Book of Curses

Chapter 2

“I guess you won.” Tom announced, between his extremely loud laughs, I wanted to reach over and smack him so hard. 

“You two are pathetic, grow up before it’s too late, or before you make me look bad.” Our mother hissed through her teeth; her eyes looked so cold I thought she was just going to off us both right then and there. 

“I’ll be back next Friday, nine pm sharp.” She added quickly, before storming out of the door. Of course, she had managed to step on my leg in the process, and that didn't exactly feel good. 

She was the only Barbie I personally knew, breast jobs, bleached out hair, caked on makeup, size two waist, always wearing designer clothes. She screamed fake more than anyone I'd ever seen. I had thought about getting a pin and popping those fake things she had on her chest, wondering if they'd deflate on the spot or not.

“Love you too mom.” I groaned, as I got up and started to rub my leg where her heel had pressed down into the flesh. It really was sore. I was going to go through her closet and break all those damn things for sure, tonight, not like she couldn't buy more though…  

“Thanks for wishing us a happy birthday!” Tom yelled as loud as he could, before rolling his eyes and walking over to me frowning at me rubbing my leg.  “And the best mom award goes to…” 

I shook my head slowly and sadly at that statement before I managed to get out a simple.  “Definitely not her.” I set my bag down by the counter and looked around for our dog before limping into the living room a bit.

“Mazy!” I called out, and then heard a loud thump and clawing across the floor before the marble-coated sheltie came running into view. I rubbed her ears and petted her for a moment, before letting her run over to Tom. 

“Hiya Mazy baby.” Tom said, and then walked over to the couch. I followed him sitting on the opposite end of it before Tom cleared his throat and set his bag down between his legs. He tapped the top of it a few times and looked suspicious.

“So um, want a cat? You’d take better care of it.” He said quickly, looking away as if he said the worst thing in the world and was embarrassed, then started to mess with his bag again. 

“It? What?” I started, stumbling over my words as I eyed him.  “We don’t have a cat. Do we?” I looked him over questioningly, and all he did was shrug. He smiled in an odd way towards me as I started to narrow my eyes at him, waiting for him to explain what he was talking about. 

“You didn’t…” 

“Um here.” Tom unzipped his bag and pulled out a tiny white kitten with dirt caked on its paws. He set it on the couch next to me, petting its little head a few times. It let out a small meow and rubbed against his hand and then against my leg looking up at me with big blue eyes. 

“Tom, she’ll kill you!” I yelled at him, petting the little kitten and grimacing at the same time. It was too cute; I couldn't help it, but I knew it was bad, if mom saw she'd murder us both. No she'd skin us. She resented cats more than anything in the world; it was hard enough convincing her to let us have Mazy originally. 

“Let her, she’s barely home, we always are.” Tom grinned evilly towards me, and shrugged his shoulders as if he could not care less what she thought about anything.  “I was going to name him Gabriel, up to you though.” 

“Gabriel works.” I couldn't help but smile, as I leaned towards the kitten and started smoothing back its fur. It let out a small meow again and leaned into my hand.  “So, what’s on the agenda, are you going to veg?” I looked up at Tom, asking him.

“We’re going to veg, order some pizza, and invite Christie over and watch horror movies all night.” 

“Sounds like a plan to me.” 

“Good, then you get the movies; I’ll order the pizza and call Christie.” Tom hopped up from his seat and started to make his way into the kitchen, picked up the phone without missing a beat and started dialing.   

I got up leisurely, yawning a little as I started towards the enormous collection of DVDs we owned. I started flipping through them slowly until I found the horror section. Thanks to me and Tom the section was bigger than any of the others that we had. There were a few new ones, but it was really mainly the classics that we found. 

