Kami Cursed (Dragon and Phoenix)

by Julianne Price

  She leaned over the little speaker. “Hey Joe, its Wendy. I think we should call Dr. Norton. Something’s up with 103.”

  More crackling. “Okay, I’ll let him know.”

  Then she turned to me with a soothing smile. “C’mon honey, you can take your shower while we wait for the doctor. He’ll explain everything.”

  *****

  I stepped out of the shower, refusing to look in the mirror while I dried off. Seeing my reflection the first time had been enough of a shock. I wasn’t doing it again. I’d grown up. Overnight. My flat chest was gianormous, I was taller, and everything was all wrong- my legs were too long, my feet were too big, and I had trouble just moving around. Had I really been here for three years? Why couldn’t I remember? When I tried, all I got was a pain in my head and burst of fear. So I stopped trying.

  I smoothed the towel over my new arms and legs, not believing what my eyes and hands were telling me. I’d been fourteen yesterday. Today I was seventeen. I was awkward, gangly, and beyond uncomfortable. I grabbed the sink to steady myself as I stood on one foot to dry the other. My dad had always teased me, saying sarcastically that he should have named me Grace. Man, he’d laugh his butt off now.

  There was a commotion from outside the bathroom door and I could hear muffled voices. One of them was smooth like silk- the new Ryuu- and the other was probably my father. There was a third male voice that I couldn’t place.

  I pulled my clothes on while they argued. A sports bra, a t-shirt with a rhinestone rose, and some stretchy, fitted jeans with narrow legs that felt all wrong. None of the clothes were familiar to me, and I wondered where they’d come from.

  “There is just no way this sort of thing could happen,” the stranger’s voice was saying. “I don’t want you to get your hopes up Mr. Callahan.” His voice was dripping with disapproval.

  Ryuu’s voice was soft, but filled with anger and impatience. “It’s her. I’m telling you, she’s woken up from the thing that was possessing her.”

  Dad laughed nervously. “She wasn’t possessed Ryuu.” His voice was thin and he sounded tired.

  “Even if she has overcome whatever caused her to become unstable, we don’t know what kind of mental state she’ll be in.” The doctor said, in a tone that made me think he had said this before, and that he thought they were both idiots. “You won’t be able to just take her home, Mr. Callahan. People don’t spontaneously recover from this sort of illness.”

  Tired of hiding, I opened the door and stepped into the room. They all stared at me. Dad rushed forward and took my hands. Ryuu hung back. He stood beside the guy in the long white coat, but it was like there was a wall between them.

  “Kit, honey, do you recognize daddy?” My Dad looked terrible. His eyes were red and his skin looked kind of saggy. He hadn’t shaved in a while, and he stank.

  “I…think so…” My eyes found Ryuu and he lifted one shoulder in a shrug.

  Dad pulled me into his arms in a puff of fumes, then stepped back again, grasping my shoulders. “Look at her Doc,” he said excitedly. “Look at how clear her eyes are.”

  Chapter 2

  “You really don’t remember anything since that time with the book?” Ryuu asked once Dad had left with the doctor.

  I shook my head, looking down. It was hard to look in his eyes. He was my Ryuu, and not my Ryuu at the same time. “Well,” I said hesitantly, a misty memory tugging at my brain, “there was something…but it’s really dumb.”

  I glanced at him and he nodded encouragingly. “What? This is me you’re talking to.”

  I shrugged. “Well…there was this dream, but I only know it was a dream now. At the time it seemed so real.”

  I pointed at the vase on my desk. “There was a whole field of flowers. But they weren’t real flowers, they were like that.” Three intricately crafted paper flowers filled the vase, each of them different, but all in vibrant shades of blue.

  Ryuu picked up a flower and twirled it between his long fingers. When had his hands gotten so big? I remembered when they felt small in mine- fragile. When I’d protected him from the bullies, and walked him home from school…

  “These?” His dark eyes watched my face intently. I couldn’t handle those eyes just yet, so I looked away.

