Cursed & Crazed
(The Cure Academy Series #2)
By Sophia Stafford
Copyright 2020 by Sophia Stafford. This story is a work of fiction. Names, charaters, places and incidents are all products of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Chapter 1
Benedict
Benedict slipped into the loud courtroom, a few heads turning as he entered and took a seat in the back.
“Good to see you, Benedict,” a wizard to his left commented. Benedict nodded but said nothing. He was too busy staring up at the picture of Jaycen Reece that now graced the screen of every television in the room. It wasn’t just one photo, but many. Some of her at The Cure Academy school, attending class or just laughing with friends. They’d been watching her, and from the looks of it, very closely. He hated that Jaycen’s privacy had been broken at the one place she should feel safe. A place he had told her that she was safe.
“Jaycen Reece is an abomination to the magical lineage. She was made, not seared. Her magic should be stripped and she should be cast out. If not, we’re sending a very strong message that we not only condone using magic to create children but support it,” Juliana, the head of the Emka’s Family shouted out, her voice ringing above the rest. Her comment starting a new wave of shouting chaos.
George Krull stood at the other end of the room, taking his time and waiting for silence. Finally, he spoke slow and loudly, “She is your family, is she not Juliana? Jaycen is your son’s daughter? Darius’s daughter. You should be protecting her. Welcoming this new magic with open arms.” He looked around the room, letting the wooden pillar next to him take his weight. “Don’t you people see? Jaycen could be the start of something, the start of something great. Whether we like to admit it or not our powers are weakening. She could be our saviour. The answer to our unspoken prayers.”
“George is right, we must examine the girl, see just how strong her powers are. See where her loyalties lie,” one man shouted out.
“I agree. The powers are not her own but from our ancestors. They belong to all of us, not just her.” A woman stood up, her statement followed by cheers.
Now it was Benedict’s turn to stand, he stepped into the stairwell and walked to the middle of the room, where an elaborate dark wooden chair sat empty, waiting for the next head of The Cure to be selected. Those standing slowly sat as he circled on the spot, eyeing everyone sat in the pews, from the first row to the top. The courtroom was designed like a theatre, and today he was taking centre stage. And he hated it.
“Benedict, good to see you. I hadn’t realised you had joined us.” George Krull smiled down at him, an uneasy look crossing his face.
Benedict nodded. “I was actually on my way back to the school, but I thought I’d sit in. And good thing I did, too, otherwise we’d be talking of torturing teenage girls out of their powers.”
The room filled with a wave of objections.
“No one said torture the girl.”
“It is not her magic to begin with.”
These were some of the protests he could catch in the sea of shouting.
George stood up again, using his hands to quieten the crowd. “The girl would never be harmed of course. You know how fond I am of her.”
“Jaycen. Her name is Jaycen,” he reminded simply.
“Yes, of course, Jaycen. She would never be harmed, but you must admit, her new powers are an opportunity for us all. A lifeline.”
Now Benedict smiled. “Yes, for her. No one else. Jaycen didn’t have a say in how she was created. But she will have the only say in how her powers are used now because they are her powers. Not yours George and not mine.”
“She is too much a threat. No one should have that much power.”
Benedict didn’t see who had shouted the comment, but he turned in its general direction. “We live amongst Angels, Angels that could kill everyone in this room before you could even think to scream.”
Wide, afraid eyes looked at him from all directions now.
“We haven’t done anything about them. The greatest of their power does not hinder ours. Just like Jaycen’s won’t,” he said softly, hoping that someone in that room agreed with him. That hope quickly died when still no one spoke up. Now his back straightened, the softness in his face hardening with emotions.
“Since her mother was murdered, I have taken over parental guardianship of Jaycen, and I am telling you all here now, that no one will touch her. That is final.”
“You are not our leader, you have no right in telling the court what it can and cannot do. We must be smart about this. You know that witches and warlocks are still being murdered for their magic. It is clear to me that Darius’s lunatic plan didn’t die with his arrest. Jaycen’s needs to be brought in to be examined, if not her magic then most definitely her mind. We can’t have her working against us. She must be stopped,” Juliana stated coldly.
Benedict turned to face the older woman. “I’m not telling you what you can and cannot do, Juliana, I’m warning you. If you touch Jaycen or make a play against her powers in any way, you will be sorry.” He turned then, leaving the room in an uproar and with his promise. A promise that no one doubted.
Chapter 2
Jaycen
“Great stance, strong,” Drake, The Cure’s fighting instructor commented, weaving in and out of his pupils as they all stood ready to fight. “What I want you all to do is not only strike your opponent with your fist but also magically. Everyone on the defence, it is your job to block both oncoming attacks, are we ready?”
Jaycen stood strong, her fists raised and her eyes on her target, a tall girl that looked petrified, the only thing stopping her from fleeing was the large sumo looking suit that Drake had forced her to wear. It’s what he forced everyone that fought her to wear. The poor girl could barely move her hands, never mind her feet.
“You can do this, not too much, not too little,” she breathed, clenching her fists in anticipation for Drakes command to fight.
