pause and eat some more but I think the wait is more so he can think. His eyes refuse to meet mine as they're trained on the floor. He clears his throat before speaking. "Well, my parents work a lot. They wanted me to be happy so they set me up to live here. We have a cook and maids here to
babysit me."
He bites out, venom in his speech. Something seems off.
 

"So the cabin, huh?" I try to change the subject from his parents to something more surface. Without even trying I feel like I hit a sore spot.
 

"I love it here. I'm completely alone." He answers perking up a bit. I gaze into his eyes and love the spark that's in them. The connection we share is undeniable. I've never felt this attraction towards any guy before. It's scary but thrilling all at the same time.