KZ's and Dragoln's Short Stories [2022 EDITION]

Curse's Cure

10.9.22

Reluctantly, he handed over the key. 

"You just saved us all," Carter chuckled as he loosened the axe on Cove's neck. The honed blade made a mark and it bled, thankfully not spurting out like a water hose. The boy doubled over, his blood dripping onto the ground. It tainted the stones below him and he winced in pain. 

"I saved no one," Cove growled in a boyish voice after composing himself, "you don't even know what it leads to." 

"You don't think we spent all this time tracking you down for no reason?" His chuckle morphed into a menacing guffaw. The cape of his long leather jacket billowed behind him as he spun on his heel and turned away. Cove watched as the young man treaded further from him, fingering the little intricate treasure, "your treasure hunting is futile. This is my key." 

Those were the last words he heard from Carter before he disappeared into the bustling city. 

It was madness. He couldn't possibly be giving up the one thing he was desperate for. He knew it was the key to a hidden chest. And whatever was in the chest was the cure to his sister's curse. But that was all. 

She needed it. They needed it. Someone had just swooped in with a weapon against his will and stole it from right under his nose. Cove was running out of time and the key was no longer his. Heck, he was travelling backward! Unless he found a way to retrieve the key from the crazy man without getting beheaded, he'd have to find the chest and smash it open. There was no other choice. 

Cove tried to remember what the key looked like. He found a nearby bench and slumped down on it. Then, he fished out a paper and pen from his pockets and started drawing. 

It was entirely made of silver, except for the amber jewel engraved into the end. The metal snaked around the jewel, locking it into a cozy cage. There were a lot of detailed carvings in the silver too. At the top where the jagged edges were, there was a skull. Though it resembled just bone, it seemed to be smiling. 

It reminded him of his sister's smile before the curse had brainwashed her. It's funny, how the little cartoon expression of the skull sketched out on his paper reminded him of someone so special to him. Before their whole adventure started, the key to their happiness was always generosity. The siblings adored giving and were taught to do it often by their parents. So whenever anyone would ask for something, they'd give it. If it was a favor, they'd do it. And they'd do it obediently. 

There was a man selling fruits at a market. Cove and his sister figured that he wasn't the most fortunate and payed double for their groceries that day. The man didn't look happy. Maybe he was shocked. Or perhaps, he didn't know how to process the little miracle. He stood out to Cove. The stunned man had paused working at the till for a few moments to pull the two siblings into a suffocating embrace, his leather jacket crushing them both. The market man could have been stunned. He could have been in such a state that he had nothing else to say.

Why were such intrusive thoughts disturbing him now? He wasn't in a position to give. He needed to claim what was his. Otherwise, his sister may never be able to remember him ever again. They may never be able to unlock their happiness with the key of generosity ever again. Maybe Cove might. But his sister. 

That's what he feared. 

The drawing of the skull on the key was complete and it hauled his mind back to the market. 

Not again! 

But he was too far into memory lane to turn back. Behind the keeper at the market till, there was a clay skull, almost identical to the one on the key. Interesting, he thought. 

Then it was on the empty pineapple juice carton that his sister supposedly drank. It was merely just a brand design to them. Fascinating, but suspicious. 

Cove realised he was in the park. The wind was violently picking up and blew the sketch of the key out of his hands. 

"No!" He cried lurching towards it. 

He was too late and the paper was whipped away, past the maple trees out of his reach. 

Much litter was blown around too, some being plastic bottles, orange peels, candy wrappers and- 

Something caught by the lace of his shoe. A tiny bottle of apple juice. He cringed at the bottle, as if it was showing him a cluster of embarrassing memories that ticked him off. But compiled together was his strange inclination to pick it up and throw it away, even if there was already a hurricane of rubbish conquering the park. 

He stared at the logo, blinking rapidly in disbelief. He rubbed his eyes and stared again. There it was. 

The skull. The skull on the key. The skull behind the market owner. The skull on the drink that his sister drank. 

The town was being cursed, one by one. 

And all of a sudden, the realisation washed over him like a tidal wave. He knew exactly who the market owner was. 'Carter', the employee tag read. He was simply repaying Cove's generosity. But with an axe across his neck? Surely not. Blood was shed. But so were the answers he needed. 

And finally also he realised that the key he was searching for was not the one with the skull on top. 

It was with him the entire time. Not something that was given to him as a quest. Something that already stood inside him. The very thing that could make a person remember who you are, even if it seems impossible. The key that his parents gave him long ago. 

He was going to save his sister and the whole town after all. 

He didn't know how. But he had the key at least.

~