Clara
Alister lets me pull him back to the car. I can hear the teasing in his voice when he speaks. "You really have your own priorities, don't you?"
"It's not that!" I grunt, despite the flush in my cheeks as my brain reimagines the kiss. We stop next to the car's trunk, and he leans back against it. I stare at him, feeling my heart pound. Without his glasses, I can get a clearer view of his eyes. Dark brown like rich earth. He pulls out a small packet from his pocket. It's transparent, revealing small white circular candies that look like peppermints, and he pops into his mouth.
He catches me staring and picks up a whiter one. But instead of putting it in my palm, he suddenly pushes it into my mouth. I can barely focus on the taste as his thumb slowly graces my bottom lip.
I catch the slight satisfied smirk as he pulls his hand back. "So, what's wrong?" He asks, as if I'll be able to concentrate on anything after that.
Still, I take a deep breath. "I had another nightmare." I twist the ring on my finger. "It was of you as a kid...and Miranda falling off a building."
For a moment, I think he's just startled. But then I see his face, and I freeze.
His eyes are wide, locked on nothing, like they're staring straight through the ground and into something buried far, far beneath it. It doesn't seem like he's breathing.
In all my time with him, I have never seen Alister like this. Horrified.
"So it's true," I whisper. "You really didn't know."
He doesn't answer. He's unraveling, fast, but not outwardly. There's no yelling, pacing or even confronting Leora about her being Miranda. Just this unbearable stillness that screams danger.
I step closer. "Are you—"
"No coincidences…" he breathes, almost to himself.
"What?"
His head jerks once, like he's trying to clear fog from his brain. Then he looks at me, and his eyes have changed. Harder and deadlier. "When did you have that dream?"
"I-In the car. On the way here," I stammer. My stomach knots. "Will everything be okay?"
He sighs and runs a hand through his hair. "I just realized that when I tell people things, I should never leave out unnecessary details."
"What do you mean?" I ask. He looks angry. Very angry. That is expected, but there's an uneasiness in his shoulders that seems to radiate into me. Like the anger can't quite cover up the dread building beneath. And this makes me all tense again.
He shakes his head and, to my surprise, offers me his hand. "Let's go."
I hesitate before taking it and, as if things weren't already so confusing, he brings my hand up to his lips.
"Clara," he begins, catching me off guard with the sudden softness in his voice and intensity of his gaze. "There are a lot of things I want to tell you. And perhaps...once this is over, and if you're still interested in sappy stories, maybe you could listen?"
My heart melts—and then twists, violently.
Why is he saying this now? Why now, of all times? I nod, but the unease doesn't just creep back, it crashes over me like a wave.
He knows something. Something he's not telling me, as usual.
He then begins dragging me to the mansion. "Everything will be fine. This...isn't something you should worry about." He assures, as if sensing my discomfort. I glance down at his hand holding mine. The warmth of his skin against mine slowly grounds me, and a strange sense of calm starts to settle in my chest.
We step into the mansion, the grand wooden doors creaking softly behind us as they close. Muffled voices coming from a room at the far right, its doors already ajar.
His grip tightens. His touch suddenly more confident, as though he's offering me something without saying a word. Something like reassurance. We push open the door and cross the threshold of the room. All conversation stops. The second we enter, every set of eyes locks on us.
"What the hell?" I hear Alister mutter under his breath.
The floor in front of us is covered in a giant red circle. This isn't like the ritual we did at Reeze's house. This is way bigger, far more intricate, and bloodier. The crimson stains and patterns are thick. I get the sinking feeling that this ritual might have required something far darker than what I'm willing to admit.
Could it be human blood?
I glance sideways at Alister. His eyes closed, his face is unnervingly pale, his jaw tense as he stares at the circle. There's something different about the way he's breathing now, like he's trying to hold himself together.
The hallucinations.
His breath hitches as he opens his eyes, staring straight ahead with a cold, distant look.
"You ok?" I whisper.
Without another word, Alister moves toward Rubecca with a determined step, pulling me along.
Madam Reeze and Rubecca sit at a desk, looking up at us from the book of artifacts open infront of them. The cryptic symbols and diagrams look just as ominous as the last time.
Rubecca's eyes flicker over Alister, a faint smile tugging at the corner of her lips as if she understands exactly what's running through his mind. "Let me guess. You're going to argue again about ethics and animal rights?"
Alister's lips curl into a tight, almost humorless smile. "I'm not interested in whatever speech you've prepared. Let's just start." It's clear he's trying to keep himself in check.
Rubecca looks at me, black orbs making it seem like she's possessed. She reaches across the table and picks up a knife and points to a symbol drawn in the corner of the book's page.
"This needs to be carved into your skin." she says. "Then you'll lie in the circle. Chant the incantation and begin the ritual."
The symbol starts with a central vertical line, then two diagonal lines extend outward from it, each curving slightly toward the center as they reach the top and bottom. In the middle, a small triangle sits right beneath the intersection of the diagonal lines, like an eye or a pointed tip. Around it, just above and below, small loops curve outward like little crescents.
"Let me take that." Madam Reeze says, taking the dagger and placing it down on a small empty triangle in the giant ritual circle, and I see that the other objects have already been placed too.
Once the symbols have been carved into our palms, Rubecca points at the circle. "Now lie down. And repeat the words I'm about to say."
I feel like the symbols drawn around it pulse faintly, almost as if they have a life of their own. I take a breath, trying to calm down. This is it.
"If you're going to puke, just leave." Alister suddenly says, and I follow his gaze to Simon, who indeed, looks uncomfortable and like he's about to empty his stomach.
"It's fine. It's not that bad." He smiles awkwardly.