Wes Craven gained a double look from me, but I passed on it; we had just recently watched all his horror movies, and I seriously needed something new to watch. Freddy needed to stay in his broiler room a bit longer, and I was not in the mood to see Jason's ugly face at the moment either. I mean I loved them both, but for once I just needed to get a break from their movies, so I continued on with my scanning until I saw Stephen King and the infinite collection of movies from him. 

I grabbed the movies I saw first, The Shining, Dream catcher, IT, and a few other movies, afterwards I walked back over to the couch placing them on the small stand that sat in the middle of the room. Sitting down on the couch once more I looked towards the kitchen to see Tom hanging up the phone. 

“Christie and the pizza will be here in about fifteen minutes. She's bringing it over since she has to drive right by the place.” Tom announced and then grabbed a bag of chips from the counter; he opened them and pulled out a few. 

“Cool, I found some of the King’s greatest.” I said waving my hand a little and pointing to the movies as the kitten curled up on my lap. My hand slowly slid down its smooth fur making it lay flat. Mazy watched from a safe distance while waiting for Tom to sit down and pay her some attention.  

“So, the plan was tomorrow morning you get your present, but I think you should get it now. Hey and thank you for the iPod, I needed one.” He said as he walked over and flopped down on the couch and handed me a wrapped square, then patted Mazy silently as he watched me intently. I looked at the square with a confused look, and then back at Tom for a second. 

“Well open it.”  He said impatiently. 

I ripped the paper off without any more hesitation and revealed the leather-bound book that was underneath all the paper. I flipped it over examining it for a long moment. It had a well-worn brown leather binding with gold writing on the spine and front cover that had faded and flaked in some areas, as if from fingers frequently resting there. Turning it, I saw a silver lock on the side of the book that held it firmly closed. Looking closer I realized the writing was in another language that I couldn't read, it looked like German or something similar, that'd be more Tom's area than it was mine, but I was intrigued by the book, nonetheless. 

“A book?” I looked up at him a little confused, but honestly, I liked it a lot. I love books. 

“Yeah, it’s old, like… Five hundred years old apparently. The kitten was your main gift; anyway I can work on translating it tonight. It won't open and there’s that lock on it so I’ll look at that for you too.” He said smiling softly towards me and shrugging his shoulders. “I know how you like old stuff.” 

I grinned brightly at him and set the book down carefully so I didn’t bother Gabriel too much; I leaned over and hugged him tightly still smiling. “Thank you.” 

He grabbed the book and started walking to the kitchen as he swung the book a little, I watched him, arching my eyebrow as he spoke. “While we’re waiting on her, I’ll work on translation.”

I was left alone on the couch; Mazy and Gabriel were my only company as I waited for someone to come to the door. Thankfully, it merely took about fifteen minutes before the peace was disrupted by knocking at the door, I was happy for it. Silence gets to me after a while. 

Not that it was supposed to last anyway, with Christie coming over and the fact that we were going to watch horror movies all night, peaceful is not really on the menu for tonight. I actually just wanted to sleep right now. I think it was from the stress at school though, so I was happy to have Christie come over and make things a bit more cheerful. Plus mom's eager mood today was enough to put anyone off, especially when it's this close to their birthday. 

  “That’s probably Christie; I'll get it.” Tom stated becoming mister obvious as he got up from where he sat at the kitchen bar, a few seconds later I heard the door creak open, and I sat up to look over at what was going on. 

“Three Pizza’s, two, two liters of Pepsi, and breadsticks. That’s going to be $30.25.” I smiled to myself hearing the all too familiar voice of one Christie Lukeson, after that the matching footsteps as she walked in setting the Pizza boxes and breadsticks down on our coffee table in front of me, followed by a two liter of soda. Then she looked at me; I was grinning from ear to ear at the sight of her. 

“Hey Ray, how’s the birthday girl?” Christie asked smiling back at me before leaning down and hugged me tightly.  

“Good.” I replied all too quickly and happily. Tom moved closer to us frowning like an old man. 

“What about the birthday boy?” He asked in a slight pouty voice; it was all I could do not to laugh at him. 