Her mind already racing with the possibilities of the spells she should cast. Should she go big and throw the girl back? Maybe into the wall? Or was that just too much? Maybe she should just trip her up? Did she even know how to do any of that?
“Attack!”
Jaycen had been so deep in her head that when the command finally came, she hadn’t been ready. Panicked she shot her fist out in a hard punch, her mind racing at what spell to cast. She was too late, her opponent had been ready, her bodysuit absorbing the sting of Jaycen’s punch, and her deflection spell cast before there was even a spell to deflect. Jaycen went flying backwards, hitting the mat hard.
The girl the spell had come from squeaked, while everyone else fell silent.
“I guess ancient blood means eff-all if you don’t actually know how to use it,” someone snickered close by, and normally Jaycen would be on her feet, demanding to know what had said that. But right now all she could think about was the pain in her back, defending her honour would just have to wait until she could breathe right again.
“Oh god that hurt,” she coughed, twisting from side to side. “Oh yeah, something is definitely bruised.”
“Jaycen, what the hell just happened?” Drake asked, staring down at her as the other students laughed around them.
Jaycen stared up at him, her mouth slightly open. “Well, I just thought I’d take a nap. Want to join me?”
His mouth didn’t even twitch, he just stared down at her. Drake was a hard man to crack.
“I got hit,” she finally said, stating the obvious. Becoming very uncomfortable under his intense eyes. Drake had a way of looking at you, his stare b
oring into you and finding all your secrets. Or that was how Jaycen had felt anyway, she wasn’t sure about anyone else.
“Yes, I see that. Get up,” Drake ordered, stepping back.
Jaycen held up her hand, which he ignored.
“Oh, don’t worry about me. I’ll get myself up.” Jaycen smiled sweetly, her back still aching from the hard blow.
“You got yourself knocked down, you can get yourself up,” Drake told her. “Everyone else, come to stand this side of the room. Now.”
Jaycen stood, watching her classmates walk to the other side of the room. If she was honest it felt like they were deserting her. She didn’t know why, she barely knew these guys. They weren’t even in her year. But gosh didn’t she feel exposed, standing there all by herself. Or she would be by herself when her fighting partner hobbled far enough away, the large sumo suit making it very difficult for her to move in. It took the girl a while but finally, she made it to the other side of the hall. Only then did Drake speak.
“On my count, I want you all to cast a spell on her, the best you’ve got. Jaycen, I want you to deflect them. Understood?”
And while there was a group of “Yes Sirs,” behind him, Jaycen vigorously shook her head in front.
“What? How the hell does that make sense?” she demanded, rubbing her lower back in small hard circles.
“You don’t know how to defend yourself, I’m teaching you how.” Drake lifted his arm. “Get ready.”
“This makes no sense,” Jaycen shot back as she eyed her fellow classmates, all of them eager and ready to inflict pain. Surely this was torture, right? Surely there were better ways to learn?
“You wanted to be in my class, well this is how I teach,” Drake said simply, lifting one hand while the other stayed behind his back. “Get ready.”
“Oh, God, Oh God,” she chanted, a buzz starting in the palm of her hands but her mind unable to focus on a single spell. Her thoughts were still so scattered when she noticed a red-haired figure standing to her left. She flinched, taking a step back as she turned to face them. Her first thought was it being another student, trying to get a sneaky attack from her side. But no, it wasn’t a student: it was a face that Jaycen now knew well. Jaycen stood straighter and shivered as she stared into the cold eyes of her ancestor, Isabella Izya. Her dead ancestor.
Everything around her seemed to slow, making it as if it was only the two of them standing in the room. Both of them silently staring, and neither speaking. Isabella looked like she always did when she appeared. The long red hair arranged in a messy braid that Jaycen didn’t have to see but already knew went down her back. Her simple green dress hung off her tall body as if there was nothing underneath it. It was Isabella’s power that Jaycen was created with, it was her bones that were stolen for her to be born. Was that why she kept appearing like this? Was she angry? Did she want revenge?
“I don’t know what you want,” Jaycen said, unable to look away from Isabella’s pale face. “What can I do?”
Just like she always did, Isabella said nothing as she stared back at Jaycen.
“Fire!”
Drake’s sharp command pulled Jaycen from her vision with a thud, as did the sight of fifteen witches and warlocks, all with spells ready to launch her way.
She screamed out in shock and fear as she squeaked her eyes tightly shut and held up her arms, hoping they would take most of the brunt of the magic. And just like it always did she didn’t know what to do, her magic flew out of her. She had no idea what spell she had cast, but the blow she hadn’t expected from the others didn’t come as she felt the magic leave her hands.
There were a few gasps of shock, but one voice rang out above them all, in a deep, manly, “No!”
She carefully opened her eye and saw Thornton Krull stood in the doorway, his arms stretched out before him, sweat dripping from his temple. Jaycen followed his line of sight, taking a step back when she saw what he was concentrating so intensely on. What looked like a dark cloud hung in the air, mid-way between Jaycen and the rest of the class. Both Thornton and Drake were working to keep it still, but everyone could see it inching its way closer to its target, to Jaycen’s target. She had never seen magic manifest itself that way before, so people could actually see it in the air. Did she create that? And if so, how?
