Cursing Fate

by Brenda Drake

  “I’m sorry,” he said.

  “No need to be. I’m fine.”

  “I’m glad you’re here.”

  “Where is she?” Violet’s voice was shaky as she changed the subject.

  Fear sank in his stomach, wondering what that spirit would do to the girl he loved. Would she harm Iris? He used the flashlight to see the shore, hitting the whitecaps on the waves. The rock jetty looked like a dead body stretching out from the beach into the ocean. Water hit the base of the rocks and sprayed up in the air.

  Violet abruptly stopped, a gasp escaping from her lips.

  Wade’s eyes followed the stream of light coming from her flashlight. It caught something in the distance. Iris jumped from rock to rock on the rock mound, heading for the ocean. Wade didn’t say anything. He sprinted across the beach toward the jetty.

  “She’s going to jump,” Violet called after him, the beam of light bouncing sporadically as she ran after him.

  He climbed the first rock, and then moved as quickly as possible across them. His boot slid on a slick one, and he crashed down on his knees and elbows, the pain rocking his bones. He slipped a little as he got to his feet. He had to keep going. Save Iris. Her silhouette was a ghostly figure against the dark sky and ocean. Violet’s light swept across Iris. He was almost there.

  Almost.

  Three steps.

  And she jumped.

  “Iris!” he yelled, diving in after her. It was as if a million icy knives stabbed him. The ocean’s frozen embrace engulfed him. He couldn’t see her. Where was she? It was too dark. Seaweed tangled in his arms. He pulled from them and moved farther out. “Iris!” he called again, gulping in water, the salt burning his throat.

  She was gone.

  Gone!

  Panic hit his chest with thundering beats. His arms and legs ached as he rose and fell with the waves.

  I can’t lose her.

  He dived under, reaching, searching for her. His breath ran out and he broke through the waves, bobbing and sucking in air and water.

  Where is she?

  “Wade!” Was it Violet calling out? He spun around, riding a wave, and crashed against a rock. Pain erupted in his side.

  He pushed off the rock and swam a ways out.

  “Wade!” There was a frightened shriek in the voice.

  He turned to look at the jetty. Violet flashed her light over the water and pointed. “She’s there!”

  “Wade!” Another terrified scream. It was Iris calling him.

  He swam to her, coming up behind her and wrapping his arm around her chest. “Stay still. I have you.” He pushed through the water with his legs and free arm, dragging her toward the beach. When he could stand, he lifted her into his arms and carried her out.

  The beam from the flashlight bounced across the jetty’s rocks as Violet made her way across to them. He laid Iris on the sand and she rolled to her side, coughing up water. Each breath he took hurt and he touched his side. Blood drenched his fingers.

  Sand kicked up around him as Violet reached them and fell to her knees.

  “Is she okay?”

  “Yeah,” he said, nodding, still straining to breathe.

  “What happened?” Iris said through coughs and tears. At least, he thought it was her. She rolled onto her back.

  “Crina tried to kill you,” Violet said and lifted Iris’s head on her lap. She brushed the wet strands of hair from her sister’s face. “It is you, right?”

  “Yes.”

  “What’s my favorite dessert?”

  “Really?” Iris got to her elbows. “It changes all the time.”

  Violet laughed. “Yes, it does.”

  Wade stood and looked down at Iris. “We have to bring you to Daisy. Can you get up?”

  “I think so,” she said.

  He took her hands and helped her stand. His side protested and he winced, but he wouldn’t let go of Iris’s right hand.

  Violet pointed the flashlight at him. “You’re bleeding.”

  “I’m fine. Come on.”

  Iris pulled her hand away from him, backing up. “Leave me alone,” she ordered, falling to the sand on her butt and scooting away from them. Her hand came across a piece of driftwood and she grasped.

  Wade took an uncertain step forward. “We’re trying to help you.”

  She tottered to her feet and held out the branch. “Don’t come any closer or I’ll hit you.”

  “Crina?” He cautiously slid his foot in the sand, moving closer.

