Curse of the Crooked

Story

Tired. Bora was tired. He watched over the edge of the home base, staring at the ruins of a broken city. He knew that he could not leave his position. His group was counting on him. Watching the monsters aimlessly limp through what used to be the downtown area was now a crumbling, crippled wasteland. 

"Ugh! Whyyyy!" 

Sighing loudly, Bora muttered, "This curse is seriously annoying!" He brushed his shoulder-length, caramel-colored hair out of his face. He could already feel himself slowly dying... crumbling away. He despised this feeling of being trapped. Bora only wished that the pain would just go away. He prayed that he would be left in peace. He wanted to go back to being normal. Just a regular boy of the working class. 

However, life had not always been like this. Cursed and crooked. He used to be a proud young man, reckless even. His face had always carried this permanent smirk, as he knew that he was destined for greatness. He reminisced on the older times when he had first started out. Sure, he was cocky, but for a good reason. He had been born a prodigy in school and had received an internship for a prestigious company. 

His life, undeniably, was excellent. Things change though, life can become unexpected. He had been in the building when everything became covered in an inky substance. He had seen it. It resembled a sea of shadows. At least, it is what he believed it to be until it began to squirm. Out of the corner of his eye, there was an eerie humanoid creature, tall, thin, and dressed like a businessman, casting his shadow on the writhing figures of his unconscious coworkers. 

He looked on in silent horror as his coworkers began to change. Their limbs and facial features twisted, deforming them so horribly that they no longer looked human. Of course, Bora had assumed the role of hero. Spoiler alert, he failed miserably. That… thing was much stronger than it appeared. 

Bora opened his eyes, hissing and clutching his shoulder. The memory of that creature had caused the pain to flare up and the grey to spread farther. The young man wanted to cry but, he could not. He knew his fate was inevitable, but he no longer desired to abandon the base. Home Base was the only one who had allowed him to enter and stay.  

A friendly voice resounded in the eerie silence. "Hello there!" It spoke. 

He turned in surprise. “What?” He began to question. He stopped, however, as soon as he heard a telltale giggle. He gave his signature smirk, looking up.

 A pretty woman with long, golden curls and heterochromatic eyes looked down at him. Her blue and green eyes were sparkling with amusement. He remembered their first meeting when he had been cornered by the Crooked ones. She was the brightest person he had ever seen, practically rivaling the sun. He had only realized that he had been lost in thought when he heard a pair of fingers snapping in front of his nose. 

“Hello, Hope. What are you up to?” He said, holding onto his playful smirk. 

"Nothing much. That train of thought of yours seems to be going off of the rails. Wanna talk? Or do you want to go back in?" He liked that about her. She would always ask him, never pried, and he was beyond grateful for that. 

"Yeah, yeah... Worry not, for I, your dearest friend, was only dreaming!" He spoke in a terrible British accent, trying to make it seem as if nothing were wrong. He was unsure how he would tell his friends. He threw her a casual smirk before entering Home Base. He needed to make sure that they were safe. But how?

.

.

.

Light always seemed to follow her wherever she traveled. They would often describe Hope as a joyous, optimistic girl. Regardless of the dreadful circumstances, she did not wish to give up. That personality of hers caused her survivor group to see her as a sister figure. She seemed to glow as she moved around the base. Hope rushed around, trying to make the place seem less bleak than it was already. 

She did not mind the task; it took her mind off of any negativity that lurked in the darkness. In fact, she enjoyed it. Before this land became cursed, she strolled around the mansion of a house and cleaned up unnecessary messes. Her bright eyes never once dimmed as the corruption spread throughout the city. She always held a wide, bubbly smile on her pretty pink lips. Regardless of the darkness, she never let her sweet smile drop. She would do her best to ignore the horrible sense of dread that would loom over hear hears as she watched the tendrils appear. They stretched out of the heart of the city, almost as if reaching to extinguish any light it could find. She remembered feeling alone; remembered as she felt the cold, shadowy tendrils almost curl around her ankles. 

She watched the young man meander down the stairs, into the room that he had claimed. Hope could tell that Bora didn’t agree with her suggestion of rest. However, she knew he hadn’t slept in days. She didn’t want to risk his health. Only the malnutrition that clung to every survivor’s body is what she understood. “Okay, good night. At least, I think it’s night.” 

She sighed. Her eyes passed from the boy’s frail figure to the scattered documents on the table. The pages comprise the knowledge that the survivors have collected over the years. All the assumptions, theories, and facts lay there. It was their only hope.

