Cursed

≛Chapter Thirty≛

Zachery

My mom and dad are dead. I'm alone. I think the words inside my head but they reverberate off of the empty walls of my mind and go echoing down corridors of my brain. I know that Rory is trying to comfort me but I feel like my body is suspended in jello. I can barely feel her as she holds me. Space and time don't exist.

The sad thing is that I've always considered this moment. The moment when my dad would die and then his hold on me would be lifted forever. But my mom was never part of the death fantasy. Mom, I love you. A single tear trails down my cheek and gets caught in my scruffy beard.

"I have to avenge their deaths, Rory. I'm going to find Hades and kill him."

"I know, I know. Oh god Zach, I'm so sorry this is happening. But we have to be smart about this. As tragic as your parents death is, don't you see what Hades is trying to do?"

"Make me suffer for hiding you here?"

"Well yes, that's true. But he's also trying to draw us out of hiding. Killing your parents was his only move. This means we have an advantage."

"Oh yeah, and what advantage might that be?"

"He has no idea where we are located."

I push whatever grief I feel aside for now. She's right. Murdering my parents is just more bait for another trap from that psychopath. I won't let him lure us into getting what he wants.

"You're right Rory, we have to stay hidden."

She looks at me empathetically as she reaches up and wipes the salty liquid from my face. I feel myself soften as my anger cools down. I take her hand from my face and kiss the back of her palm. I would be a mess if she wasn't here. Now it's my turn to take care of her.

"I wasn't going to say anything but since we will be here a while I really need to tend to some of your wounds. Rory there's a few gashes on your leg that are at risk for infection."

"Of course. I don't think I ever said thank you, for saving my life."

"Rory, you don't have to thank me. I can't help but feel responsible. I knew about what was going on with Hayden but I never said anything to you."

"What do you mean, you knew?"

"It happened one of the nights when we were all partying. I walked in on him shooting up in the bathroom. We got into a big fight and I told him to go to hell. I'm sorry I didn't tell you until now. I just thought you would figure out that you made the wrong choice on your own."

"Choice? I didn't realize there was a choice to be made, Zach. I thought we were just friends."

"We are. Of course we are. I'm gonna go grab the first aid kit, I'll be right back."

I fumble to get out the words. How can I talk to her about my feelings when I don't even clearly know what they are? What the hell am I doing? My parents just died and I'm trying to hit on my best friend. My hands are shaking while I collect the bandages and a bottle of hydrogen peroxide from the kitchen cabinets. I set the products down, unable to control my sadness any longer. I slide into my usual spot at my mother's kitchen table and I take a look around the house. My house.

They were just here a few hours ago and their presence still feels real. Even my dad's beer is right next to his recliner chair. Everything looks as if they could walk in through the door right now and pick up their lives where they left off. I walk over to the beer bottle and yell, chucking it as hard as I can at the tv screen. The glass shatters and I hear Rory rushing down the stairs to see what's wrong.

"They're gone. They're not coming back."

My body collapses in agony on the floor. Rory dashes to my side and we both sit sobbing on my parents living room floor, surrounded by shattered glass.

-----

It's nighttime which means that my parents have been dead for the entirety of a twenty-four-hour period. Rory lets me clean and dress her wounds. I notice that one is particularly bad and will need stitches.

"Do you trust me to stitch you up? I've done it once before in the army and I promise to go slow and be gentle."

"Zach, do what you need to do. I trust you."

She grimaces in pain but doesn't cry out as I thread the needle through the first layers of her skin. I place her hand on my thigh.

"Anytime it hurts, just squeeze my leg as hard as you can."

Tears form in her eyes but she nods and gives my leg a light squeeze signaling for me to continue. I don't know how long it took me to put ten stitches in her left calf. When I look up and tell her I'm finished she looks relieved. I offer to go make us whatever food I can find in the kitchen and we spend the rest of the evening talking about different ways to sneak into town and take Hades out.

Our best plans involve using Rory as bait while I hide in the shadows with a backpack full of guns, grenades, and ammo that I've kept since my first deployment. I'm not too pleased with the idea of using Rory to lure Hades out, but she seems confident in my skills as a gunman. She says that no matter what happens she knows I would be able to save her. The truth is that I've wanted to save this girl from the first moment I saw her. There's something so pure about Rory that my deep need to protect her has never been a question in my mind.

I wonder if this is what it feels like to be falling in love? To know that I will do anything to protect Rory at all costs isn't something that I've felt about anyone before. Of course I loved my mom and would've saved her life if I had the chance. But this feeling for Rory is something else. Connecting with her has fundamentally changed me. Whether I like it or not, this girl has my heart in her grasp.

Once we finish our dinner of canned soup with grilled cheese I tell her I'm going to put fresh sheets on the bed so she can get some sleep. While I'm up in my room freshening the bed, I'm suddenly self-conscious of all the stupid boyish crap decorating the walls. I hear Rory coming up the stairs so I hurry to grab as many action figures, along with baseball cards, and other crap, and shove it all under the bed right as she opens the door.

"The bed's ready for you."

"Thank you Zach. I really appreciate you letting me stay here. You don't have to sleep on the floor, you know. I'm fine if you want to switch."

"I would rather sleep on the floor to be honest with you. There's something about this house that freaks me out a little bit since my parents don't live in it anymore."

We both say goodnight and I reach up for the switch on my lamp to turn it off. The air conditioning kicks on and the buzzing noise helps drown out my thoughts. Right when I think I might fall asleep I hear Rory whispering to me.

"Zach, are you awake?"

"Yes."

"Can I ask you something?"

"Of course, Rory."

"Will you come up here and cuddle me?"

The question catches me off guard. What are you waiting for Zach, this is the girl you're falling in love with and you're too chicken to get in bed with her? My moral code can't help but kick on, much to the dismay of my carnal desire.

"Rory, I don't know if that's such a good idea."

"Why not?"

"Because you just lost your boyfriend and became the victim of a murderous psychopath all in the course of one day. I feel like it would be taking advantage of your emotions to be anything more than a friend to you right now."

"I feel like my life is falling apart. Zach, I don't need a friend. I need to be in the arms of a man who will hold me and tell me everything's going to be OK, even if it's a lie. Can you do that for me?"

"I would do anything for you, Aurora."