  “You do not understand,” she said, swinging the branch back and forth. “I will not go back. Not there. Evil is there. I am not the only spirit in those cards. It is full of firstborns. Those stolen from the curse. They torment me.”

  “You can’t have Iris.” Another step and Wade could grab her. He had to get her back to Daisy. Stop this crazy messed-up stuff. Shoving the hopelessness aside, he moved forward. Seeing her scared and hurt tore at him.

  I’ll do whatever it takes to save you, Iris. Just hold tight. Daisy and Miri were his only chance to get Iris back. No matter the cost to him.

  Crina swung her weapon at him again. “What would you do if it were you?” she asked. Her tortured expression made Wade want to hold her, take on whatever demon held her. Anything to remove her pain. “I am not an evil person,” she said. “I am a girl who made a foolish mistake. Am I to suffer eternity for it?”

  Violet moved to Wade’s side. “We could find a way to release you. There has to be something we can do.”

  “Stop trying to trick me.” Crina backed away, her heels sinking in the sand. Her wet dress stuck to her skin and her water-drenched hair slapped her face as she turned her head back and forth to watch them and then her steps.

  Violet heaved a long sigh and glanced at Wade. “Just knock her out.”

  He shot a puzzled look at her. “What?”

  “Deck her. We don’t have time for this.”

  There was no way he could hit a girl, even if it was a demon spirit instead of Iris. It was her body. “I can’t.”

  Crina glared at him. “You are such a weak man.”

  Violet rushed Crina and punched her square on the jaw with so much force both girls stumbled back. “Ouch,” Violet groaned.

  Crina, her shoes stuck in the sand, lost her balance and fell right on her butt.

  Wade grabbed her arms and lifted her over his shoulder.

  “Put me down,” Crina screeched.

  “Come on,” he told Violet as he trudged through the sand with Crina kicking and beating her fists against his back.

  Everything on his body hurt and real blood covered his chest, but he was saving Iris, damn it.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Iris/Crina

  The pressure against her stomach from Wade’s shoulder made Crina want to get sick all over his back. She had to think. Get herself out of this situation. Her jaw hurt from Violet’s punch and she vowed to get even.

  Just let me go. Iris felt like a wisp of smoke. She could barely think anymore, let alone fight Crina for control. You’re a murderer. Your curse killed all those first-born sons. You will rot in hell.

  Cease your jabbering. Crina’s thoughts were strong and angry.

  Iris held onto whatever energy she had left. Or maybe this IS your hell.

  “I said stop! Get out of my head.” Crina squirmed, twisting her body, her fists thudding against Wade’s wet back.

  “Iris? Keep fighting her.” Wade’s voice boomed through her thoughts like an overhead speaker. Iris wanted desperately to touch him, but Crina had control and Iris couldn’t feel a thing. It was like having her head, arms, and legs strapped to a gurney. No matter how hard she tried to make a body part move, it wouldn’t budge.

  But Crina had no problems moving. She kicked and punched Wade until her foot connected with his hurt side and he dropped her. She landed hard, her head and back smacking against the deck.

  “Crap,” he seethed.

  The pain caused stars t
o flash against Iris’s eyelids. She was back. “Wade, hurry. She’s gone. Get me to Daisy.” She sat up. Her stomach turned, bile burning her throat. Tears stung her eyes and tumbled down her cheeks.

  Violet helped Iris to her feet and wrapped Iris’s arm over her shoulder for support. “We got this. Right?”

  Iris’s eyes met Violet’s gaze. “My head. I can’t… She’s too strong.”

  “No, she isn’t,” Violet protested. “You keep coming back. Fighting her. If she were too strong, you wouldn’t be here. So, come on. Man up.”

  “Okay.” Iris sounded anything but strong. She shivered against the cold. Her wet hair stuck like ice on her face. But she forced a smile for her sister. Put on a brave face, Gram would tell her. She’d been saying that ever since Josh and his friends started bullying her at school.

  Your hold is waning. Crina broke through her foggy mind.

  Wade held his side and staggered over. He was soaking wet. “Let’s get this done before that psycho returns.”