  “Um…yeah. They were just like that- but there were so many- a whole field filled with them. I would walk through them and they made this swishing sound against my legs. Sometimes I laid down in them and looked up at the sky.”

  I grinned. “It was purple, the sky I mean. Purple with puffy pink clouds.” It had been way more girly than anything a tomboy like me would normally imagine.

  Ryuu smiled at me. “That’s good. It sounds like a nice dream.”

  I frowned, trying to remember. “I think it was. I loved the flowers. I felt like I could look at them for hours. Sometimes I wanted to leave, and the dragon wouldn’t let me- but I was never scared.”

  Ryuu’s smile faded. “Dragon? I never put a dragon in there.”

  I stared at him for a minute. “What?”

  He shrugged and rubbed the back of his neck, looking embarrassed. “When you went under- when you were cursed,” his eyes met mine. “Or crazy, or whatever,” he waved his hand dismissively, knowing that I would argue the point. “I couldn’t get near you when you were awake. Other people were fine, but the minute you saw me… well, you wanted to kill me.”

  I stared at him. “I wouldn’t do that.”

  He laughed. “You almost strangled me the first time. After that we knew what to expect, so the staff was more careful.”

  He reached out and took my hand and I had that moment of right-wrongness again. It felt familiar, holding his hand, but it felt all wrong. “I know it wasn’t you,” he said seriously. “It was that thing inside you. The curse hated me. And it got worse the longer you were under.”

  He paused, tilting his head to the side, considering. “I think it knew somehow. I think it sensed that I could drive it out.”

  I shook my head, struggling to make sense of even half of what he was saying. “And the flowers?” I tried desperately to bring this odd conversation back on track.

  “Right. Well, I found out that the only time I could be with you was when you were sleeping. The thing seemed to go dormant for a bit and I could sit here and watch over you.”

  He sounded so old. Something about the way he said watch over, like I had been in danger, made the back of my neck tingle as if someone was watching me right then.

  Ryuu didn’t seem to notice that he was freaking me out. “Well, I thought since it wasn’t trying to kill me when you were sleeping, maybe that meant that I could reach you on some level.” He shrugged and looked down at his hands. “So I talked to you. I built you a garden in my mind, and I tried my best to…I don’t know, send it to you.” He looked up, excitement overtaking his embarrassment. “I can’t believe it actually worked!”

  I frowned at him. “So you think you- what, made my dream?”

  He nodded, ignoring my raised eyebrows. “Sorry. I was younger. I tried to make it as girly as I could.” He scowled. “But I didn’t put a dragon in there. That must have been your subconscious. Or maybe it was part of the curse.” He seemed completely oblivious to how insane he sounded right now. “Did the dragon try to hurt you?”

  I shook my head. I didn’t have a clue what to say. “No. It mostly left me alone. It was a smoky silvery color, like a ghost, and it would prowl around the edges of the field where it was dark. If I tried to leave, it would block me.”

  I shrugged. “Every once in a while there was this guy; I could never see his face, but he had long black hair in a pony-tail. And he wore these weird white robes. When he was there, the dragon would wrap itself around him and they would walk around and around the edges of the field together.”

  I picked at the seam of my jeans. “Weird, huh? But when I was dreaming it all felt normal. I knew the guy and the dragon weren’t going to hurt me. I wasn’t scared of them- in fact, I
felt better when they were there. But at the same time, I knew that I really didn’t want to make them mad. So I just stayed where they wanted me to stay.”

  Ryuu muttered to himself. “Huh. Some sort of guardian… it must have been protecting you from the kami’s curse.”

  He frowned, looking a little deflated. “You never saw me, though? In your dream?”

  I shook my head. “Was I supposed to?”

  He shrugged, suddenly looking younger again. I was starting to get used to the way he shifted back and forth, but it was still a little odd. “I tried. I imagined standing there telling you everything was okay. It must not have worked. It’s not like I knew what I was doing. I’m just making this stuff up as I go.” He twirled the flower between his fingers again. “I wonder though… well...never mind. I’m glad I could get to you.” His smile was filled with relief- Ryuu, but not Ryuu.

  I gestured toward the flower he was holding. “Where did those come from anyway?”

