The Cassandra Curse

by Chantel Acevedo

  I felt them all, felt their righteous anger, felt what they felt as they made a difference. The muse magic made me cry like a baby.

  Soon, the other two birds flew off out an open window. A moment later, the third followed the others, trailing plastic wrap from its claws.

  Around us, everyone was talking at once. “What was that?” and “How did those birds get in here?” while Maya thanked everyone who had helped out.

  Maya’s project hadn’t been damaged, and she greeted the judges with surprising poise, considering what had just happened.

  Well, maybe not so surprising. The top of my head was utterly numb with muse magic at this point.

  Meanwhile, I walked over to Raquel, who had her hands on her knees, catching her breath. She was wearing a sparkly white dress, and the sides of her head were now dyed purple.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked.

  Raquel had a determined look on her face. “It was too much, Callie. They wanted me to drop out of school. They said I needed to get a nose job and lose weight.”

  “You have a great nose,” I said. “And you’re so skinny.”

  Raquel shook her head. “I know my parents left Venezuela because they wanted something better for me, but Cal, this isn’t better,” she said. “Besides. Looks like you guys needed me here. Freaky birds, huh?”

  Speechless, I threw my arms around her. “I’m so glad you’re back, Raqui,” I said, sobbing now.

  “Me too,” she whispered. Then said, “Ow. What’s under your shirt?”

  The Rubik’s Cube tumbled to the floor.

  The last judge walked away, smiling and writing in his clipboard. Maya had clasped her hands to her heart and was grinning so widely at Max that I thought her face might explode.

  “They loved it!” she said.

  “Called her exceptional,” Max said, as the two of them walked over to us. “But what’s up with those fake judges?”

  Before I could come up with an answer for him, Maya pushed past me. “Hey, my Rubik’s Cube,” Maya said. She picked it up.

  “Maya, please don’t, you—”

  “Watch this!” She gave the cube three deft twists. “One more twist in this direction and blammo, I’ve solved it,” she said.

  “Wait,” I blurted.

  “Why?” Maya asked.

  “That kid over there just called your name,” I said, buying time by pointing to a boy in jeans and a hockey jersey, who was standing in front of a homemade solar panel.

  “Oh yeah? Cool project,” Maya said, and put the cube down before making her way to him.

  I didn’t know what to do. If I snatched the Rubik’s Cube away from Maya and tried to destroy it, would it release the curse? Would we all be cursed? There were lots of kids around, milling about. Could the curse even be destroyed? Wouldn’t Cassandra have done that, long ago? Maybe destroying it wasn’t the answer.

  Absently, I shoved my hands into the pockets of my jeans. Inside my right pocket, I felt something. My fingers twirled around a metallic object, and when I drew it out, there was Tia Annie’s bracelet! How did that get there? Did Clio send it?

  More important, was I back on the Muse Squad again?

  I put it on at once. Around and around I spun the bracelet.

  Suddenly, the little golden book charm on the bracelet clicked open. I didn’t know it could do that! A tiny piece of paper fluttered out and fell on the floor. Cautiously, I bent down to get it, and opened it up. It was the size of a stamp. In the smallest handwriting I’d ever seen, there was what appeared to be a short letter.

  Dear Callie,

  You made the whole world spin, sweet girl. I knew you would.

  There is often a dark night before the light shines again. Seek me out when you need the light.

  You’ll know where to go.

  Love,

  Tia Annie

  “There is often a dark night before the light shines again,” I whispered to myself.

  This was it. This was the dark night.

  I watched as Maya chatted with the boy about the solar panels, pointing to places here and there on his project board. He was nodding, and it was obvious she was being helpful. Raquel was nearby. Her hair was a mess. She’d given up her chance at stardom, and what had she done? She’d come to the convention center and ended up defending Maya and her project. Meanwhile, Max was straightening the tiny fallen trees inside Maya’s project, his brow wrinkled in concentration. He chose to be here, supporting Maya, instead of hanging out with Violet and Alain. I thought of the other muses, how each of them had first used their powers by performing a selfless act for a stranger in trouble.

  That’s what love was, wasn’t it? Selfless.

  As long as the curse was in the cube, it was a threat to Maya. There was only one way of making sure she didn’t get cursed. It was scary, but I knew what to do.