  It was like shards of glass sliced at her head with each step up the deck stairs to the house. Some party stragglers teetered down the driveway waiting for Ubers. Dena kept herding the few leftovers to the entry as Lauren aided a girl out of the tent. Carys held a green trash bag as she picked up red cups and other garbage.

  “What happened to you guys?” Carys looked pointedly at Wade. “Were you in a knife fight?”

  Dena pushed on a guy’s back. “Come on, dude. Keep moving.” The guy walked as if he were on a moving train. She stopped in front of Wade. “Oh gosh, you’re drenched.”

  “Can you grab some sweats from Iris’s room?” Violet asked her.

  “What about Wade? I’m sure your stuff won’t fit him.”

  Violet glanced over him as though she was assessing his size. “My dad has stuff in the guest room.”

  “Will do.” Dena jogged off for the house.

  Violet guided Iris to the apartment beside the garage. Miri let them in and helped Violet cover Iris and Wade with beach towels from the storage bins by the door. Iris sat on the couch. She was so cold her teeth rattled against each other. Her head was silent. Was Crina gone? Maybe the cold was the key to keeping her away.

  Violet kneeled down in front of Iris, rubbing her arms. “We must get you warm. You could get hypothermia.” She glanced at the door. “Where is Dena?”

  Iris half listened as Wade told Miri and Daisy what had happened on the beach. Her fingers were still pale and like raisins at the tips. Her jaw hurt and she remembered it was from Violet’s punch only when Wade mentioned it.

  Dena barged in with clothes, and Violet took Iris into the bathroom to change. The thick makeup Crina had put on Iris was almost gone. Mascara and eyeliner ran from her eyes like black rivers. Hints of glitter reflected in the harsh lights over the mirror. Iris struggled out of the wet costume and into her sweatpants, T-shirt, and hoodie.

  The scent of fabric softener sheets on the clothes comforted her. Laundry and baking smells always made her think of Gram. She wanted her gram so hard right then. Everything always seemed okay when she was around. She pulled some tissues from a box on the sink and wiped as much of the black smudge away from her eyes.

  A knock came from the door. “Hurry up,” Wade said. “What’s taking so long?”

  Violet opened the door.

  “Daisy is almost ready,” he said.

  Violet came up behind Iris and gathered her hair into a loose bun, securing it with a hair tie.

  Iris stared at her sister’s reflection in the mirror. They were like matching shoes, except one was a size bigger than the other. Growing up, she never had to ask Violet how she felt. And Violet never had to ask her. But ever since Aster messed with their fates, they’d become strangers. When all this was over, Iris would do whatever it took to get back to how they were before.

  Wade peered in through the crack of the door. “This isn’t prom. We have to do this now.”

  Violet nodded and stepped out of the bathroom. Iris followed her, but Wade stopped her, cupping her face in his hands.

  “Whatever happens,” he said. “You know…I’m here for you. I’ll do everything I can to get you back.” Everything he felt was in those beautiful dark eyes of his, and the love there burned through her. She held back her tears, wanting to stay strong for him. Needing to stay strong for herself, too. She choked on a sob.

  “I love you, Iris. Always have.” He kissed her, his lips firm and warm on hers. It was a kiss filled with hope and desperation. And fear of losing her? Because she was afraid of being lost. “I love you,” he whispered against her lips this time.

  He loves me. Her heart ached and soared at the same time. She needed to hear those three words from him. But the evil waiting inside her head, waiting for her turn to take over, made them bittersweet. His lips left hers, and she leaned into his embrace.

  She swallowed hard. “I love you.”

  He lifted her chin with cold fingers. “You have been my entire world for so long. My strength. Every memory worth remembering for the past five years includes you. I’ve missed you so much. I can’t lose you now. Fight. For me. For your family. But most of all, for you. Promise me you won’t give up.”

  She nodded against his fingers. “I promise.”

  He kissed her again, with that tender desperation. It was too quick. When he pulled away, an instant cold shivered across her lips.

  “Let’s get that spirit out of you,” he said, taking her hand and leading her to where Daisy stood in front of a circle of perfectly aligned tarot cards. Miri was by a table of lit candles.

