A Reincarnated Curse: The Beginning

Chapter 13

As the day went on, I wondered how much space she would need. After school I was hanging out by the entrance. Waiting for her, even just to see her leave.

“Hey homewrecker! Where are you going in such a hurry? Running off to wreck someone else’s relationship?” I heard Lorraine say to Katerina. I diverted my eyes from Katerina to Lorraine. Most guys would be thrilled to have two women fighting over them. To me, it was rather annoying. Not on Katerina’s part though. She had to be in constant defense mode.

“Knock it off Lorraine, I didn’t break up with you because of anything that Katerina did. I did it because I don’t want to be with you anymore.” I said as I walked closer to Lorraine.

“You didn’t feel like that until SHE got here!” She was not wrong. I thought I could fight it. I wanted to wait patiently until I could allow her to get to know me. Until I could get to know her and who she is now. Turns out I do not even want to. I did not even care. I wanted her. I had to have her and I was determined to have my way.

“Lorraine, you have got to get over yourself and this stupid vendetta you have with me. You don’t know anything about me, but you are getting really close to finding out.” Katerina said as she started to walk away.

“Yeah, okay w***e, go curse some other unsuspecting town. While you are at it, go steal someone else’s boyfriend, you’re good at that.” Lorraine called out to her.

I looked after her and saw that she was walking, rather fast, toward me. She looked like she was on a mission. Was she going to hit me or something? Even if she did, I would welcome it.

“If you’re going to call me a homewrecker I might as well be one.”

She walked up to me, grabbed my head, and kissed me with a longing that I could not wrap my head around. I honestly did not expect it, but it did not take long for me to take advantage of the situation. Even if it were to make Lorraine jealous. I did not mind. I grabbed her waist pulling her closer to me. No matter how close we were in proximity, I still felt it wasn’t close enough.

All at once she stopped and looked at Lorraine. Her mouth had dropped, and her eyes were blood red. I could all but see the steam coming from her ears. She grabbed my hand as she walked away, and I happily followed. I was like a lost puppy. I would follow her anywhere.

“What was all of that about? Does this mean you’re my girl now?” I asked curiously. Just say yes, I thought to myself.

“At first, I didn’t realize what I was doing until I had gotten close to you.” She said as she looked away trying to avoid eye contact. She was nervous. She acted on impulse and now it looked as if she regretted it. Even though that stung my pride a little, I think it has more to do with her being unable to fight this as she was trying so desperately to do.

“I think you knew exactly what you were doing.” I said with a smirk on my face.

“Alright Mr. Cocky, don’t get a big head.” She pushed me playfully.

I placed myself in front of her, stopping her in her tracks. “So, are you my girl now?”

“I…I don’t know…” Just say that you are. Stop fighting me. Stop fighting this. I thought to myself. I was tired of being patient.

“Let me help you figure it out.” I picked her up with no effort at all and kissed her. I was hoping to leave a lasting impression, preferably one of confidence and a man who knew what he wanted. Instead, I think she could probably taste the desperation on my lips. As I let her down and pulled her lips from mine, I held her chin in my hand lifting her face to look in my eyes. “So, what do you say princess? Will you be mine?”

Smiling, she bit her bottom lip and responded. “Maybe, you can court me, and we will see.” There were many things about her that caused my arousal, but that was one thing for me that just stirred up everything inside of me.

I touched her lip, “Just one thing first.” I said.

“Okay…what?”

“Don’t bite your lip like that unless you are inviting me to your bed.” I said as I laughed. She pushed me playfully and laughed with me. The thought of having her sent thoughts to my head that I didn’t think I could think.

“It’s a nervous habit, I can’t help it.” She said as she dropped her head down biting her lip again.

“You aren’t going to make this easy for me, are you Princess?” I asked with a sigh. Was she provoking me? Testing me to see what I would do?

We were outside her home and she shrugged her shoulders as she opened the door. “I guess you will have to find out, won’t you?” I stepped in her doorway. Challenge accepted, I thought to myself.

“One more thing.” I kissed her on the cheek as I stepped back. “Goodnight Katerina, I will see you tomorrow.” I have to be a little more patient, no matter how badly I wanted to let all my inhibitions take over.

Katerina:

For the next month he walked me to school every day and we talked and laughed and carried on. It was like a dream just to talk with him. To see his smile, was to see the Eiffel tower. In my mind, it was equivalent. Every weekend he took me out and stayed true to his courting me. He wanted to be with me more and more as time passed, and I could tell.

During this time, he didn’t overstep any of my boundaries. It was as if he was perfectly content to just be in my company. The feeling that thought gave me was overwhelming. He just seemed to enjoy my company. He didn’t push me anymore. He respected me.

He pushed his limits only a little but enough to see what I would allow. It was almost like a dream. At school, the name calling continued, but I did not care in the least. Lorraine’s opinion did not matter, and Raphael seemed to accept his defeat. Vee wasn’t too keen on the idea of Alex and I together. I also didn’t really care.

Walking home from school Alex grabbed my hand and intertwined our fingers.

“Tomorrow night is my ascension; school is out to commemorate the ceremony. Will you be my date?” He asked me, as if I wasn’t already planning on going.

“I will have to check my schedule; I may be able to pencil you in.” I said laughingly.

“Oh, will you? You will, ‘Pencil’ me in?” He started tickling me, as I ran, he chased after me. Before I realized it, I was in the middle of the woods and he was no longer behind me. I stopped running and looked around. I was walking backwards, and Alex grabbed me from behind.

“Boo!”

I looked at him angrily, “Don’t do that!”

