The Curse
Chapter Seven

I watch as the boy sleeps in his comfortable bed, my daughter's amulet lays in his tight grip. A smirk blesses my face, he can’t see how weak he is beginning to get, I can see his life force slowly fade away. Each day it grows dimmer and dimmer, and he doesn’t even recognize it. His little Wiccan friend has seen it, but he is too afraid to tell the boy of his unfortunate fate. My daughter will have what she deserves, even if it means ripping this boy’s soul to shreds to get it for her.

“CALLUM!!!” I stir slightly when I hear someone call my name, I mumble something unintelligible. I gasp for air when I feel someone jump on top of me, I blink and look at the person on top of me. I can’t make out their face, but I can see bits of pink and white, “Addie?” I guessed. I blink again when my glasses are placed upon my face, I look up at the person. Yep, it’s Addie. “You seem better, did your dad get you some medicine...wait HOW’D YOU GET INTO MY HOUSE!?” I yell as realization kicks in. She laughs loudly and falls back on my bed, I sit up and look at her in confusion. “D-Dude, it’s like noon! Your aunt let me in, she invited me to go school shopping with you guys!” She says happily. My confusion grows, school shopping? I don’t remember Aunt Lucinda saying anything about school shopping. Wait, no, yes she did I remember now, I was half asleep while she was talking about it. “Oh, right, I didn’t think you’d be well enough to join us,” I reply while rubbing my eyes from under my glasses.

Adeline grins at me, “Of course I am! It was just a twenty-four-hour thing, I always get sick like that right around this time. Don’t you remember? When we were in grade school I got badly sick and had to go home.” She says happily. I frown at the memory, how could I not remember it, I was in her barf trajectory. “Yeah, I do remember because you only barfed on me that day,” I reply in slight disgust. Adeline gives me a huge grin and holds up her thumb, I roll my eyes and send her out so I can get dressed. I grab one of my black t-shirts and slip it on over my bare chest, I stop my movements for a moment. “I don’t remember taking my shirt off,” I mumble as I grab a pair of blue jeans. I slip the jeans on and walk into the living room where my aunt and friend wait. A wave of dizziness washes over me, I have to lean against the wall for a second before I move again. I take a deep breath and close my eyes, slowly I count back from ten. I open my eyes and slowly stand away from the wall, “I’m okay...it’s okay.” I mumble as I walk into the living room.

“It’s about time you get up sleepy head!” Cried my aunt as she gave me a small smile. I return the smile and laugh nervously, “Ah...yeah I guess I was pretty tired last night, sorry for sleeping so late.” I reply hesitantly. My aunt waves my apology away, I walk over to the front door and slip on my tennis shoes, “Uh Cal, don’t you think you need some socks?” Asks Adeline as she cocks her head to one side. I look down at my feet and facepalm, “Y-Yeah...I’m forgetting a lot of things today.” I mumble as I kick my shoe off. I walk back to my room and grab the socks I wore yesterday, I slip them on and return back to my aunt and Adeline. I don’t know what’s gotten into me today, I grab my shoes once more and slip them on. I need to seriously get a grip on things, “Young master, time is ticking, you must destroy the amulet soon please.” Hearing Alica’s voice makes me feel sick, but only for a second. A cold film of sweat clings to my body, I can feel my hands start to shake.

I clench my hands into fists so I can hide the shaking from Adeline and Aunt Lucinda, “Callum? Honey, are you alright? You seem pale.” My aunt’s voice sounds as if she is far away. I look at her, I try to say that I am fine, but nothing comes out. Before I know it, the carpeted floor is rushing to meet my face.

~Adeline~

I watch in horror as Callum collapses to the floor, his aunt rushes over to him and feels his head. I shake away my shock and run to her side, from what I can see he is still breathing. I place my hand on his cheek and pull it away, he’s burning up. “Maybe he caught what I had...he did come to my house yesterday,” I say in hopes that it was true. Lucinda nods, she looks at me with sad brown eyes, “Yes, that has to be it. Will you help me lay him on the couch, Adeline? I’m sure he doesn’t want to stay on this hard floor.” She replies softly. I nod and take his arms, Lucinda takes his legs and on the count of three we lift him up. Surprisingly Callum isn’t that heavy, together we hoist him on the couch. Callum is mumbling something under his breath, but I can’t understand him. I gently brush the back of my hand on his cheek, “Get some rest buddy. You seem like you need it.” I whisper.

~Callum~

The room is so hot, I feel like I’m being suffocated. “Young master, please wake up, please oh please wake up.” I can hear Alica’s voice, it’s shaking with fear. I force my eyes to open, slowly I blink away the sleep. The room is different, I’m no longer in my aunt’s living room, no this room seems bigger. “W-Where am I?” My voice comes out rough and scratchy. I cough and hold my throat, gentle hands caress my cheek. I look to my side and see Alica, she’s not dirty like before, and her red hair is pulled back into a neat bun. Her dress is nice and clean, there are no tears or any dirt stains. “My mother has sent you here my young lord, the amulet is taking away your life force...it is making it easier for her to get rid of you.” She explains softly as she brushes my hair back off of my forehead.