"Well, for me it is. I get nauseous just watching people get nauseous." He then turns to Steph. "Hand him the car keys."
She blinks in confusion before complying.
"Either go back to the car. Or stand outside the door. Just don't be in the same room as me." He says bitterly and I can see hurt flash across Simon's face as he clutches the keys in his hand. His shoulders hunch as he exits the room but stands outside.
"Rude." Steph says, crossing her arms.
"Yeah, why would you say that?" Zach asks, looking at him in disappointment.
I would have been ready to scold Alister for that if I didn't catch the lie he just told. He watched me throw up when I was drunk, and he was completely fine. He just wants Simon out of the room and for him to easily make it to the car.
Great. Meaning, something's definitely going to happen.
Alister doesn't bother replying, and we step over the markings until we reach the center of the circle.
The wooden floor presses against my back as I lie down, Alister beside me, his hand never leaving mine. I try not to focus on the raw, metallic scent of the blood around us. I stare up at the ceiling, feeling the weight of the moment in every fiber of my being.
"Eyes closed." Reeze says as she moves back into her chair. I do as I'm told, squeezing Alister's hand tighter. He does the same in return.
Rubecca's voice comes again. "Repeat after me." she begins the incantation.
The words are unfamiliar, but they slip from our lips like they've been waiting to be spoken. I sense the air around us shift, thicken, as the ritual begins to unfold in ways I can't predict.
It feels as if the very room is breathing along with us, changing with the words. I can feel the circle begin to pulse in rhythm with my heartbeat. Then, the mark carved into my palm begins to burn. At first, it's a subtle heat, but it quickly intensifies, spreading across my skin like fire, and I can't hold back a sharp breath. I feel it—both the mark and the gem burning with a fierce, uncontrollable energy.
"Look!" I hear Simon's voice, full of fascination, from somewhere off to the side. I squeeze my eyes tighter, not daring to open them for fear of messing up the ritual.
But despite my determination, something strange begins to happen. My body starts to feel weaker, more fatigued by the second. It's like something is draining me from the inside out, pulling at the very core of my energy.
As the ritual continues, I start to wonder if this is how it's supposed to feel. Should I be feeling this drained? My chest is tightening with every word, and the burn in my palm feels almost unbearable now.
I lift my trembling fingers to the gem on my chest. I need to see how much has come out, how much longer we need to do this. I need to know if it's halfway out. Maybe if it is, I can pull it out myself.
But as I press my fingers, I realize something—it hasn't moved an inch. It's still stuck exactly where it was, just as it had been when we started.
Panic rises in my chest. The ritual isn't working. The gem's still here. My body is still draining.
"Stop!" I yell out and open my eyes. The dizziness in my head, making the world spin. A thick, swirling grey mist surrounds us, the blood in the circle churning as though it's alive, twisting around the patterns.
My words break through the haze. The mist evaporates instantly. The blood in the circle returns to its normal state, the symbols settling.
"What's wrong?" I hear Zach's voice, full of concern. He can't see the gem still embedded in my chest. Only Simon can. But when I turn towards the doorway. He's gone.
The gems hadn't come off.
It hadn't worked. The curse… it's still here.
Alister sits up beside me, his hand leaving mine and running through hair. I can't see his face from where I'm lying, only his back.
"Alister?" I whisper, but my voice barely makes it past my lips.
Suddenly, Steph lunges forward, stepping over the blood. She grabs my arm, pulling me and dragging me away from Alister and the circle.
"What's going on?" I ask as her grip on my arm tightens.
And then I see it.
Alister. His eyes, the rich, earthy brown I'd always known, vanished. Instead, they are crimson like the blood itself. He flashes a subtle smirk that sends a chill racing through my spine.
A heavy weight drops in my chest, and I wish someone would wake me up from this nightmare.
That isn't Alister.
My gaze shifts over to Rubecca and Reeze. The smiles on their faces are wide.
They knew.
"Miss Leora!" Reeze calls out.
My breath catches in my throat as I watch Alister—no, Leora groan, as if he's waking from a deep sleep.
They knew.
The sinking feeling intensifies as I piece it all together in an instant.
This whole ritual… this so-called 'curse-breaking' was never what we were led to believe. It wasn't about freeing us.
It was never about us.
"That's..." Steph begins to say, her voice trailing off as she looks ahead.
"It's so good to see you. I never imagined I would ever be graced with a chance to meet you." Reeze exclaims through the chaos. She speaks like a fan meeting an idol.
"It's you…" Rubecca muses, staring at Leora with awe. "I've spent my whole life following your teachings. Hearing your stories and…"
But just when I thought things couldn't get any worse, the next word out of Leora's mouth, shakes me to the core.
"Zach."
And then, in the sudden silence that follows, I feel it—a creeping sensation that twists my insides.
No...please...
I can't even process it before it happens.
"Kill them."
I turn to Zach. I didn't know he was even armed, but there he stands, holding a gun with a steady hand. Without a word, without a single hesitation, he lifts it and shoots.
The sound of gunfire echoes through the room as both Rubecca and Reeze, identical gaping mouths and widened eyes, collapse to the ground, lifeless. Their bodies crumple with unnerving ease.
Zach.
He stands there, unmoving, a complete stranger in the worst possible way.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" Steph yells out. He turns to us, not answering, but his eyes only stare back at mine.
His green eyes, usually warm and full of life, are now cold and distant, like they don't belong to him at all. His brown curls that made him look energetic just make him look like he's lost his grip on himself.
Maybe he's being controlled. Maybe Leora is manipulating him, twisting his mind, forcing him to do this against his will. That has to be it.
Zach's lips part to speak. And when he does, the single word that comes out is a knife to my heart.
"I'm Sorry."