Cursed Waters

17

its been a long minute since I last updated and for that, I am super duper sorry. 

Sam

Less than thirty minutes later, I was in the front seat of Brandon's car.

Millie had crawled into the back before anyone could say anything, and had kept her lips pressed firmly together. The silence that hovered between us was thick and heavy, and we would need a chainsaw to cut through the awkwardness.

And the tension was aplenty. I wasn't really sure if it was Millie's fault or Brandon's or mine that none of us could communicate with each other properly in that moment, or possibly a combination of all three of us. Every few moments, I saw Millie's mouth open but she'd snap it shut before anything came out. Brandon kept glancing at me, trying to catch my eue, but I kept my gaze forward.

Even though it was clear that both my best friend and the girl I'd been crushing on for years wanted to break the quietness, I, personally, had no qualms about keeping absolutely silent. Part of me might've been doing it just to bother them.

While I wanted to know everything that had transpired, I'd rather hear it from Brandon's mom than deal with either of them.  I'd been friends with Brandon longer than I could remember and he'd kept this huge, monumental secret from me. He'd never even tried to tell me he was a witch. 

And Millie . . . I didn't have enough words to describe the hurt I felt about the way she'd handled things. 

Brandon turned onto his street, and as he did, the car started to bounce. I glanced at him, confused. His street was pretty smooth. Brandon seemed just as confused, until he looked out the window.

Just when I thought the car ride couldn't get any worse, Brandon slammed on the brakes. Millie flew forward and I put my arm out to keep her from going through the windshield.

"Dude," I snapped. "What the fuck?"

"Look out there," he said, his voice tense. "Do you see . . . ?"

I sat forward and my jaw dropped. "Are those . . . ?"

"Fish," Millie whispered. "They're everywhere."

"They're dead," Brandon said.

Sure enough, the entire road was covered in dead fish.

Brandon's house, unlike Millie's and mine, was not anywhere near the beach. He was pretty gridlocked on the far end of the town.

Even if he had been on the beach, though, it would've been beyond weird to see fish all over the street. 

"What are they doing here?" Millie asked.

There was no reply. Neither Brandon nor I had an explanation.

Brandon eased forward, but suddenly there was a familiar squawking sound, and something hit the windshield. The car stopped again.

A dead fish, mouth gaping open, stared at us.

A seagull swooped low, as if making sure we had seen it.

"What the fuck?" My voice was barely audible.

"It's the curse," Millie replied.

Brandon started forward again, his expression hard.

The rest of the car ride was silent, except for the dull thwack the fish made as they were dropped on the windshield and the squishing sounds they made under our wheels.