“Oh please, I know how you are, I spoke to you earlier.” Christie said shaking a finger at him and rolling her eyes before sticking her tongue out at him. 

“Such a mean woman.” He grumbled. 

“Hey! I’m the one who picked up the Pizza.” She said turning her head to glare at him for a moment, still smiling. It was fun to have them both around again. They were always too sarcastic and weird for their own good. 

Tom smirked before plopping down on the couch next to me and petting Mazy absentmindedly. I looked up at Christie and saw her staring at the tiny kitten that was curled up on my lap. Gabriel stretched his toes for a moment before curling back up, he was purring like a little motor as he slept peacefully. I smiled a bit as I scratched behind one of his ears. 

“He’s adorable!” Christie all but shouted as she sat down next to me, she eagerly started to pet him as she looked up at me grinning brightly. “What’s the kitten’s name?” 

“Gabriel.” Tom and I told her at the same time, then looked at each other and gave the dirtiest looks we could to one another. 

“He’s so cute; I wish I was allowed to have a pet, any pet.” Christie said as she scrunched up her nose, her voice almost squealed before she leaned back into the couch getting comfortable. 

“Don’t be too upset, Tom snuck him in with his backpack.” I told her, frowning at the thought before looking down at Gabriel again. 

“Really?”  She asked curiously. 

“Well see, He was on the road in the city, and I didn’t want him to get hurt,” Tom started to tell her, shrugging his shoulders as he attempted to act like this was something he did every day. “And Raine loves cats, so you know, what mom doesn’t know won’t hurt.”

“I hope your mother doesn’t find out; he's too cute to be hurt somehow.” She nodded towards the kitten before looking towards Tom as if accusing him of something. I never did understand what those looks meant when she threw them at him, but he didn't seem to like them very much. 

“I think we all hope that.” I told her nodding my head slightly. 

Tom only shrugged his shoulders once more, leaned backward into the seat and rolled his head over towards the two of us, glancing back and forth between me and Christie for a moment. He looked bored, flat out bored and sad too, where the sadness came from I wasn't sure, but I had a feeling it had to do with something between the two of them.

“Movie time?” He asked in an almost hopeful voice, while blinking his eyes in a cute puppy-dog way, but it was too creepy to work properly.

“Fine, fine.” I told him throwing my hands up for a moment before I scooped up Gabriel and set him in Christie's lap, he went back to sleep as soon as I sat him down again. I got up and stalked stiffly over to the TV and DVD player, I opened the DVD case and popped the disc out before opening the DVD players’ drawer. 

I set the disc in the tray and grabbed the remote control, heading back over to the couch where I collapsed heavily onto it. I heard Christie start laughing as I bounced for a moment and handed the controller over to Tom; he quickly took it and started the movie. 

The movie was one that I remembered all too well, it was a simple one that didn't really follow the book that it was based on. There was a man that went to town with his little boy after a horrible storm causes a large tree to go through his office wall, he was an artist, and it destroyed the poster he had been working on nonstop. Then another tree had gone down on his neighbor's car, and he had to give him a ride to town too. It was a good movie, and a great book, but there were significant differences... 

I spent most of the movie laughing as Christie freaked out at the different things that happened in the movie, from the insect like monsters, to the crazy woman who tries to kill the little boy. Gabriel nearly gave her a heart attack when he jumped up onto her lap asking for attention. 

By the time the movie was mostly over half of the pizza was gone, Tom had found chips that he was munching on loudly without a care. He was lost in his own little world as he ate and watched the movie. I could barely keep my eyes on it; I was too amused by Christie, and I remembered the movie too well to become immersed in it again at the moment. 

Christie got up and put on the next movie in the stack, we both regretted it once we saw what it was. The color drained from my face as I watched the little bit I could handle before finding something else to stare at, I just couldn't watch it. I didn't even know why I let that movie fall into the pile with the others. 

