The Curse: A Post-Apocalyptic Thriller (After the End Trilogy Book 1)

by Mark Gillespie

  “Shay is coming over to see you,” she said.

  Eda’s jaw dropped.

  “Does she know?”

  “No,” Lucia said. “That’s not it.”

  “Well c’mon,” Eda said. She could feel a real panic rising up inside her now. Her forehead felt like it was burning up. “I’m getting out of here before she shows up. C’mon Lucia, what’s the matter with you? Is the laundry cart where it’s supposed to be?”

  Lucia shook her head.

  “I’m sorry Eda,” she said. “It’s off.”

  Eda felt like she was drowning.

  “What are you talking about?”

  Lucia’s gaze still lingered on the floor and it was annoying the hell out of Eda that the old woman wouldn’t look at her. Couldn’t look at her.

  “What is it?” Eda asked. “Spit it out for God’s sake!”

  “There’s a man,” Lucia said in a quiet voice. “There’s a man in town.”

  She might as well have slapped Eda in the face with a metal bat. As Eda stood there, the words sinking in, she could feel the hope suffocating inside her.

  “No,” she said. It was all she could say.

  “I have to go now,” Lucia said, walking past Eda towards the double doors. She stopped in the hallway and turned around. There was a sad smile on her face.

  “I’m so sorry child,” she said. “He’s been here a few days I think. It’s your fertile time now isn’t it? Damn it – we should have paid attention to your cycle. I know we haven’t seen a man in a long time but we should’ve been smarter, more aware – if only we’d done this a few days ago or…”

  Eda reached out and grabbed Lucia by the arm. It happened so suddenly that it was like watching someone else do it.

  Lucia yelped in pain. “Let go!”

  “This is happening,” Eda said. “We’re going to go now. We’re going to run downstairs together before everyone else gets up and moving around. Okay? I’ll wait on the second floor while you go down and wheel the cart to the stairs. Please Lucia, don’t give up on me.”

  Lucia managed to free herself from Eda’s grip.

  “It’s too late,” she said “Everyone is already up and about so you’d better get your mind right child. The others will be here soon to tell you the news and to help you get ready. Forget about escape Eda. All you can do now is make the best of the situation. Now I’ll be coming in soon to clean up before he gets here. Let’s just forget this ever happened, okay?”

  She walked away.

  Eda stood by the door, listening to the old woman’s feet tramping down the hallway floor. Lucia was walking towards the storage room where all the cleaning materials were kept.

  Eda turned around and walked back into the living room. Her eyes roamed the empty opulence of the Presidential Suite and she was too numb at that moment to hate it. It felt like Lucia had shut the cage door and Eda was still trapped inside.

  She managed to walk back to the bedroom where, after putting her bag under the bed, she sat down on the floor in a daze. Frankie Boy came in behind her and lay down on his blankets again.

  It wasn’t long before Eda heard the front door open and then Linda’s voice called out to her from the living room.

  “Eda!” she said. “Are you there?”

  Eda buried her face in her hands for a couple of seconds. Then she got up and walked into the living room, trying to add a fake spring to her step. Linda was there, along with Gillian and Nicola. They were all smiles this morning. Eda did her best to act surprised when Linda told her that a man was coming over to the hotel. If the women picked up on Eda’s sense of crushing disappointment, they didn’t show it.

  A few minutes later, Shay entered the apartment.

  “Good news,” she said, walking inside with a smile. “We’ve got one.”

  Eda nodded. “So I heard.”

  Shay looked at the other assistants and there was a flicker of disappointment in her eyes. Then it was gone again. “Of course,” she said. “Well it doesn’t matter who gets to tell you I suppose.”

  “Where is he now?” Eda said.

  “Downstairs with Zahra,” Shay said, “He’s about to take the relaxation ritual. Don’t worry Eda, you’ve got plenty of time to get dressed and polished up. Nicola and Gill are wizards at this – they’ll make you even more beautiful than last time.”

  Shay pointed to Eda’s stomach.

