Bloodcurse

Connection

"Grayson!"

I'm suddenly very aware that I'm not wearing any pants as Grayson inches closer towards me, his gaze wandering over my room until it lands on the discarded piece of clothing and empty plastic bottle.

"It's not what it looks like," I say hurriedly, though I'm hardly sure what it does look like. "I spilled a bottle of holy water on myself."

He narrows his eyes suspiciously, taking one more step in the direction of the spill when I reach out to him in a frenzy, gripping the fabric of his jeans before he can get any closer. "Don't touch it!"

"Why are you like this?"

My head slumps forward as I curse this entire situation. "I don't know, just please don't touch the water. It's..."

"What?"

"Look," I say, pointing to the small, circular burn mark on my thigh.

"Okay, so you burned yourself. And?"

"The water did this to me!"

Grayson pinches the hem of my sleeve between his fingers and lifts my hand off his leg. "I already know that you're insane, but this takes the cake."

"Grayson," I shout as he sidesteps my second attempt to grab him and lunges for my pants, holding them by the waistband as he swiftly picks them up. I brace myself for the worst, squeezing my eyes shut in dire anticipation, but I hear absolutely nothing.

One after the other, I open my eyes to find Grayson with my dripping wet pants draped over his arm and a profoundly puzzled frown on his face. "Forget to take your medication today, by any chance?"

Blinking rapidly, I watch as the holy water trails off Grayson's arm, leaving it completely unharmed. Feeling dazed, I get up off the floor, stumbling a couple paces as I walk towards him and tentatively stretch my hand out to touch the soaked fabric.

The second my finger comes into contact with it, my whole arm feels like it's on fire. I scream, clutching my arm as the burning sensation travels from the tip of my index finger all the way to my shoulder blade. Hot, unrelenting flames lick at my blood, skin and bones, and I think I'm going to pass out. It takes a solid minute for me to somewhat recover, and once I do, I lift my head to see Grayson's horrified face stare at me in utter disbelief. Shaking violently, I hold up my arm, revealing angry red lines that travel from my finger up my arm, pulsating with pure agony.

"What is happening to me," I stutter, unsure if I'm shivering because of the pain or the intense fear that grips me.

Grayson looks back and forth between me and his arm, his lips forming around words he can't quite seem to find. After a moment, he drops the pants as if I had just told him they carry a deadly virus. His arm, however, is fine. No marks, no burns - whereas the spot on my finger that touched the water turns black, then red again, and finally settles on an unhealthy shade of ashy pink. Raking a hand through his hair, Grayson still appears glued to the spot, his mouth moving but no sound coming out.

When the pain finally ebbs away, I let out a scoff that sounds more like ragged cough. That's twice now this treacherous liquid has burned me, and I don't even know why, seeing as Grayson is obviously immune to its effects. Frustrated, I give up on holding back the tears I've been keeping inside since I entered the church earlier today, and they start falling freely from my eyes as I continue to stare at my scarred skin. "This isn't happening," I sob, sinking onto the floor. "What is going on?"

Swallowing hard, Grayson moves towards me, only to think better of it halfway there. "I should... clean this up. Go wait in my room, I don't want you touching this shit anymore."