  By now, Maya had wandered back, making a face at me. “That kid didn’t call my name. Callie, you’re hearing things.”

  “Tell me about it,” I muttered.

  Maya picked up the Rubik’s Cube.

  “Hey, Maya, can I solve it?” I asked.

  Maya shrugged. “Sure. I’ve done it loads of times before with my old cube.”

  “Thanks,” I said weakly. I held it up to my ear.

  You can do it, Callie, the voices murmured.

  I looked at everyone. “You guys are the best,” I told them while they still believed me.

  Closing my eyes, I twisted the last section clockwise.

  Chapter 30

  The Cassandra Curse

  Click.

  Nothing happened.

  I didn’t feel any different. I was still holding the cube, so I listened to it again. Silence.

  “Why do you keep doing that?” Raquel asked.

  No better time than the present to test this, I thought.

  “Listening for the voices inside,” I said seriously.

  Raquel laughed and rolled her eyes.

  Not a great test, I’ll admit. I wouldn’t have believed me either, curse or not. The judges, the real ones this time, circled back to Maya’s table.

  “Congratulations, Ms. Rivero. You’ve won first place,” said the first judge.

  The second judge pinned a blue ribbon onto Maya’s pink shirt. “Onward to Washington, D.C., young lady. There’s a trophy waiting for you on the stage,” she said with a wink. “We’ll announce you and the runners-up in a brief ceremony, happening shortly.” By now, a small crowd had surrounded Maya. A camera flashed. Maya grinned.

  “You did it!” I shouted, and gave Maya a big hug.

  Maya smiled so widely that one of the rubber bands on her braces popped off and hit me on the cheek. “Sorry. That was gross,” she said.

  I hugged her again. It really was gross, but it was also super okay.

  Maya had won the county science fair! I’d figured out who the sirens were! Sure, I was cursed, but there had to be a way to get rid of it. Clio would know how.

  That’s when I saw her—Ms. Rinse walking over to us slowly.

  I rushed toward her. “Ms. Rinse! Maya won!” I said. “Extra credit for everyone, right?” I joked. She clamped her hands on my shoulders and looked me hard in the eyes. Then she pushed me away and marched toward Maya, a grim look on her face. I ran behind her. She walked right up to the third judge and began whispering in her ear, pointing to Maya’s project. The judge’s brow furrowed.

  I heard Ms. Rinse say “cheater,” and “Maya,” and “dishonest.”

  No, no, no, I thought. What was Ms. Rinse doing? Didn’t she want Maya to win?

  I let the muse magic come as I stared at Ms. Rinse’s back. Feeling it wash over me again and again, I willed her to fix this, to take back whatever she’d said to that judge.

  “Wait,” Ms. Rinse said. It was working! She opened her mouth to say something when she stopped, turned around, and imperceptibly shook her head at me. My knees buckled at once. Just like that, my magic turned off, as if s
he’d flipped a switch. Her blue eyes grew brighter, as if they were being lit from behind.

  I’d felt my magic turn off before. At Sea-a-Rama, when I’d tried to use my magic and Ms. Rinse had looked at me like that . . .

  “Hey Maya,” I said, looping my arm around her. “You never did tell me who gave you the Rubik’s Cube.”

  Maya’s bottom lip was trembling as she watched the judges turn to her with angry eyes. “Ms. Rinse did,” Maya said, her voice small.

  A chirp sounded behind me, and I turned to see a trio of blackbirds pecking at some popcorn on the floor. The birds were back! They waddled closer to Ms. Rinse. She looked down and gazed at them lovingly.

  Ms. Rinse was with the sirens. They answered to her!

  “Whatever this creep is telling you is a lie,” I said, jamming myself between Ms. Rinse and the judge.

  Ms. Rinse’s nostrils flared. “Callie Martinez-Silva, step away now.”

  “Don’t believe her. Not a word,” I said to the judge.

  Ms. Rinse started laughing. Maya, Raquel, and Max joined her. My heart dropped. Of course. The Cassandra Curse. Everything I said sounded like a lie to them.

  “Guys,” I pleaded. “Listen to me.” But they weren’t. They were giggling and pointing at me.

  Ms. Rinse laid a cold hand on my shoulder. “It appears that you are the one nobody believes, Calliope.” The way she said it told me all I needed to know.