  “I’ve got a good feeling about this one,” she said.

  Eda turned away. She couldn’t look at them anymore or they’d see it in her eyes for sure.

  “Where did he come from?” she asked, pretending to wipe a spot of dust off the seat of the couch.

  “New York apparently,” Shay said. “The ambassadors had nothing to do with this one. He said he arrived in the city a short time ago.”

  Eda thought briefly about telling Shay outright that she didn’t want to do this anymore. That she wanted nothing to do with this man. But she couldn’t do it. Perhaps deep down, she dreaded the thought of hearing Shay telling her what she already knew.

  You cannot leave.

  As Shay and Eda talked, Nicola and Gillian were walking back into the living room with several outfits in hand. They laid the dresses on the couch and flattened them out for all to see. The two wardrobe assistants then scurried back and forth like insects, bringing out shoes, underwear, make-up and everything else they needed to turn Eda into Helen of Troy. Their work ethic was admirable – both Gillian and Nicola were in their late forties and they always looked so glamorous. They were the rare type of women who still used make-up on their faces on a daily basis. They only wore clothes that had been looted from designer stores or the most expensive apartments.

  And of course, they were a pair of brutal killers.

  “Pick your dress,” Nicola said, shooing Eda’s attention away from the window and towards the pile of clothes lying on the couch.

  Eda shrugged. She knew fine well it would be Nicola and Gillian picking the dress like they did last time. And with Shay in the building, she would no doubt get final approval.

  “Just pick something and put it on me,” Eda said. “I’m not in the mood to make any decisions.”

  In about forty minutes, Eda had been transformed into Helen of Troy.

  The two wardrobe assistants escorted her from the bedroom back into the living room. She stood alongside them like a fashion model, waiting for Shay to bring the man into the apartment.

  Eda turned towards the mirror and took in the reflection. Much to her surprise, she actually quite liked the dress that Gillian had chosen for her – a slick V-neck black evening dress that complimented her hourglass figure. The face paint was mercifully less thick this time around, although her lips were still too red.

  She looked towards the window again. How far away would she have been now? If only she’d jumped into that laundry cart yesterday.

  She turned back to face the door. As she did, she caught a glimpse of Frankie Boy trotting through the hallway.

  “What’s he still doing here?” she said. “I thought he was going out for a walk with Lucia. He can’t be here while…you know?”

  “Lucia got held up with the cleaning,” Nicola said, dusting down Eda’s dress at the back. “Maddie said she was going to do it but I think she’s feeling a bit sick today. Maybe she postponed it or called it off altogether. Don’t worry about it, we’ll lock him in the bathroom or something once you lovebirds go into the bedroom.”

  “Can’t someone else take it out?” Gillian said. “No offense Eda but that mutt stinks of serious filth. It’s a wild animal and it belongs outside.”

  Eda was about to respond when she heard Shay’s voice in the corridor. And a second voice, a male voice.

  “Stand with your back straight,” Gillian said, doing a final inspection of Eda. “You’re a pretty girl Eda but your posture is honest to God shocking sometimes. You’re more like the hunchback of Troy.”

  Nicola giggled. “That’s mean Gill.�
��

  Eda paid no attention to them. She was staring at the door, her eyes wide and unblinking. When it finally opened, Shay walked in with a serene smile on her face. The man followed, just a few paces behind.

  Eda gasped under her breath.

  It was the same man who’d been with the bandits that night. The one with the boyish features and curly black hair who’d killed Pike on 43rd Street after the mean old bandit had killed the two gardeners.

  He was back, standing there in the Presidential Suite of the Waldorf Astoria.

  He was wearing the same clothes that Eda remembered from that night – faded dark jeans and a brown jacket with military patches on the breast and running down both arms. His feet shifted uneasily on the floor. Either he had to use the bathroom or he was terrified. There was no recognition in his eyes when he first looked across the room at Eda – if he remembered her at all from their first encounter he was hiding it well.

  “Helen of Troy,” Shay said, “may I introduce David. David is from…?”

