Clara
That jerk.
Not only did he step into my heroic moment of volunteering for the ritual, but when I asked why he even kept the hair, he gave me a weird answer.
You never know where you need to plant fake evidence.
He interrupted my negotiation with that Asher guy and seemed uncomfortable when Stephanie was making a move on the guy. Was he jealous? Does me thinking about it in a loop make me sound jealous? Why should I even care?
And now while we wait for Zach to arrive, he's sitting in the corner of the room away from the group, working on something on his phone.
Madam Reeze is in the kitchen while Stephanie shuffles a deck of tarot cards that she picked off a shelf.
I lean back into the couch as I watch a brown door of a room Rubecca has been in for awhile. The fact that she held something...small, white, and moving when she entered doesn't ease my nerves.
If I had seen her in the forest, in the dark and the silence, I'd have a heart attack. She looks like someone out of a horror story. And when she asks you something, you don't feel compelled to hide anything from her. I wonder if there was something mixed in the tea.
My elbow accidentally knocks into Stephanie's sword that had been leaning against the couch. It clatters to the floor, and I pick it up instinctively.
"How could they let you practice with this thing?" I ask curiously.
She grins, taking it from my hands. She lifts it and stands before me, holding the blade like it's an extension of herself. She's a natural, moving with grace as she assumes a fencing position.
"I prefer my toys to be less bendy and breakable when I practice alone," she responds.
She then looks at me with a strange gleam in her eyes. Before I can blink, she aims the tip of the blade directly under my chin. My breath catches as she uses it to lift my face up. "Wanna fight?"
"No fighting in my house," Madam Reeze warns from the kitchen.
Smirking, I pull the gun from my purse, spinning it twice around my finger before using the barrel to push the sword away from my chin. "I suppose it would be fun to see how unbreakable your little toy is."
Stephanie's amusement intensifies. But before either of us can continue our standoff, a voice interrupts us from across the room.
"Both of you, put those away." Alister says, eyes still fixed on his phone. "We're guests. Behave yourselves."
Stephanie and I glance at each other. Then, as if on cue, we both burst into laughter.
Stephanie shakes her head as she sheathes her sword. "How are we not friends?"
The question catches me off guard. The laughter in my chest dies a little, replaced by something far more complicated.
"You tell me," I mutter, the words slipping out before I can catch them.
She sighs and plops down next to me. "Oh, you're talking about that time."
The day we first met. Back in middle school when her family was alive.
I had been scouting out the "popular" people. The ones who could bring influence. And there she was. Stephanie stood out, effortlessly confident, dressed in white pants and a purple halter shirt that highlighted her presence. Her coat hung on her shoulders like an afterthought, yet she still managed to make it look stylish.
I instantly recognized the kind of person she was—someone who could change the dynamics of any group, someone with a pull. And I wanted that. I wanted to be seen with her. To have someone like her as part of my circle. I went up to her along with my group and smiled brightly as I offered my hand to shake. She took her sweet time staring at me, making me look awkward. Then smirked and said she isn't interested before walking away, leaving me embarrassed and annoyed at her.
Stephanie stares up at the ceiling as if she's reliving the same memory. "It was clear why you came to me. I honestly couldn't stand people like you. Everything about you was so fake, and you were desperate to be liked. A total people pleaser."
I frown. "That's not true." But I know deep down that it is.
She turns her head. "Tell me you didn't come to me with the intention of adding me to your group because you thought people would be attracted to me, and in turn, your group would look more... appealing."
I open my mouth to say something, but the words stick in my throat, trapped by the uncomfortable truth. I turn my face away from her.
Yet she continues, "You know, my two best friends, they never ask or expect anything from me. There's no feeling that they're beneath me or that I'm somehow above them. We're just... normal girls on campus. We go to cheap restaurants, karaoke places, and take the bus whenever we feel like it."
I feel her words sink deep into me, stinging.
She looks at me, and I can feel the honesty in her gaze. "No matter how great of a group you have, if you don't have someone like that with you, you're actually more alone than you think."
My fingers curl into the fabric of my dress, trying to keep myself together. Trying not to let her words hit harder than they already have.
As if sensing my internal battle, Stephanie pats my back with more force than necessary. "You were pretty cool back there with the gun. I like you better when you're being violent and sharp-tongued."
The compliment takes me by surprise. I almost laugh, but it's not mocking, not the way I used to. It's something else. Something warmer.
However, I turn to her with suspicious eyes. "Sharp-tongued? You just want me to give you a reason to punch me again, don't you?"
Suddenly the door is slammed open, causing us to flinch, and Zach enters.
A triumphant grin spread across his face. "I've got the bag!" he exclaims. His chest heaved, as if he had been running.
