This time, when Zoe awoke, the ghost frogs were gone. Only her memory of that encounter remained. Slowly, Zoe uncurled. There was no doubt left in her mind that Claudia Lilith, somehow, really did posses magical powers.
Wendy found Zoe that morning lying in her bed, staring at the ceiling. Felinus curled next to her. Wendy nervously stood in the doorway, waiting for Zoe to speak.
“You were wrong.”
“I was?” Wendy asked, surprised.
“The frogs. They came last night.” Zoe sat up. “They were real. I felt them choking me. No hallucinations this time,” Zoe said, her voice breaking. “Why did I have to say those things to Claudia Lilith? I was being stupid.” The last sentence was spoken so softly that Wendy had to lean forward to hear it. She couldn’t believe her ears. She’d known Zoe for years and Zoe never regretted anything.
“What’s the next plague?” asked Zoe, resignedly.
“Lice.”
“Wonderful. I’ve always wanted lice.” Zoe laughed, but it sounded fake and even a little mad. Even to my ears.
Wendy shifted. “Shouldn’t we at least tell your parents? Maybe they could help.”
Zoe shook her head. “They wouldn’t believe me anyways,” she said bitterly.
“You’re not going to even try to break the curse?” Wendy cried.
Zoe turned away from her old friend. “It’s no use.”
“Zoe Haber, the most stubborn and headstrong girl in Split, Ohio, is giving up? This isn’t right!” Wendy took a step forward. “Claudia Lilith said that I’d stand by my friend. And Zoe, you are my friend. I thought that we were in this together.”
“Go away.”
Tears in her eyes, Wendy spun on her heel and walked out of the room, slamming the door behind her. Zoe glanced behind her at the door where Wendy had been standing a moment before. There was no regret in her eyes, though.
“Claudia Lilith also said that you’d sacrifice your sanity for your friend.”
No one responded.
Zoe didn’t speak as strands of her dark locks fell into the sink. She brought the scissors to her hair again. The lice had appeared only an hour after Wendy left. She’d rather cut all her hair off than show her parents. They would just ask how had Zoe not noticed the lice before there were so many, her head was like a writhing mass of moving spaghetti.
SNIP.
She was alone.
SNIP.
She wasn’t going to involve anyone else in this.
SNIP.
She had brought this on herself.
SNIP.
Time is running out.
YOU ARE READING
The Curse of Egypt
Kinh dịThe twelve plagues of Egypt brought to the modern world. Are you afraid of Death? Are you afraid of me? You should be.