  “New Jersey,” David said. “Although after the war I traveled around with an Englishman for some time – that’s why my accent might sound a bit funny to you.”

  David looked at Eda. A shy smile crept across his face.

  “I’ve never seen such a beautiful woman,” he said, gesturing towards Eda. “It’s true what they say about you.”

  “Helen is the one,” Shay said, her face glowing with the pride of a mother looking at a newborn child. “It was always going to take someone special to persuade Mother Nature to lift the curse. To forgive us.”

  “Yes,” David said, nodding.

  Eda tried her best to smile.

  “Will you excuse us for a second please?” she said, looking at David. “I just need to talk to Shay about something – it’s kind of an embarrassing subject and…sorry it won’t take long, I promise.”

  David nodded. “Of course,” he said. “Uhh, where do you want me to go?”

  Eda turned to the two assistants who were still hovering like flies at her back.

  “Nicola, Gill,” she said, clicking her fingers just to annoy them. “Would you mind showing David around the apartment for a few moments. Perhaps he’d like to use the bathroom or maybe he’s hungry or thirsty. You’ll take care of him, won’t you?”

  The wardrobe assistants exchanged irritated looks.

  “Go on girls,” Shay said. “Do as she says.”

  After Gillian and Nicola had left the room with David, Shay approached Eda and took in her second makeover with a quiet round of applause.

  “You look stunning,” Shay said. “I’m not just saying this but you might actually be the prettiest Helen yet, I mean that. So what’s wrong? You’re nervous right? Well let me tell you, the second time is the hardest because you know what’s going to happen. But I promise Eda, it’ll get easier from here on in. All the Helens said it gets easier after the second time. And who knows? Today might be your day to conceive a child. Remember that when it gets tough in there.”

  Eda pointed a thumb over her shoulder.

  “Are you sure you want to kill that man?” she said. “He’s about the same age as me and that means he was only a boy during the war – a baby most likely. Does he really deserve to die for the crimes of older men?”

  “I’ve thought about that,” Shay said. “But he’s been out there with them. Unfortunately David now carries the same ignorance and blindness in his heart as they do. We can’t take the risk of letting him live – of letting their thoughts live through him.”

  Eda didn’t take her eyes off Shay.

  “Okay,” she said, nodding slowly. “I just wanted to make sure but there’s one more thing.”

  “What?” Shay asked.

  “I get to kill this one,” Eda said.

  A hint of suspicion flared up in Shay’s eyes.

  “Say that again please.”

  “Let me kill him,” Eda said.

  “Why?” Shay asked. “Why do you want to do it?”

  “Because I recognize him,” Eda said. “Don’t you?”

  Seeing Shay, the sharpest mind in the Complex, look as confused as she did in that moment was a rare thing indeed.

  It was beautiful.

  “What are you talking about Eda?” Shay said. “Do you know that man? Do I know him?”

  “I do,” Eda said. “He was with the bandits when they came here and tried to take over this place. He’s one of the survivors.”

  Shay’s eyes darkened with rage.

  “Are you serious?”

  “There’s more,” Eda said. “He’s the one who killed the two gardeners on 43rd Street that night. He would have killed me too if I hadn’t gotten away. Thank God he doesn’t recognize me in all this make-up. Listen Shay, I should have killed him that night for what he did, but I was too scared. I guess I froze. Well I’m not scared anymore. I want to be the one who does it. Call it delayed revenge if you will.”

  Shay stared at Eda in silence for a moment. Then slowly, she opened her rain cloak to reveal a faded-looking brown sheath hanging from her belt. She flicked open the sheath with her thumb and pulled out a large kitchen knife with a razor sharp blade.

  She extended the wooden handle towards Eda.

  “You make the first cut,” she said. “You’ve earned that much. We’ll be nearby. After you cut him, we’ll come in and finish it with you. We can share the revenge.”

  “Deal,” Eda said, smiling. “But I can’t use that knife – you keep it. I work better with my own weapons. I’ll use my dagger, like I should have done that night.”