"Finally." Alister says and reaches out to take the bag.
His hand rummages through its contents. Pulling out a yellow napkin, he unfolds it to reveal a few strands of black hair. "Here they are. Now, what's the process?"
Rubecca opens the door and walks towards us, her blood-covered hands draw everyone's attention, and an uncomfortable tension can be felt in the air.
"I drew the pentagram in this room. Come in." She says.
Alister's eyes narrowed. "What's with the blood?"
"It's rabbit's blood." She says, in a nonchalant way, like it's no big deal.
"Are you saying you killed an animal?" I see rage boiling inside him as he glares at her. "You couldn't be bothered to get some blood from a meat shop?"
She sighs. "You've never seen a ritual, have you?" She says, like talking to a difficult child. "It's not that pretty, and it's not that simple. Everything needs to be perfect. And if the book says fresh blood, then that's it. Now stop wasting time and get in."
The others, sensing her irritation, exchanged uneasy glances before reluctantly following her into the ritual space. Except Alister.
His pupils are dilated, and his gaze take on a glassy, unfocused quality, as if he were staring into a void. His skin becoming slick with sweat.
It's happening again.
I step towards him just as he snaps the rubberband on his wrist and closes his eyes to take a deep breath, calming himself down.
"You ok now?" I ask.
He nods as he opens his eyes.
"I can do it instead." I offer.
He looks down at me as he sighs. "It's fine."
We join the others and see a massive pentagram dominate the center of the room, its five points stretching out like skeletal fingers. The symbol was drawn in bold, crimson lines.
The room itself was small and claustrophobic, with walls that seemed to press in on them from all sides. The scent of incense and something sweet and metallic lingered in the air. Five candles lit on either side of the pentagram.
"What is this room?" Alister asks as he looks around.
"It used to be my storage room. I was going to convert it into a closet for all the accessories." Madam Reeze replies, making sure all candles are lit.
"Can anyone perform the spell?" I ask. It seems too convenient for any random person to get their hands on this and do anything they want with it.
"We'll see. I do have my doubts, though." Rubecca stares at the page.
This better work. If this has no chance of working, then there's no way that curse-breaking ritual would work.
"Lay down on the mat. Right in the middle and ingest the hairs." She instructs Alister, and he obeys hesitantly.
I watch in disgust as he closes his eyes and quickly swallows a strand, trying not to think about it too much.
Rubecca stands beside him, with the book clutched in her hands. Its pages fluttering as she began to chant the words of the spell.
We hold our breaths as we wait. But despite her fervent chanting, nothing happens.
It didn't work. Why? Can it really not be done by anyone?
Rubecca's face twisted in concentration, her eyes flashing with a fierce intensity as she repeated the incantation. Her voice growing louder, more insistent, as if she could will the magic into being.
But still, nothing happened, and I could feel that hopeless feeling slip back again.
No. This can't be it. There has to be a way. There must!
"What if Clara does it instead?" Alister speaks out, peeking out of one eye.
"Me?" I ask, confused.
"Because of the gems. There's already magic inside us. It might be worth a shot."
"He...has a point." Rubecca says as she looks intently. "Just repeat after me." she instructs. As she began to chant the words of the incantation once more. I steeled myself to repeat the words, which sounded like utter nonsense.
This time, the air seemed to grow heavier, the shadows cast by the candles twisting and writhing like living things.
Alister's body begins to relax. His eyes, which were staring at me, turn droopy as sleep begins to overtake.
As I spoke the final words, his body jerked slightly, his head lolling to one side. He goes limp, his muscles releasing all tension. I watched his chest rise and fall with slow, deep breaths, and his eyes remained closed.
"It's begun. The memories will start to flood his mind now." Madam Reeze says as I watch, transfixed on the serene and peaceful look on his face. No more glaring or scowling. He just looks relaxed.
"No matter how hard you shake him, he won't wake up unless he wants to. Best leave it at that for awhile." Rubecca says as she leaves the room, followed by Madam Reeze.
I hesitate, then slowly lower myself to my knees beside him.
Reaching out, I gently poke his cheek with my finger.
Nothing. No twitch, no grumble of irritation like he usually would if anyone so much as breathed wrong near him.
His skin is warm under my touch, smooth and maddeningly soft. Up close like this, I can see the little things I usually miss—surprising faint traces of eyeliner that I dare not say anything about to him, the way his long lashes cast light shadows over his cheeks, or how silky his hair looks.
My fingers ache to trace the line of his jaw, the curve of his mouth. He looks almost cruelly beautiful, like a creature carved out of moonlight and ink with too much care and too much arrogance.
But then something catches my eye—something red, near his collarbone.