  Ms. Rinse knew I was a muse.

  And she knew I had solved the Rubik’s Cube and released the Cassandra Curse.

  I felt something sharp on my ankle, looked down, and saw one of the blackbirds beside me, teeth bared. I kicked it hard, and heard Raquel say, “Hey, Cal. Not cool.”

  My eyes pricked with tears at the sight of Raquel’s furrowed brow. I’d just gotten her back in my life and now . . .

  Hurrying away from them all, I ran out of the convention center and onto the street. “Hello? Hello?” I called into my bracelet. If I was a muse again, they would hear me and come help. I hoped. But nobody answered. I was still holding the Rubik’s Cube. “Hello?”

  “Are you expecting a response?” a voice answered.

  I looked up and was face-to-face with Clio.

  “You’re here!” I said, and wrapped my arms around her waist.

  Clio patted my head. “There, there,” she said awkwardly, and I let her go.

  “Um, sorry. It’s just that—”

  Clio was fanning herself with a map of Miami. “Is it always so hot here?” she asked.

  “Pretty much, yeah,” I said.

  “It was much cooler in the fountain,” she said, pointing to an enormous fountain across the street, surrounded by bright pink hibiscus plants. “Entrance point,” she whispered.

  “Clio, there’s trouble. This is the Cassandra Curse,” I said, holding up the Rubik’s Cube.

  Clio stared at it, her mouth pursed. “Don’t be ridiculous,” she said.

  “It is. I’ve been cursed. That’s why you don’t believe me. Or you won’t. But Ms. Rinse is bad. And the triplets from Tampa, or wherever they’re really from, are sirens, but they’re currently blackbirds. Maya won the county science fair, but she’s in trouble and—”

  Clio laid a warm hand on my head. “Do you know how preposterous you sound?”

  “Clio, please.”

  She sighed. “It was a mistake to think you were ready to be reinstated as a muse. Give me the bracelet.”

  I shook my head, backing away from her. Clio reached out for me. Then a scream from inside the convention center resounded, and Clio turned toward it.

  So I ran.

  Fast as I could, I made for the fountain. I stepped inside, my sneakers squelching in the water. In the center, a stone mermaid sat on a rock, her tail coiled beneath her. I held the Rubik’s Cube up to my ear one last time.

  You know where to go, Callie, the voice said sadly.

  “Tia Annie, is that you?” I asked. I hoped it was. I hoped she’d been trying to help me all along.

  I don’t know who Tia Annie is. I am she whom none believed, the voice answered.

  “Are you Cassandra?” I whispered back.

  I am sorry that my fate has befallen you, she said.

  I thought of Cassandra, so long ago, trying to convince the people in her city of the horrors that awaited them. How they hadn’t believed her. How everyone she loved had died.

  “I’m sorry, too,” I said back. “How do I break the curse?”

  The truth. You must tell it, Cassandra answered so dimly that I barely heard her.

  “Okay. Bye,” I said, feeling confused and ridiculous.

  I took a steadying breath, pinched my nose, and ducked under the warm water, staying there until I felt it grow cold around me.

  I rose out of the water into a London night, in the center of the courtyard fountain at the V and A. Because I’d seen Thalia do it, I walked forward, and as I walked, my clothes dried out. It was a miracle that I had the courtyard to myself. Inside the café, guests were grabbing meals and settling down with trays. Signs around the courtyard advertised “A Night Under the Stars at the V and A.” Somewhere, soft music was playing.

  At first I didn’t know what to do. What did Maya always say? “Tackle small problems one at a time.” The cube had told me I knew where to go. Every time I went back to headquarters, I learned something new, so that was an obvious choice. Now what? Tia Annie had left me clues, hadn’t she? Like the poems in her book, and the note. What had the poem said again? Something about dog bones, a path, and secrets.

  And her note? Seek me out when you need the light, it had read.

  I went straight to Tycho’s grave and knelt before it.

  The bolts holding the plaque in place were loose, and I twisted them out, scraping my fingers against the brick wall. The plaque itself was heavy, and it fell onto the ground with a thud.

  Inside the dark box was a pile of small white bones that had been pushed to the side. The little dog skull was perched on top. The bones weren’t scary, just sad, really.