“Everyone get out. Now,” Drake commanded, his voice sounding pained.
None of the students moved, all of them still staring up at the mass gathering above them.
“I said get out!” Drake boomed, taking one step forward his hands still out in front of him.
“She tried to kill us,” one student accused, as he edged out of the room. “She’s a monster.”
“Andy, I will not say it again. Get out of this room before I force you out,” Drake said, not taking his eyes off the magic above their heads. “Thorn, come forward. We need better control of it, maybe then we can destroy it.”
Jaycen watched, feeling helpless as both Thornton and Drake struggled to control the magic that she had somehow created. They were losing, the cloud, the magic, whatever it was called was only getting bigger and angrier.
“I’m losing my grip. Jaycen, you need to get out of here. I’m not sure how this is going to react.” Thornton took his eyes off his target for a second to look at her. They weren’t official, she had no idea what she was to him, but she knew what she felt. Her heart lurched as she shook her head, she couldn’t leave now. Not when she had somehow created this.
Without knowing what to do Jaycen held up her hands, just like Drake and Thorn next to her. She could feel as if the magic was in touching distance, her hands grasped onto it. Her grip was loose, but she could definitely feel it.
“That’s it, Jaycen. Stay just like that,” Drake instructed, taking another step forward and pulling his hands down sharply with Thornton quickly following suit.
The magical cloud was now at chest level to Drake and Thornton, as they both held out their hands over it and started chanting. Jaycen stayed completely still, too afraid to even lower her hands. What if she set it off by a movement? Even a small flinch of her hands? Jaycen was so focused on standing completely still that she missed the small burning in her chest. And it started small, but it grew rapidly as Thorn’s and Drake’s spell became louder until it felt as if her whole body was on fire.
“Stop. You need to stop,” she breathed, her legs giving way underneath so she hit the training mat hard. She could barely breathe as a buzz started in her ear, a buzz so high pitched that she pressed her palms against her ears and pressed down, hoping to drown the noise out. It felt as if someone had reached into her chest and squeezed her lungs while screaming in her ear.
“We’re nearly there,” Drake said, before going straight back into his spell. Jaycen watched, gasping for breath as the cloud became smaller and smaller until it vanished completely. And just like Jaycen could breathe again.
“Jaycen? Are you okay?” Thornton came to kneel beside her, sweat still dripping down his face, and his breathing as heavy as hers.
“Yeah, I’m good.” She nodded and tried to smile, but she knew it was shaky and not believable. He helped her to her feet, and curved his arm around her waist, helping her keep her balance without her asking for it.
“How did you do that?” Drake was in front of them now, his teeth clenched together as he spat the words out. Just like Thornton, sweat was dripping down his red face. His eyes boring down on Jaycen.
“I don’t know what I did, but it just came out of me. On its own,” she added, holding her hands out as if she was holding the magical cloud in them. “I mean, I had never seen anything like that before. What was it?”
“Well, it could have been a number of things…” Thornton started but was quickly interrupted by Drake.
“It was a death spell. Powerful, forbidden magic. We’re lucky that Thornton came in when he did, I wouldn’t have been able to control it on my own.” Drake shook his head, his hand rubbing his jaw. “You could hav
e killed everyone in this room. And who were you talking to?”
Killed? Damn, what could she even say to that?
“I wasn’t speaking to anyone,” she brushed off, painfully aware of how her sharing her visions could make this whole situation worse. Not only would she seem unable to control herself, but that she was also losing her mind. Perfect.
“I’m going to speak to Benedict, you need more experience before you continue in this class. You’re too dangerous to be using this kind of magic.” Drake shook his head and was about to leave before Jaycen spoke.
“I made a mistake. I mean, I’m not going to get better at magic if I’m not allowed to use it.”
Drake turned to face her. “Your mind has no idea what you are capable of, but your body knows, and its instinct to protect itself will override everything else.”
She couldn’t dispute that, how could she? The huge magical killing cloud that had just been in front of them was proof enough. But she hated the thought of losing this class, she’d fought so hard to be in it.
“You need a much greater understanding of your magic before you can come back. I’m sorry Jaycen, but my say is final.” Then he left.
“That sucks,” she moaned and dropped her head on Thornton’s shoulder.
“Hey.” He turned, so he could fully hold her in his arms. “Look at the bright side, at least you know how to create a death spell. You could kill people if you wanted to. That could be handy, I guess.”
Yeah, Jaycen really couldn’t see a bright side to that.
Chapter 3
“You’re not allowed to just skip class whenever you want, you know that, right?” Thornton smiled over at her while grabbing her school bag and shoving it under his head, using it as a pillow. They were sat at the far end of the school field, hopefully far enough away that no one could see them, or more to the point, her. Thornton was in the college part of The Cure Academy and therefore could do whatever he liked. Jaycen was very much still in high school, which meant she couldn’t do as she pleased.
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