  “As you wish,” Shay said, replacing her knife back in the sheath.

  “Will you get Lucia for me?” Eda said. She glanced over her shoulder, as if she’d heard distant voices getting closer. When no one walked into the living room she turned back to Shay. “The old woman has moved my stuff when she’s been cleaning the bedroom. It’s in there somewhere but I can’t find it.”

  “Just use my knife,” Shay asked. “What difference does it make?”

  “I need to be comfortable with this,” Eda said. She looked deep into Shay’s eyes as she spoke and didn’t blink. “It’s Eda, not Helen who’s going to kill this man. You understand? I don’t need my dagger, I want it.”

  Shay’s face was as hard as granite. Her eyes were dark and empty.

  “You’re absolutely sure?” she said to Eda. “It’s not easy to kill a man. And it’ll stay with you, long after we put the body in the river. I’m telling you now, everything about it will stay with you. It’ll haunt your dreams.”

  Eda nodded her head.

  “I killed a man once,” she said. “A long time ago. And I slept just fine.”

  12

  Eda breathed a sigh of relief as Shay closed the door behind her.

  With any luck, Shay would be gone for at least five minutes and maybe a little longer if Lucia wasn’t in her apartment. It wasn’t much but it was better than nothing.

  Eda spun around as David walked back into the living room a moment later. Gillian and Nicola must have gotten bored or maybe they’d felt uncomfortable spending time around a man they were about to murder. Either way, they’d sent him back alone.

  He looked around with a curious expression.

  “Is she gone?” he asked. “I thought I heard the door closing.”

  Eda knew the time for small talk was over. She hurried over and grabbed David by the wrists. The bewildered look on his face as she held onto him implied that he wasn’t sure if the rough stuff was part of the mating ritual or not. But then he looked at Eda and his expression turned grim, no doubt mirroring the look on her own face.

  “Are you okay?” he asked. “What’s wrong?”

  “We don’t have long,” Eda said, lowering her voice. “Look David, this isn’t what you think it is. They’re going to kill you.”

  David’s face turned chalk white. “What? They’re going to what?”

  “They’re going to kill you,�
� Eda said. There was no way of sugarcoating the bad news and even if she’d tried it would only have wasted more time. “They’re going to wait till we have sex and when it’s done - well, put it this way, you won’t be around long enough to find out whether you put a baby in me or not.”

  David took a couple of wobbly steps backwards, his hands up in the air as if he was calling for a timeout.

  “Why?” he said.

  “Shay’s killing them,” Eda said. “The men from the old world. Anyone who had a hand in the End War.”

  David’s face was a sickly gray color.

  “Men from the old world?” he said. “But I was only a child during the war. I lost my family, I lost everything…”

  “Keep your voice down,” Eda said. Her eyes darted back and forth across the apartment; she knew that somewhere nearby, the assassins were sharpening their knives.

  “I was only with the bandits a couple of weeks,” David said, doing his best to stay quiet while he pleaded his case. “I’m not one of them. Surely you can tell I’m not like they were. There were a couple of survivors after the battle and when they fled the city I chose not to go with them. I stayed here to regroup. Can’t you see? I’m not one of them and I’m not a man of the old world.”

  “It doesn’t matter anymore,” Eda said. “You’ve been out there amongst them. You’ve lived with them and maybe you even killed with them for all I know. You’re guilty as far as Shay’s concerned.”

  “That’s bullshit,” David said. His voice shook with fear.

  “We don’t have time to discuss it,” Eda said, glancing back towards the double doors. “You have to trust me on this. I know you’re not like the other bandits and I know you’re not an asshole but Shay doesn’t and that’s why they’re going to kill you. That’s all that matters right now.”

  “How do you know?” David said. There was a puzzled look on his face. “How do you know I’m not like the other bandits? Or that I’m not an asshole?”

  “We’ve met before,” Eda said.

  David squinted his eyes. It was like he was trying to peel back the make-up on Eda’s face and look straight through her.