  His cheeks flushed and he looked away. “I made them,” he muttered.

  I took the flower out of his hand and studied it, amazed. “You did?”

  He nodded. “Origami,” he explained. “I had to have something to do while you slept.”

  I laughed at the thought of a boy sitting around folding flowers. But my laughter died out pretty fast. He had been by my side for three years, not knowing if I was ever going to snap out of it.

  All of the sudden, I was worried for this new Ryuu. He’d been through so much. He’d lost both his parents in a car accident and moved here with his stupid, boy-crazy aunt when he was just ten. My dad, who was a complete stranger to him at the time, had given him a place to stay when his only living relative forgot about him. His size, Japanese features, and that hint of weirdness he’s always given off made him an easy target for the bullies in our podunk little town.

  Being older, I had protected him from the other kids. But then I’d suddenly and up and gone insane. Maybe all this talk about curses and dreams was just his way of dealing with stuff that would drive a normal kid crazy. Maybe he wasn’t so “stable” himself.

  “Hey! I almost forgot.” He dropped my hand, startling me out of my thoughts, and went to riffle around in his book bag. “I brought you something.” He pulled a book out of his bag and came to sit next to me on the bed.

  I leaned close to peek at the title, old memories flooding my mind. How many afternoons had we spent under the big old tree in my backyard, me reading stories to my strange, motherless little friend?

  I curled up on my pillow beside him. This time Ryuu read to me, and his different but familiar voice- deeper, but still smooth like silk- lulled me to sleep. It wasn’t much of a dream, but as I drifted off, I saw the strange man. The silvery dragon was wrapped around and around his body like a living garment, always moving, flowing like water. He raised his hand toward me and there was a soft tinkling sound. His face stayed shadowed, but the dragon’s eyes met mine and they were a glowing golden topaz. Then I tumbled over into dreamless sleep.

  *****

  The next week was a blur. I met with a neuropsychologist who had me take a bunch of tests, look at pictures, and put together all kinds of odd puzzles. Dr. Norton, who turned out to be the medical director of the facility, gave me a butt load of physical tests. I even had the joy of having my head scanned and my blood tested for about a million things I’d never even heard of, and couldn’t pronounce if I tried.

  It was a bright, sunny Thursday afternoon when Dr. Norton sat down with my dad and me to review the results. Ryuu was there too, dark and brooding, but he was told off by the adults, and had to wait outside.

  I took a seat in one of the uncomfortable orange chairs across from the Doctor’s big, shiny wooden desk. Dad sat beside me, holding my hand in a death grip. His own hand was shaking, and his eyes were still red and watery behind his wire-rimmed glasses.

  Dr. Norton ran a hand through his thinning, snow-white hair. Then he slipped a report out of a soft folder with my name written on it in thick black letters. “I’ve read through the results of the psychological testing.” His hazel eyes met first mine, then my father’s. “This is a very unusual case. I’ve never seen anything like it in my twenty years of practice.”

  I shifted uncomfortably, wishing he would just spit it out already. Dr. Norton had a way of making you squirm while you waited for whatever it was he was about to tell you. You could tell right off that he wasn’t used to dealing with kids- at least, not kids who weren’t punks and druggies. “Kit seems to have made a full recovery from the severe mental distress that she has demonstrated for the last three years.”

  He let out a long sigh. “In all honesty, I’m dumbfounded. Things like this just don’t happen. It’s like something from a corny television show.” He said frankly. “The only remaining anomaly is the total lack of memory of that time.”

  Dad scooted to the edge of the chair, glancing between me and the doctor. “She doesn’t remember it at all?”

  I shook my head, but it was the doctor that answered. “She has amnesia beginning from just before her seizure activity until the day her friend says she ‘woke up’. To Kit, it feels like she’s been here for about a week.”

  Dad squeezed my hand even harder. “Well, that’s a good thing, isn’t it? I wouldn’t want her to remember…”

  The doctor nodded. “It could be a defensive mechanism to protect her mind from dealing with traumatic memories. We’ll have to watch her closely to make sure nothing crops up. But in the meantime, the bigger issue- as far as Kit is concerned- is that she still feels like she’s fourteen years old. She may have some difficulty adjusting to her new life and fitting in with her peers.”

