CURSED 1

CURSE

So, there I was, completely left alone to die. Not to just die, but to die a horrific

death in the fate of hundreds of approaching snakes. I spotted a long branch on

the ground nearby and grabbed it. I looked up at the sky and looked for the

North Star. I knew the way down was to go south. So, I needed to go the opposite of

the star. I tucked my pant legs into my Doc Martin shoes. I was still wearing my

leather jacket, which gave me some comfort. Could snakes bite through jeans?

Next, I said a prayer and took off running south. There was some moonlight,

and I was able to use it to find a game trail. I followed it and kept running,

Pray like hell that I didn’t break an ankle.

Or come across like...a million snakes.

That thought alone sent me scurrying through the forest, running as fast as I

could run. My adrenaline was on high. I had never run so hard in my life. I was

hopping over bushes and, yes, over snakes. I could feel them underneath me but,

I refused to stop. I ran as hard and as fast as I could move. I had no idea how

long I was going to have to do this.

It was nearly thirty minutes later when I looked up at the sky. s**t. I had

totally lost track of my direction. I was now facing the North Star. Which meant

I had been running in circles. I was exhausted, and my side hurt. Nearby was a

giant rock. So I jumped on top of it. The rattling of the snakes echoed

everywhere. I looked around me, and the ground seemed to be moving. Snakes,

everywhere. Slithering, inevitably approaching me. My skin crawled. How

Atticai had done this, I don’t know, but the man—or vampire—was surely

dealing with some dark magic.

There was no way that I was going to make it around them. I was going to

have to attack them.

I jumped down and started swinging the branch. I swung it like a crazed crazy,

steroid-induced baseball player. I tried to make room, so I could get around, but

There were just too many of them. Snakes flew in every direction. I severed some

in half; I bashed others. But there were just too many. I was tiring and losing

hope, certainly I was going to be smothered by thousands of rattlesnakes, when

Suddenly, I heard a squawk. A familiar shrieking squawk. It sounded like

Daphne: kee-eeeee-arr, kee-eeeee-arr.

This night was getting weirder and weirder.

She flew like a missile, wings folded close to her body. It was dark, and I

I couldn’t see what the hawk was doing, but it was something. She flew low.

circles, and the snakes began to scatter. I jumped back onto the boulder, and just

stood there and watched Daphne in action. The undulating forest floor, once

alive with snakes, now calmed. The rattling disappeared into the distance. In a

A matter of minutes, the snakes were gone, beaten back by the angry hawk with a

shrill voice and no fear of them. Incredible.

All the snakes had gone away. Or so I thought. As I jumped down from the

rock and moved through the high grass, I heard a sharp rattle, and then a biting

pain. Turns out the little shits can bite through jeans.

I kicked my leg hard and the little fucker went flying. The pain in my ankle

was intense and immediate. The poison quickly took effect, perhaps because I

was depleted emotionally and physically. I fell to my knees. My eyes blurred. I

was losing consciousness. I could hear a lot of noise nearby. More snakes? More

birds? More vampires? I didn’t know or care.

Still, someone was close by. Someone or something. As strange colors flitted

Just behind my eyelids, perhaps an effect of the poison, I felt something bite

deeply into my ankle, the same spot where the snake had just sunk its own fangs.

Another snake? No. I could feel my hands gripping my legs.

I closed my eyes. The pain in my ankle was excruciating. The person sucking

The venom did so with ferocity. I forced open my eyes, and through the swirling

colors and light, I saw Yari.

“Yari?” I gasped, convinced I was hallucinating.

“Shh. Quiet, Josiah. We’ve got to get you out of here.”

I looked at Yari, and she started transitioning in the way Atticai and the others.

had done. But Yari didn’t transition into a raven. Yari transitioned

into...Daphne, my faithful hawk friend. Yari was Daphne?

It was then that I passed out.

I opened my eyes, and I found myself in my bed.

Was everything a dream? I looked down at my ankle, and there were two sets

of raw, swollen puncture wounds. The snake and Yari?

Not a dream, I thought. Last night was real.

So then how was I home?

I got up and went to the living room. It felt like morning, yet, my house was

still completely dark. I soon saw why. Someone had duct-taped the blinds so that

no light could get in.

A voice spoke from the darkness, startling me. “In about three hours, I can go.

outside.” Yari was sitting on the carpet cross-legged in the far corner of the

living room. She looked as if she had been doing yoga in complete darkness. If

not for her pale complexion, I probably wouldn’t have seen her at all.

“So, it’s all true,” I said, rubbing a hand over my face. “Vampires, sunlight,

werewolves, full moons—all of it.”