Hope scanned through the piles of documents, placing them into neat piles for the others to find. Her eyes stopped on a single page titled, Signs of a Crooked’s transformation. She couldn’t help but be curious. After all, this would allow her to protect her makeshift family. Pooling into the pit of her stomach was a dark sense of dread. It was so strong that she could not ignore it. For the first time, her smile dropped. “No way… This can’t be.” She read it again, fear and desperation gripped at her thoughts, bringing her to scramble to turn the page. 

“The signs that a person will soon succumb to the Curse of the Crooked are often unmistakable. It will begin with greying skin. A lost train of thought, weight loss, insomnia, and paranoia are also prevalent. Cure: Unknown. Cause: Unknown. Take them to the city’s heart immediately.” 

She fell back, causing a loud crash to resound through the quiet of the base. “Oh, Bora… why didn’t you say anything?” 

She felt herself about to cry. They had doomed her dearest little brother to a horrible fate… and there was nothing she could do about it. She quickly entered Bora’s room.

“How are you doing, buddy?” She asked, knowing that wasn’t asleep yet. 

“How did you know I was awake?”

“Bora, you haven’t slept in a week. I can tell.”

He sighed, sitting up. She pretended to not see the wince or how quickly he reached for his crooked arm. “So, what’s up? I heard a crash earlier and didn’t know if I could check if you were alright.” 

She felt herself smile a little. “Look, Bora. You know I care for you deeply, right?”

He looked a little suspicious, but nodded. 

“Bora… I know. I know about the curse.”

His face contorted. It filled his eyes with fear, and his lips curled into a horrific snarl. “Don’t you dare tell anyone about this! Okay?” When he realized what he’d said, staring at Hope’s shocked expression. The way he forced his mouth into a wobbly smirk shook her to the core. “Don’t worry! I’m fine.” 

“Clearly you’re not!” The girl said, wiping away the tears that trickled down her rosy cheeks. 

.

.

.

Faith had never been one to believe in luck. She was a religious woman, after all. Not only that, but one who would do anything to protect the people she held dear. The survivors, all in their late teens or early 20s, would call her mother. She didn’t know why though; she was only protecting her family. Only two of the people she knew were still at Home Base. 

She’d been praying when she had heard the crash. This would be a sign of a wave of Crooked ones. However, she knew that the crooked were unlikely to find the base. She finished her prayer and ran out, rosary still in hand.

“What happened?” She called out. Looking around, she found a knocked over chair and the documents scattered. Every inch of her body wanted to search for anyone who injured. She called this her mother instincts. Faith traveled down the hallway, listening to muffled speaking resounding from the eerie silence of her apartment. She heard the door to Bora’s room slam shut as she watched a familiar young woman storm out. 

“Hope? Is something wrong?” 

Hope turned to Faith, shaking as she ran toward the mother figure. “Faith! Help him! He’s in danger! Please, he doesn’t have much time!” Faith stared at Hope’s teary blue and green eyes. She wasn’t uncomfortable with this, but the look in the young woman’s eyes triggered something. She felt the fear pool into her gut. What was wrong with Bora? 

~~~

When Hope explained what she had found out, Faith had felt the pain of a mother losing her child. It was excruciating, knowing that a child like him, so young and talented, was to suffer a fate worse than death. 

“How… how far has the boy progressed? As much as I hate this, we have to get him away.” Faith had seen what the Crooked Ones were capable of. She had seen many of her survivors dragged into the dark, or watched as those poor souls ripped from their bodies by those horrid, twisted gaping mouths. She couldn’t risk anyone else. 

Hope… how would she explain the girl that her favorite little brother would be no more. She hated not being able to do anything. 

“Faith? What are you thinking?” 

“Hope… I’m so sorry.” 

The broken expression was enough to hold on to the girl. “We’ve lost another one…”

~~~

The next morning, Bora had been awake early. His skin had been more of an ashy color, moving up his neck. His curse had spread much faster than Faith had expected. She hated it. 

Bora turned wistfully, watching her. “You know, don’t you?” 

When she gave him a confirmative nod, he looked down at the crooked arm. Bora didn’t know how something that felt cold could feel as if it were burning. Even now, he was fighting to stay in control. Bora knew he needed to leave, but he couldn’t bring himself to say goodbye. 

“We’ll be taking you to the Heart of the City in a few minutes.” She stated, almost mournfully. Turning toward her room, she swiftly motioned for him to follow. He obliged, trailing behind her. She brought out a rosary, placing it around his neck. 

“I know you aren’t religious. But I hope that, with this, you will one day be free. I’m sorry I couldn’t do more.” 

Dumbfounded, he nodded. “Thank you… for everything. Mother.” He gave her one final smirk before leaving. 

The ride to the City’s heart had been excruciating. Physically and emotionally. Hope watched her little brother exit the car. She gave him one last hug and an amulet from her collection. At least then, he’d keep a small memory from home.