  I reached in, thinking I might find another note, or some other instructions. “Come on, Tia Annie. What did you see in here?” I whispered.

  An old spiderweb draped across one of the corners, and a glimmer of light shone behind it. Where was it coming from? My fingers grazed the back of the box, and when they did, the panel I had touched fell away, revealing a vast green space beyond it.

  I knew that field.

  I had dreamed about it.

  Sitting back on my heels, I considered my options. I couldn’t just sit here, slip into the fountain, or even go home. I was cursed. Nobody I knew would ever believe anything I ever said again. For the rest of my life, they would think to themselves, There goes Callie, that liar. The thought made a big fat lump grow in my throat.

  I wasn’t sure what to do. “Hello?” I called. The grass was flattened into a narrow path that led to water. The bones, the path. Just like the poem said. Beyond were secrets.

  The box was just a little wider than my shoulders. I heaved myself in, closing my eyes when my arms brushed up against Tycho’s bones. “Sorry, puppy,” I said, and prayed that dog-haunting wasn’t an actual thing. It was a tight fit, and for a moment, I thought I’d get stuck. A vision of my butt hanging out of the tomb for all the visitors of the V and A to see nearly made me back out.

  Pushing forward, I popped out into the green field and slowly stood up.

  It was dusk there, too, and a few stars were visible in the sky. The grassy field was dotted with little yellow flowers here and there, and they swayed in a light breeze. The statues I’d dreamed of were gone. The field gave way to the water, and on the water was a small boat, bobbing up and down. Far out in the distance, past the water, a column of light caught my eye.

  Searchlights. Three beams of light swept the sky, back and forth. I walked toward them thinking I’d either have to swim or go around the pond.

  That’s when the boat headed for me
, leaving soft, glossy ripples in its wake. As the boat approached, the shape of the figure sitting in it became clear.

  Her hair was long. She was smiling. And when the boat finally touched the shore, the woman stood, opened her arms, and said, “Oh, Calliope, mi vida, you’ve come.”

  “Tia Annie!” I cried out. I stepped into the water and clambered into the little boat.

  “You’re so big,” she said, wrapping her arms around me.

  “And you’re—you’re you!” I mumbled against her shoulder. “And this isn’t a dream!”

  Tia Annie cupped my cheeks with her hands. “How I’ve missed you, my Callie-Mallie.”

  I’d forgotten that nickname. How could I have forgotten it? I started to cry, and Tia Annie said, “Shh, shh,” until I stopped.

  “It’s all been a lot,” I said, my voice choked up.

  “Understatement of the century, mi niña,” Tia Annie said. She dipped her hand into the water. “Look.”

  I looked. The searchlights were reflected on the surface, each beam of light wavy and refracted, and in the glow, a picture emerged.

  “That’s Ms. Rinse!” I said, as an image of my science teacher appeared in the water. She was younger. Really young. But there was no mistaking those round cheeks and those bright blue eyes and her polka-dot dress.

  “My old friend. Wendy was her name. Muse of science. She was so proud,” Tia Annie said, touching the water again. Another picture emerged. Now Ms. Rinse was older, standing in a laboratory, whispering into the ear of a man wearing a lab coat.

  “She was both an excellent muse and a terrible one,” Tia Annie said. “Talented. Powerful. But she felt as if she was inspiring lesser beings. She was the smart scientist. She had the ideas. Why couldn’t she claim them for herself? Jealous, she suppressed the Fated Ones. Sabotaged their careers.”

  “And the searchlights?” I asked.

  The picture in the water changed again. “Wendy sought them out. Our power comes from the light. You know how sometimes, when someone has an idea in a cartoon, the illustrator draws a lightbulb over that person’s head?” Tia Annie asked. I nodded. “Light is inspiration. Muses are like light switches. We just turn on the light in those we inspire. Wendy wanted that inspiration for herself. So she discovered the Tycho portal, came here, and tried to steal the light for her own use. I followed her and stopped her from reaching the searchlights, claiming all inspiration for herself. I denied her entry.” Tia Annie touched the water again, and there was Ms. Rinse in the boat, lying very still, as if she were sleeping. “Wendy was my best friend. I broke her heart,” Tia Annie said very quietly.