“It’s all true, Josiah.”

“I still can’t believe it.”

“Believe, Josiah. You have seen it with your own eyes.”

I stared at Yari, sitting there in the corner of my living room, in complete

darkness, a beautiful woman I had slept with just weeks earlier, a woman I had

Watched him turn into a f*****g beautiful red-tailed hawk. I sat down and held my

head. I wasn’t suffering from overwhelming grief—although my heart ached

heavier than ever, knowing that Tommy would never set foot there again. I

wasn’t running on adrenaline, and I certainly wasn’t high or drunk. This was

real, and there was no talking my way out of this. Could I still be dreaming?

Sure, maybe, but I doubted it.

This was real. Real.

I asked the only question that I could think of at the moment: “Since when did

vampires start turning into birds? I thought it was supposed to be bats or fog or

something.”

“You mortals—and your writers, in particular—were the ones who fabricated

that nonsense. Hell, we don’t even refer to ourselves as vampires. We are

something else.”

“Mani,” I said.

“Yes.” Yari stood up and walked over to me. “Josiah, I have done a horrible

thing.”

“What would that be, exactly?”

She paused, and then sat down on the couch. She was exceptionally

quiet. I walked over and sat next to her. “What is it?” I asked.

“Josiah, I saved you. The Triat won’t like that. The man won’t like that.

either. Especially Atticai.”

“Why is it so awful that I know? Lena knows, and nothing seems to happen to

her.”

“Lena is different.”

“How so?”

“There is so much about us that you don’t understand. There is a history, and

There are many things that have been prophesied. I can’t go into that right now.

When I am at full strength, we need to get you out of here.”

“Where would I go, Yari?”

“Anywhere but here. Atticai knows where you live, and I know him; he’ll get

suspicious if there is no word about a man dying in the wilderness. He will

I assume you survived.”

“So, what am I supposed to do? Run? I’ve never run from anything in my

life.”

“Can the macho ego bullshit, Josiah. These guys will kill you without a

Second thought. The Triat gives them the right to do so. Please, we must leave.

Soon.”

“And go where?”

“Far away.”

“Come with me.”

Yari stared at the floor for a moment before looking up at me. “Josiah, I will

always be with you.”

“No, don’t be with me like Daphne, the hawk. I want you to be by my side as

you...Yari. You. Whatever you are, I want to be with you.”

Tears glistened in her eyes. “Look, do you have an extra set of keys to

Tommy’s car? It should still be parked at the ranch from the other night. His

keys must have fallen out when he fought Atticai because he didn’t have them

when I dropped him...” her voice drifted off.

“When you dropped him off at the hospital,” I said suddenly, as the

The realization hit me that it had been Yari who tried to save my friend’s life. “Why?

would you do that if you knew he was a Carni?”

She looked away. “Because I knew you cared about him. I did it for you.”

This whole thing was almost too much for me to handle. I sat down and

cradled my head in my hands, thinking, “You’re going to have to turn into

Daphne and go get his Mustang from the ranch. You are going to need to bring it.

back here. It’ll be dark soon, so I guess you won’t have a problem, you know,

transitioning, or whatever you call it.”

Yari smiled and looked at me for a heartbeat or two. She reached out and took

my hand, and we sat like that until the sun finally set. And when it did, she stood

from the couch and stepped away from me. “Do you have an extra set of keys?

Josiah?

“Yes, we both kept a set of each other’s keys in our bedrooms just in case of

an emergency. Can you carry them like a hawk?”

“Oh, I can carry much bigger things than keys, Josiah. I’ll need the keys to

the Mustang. Now.”

I nodded and fetched the keys, and when I returned, a beautiful red hawk was

sitting on the arm of the couch. She opened her talons, and I carefully hooked

the key ring inside the claws as they closed over the key ring. I opened the door.

and the hawk shot out of my apartment like a cannon shot.

“Be careful!” I yelled after her, wondering what my neighbors were thinking.

With any luck, no one saw the hawk.

About a half hour later, Yari made her way back in Tommy’s Mustang.

During that time, I had packed a few things. We jumped into the muscle car and

Head straight for the freeway. I kept looking up in the sky for ravens.

So far, the coast was clear.

We hit the 91 Freeway and eventually made our way to the 5 Freeway. I

wasn’t sure how far north I wanted to drive, but Monterey seemed far enough.

Monterey was a quaint beach city about five hours north, and it seemed as if it

would be the last place anyone would think of looking for me. If the Triat wanted

me dead, I think she or it—or whatever it was—would have done it by now.

Then again, what the hell did I know?

TO BE CONTINUED....