  That was an understatement, but I tried to smile at my dad, so that he wouldn’t worry. “It’s okay, Dad. He says I can see a therapist from home.”

  The doctor nodded. “Of course, I recommend that she have outpatient psychology services, and any additional therapy that she may need to help her re-integrate into society.”

  The meeting didn’t take long. Dad and I were both too shocked to ask questions, and the doctor seemed relieved about that. He probably didn’t have many answers.

  Ryuu was in the waiting room. He popped up out of his chair the moment the office door opened, with a rattle of plastic on tile. “You’re coming home?”

  I nodded, and the smile I gave him was a bit more convincing than the one I’d tried to show Dad. I was going home. This nightmare was finally over.

  *****

  Ryuu helped me get my stuff packed up and loaded into the car while Dad was busy signing my discharge paperwork and getting instructions from the nursing staff. They were sending me home with some medication to calm me down, just in case I had some kind of episode. But I had news for my dad; I wasn’t taking any more stinking meds.

  I frowned as I pulled clothes out of my closet and stuffed them into garbage bags. “Where did all this stuff come from?” My closet was packed with clothes, none of them familiar. They were all pretty, girly things, but nothing I would pick out on my own.

  Ryuu was packing some books into an old cardboard box. “Dawn,” he said without looking up. “She loves buying stuff for you. She brings up a bag of clothes and stuff almost every time she visits.”

  I stared at him. “Dawn?” The last time I remembered talking to Ryuu’s aunt, her pretty face had been slack-jawed with shock. I couldn’t remember much, but the memory of my shouting at her, telling her that I didn’t like her and that she made a terrible mother- that memory was pretty clear. I hadn’t told Ryuu about the exchange. He had always been so defensive when he thought I was trying to mother him.

  Ryuu brushed his shiny hair back from his eyes, and I was distracted from all thoughts of Dawn. I was trying really hard not to notice that the doll-like little boy had gotten… cute. I had to remind myself that I was still three years older than him- that I wasn’t fourteen anymore.

  He raised his dark brows at me. “What?”<
br />
  I turned away and started stuffing clothes in the bags as fast as I could, grasping for a reason to explain why my face was now flaming red. “Nothing. I’m just surprised that Dawn would care. I mean- I was kind of mean to her the last time I saw her.”

  Ryuu stood and hefted the box of books. “The last time you remember seeing her was years ago, remember? Whatever you did that was so mean, she’s probably forgotten it by now. And besides, she really likes you. She always has.”

  I tied up the tops of the bags. I really doubted that was something she’d just forget. It was more likely that she was thankful I’d gone on a mental holiday at Birch Hill and just wanted to make sure I stayed comfortably out of her way. I glanced around the room. “I think that’s everything. Let’s go home.”

  It was kind of a shock when Ryuu got in the driver’s seat. Dad shut my door and slid into the passenger’s seat. I looked between them, dumbfounded. “You can drive?”

  Ryuu nodded. “Just got my learner’s permit last week.”

  Dad was looking out the window, and I noticed that his brown pony-tail had gotten longer, and that there were streaks of silver in it now. “Driving me around gives him some practice, but he doesn’t really need it. Ryuu’s a great driver,” he said, still looking out the window.

  I frowned. Something was off. Ryuu shifted into reverse and backed out of the parking space, his posture stiff, and his movements more cautious than necessary. “And does he drive you around a lot Dad?”

  Ryuu’s eyes met mine as he looked over his shoulder out the back window, then they darted away. Dad’s voice was laced with embarrassment. “It’s more convenient…since I can’t drive anymore.”

  I opened my mouth to ask why, but Ryuu interrupted. “Kit, what’s the first thing you want to do when you get home? You’re free now. We’ll make sure your first day back is a good one.”

  I narrowed my eyes at him. He was changing the subject. “I don’t know,” I said honestly. “I haven’t given it much thought.”