“H-How is it doing that...i-if there is another ward on it?” I ask softly. She gives me a sad smile as she runs her fingers through my brown locks. “This new magic, is not as strong as my mother’s old and more advanced magic young master. If anything, the ward that your Wiccan friends mother placed upon the amulet just fed my mother’s magic.” I groan and close my eyes, great just great. “H-How can I make it stop without destroying the necklace?” I ask weakly. Alica stares at me for a moment, slowly she traces her fingers across my left cheek. “You look so much like Gideon...my sweet little Gideon.” She whispers. I blink and move away from her touch, “Focus Alica.” I say a little sternly.

She shakes her head, “Yes, right. If you do not wish to destroy the amulet, then you could always remove it and hide somewhere very far away.” She replies softly. I nod my head weakly and try to sit up, I need to wake up. I begin to pinch my left arm really hard, ’Callum, honey can you hear me? It’s your mother sweetheart, can you hear me?’ I can hear the faint voice of my mom, wait, no that can’t be true, she’s all the way in San Diego. Slowly my eyes flutter open, I have to shut them again when a bright light shines in them. “Oh Callum you’re okay!” Exclaimed my aunt as she threw her arms around me. I open my eyes once more and blink, there is no one else in the room except for me and her. I guess my mom’s voice was just in my imagination, “W-What happened?” I ask tiredly. My aunt breaks the hug and looks at me, “Oh, honey you got really sick. You’ve been out for a day now, it appears that you caught Adeline’s bug.” She replies softly as she strokes my cheek.

I close my eyes and lean my head back on the pillow that was behind me, that’s right, I fainted. “W-Wait...a day? I-It doesn’t feel like a day.” I mumble. My aunt gives me a small smile as she strokes my hair, “Maybe not to you, but it was a day for me and Adeline. We had to keep you cooled off, you were burning up!” I just nod and rubs my face with shaky hands. It feels like I was hit by a truck multiple times, “Remove the amulet young master.” Alica’s sweet words caressed my ear. Slowly I raise up and with shaky hands unclasp my necklace, I hand it over to my aunt and give her a weak smile. “C-Can you put that away somewhere please? It’s really irritating my neck.” I say softly. My aunt nods and walks to her room holding the necklace, I look around the room with tired eyes. Everything is blurry, but from the shapes I can see, I can tell that I am in the living room.

I reach over and grab my glasses from the coffee table, I put them on and blink. I can feel my strength slowly return to me, I swing my legs over so I can place my feet onto the floor. “Sweetheart, you really need to rest. Lay back down and I’ll get you some chicken noodle soup.” Says my aunt as she walks back from her room. I just nod and do as she says, I don’t feel like arguing over it. Maybe I can leave my necklace here and just forget about it, I can just tell dad that I lost it on accident. No, that would never work. He would call Aunt Lucinda and ask her about it. “Would you like some bread to go with your soup sweetheart!” Called my aunt from inside the kitchen. I rub my head and close my eyes for a moment, “N-No thank you!” I call back weakly. I think back to Alica’s words, how is it that Bynx’s mom’s spell didn’t work? Wouldn’t new magic be stronger than old magic?

The smell of the soup makes my mouth water, I didn’t realize just how hungry I was. Aunt Lucinda walks in holding a wooden tray with a small bowl of soup sitting on it with a spoon beside it. She places the tray on my lap and kisses my head, “Eat up honey. If you want anymore just yell and I’ll get it for you.” She says as she ruffles my hair. I nod and pick up my spoon, I take a bite and shudder in pleasure. That is some good soup, I take a couple more bites and relish the taste. I wonder if dad ever had to deal with this witchcraft stuff, maybe I can ask him about it. I lift my bowl and begin to drink the broth, once I’m finished I place the bowl and tray onto the coffee table. No, of course he didn’t. He had my great great whatever’s ward protecting him, “Why did the ward decide to wear off now...don’t I deserve it’s protection?” I mumble as I look down at my hands.

Does dad even know about the curse? What if he doesn’t know? He’ll think I’m crazy if I call him and tell him about all of this nonsense. I shake my head and take my hand through my tangled brown locks, “No, I’ll just keep this to myself. He doesn’t need to be worried about me, none of them do. I can handle this all on my own.” I say to myself as I lay back down on the couch. I take my glasses off and put them back on the coffee table, I’ll get some sleep and worry about all of this tomorrow.

Oh how the boy slumbers, oh how he thinks this is all going to be over. He can’t stop me, not even if he had the Marshall Peter Bartley with him. He is just as foolish and naive as Carrington was, no one can survive my curse, at least no one without a ward can. “Face it boy, you’re going to suffer the same fate as my lovely Carrington did. I hope you enjoy the rope, because it will be the last thing you will ever see.”