HÊR CURSE

Chapter 5:It's still spreading

The street was too quiet for 2 AM.

Jimmy’s boots hit the asphalt in hard, uneven slaps, Tessa’s weight dead against his shoulder. Her arms hung limp, fingers brushing the ground every few steps. He wasn’t sure if she was breathing right. The sound coming from her throat was wet, uneven, like she’d forgotten how.

“Stay with me,” he said, voice rough. “Tess, open your eyes.”

She didn’t. But her wrist did.

He risked a glance down as he ran. The red mark he’d seen on her skin earlier was moving. It had started as a small circle near her pulse, angry and fresh. Now it was a jagged line crawling up her forearm, black at the edges like a bruise spreading under pressure. The skin around it was cold to the touch. Colder than it should be.

His stomach turned.

_It’s still spreading._

He turned down a side alley, away from the main road. No cameras. No people. If the thing inside her decided to show itself fully, he didn’t want an audience. He didn’t want a video online with the caption _possessed girl attacks man_.

He stopped behind a locked chemist shop, metal shutters pulled down. The air here smelled like stale urine and rust. He slid Tessa down until her back was against the wall, her head lolling.

“Tessa,” he said, gripping her shoulders. He shook her lightly. “Come on. Look at me.”

Her eyes fluttered open. For a second, it was her. His Tessa. Bloodshot, scared, confused.

“Jimmy?” Her voice was hoarse. “What’s happening? Why can’t I feel my arm?”

Relief hit him hard enough to make him dizzy. “It’s okay. I’ve got you. We’re getting out of here.”

“Where’s my—”

Her sentence cut off.

Her eyes changed. The fear drained out, replaced by something flat and patient. The corners of her mouth twitched up, not a smile. An assessment.

Jimmy froze.

“Tessa?”

The thing using her face tilted its head. When it spoke, it was still her voice, but layered underneath was a second sound. Low. Amused.

“You can’t outrun me, Jimmy,” it said. “I’m already in her.”

The air got colder.

Jimmy let go of her shoulders like she’d burned him. “Shut up. Shut up, get out of her.”

The demon smiled wider. “You made the deal. You wanted her safe. This is how it works. One life for another. The thread is already tied.”

“No,” Jimmy said. “No, I didn’t mean her. I didn’t—”

“You didn’t read the fine print,” it finished for him. “How human of you.”

Tessa’s hand moved. Slowly, deliberately, she raised her marked arm. The black veins had reached her elbow now. Wherever the line passed, her skin went pale and cold.

Jimmy’s mind was screaming. He needed time. He needed to think. He couldn’t think with her looking at him like that.

He acted instead.

There was a broken beer bottle on the ground by his foot. He snatched it, pressed the jagged edge against the red line on Tessa’s arm, and pushed.

Tessa screamed.

It wasn’t her voice. It was raw, inhuman, like something being torn out of the ground. The mark flared bright red, and the black veins spread another inch in a second. Heat poured off her skin.

“STOP!” The word tore out of him, and he dropped the glass.

Tessa collapsed against the wall, chest heaving. Her eyes rolled back.

The demon’s voice was gone. For now.

“f**k. f**k, f**k, fuck.” Jimmy caught her before she slid to the ground. Her pulse was fast, thready. The mark was still there, still wrong, but it wasn’t moving. The pain had stopped it. Temporarily.

He couldn’t do that again. Not without killing her.

He scooped her up. She was heavier now, dead weight. “Okay. Okay, new plan. We go to the clinic. Now.”

The 24-hour clinic was three blocks away. He knew it because he’d written an article on underfunded healthcare in Makurdi last month. Freelance work paid the bills, but it also meant he knew every shortcut, every backstreet, every place that was open when the rest of the city slept.

He ran.

Each step jostled Tessa, but she didn’t wake. Her head lolled against his chest. The mark on her arm was quiet, but it pulsed faintly under the skin, like a second heartbeat.

_Hold on. Just hold on._

His lungs burned. His legs burned. Guilt burned worse. He’d done this. He’d opened the door because he was desperate, because he couldn’t stand losing another person. And now Tessa was paying for it.

He burst out of the alley onto the main road. The clinic sign was visible, green and flickering. He was almost there.

Then he heard it. Footsteps behind him. Fast, deliberate.

He didn’t stop. He couldn’t stop.

“Jimmy.”

The voice stopped him cold.

He turned slowly, Tessa still in his arms.

Dr. Collins stood under the streetlight, twenty feet away. His white coat was gone, replaced by jeans and a hoodie. He held his phone in one hand, screen lit up. Recording? Calling someone?

Collins’ face was tight with shock and anger.

“Jimmy” he said. “I saw you leave her house with her. She looked… wrong. What did you do to Tessa?”

Jimmy opened his mouth. No sound came out.

Behind Collins, the clinic door was right there. Safety. Help.

In his arms, Tessa’s eyelids twitched.

And on her arm, the mark pulsed once, like it heard its name.

The streetlight above them flickered and died.