I reach out again, curiously, and tug the neckline of his shirt to get a better look.
A dark gash starts from his shoulder to the base where the gemstone is embedded. I pull the fabric farther, and more marks come into view. Cuts. Slashes.
My chest tightens as I stare at them, a hot, sinking feeling blooming in my gut.
This… moron.
Is he a masochist? Or just terminally stubborn? It really takes a special kind of idiot to keep trying to cut the gem out when it didn't work the second time. Or the third. And judging by the patterns, maybe not even the tenth.
"You know," Zach says suddenly, and I jolt, remembering —mortified—that they're both still here, "if you stare any harder, you might burn a hole straight through him."
Heat floods my face. I whip my head up to find Zach and Stephanie both watching me with barely concealed amusement.
"I wasn't—" I start, too fast. "I was just... just thinking about what we could draw on his face."
It's a weak save, but it's all I've got.
Stephanie's face lights up with a wicked gleam. "Yes!" She starts digging through my purse for the marker with unholy enthusiasm before I can even react.
"Wait, Steph!" I try to stop her, but it's too late. She triumphantly pulls out a thick black marker.
Zach steps forward. "Hold up, that's a permanent marker! He'll kill you when he wakes up!"
"Worth it."
He moves fast, stepping infront of her like some kind of panicked bodyguard. "Seriously, if it were anyone else, I'd have joined in. But it's him."
I stay kneeling beside Alister, watching them bicker, feeling strangely torn—like two equally chaotic urges are fighting inside me. One part of me wants to protect his stupid face. The other really wants to write something inappropriate on it.
Before I can make a decision, Stephanie, with the energy of someone who truly does not care about consequences, tosses the marker at me.
"Your turn, princess."
I catch it, staring at the marker in my hand. I twirl it between my fingers, smiling. "Well, it'd be a shame to waste such a perfectly blank canvas."
Zach exhales sharply. "Clara, come on. You're better than this."
Suddenly Alister's body begins to twitch and squirm. His hands clench into fists, and his face scrunches in a grimace.
"What's going on?" I say worriedly as I look down at him. Zach calls out to Rubecca while Steph, sits at his side, grabs his shoulder, trying to steady him. But it's no use.
It was as if he were trapped in a vivid, disturbing dream, and his body was reacting to the turmoil in his mind.
"Wake up!" we cry out. Rubecca and Madam Reeze enter the room with surprised looks.
And then, in an instant, his eyes shot open, his pupils wide with disorientation. He sat up with a jolt, his chest heaving as he gasped for air.
He simply sits there. His eyes dart wildly around the room as if he were trying to remember where he was and what was happening.
"What did you see, boy?" Madam Reeze asks eagerly.
He looks at her, and I can see him starting to focus. Running a hand through his face, he gets up, taking his glasses from my hand.
"I know what happened to Leora." He declares as he walks out of the room.
Rubecca's face lights up instantly, her inky eyes growing wide as she quickly trails after him into the living room.
"What is it!? Tell me! What happened to her?" She presses on excitedly.
He sits on the couch and stares at the women. "First tell us about that curse-breaking ritual."
Rubecca's expression falters, and she glares back at him. "Like I said, if you tell us about what you saw, I will help—"
"I remember what you said. You don't need to repeat it." Alister lifts his hand midair, casually cutting her off like he was brushing away a fly. "But according to your words, you'd tell us once we performed this memory ritual. Nowhere did you say that we had to reveal what we saw after we did it."
Rubecca for some reason seems more intimidating, and I think I can feel a pressure in this room. Her eyes seemed to bore into Alister's very soul, as if searching for any hint of deception or weakness.
"Everything is a transaction, remember?" Alister says, leaning back as he throws her words back at her. "If you were being honest about that spell's existence and did actually intend to keep your word, then you'll tell us first. And I'll give you the information you need. However, if you still refuse and expect me to hand over the details first, then you might have a hidden agenda or were lying to us."
"You have serious trust issues, don't you, kid?" Madam Reeze scoffs and sits down across from him.
"I won't deny that. But you haven't really given us a solid reason to trust you. We haven't benefited from anything yet. It's just been one backstory after another with no clear solution to our problem. While we could have easily gotten any answers we wanted from you. It's better to keep things civil and beneficial for both parties." He says calmly. He knows they're desperate to know about Leora.
It's true. If I had them at gunpoint, we'd have gotten whatever information we needed. Life is a lot more precious than secrets, after all. But violence should always be a last resort. Although, I was surprised Alister didn't just pull out his knives on them.
Rubecca grunts as she sits down beside Madam Reeze. She flips open the book and holds out the page with the text and three items.