  How sweet. Did you forget I was here? Crina sounded angry as she pushed against Iris. Iris’s heart fluttered fast in her chest, and she swore a stroke was coming on. That familiar numbness overcame her and the sense of Wade’s hand squeezing hers faded.

  “Get in the circle,” Daisy said.

  A spark rushed over Crina as she gained control of Iris. She let go of Wade’s hand and slowly crossed the wooden floor. She needed a distraction.

  The outside world was slipping away from Iris. She was too weak, and with it came an intense pain. A feeling of loss. She would never see Mom and Dad, Gram, her sisters, or Wade again. There was so much she wanted to say to them. Things she should’ve said every day. I love you.

  Just die already, Crina thought. You’re causing me to lose my concentration.

  You can’t win, Crina. They won’t let you. We can find a way to help you. Iris was reaching for anything to stop Crina.

  I am truly sorry. Crina’s thoughts sounded sincere. If there were another way, I would take it. But for me to live, you must die. I have been in an unending nightmare since my death. Your soul is pure. You will continue on to the beyond.

  Since her death? Iris had an idea. She had to let Crina take over for it to work. The floating sensation took over Iris as she let go, drifting into Crina’s memories.

  The candles fluttered as Dena opened the door. “How’s it going in here?” she asked.

  Crina kept her eyes forward, but her peripheral vision was on the door.

  “Everyone’s gone,” Dena was saying. “Lauren and Carys are busy cleaning up. I figured the less people around, the less chance of more casualties.”

  “Way to sugarcoat things,” Wade said.

  She clapped his back on the way to Violet. “Just keeping it real.”

  As Crina passed the table by Miri, her hand brushed against the wood, and a thought sparked. She flipped over the table, the candles falling off the top hitting the floor. The flames caught the flaps at the bottom of the nearby couch on fire.

  “Get water,” Miri said as she stomped on the other candles to put them out.

  Crina darted for the door, swung it open, and sprinted across the driveway. Her head hurt as her feet pounded on the pavement. She could hear boots thudding behind her but she didn’t look back. Iris had to die. That was it. She had to go away for Crina to fully take control and own her body.

&nbs
p; “Crina, stop!” Wade yelled.

  She kept running, not daring to stop. The neighborhood houses were dark. Hardly any lights were on. The shell of pumpkins with their carved faces stared at her from the porches, bringing memories back to her.

  The faces.

  Disapproving and full of hate.

  She pushed harder, picking up speed. The air rushing in burned her throat and a pain stabbed at her side.

  The faces.

  Her parents.

  Her brothers.

  Sisters.

  Full of concern.

  The villagers.

  Judging and full of hate.

  Do you remember them? Iris asked. With each memory she released of Crina’s, Iris grew stronger. Iris found one image she believed would stop Crina.

  His face.

  Armand.

  Crina had thought he loved her. He said he did. She believed him, or she wouldn’t have given herself to him, much less several times. They’d meet in the meadow, heat between them building with each touch. After they made love, they lay in the meadow on her mother’s patchwork blanket. Picked flowers and teased each other.

  The faces.

  Knowing and hateful.

  Iris flipped through the images, concentrating on the ones she thought would hurt the most.

  Again, her sister’s face. Mother. Father.

  They knew what Crina had done. Performing acts that only a married woman was allowed to do. She was his wife, if not by ceremony but by actions. He betrayed her. Destroyed her.

  Tomas. He wanted to help her. Marry her. Make a family for her daughter.

  Oana. Small and helpless, with strawberry-blond curls. Her pudgy hand grabbing Crina’s finger. The murky river. Water burning her throat. The last words she heard from Armand just before she went under: “Crina! Please. I am sorry. I truly loved…love you.”

  No. Stop, Crina pleaded.

  I forgive you, Iris thought.

  Crina stopped. The tears were hot on her cheeks. Was Iris causing them or was she? The emotions inside her were boggled. She couldn’t tell which were hers. A memory of Iris and Violet hit her. They were young with strawberry-blond pigtails, laughing and running on the beach with an older man struggling in the sand to keep up with them.