I wasn’t paying attention and tripped over a stump, before I hit the ground, he caught me, and we fell together. I was laying on top of him. I brought my face to his and kissed him. I looked up and noticed the spot we were in. It was the one from Raphael’s memory. This was the exact spot where we were intimate. The thought made me shiver with desire.

It was ironic that we laid in the same spot that we had before and it kind of scared me a bit. I could not allow myself to be afraid, not with Alex holding me as he was. I felt protected in his arms, and I wanted nothing more, than to be with him in the same way I had seen in Raphael’s memories. I pulled myself up to sit beside him.

“I want to show you something.” I said to him hesitantly.

“Okay, so show me.” He responded as he playfully shoved me with his shoulder.

“Don’t get any ideas. That night Raphael was at my house, he showed me something that happened prior to what we see in our dream.” I said to him with a knowing look.

“Okay, is this going to upset me?” He asked as he raised a curious brow.

“No, I don’t think so.” I felt flushed and knew I was turning red from embarrassment.

“Okay, show me.” He said as he gently pushed a piece of hair out of my face.

I placed my hand on his head and said, “Memorus Vel Duram”.

I closed my eyes to experience the memory again with him. After showing him, I pulled us from the vision and sat to watch his reaction.

“Can you…can you show me that again?” He asked with a mischievous look in his eyes. The look I expected was surprise. The look he gave me, however, confused me. It was more of a ‘I know’ expression. That isn’t possible though. How could he have known?

I pushed him back and he laughed. “So that explains why I can feel you. I told you, who we were then, are big parts of who we are now.” His word choice had me wondering why he said it like that.

“That’s why I wanted to show you. We had just talked about it the night before he showed me.” I could feel my face grow warm and pulled my hand up to cover my embarrassment.

“But seriously, I don’t think I saw it clearly, show me again.” Laughing he pulled himself up and reached down for my hand. “I think it is time we get you home.”

“You have a big day tomorrow, are you ready?” I asked trying to change the subject without being obvious.

“I ascend the throne, but it will not fully be mine for another year It is kind of like an apprenticeship.” He said to me as he looked away as if he was in deep thought.

“Well, that’s good right?” I asked confidently, not very convincingly might I add.

“Not really, it is more of an aggravation than anything. I will be king in name only, for one more year. Unlike your coven, when you ascend the throne in two short years, it is yours to do with as you please.”

“Well maybe that means your family takes the ascension more seriously than my family.”

Before I knew it, we were at my door. It was strange how fast time passed when I was with him. It was almost unfair, as if there was not enough time in the day for me to enjoy him as I wanted.

“Until tomorrow, Princess.” He stepped toward me and kissed me as he held me in his arms. I felt my knees grow weak and I almost dropped to the ground, if it were not for him holding me, I would have.

“Goodnight Alessandro.” I said as the bitter tasted of disappointment escaped my mouth. I wanted him in every way possible.

“Goodnight Katerina.”

I walked over to my bed and could not wait to go to sleep. It had been a long day and I could finally sleep in on a school night because there was no school.

“Thank you, Alex.” I said aloud to myself as I threw myself onto the bed. I looked down to see my amulet glowing bright green. I wondered what it meant. I looked over to the black door, almost by instinct. I had not been in there but one time, and I wondered what I could find in there if I went plundering.

As I stood up, I was lifted into the air. ‘Here we go again’, I thought to myself. I knew another vision was coming as my head jolted backwards.

Suddenly, I was in the school. It was clearly before it was a school. My family’s castle was more extravagant back then. Candles were lit down the hallway all the way down. The curtains were beautifully made with the G symbol. I knew it stood for Gratu and it made me wonder what the Gratu family was like. I had not even heard anything of that side of my family. I realized I had never even heard anything of my biological father. If this man was my fathers’ great grandfather its odd that no one, including Vee, had mentioned anything about him.

‘Were they good people?’ I thought to myself. If my fathers’ side was where all the power I had, that was supposed to be so great, came from, then where did it originate from? It all seemed so weird that no one had even mentioned my father. Maybe he was dead. He had to be, after all, I had yet to see him. Wouldn’t he be here if he were alive?

I was interrupted in thought when I heard a woman shouting. It did not take me long to realize it was my own voice.

“How dare you! You think you have some right to MY powers?” This version of me was more assertive than I am now. In that moment I wanted nothing more than to be like my past self was. She was my idol. Great, I am my own idol. How arrogant can I be? I thought to myself.

“Baby, I was just doing it for protection, you are so much stronger than your sister and I.”

“Don’t baby me! All of a sudden I feel drained of all energy. I wake up with headaches. I can barely function when I wake from my sleep. You will give me back what you have taken! It isn’t yours to take or share or whatever you are doing with it.”

“You regenerate new power every day, it isn’t like I am taking from a regular witch, I am taking only what I know you will get back tomorrow.” Vee said with a pleading tone of voice.

“That is exactly why my powers have not grown, you won’t allow them to do so! I am taking it back and if you ever do that again I will take every bit of your ‘regular’ witch powers as you like to call them.”

“Vendium de Morsque.” I heard myself say as my eyes glowed green and my amulet lifted, pulling, what seemed like, a life force from Vee. I was taking back power that my mom had stolen from me. Just as I realized what was happening, I also realized that my mother was doing the same thing that she had done then. It is the only explanation for the draining feeling I felt everyday since I met her.

Vee was taking my power because she knew I would regenerate it the next day. I pulled myself from the vision and sat on the edge of my bed. I had to talk to Vee about this. It made sense if that is why I had been feeling drained every day. If that was the case though, Vee had a lot of explaining to do. I laid down on my bed and let my mind go blank. Closing my eyes, I fell into a deep sleep.

The next day I was woken by the sound of Vee banging on the door.