"I wasn't lying. This is the curse-breaking ritual. You'll need these three items for it. One, the healer's goblet. Two, the blood mirror. And lastly, the hirudin dagger. After you've gotten the items, we'll have the ritual spot prepared. You'll simply have to show up with them, and we'll help with the process." she explains.
"Wait, how do we find them?" I ask, sitting down beside Alister. Stephanie and Zach do the same.
"I don't know. I can't locate items." She looks thoughtfully, flipping a few more pages. "This might work."
The illustration on the page is that of a necklace with an eye-shaped pendant. There are wings on the sides and an eagle's head atop of it.
"This eagle eye pendant has the ability to locate other items. If you could find this or the person who has it, you can perhaps locate them."
"How do we—" Zach begins, but I raise my hand to stop him.
"Wait," I say, stepping forward, grabbing the book from her hand.
That pendant... why does it look familiar? Where have I seen it before?
"You recognize it?" Alister asks, taking a photo of the image on his phone, and begins to search.
"I think so... It looks like something I had at home. Two months ago." I mumble as the memories slowly flood back. "I lost it the next day. I turned my room upside down searching for it but couldn't find it." I say, giving the book back.
"Well, it does say here that if the item is away from the owner for longer than ten hours, it will transfer back to them." Rubecca says, pointing casually at the text.
Stephanie chuckles. "Ha! You got scammed."
"How was I supposed to know!?" I blurt, sitting back down.
"Who'd you buy it from?" Zach asks with a sympathetic look that makes me want to punch something. I don't need pity either!
"A website called Snapdragon."
"Ah, you might not know this," Zach adds. "But snapdragons symbolize deception and deviousness."
"Yeah, Clara. You're such an idiot. You should have known that," Steph says with a smirk.
"Shut up," I mutter, already regretting bringing it up.
"Is this the website?" Alister holds his phone.
"Yeah, that's it!" I say, recognizing the clunky layout and weird photos. I also remember the awkward exchange I had with the owner. A guy who spoke so softly he was basically whispering and who couldn't meet my eyes the whole time.
Alister hums thoughtfully and shuts off his phone. "That's all I need to know."
"What do you mean?"
"I'll explain on the way." He says, brushing me off. Then he turns his full attention back to the two women who had been quietly observing us this whole time.
"I guess it's my turn now," he says, leaning forward.
They seem eager as they lean forward too, being practically at the edge of their seats in suspense.
"That guy's name is Keith Lewis. He and his siblings were robbers. Thieves and burglars who were good at what they did. The older brother heard about this new woman in their neighborhood who had a box of exquisite gemstone."
"Leora?" I ask curiously and he nods.
"One night, they snuck into her house and were about to steal the box when Leora, inhabiting the body of a woman in her early 30s at that time, caught them. A fight broke out, and she took down Keith's siblings. But she couldn't survive either since there were 3 of them. In her last breaths, she placed a curse on the gem after it broke into two pieces. Keith ran away after stealing the jewels and the book."
"He started going mad. Thought it was because of the gems, talked to someone on the phone, and gave them away at an underground blackmarket. He sold them to a guy and his brother." He glances at me when he says that, and I know who he's talking about.
I didn't miss how he left out the detail about the pentagram on the floor or the writings on the wall. Although, they would figure it out themselves after the guy's death is revealed in the news, so I hope he has a long-term plan in mind.
"After that, he continued to succumb to madness, even after giving them away, and committed suicide. That's it." He finishes.
"So Leora died." Rubecca says sadly, eyes hanging low on the ground.
"Why did he go mad?" Madam Reeze asks in confusion.
Alister shrugs. "Probably because of losing his siblings? He did keep hallucinating about them."
"Well, if that's all," I say as I get up, my voice a little louder than necessary, as I adjust the strap of my bag. "I suppose it's time we leave." I glance at the others, and they get up too.
I want to know the whole story. The whole truth. There's no way Alister didn't hide anything from them. Things that might be interesting and important. Things that he won't say infront of everyone.
The women exchange a glance, their eyes meeting in a fleeting moment of silent communication. Wondering if there were any more questions that needed to be asked or any loose ends that needed to be tied up.
At last, they nod to each other and turn their attention back to me.
"Alright," Madam Reeze says, her voice smooth. "But leave the book with us."
Should we? Would it be safer not carrying it around with us... or is it safer in their hands? It's not like they'll be able to perform any spells—and it's not like we can even read the book anyway.
"How would we locate the items then?" Zach asks.
"Wait," Alister sighs, stepping forward, clearly frustrated. He snaps a picture of the pages with his phone.
"Let's go," he says flatly.
"Thank you for your time, ladies," Stephanie adds, turning on her heel as we head towards the door.