Curse ― EXO

Curse ; Theme Park

The days before that night came, I was at school because obviously there isn't any other place for a teenage girl to be at in the morning. I was never a fan of butting in whatever my classmates had been talking about. But they always manage to make me join into whatever random topics they would come up with.

"Hey Nari, stop listening to whatever shit you're listening to on your phone. Listening to us is much more interesting than whatever band shit that you like." Jaehyung said making me press the pause button on my music app.

Popping out my earphones, I stuffed both my phone and the earphones into my pocket. Standing up I walked towards the group of classmates who I call friends, that could be an ass like Jaehyung's attitude just now. Taking my place on the empty seat they had left out for me, I gave Jaehyung a glaze for insulting my taste in music.

"Honestly, if you want to pick on my taste in music, try to not have your baby sister's alphabet song as your ringtone." I blurted out and he only rolled his eyes before focusing on everyone.

"Can you just get to this big plan of yours? She's already on board, obviously." Jinwoo said as he slapped Jaehyung's shoulders wanting the lad to talk.

"Well, seeing that all of us, including Nari is here."

"What's so important that I need to be included?" I said, totally cutting in his words.

"As I was saying, we've been mates for years now. And I've been thinking we should go an adventure." He said as he gave us a smirk.

"If it's that kind of adventure. I'm like so out of here pervert boy." Minhae said pushing her chair back to stand up.

"Oh come on, I am not thinking that way. Sorry okay, just listen to me first before going all pms." Jaehyung said, just to make Minhae throw him an annoyed glare.

"You know about the old theme park they had in the woods. And as I was suggesting, let's go there. Explore it, go on an adventure. Tonight!" He said clapping his hands in excitement.

"Dude, did you tell the whole class on this?" I asked having a hunch that he would.

"Of course, we all are in this together." He smiled widely making me shake my head.

"Plus, everyone else agreed to this, and it won't be as scary since we'll be there in a large number." He coaxed making the others to eventually agree but I had a feeling this isn't going to be good.

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As promised, we all had arrived at the edge of the woods. It seemed like most of everyone was excited because they actually arrived on time for something. Roughly looking around, Jaehyung saw that everyone was around and began counting.

Sure that everyone was counted for, he gave us a big smile and gestured out to follow him. Those that had brought their flashlight immediately switched it on. And some other used the flashlight from their phones.

Less than 5 minutes worth of walking, the abandoned theme park filled our sight. It was rather eerie seeing that plants have grown onto most of the rides. And not to forget, the cold chilly wind wasn't giving out the vibe of a warm welcome.

"It was said that people loved this theme park but after the death of the owner, no one felt like going here anymore. Even the employees gave up on working. Thinking that it would cost a lot to remove every bit of the rides, they decided to grow trees around the theme park." Jaehyung began to explain despite the fact that some of us already knew.

"And the other reason they shut down the place was people had been getting creeps from every ride, like as if going for the ride would give out bad luck. Some said when the owner died, his demons didn't have an owner so they became ruthless." He continued making most of us, including me feeling scared.

Jaehyung was about to continue but all of us saw lights flashing and hear voices. Listening more carefully, it sounded like the cops. 

"You have got to be kidding me? It hasn't even been half an hour. Okay, split in two. The ones on my right, run towards the right side and same goes for the left. Meet up again in my backyard. But for now, RUN!!" Screaming, all of us ran for the obvious reason to not be brought to the station. 

I was annoyed with myself to not have been that athletic seeing I wasn't running as far as the others were. As I was running with them, I saw a familiar trail that would be a much shorter route to get out of the forest. I didn't even think twice about the consequences of running on my own.

The only thing on my mind was to get back home and rest my tired ass. Turning towards the trail, I ran following it. But as I was running I felt as if I was running for ages, as if I wasn't even close to getting to the edge of the forest. I couldn't see the lights from the houses, the flickering streetlights, none. I was still running in the deep dark forest.

Being so out of breath, I stopped and fell to the ground. Panting, I took in deep breaths. But instead of my heartbeat recovering to a normal pace from aggressively inhaling oxygen, my body felt weak. My eyesight was a complete blur. 

My arms lost every ounce of energy to support me, making me lie down on the ground. The blurry view of the trees slowly faded and everything was black. The last thing I heard was the sound of annoying goddamn crows and a faint voice saying, finally. 

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"Oh look sleepy beauty has woken up." A voice greeted as I opened my eyes to be greeted to pure darkness.

"How did you know I just woke up? You can't even see me." I pushed my body up so I could sit with crossed legs. 

"Even if it's dark, doesn't mean we can't see you." The voice replied.

"Okay Jaehyung, this isn't a funny prank." I let out an awkward laugh.

"Hey, this isn't a prank. And this Jaehyung has nothing to do with why you're here." The voice laughed.

"Then explain to me, why am I here?!" I screamed not knowing which way I should face because I have no clue where this voice is coming from.

"You pretty girl, just won the first prize. The most amazing prize the theme park could ever give out. The Curse." The voice said and I felt something on my shoulder. But before I could brush it off, it was gone.

"What curse? I'm just dreaming. This isn't happening. No way. Just. No way. Impossible." I shook my head but hearing the voice chuckled meant something otherwise. 

"You can't break the curse. And this curse was made just for you. Especially for you. It's best that you embrace it." And yet again, I felt a pressure on my shoulder. 

"But if you really want out, there is a way." The pressure was gone but then a gush of cold air hit me, sending chills all over my body.

"I need to go now, you can relax now. The fun hasn't started yet so don't worry. See you later." The voice said as it chuckled and I was left alone.

"Oh, one more thing. A clue regarding your curse." A slight amusement could be heard from his tone.

"Survive all 12 rides and we'll give you a gift."