I seriously hate clowns, with a fierce passion. I almost managed to be killed when I was five after a clown knocked me off a train ride, when I fell I narrowly missed a quad that came flying by, thankfully it wasn't close enough to do more than blow air in my face. The worst I suffered that night was a few bruises, but the guy who knocked me off was fired on the spot. You weren't allowed to touch the customers, especially little kids. 

Leaning back into the couch a bit when the movie was about half way through, I noticed Tom look over at me then Christie, his lips turned up in a small smile as he looked at her. “Tired there Christie?” He asked her as I looked over at what was going on, I heard her mumble a yes before she yawned and was out like a light. I lasted maybe five minutes from the end of the movie before I passed out where I was sitting and slept sound until the early morning.

****

When I woke up the next day, the growing rumble of my stomach, and the smell of crisp bacon, eggs, slightly burnt toast and coffee were the first things that greeted me. I opened my eyes blinking a few times, and my mouth started watering from the wonderful aromas in the air. 

I swear, I felt the drool dripping from my mouth for a brief second making me swat at my mouth before standing up slowly to stretch and yawn. Then I walked towards the kitchen and looked around, still blinking away the grogginess of sleep as I got there. 

Honestly, I didn't even know we had half the food that was being cooked in there at that moment. I thought we had maybe a bag of chips and some bread because our mom never liked to buy food. We always stocked up the fridge and pantry out of our own pockets, that’s if we wanted to eat. 

Looking at the stove, I saw Christie move quickly from side to side, putting food out on first one plate then another, she flipping an egg before she started pouring coffee into cups, after a moment or two she finally looked over and saw me standing there. I just continued to watch her as she smiled and went back to cooking like a total maniac. 

“Good morning, want some food?” She asked as she finally slowed down enough to talk. 

The only thing I could do for a moment was stare at the food on all the plates, I finally found the ability to nod my head a little in answer to her. 

“Christie, you didn’t have to cook or anything; we could’ve done it.” I told her as I walked closer to where she stood, frowning a bit. “You’re our guest.” 

“No no, it’s fine, you guys are the birthday twins after all, and honestly, he takes ages in the shower. Plus you were asleep.” She pointed out to me. Letting a smile slide across her face, she handed me a plate and a cup of coffee while nudging me out of the kitchen. 

“Well, thank you then.” I smiled at her. I mean, yeah I was grateful, but she still didn't have to do this. I walked into the living room and sat on the couch. Christie followed me and sat on the seat beside me setting her food and coffee down on the table for a moment.  

Tom came out a few minutes later, his dark hair plastered in damp clumps around his face and neck. He stared at us then the food and blinked a few times as the realization of, there being food set in. 

“Food?” He asked walking towards us. He stopped mid step when Christie pointed to the kitchen. He quickly came back out carrying a plate of food, coffee and the book from last night with a few sheets of notebook paper underneath of it. His balancing was a bit off, and I was worried that everything was about to end up on the floor, I grimaced as I watched him.

“What is that?” Christie piped up; the curiosity was thick in her voice, and I just continued to watch him. 

Tom set his plate down on the table, taking a piece of bacon off the top of it and chewing it as he propped the book up on one knee and the papers on the other one as he looked from me to her smiling impishly. He seriously looked a little too high and mighty at the moment, and I was starting to wonder what he'd figured out. 

“This was a book I got for like fifty cents at the bookstore because people won't buy it, apparently it’s cursed or something, a lot of religious people were telling the store to burn it. However, the person working there insisted it be sold, it was twenty some dollars; I had fifty cents; he said he'd take it if I'd take the book.  I mean, I’ve never seen this guy before, and you make me go there all the time Ray. He said he was the manager, and rarely came out because he's usually too busy, so I didn’t argue over it.” Tom smiled a little while looking at us, and then he let out a soft sigh and nodded toward the book. “Anyway, let’s get this over with.” 

I looked over at Tom then at the papers he had sitting on his lap with curiosity. I hadn't felt this much excitement in ages; all three of us managed to huddle closer together as we started scanning the papers with the same interest. 

Tom sorted the papers with a strange speed as he looked them over with his bright green eyes, then he furrowed his eyebrows and letting out a sigh, he set them down and looked at us. The papers were on Christie's lap now, but Tom looked a bit frustrated as he looked at her. He shifted his body again, and I couldn't figure out what the hell he was doing. 

“Can we switch seats? It’d be easier if Ray, and me were sitting next to each other.” 

Christie nodded her head quickly, grabbed her plate and jumped up next to Tom. The two of them swapped seats with each other and then plopped back down. Tom was now sitting next to me with the papers in his hand. 

He set the book down on his left knee, and then handed the papers to me as he gave me a lopsided smile that I had to laugh at. “I can translate it quickly up here,” he gestured to his head as he cleared his throat for a second and kept on speaking. “You need the papers more.” 

“So, read it!” Christie said impatiently.

Tom grunted his irritation at Christie for her interruption, and then nodded at the papers before shaking his head for a split moment. I don't think he was enjoying this too much at this early hour. “Take the first half, read up to Sita.” 

Clearing my throat, I looked down at the papers and scanned them before I started to read out the first line on the paper for Christie to hear, I was laughing inwardly at what was written there. 

“Goddess Amamai; Hear our cry, let your lust for death and youth make our plea be heard. We challenge the four Gods in their own eternal war, let us be the targets of the hell, and test your strengths. God Aerbael Corves, we ask for your patience and skill to see the logic and hope within our words.” I ended where I was supposed to and gave them an odd look. "Sounds like someone tried too hard to come up with a ritual chant."

Tom chuckled a little for a moment nodding at me as he started to continue where I had left off, clearing his own throat he started speaking. 

“Sita Karlue, bring with you your jokes and sinister games, let me be the one to outdo you in your own game. Maldre Itltahl, bring your ways of war and death, may my own strength be greater than your own. Hear this oath, that we will bring an end to all your ways, we are the keepers of peace and hope, the saviors in which will help save them all.” He stopped speaking and then looked at me smiling a tight little smile. I shook my head a bit. 

“That’s kind of stupid. I mean really; it's like a child’s sto-” Christie cut herself off mid-sentence. We all turned to look at the book as an echoed click went throughout the room, the book opened slowly, as if a pair of invisible hands was opening it with loving care. It was now revealing its interior for us all to see. 

“Ok, that’s a little creepy.” She said swallowing in a loud gulp, as she stared at the book in sheer horror. 

Tom grabbed one side of the book as I grabbed the other side; we opened it fully and gazed at the images that were drawn inside. There was a map of what looked like six different lands, beautifully drawn in the most exact detail I had ever seen inside a book of this age.

Each land had a different setting to it, and changed drastically so that you could see the difference easily. There was a woman drawn with the most flawless skin and gorgeous face that I had ever seen, but there was an uneasy look that gleamed in her eyes. I would almost swear they were gazing into my own, but that thought was crazy. I shook my head at my own imagination running away on me. There was another drawing to her left that was made entirely of yellow and white here and there; it combined to create the shape of a centaur encased entirely in light. 

To the right of the woman was what I thought was a man, or well, his body was at least. It was covered in bloody armor that mostly hid his body but failed in some areas. Three heads sat on top of the body, one a horse, the middle one a human head that was eaten away and had flesh hanging to it in rare patches, and then there was a wolf's head.  

Then the last figure drawn on the page was of a large black panther that was so beautiful I just wanted to reach out and stroke it. I'd never seen such a well-drawn panther in my life. It almost looked like a photograph inserted on the page. 

I turned the page after sneaking a peak at Tom to see if he'd finished the page or not, and then we found the writing inside of the book; it was in English this time.