Cursed

Ch. 14

I sat on the couch in Tao's room with Natasha as Tao unfroze the guys, just in case they went off on each other trying to get to Natasha. Every once in a while, we would hear someone tumble to the ground, then the confusion when Tao explained what had happened. For them, everything was instantaneous, despite almost an hour having gone by, and they were bound to be a little freaked out about it all.

Once they were all calmed down, Tao ended up calling a meeting, wanting everyone to meet in the dining room. Natasha and I slowly made our way downstairs, careful not to go too fast, in the case that Natasha got dizzy again. We eventually made it to the dining room, and when we entered, half of the guys looked as if they were dead, their eyes expressionless, not moving from where they sat, their heads resting on the table or in their hands.

They were clearly upset, it was as if the guilt that filled the air was so thick I could hardly breath. I made my way over to one of the empty chairs, leading Natasha over to the chair beside it.

"I'm fine, Khristi. Quit treating me like a baby." She whined, but she knew I wasn't going to, I was too worried.

As soon as she sat down, Kyungsoo moved to sit beside her, protectively. I saw her blush as he did so, and I couldn't help but smile, unable to not think about how cute the two were. That was when Tao showed up, walking in with a large book and multiple bowls.

"What are you doing?" Chanyeol asked, watching as Tao set out the bowls in front of me specifically. All he got in reply was a quick "shhh."

When he had finished setting them out, I counted seven bowls. "Tao?" I spoke, and he glanced over at me. "What are you doing?" I asked, and he looked down at the bowls. After thinking for a few seconds, he looked over at me and gave me a small smile.

"Testing a theory." Was all he said, then he continued, putting different things into the bowls. First, he poured some water into a bowl, then a handful of sand in another, then some glitter, then a match, then a wilting flower, then an ice cube, leaving one empty.

"Are you doing what I think you are doing?" Luhan asked, a small smile forming on his lips. Tao smiled, happy someone caught onto what he was thinking. Then the others slowly got it, one at a time.

"But we don't know if she can do more. Maybe it was just a fluke?" Sehun said, uncertain of the last part.

Me, being completely lost, grew more and more confused. "Can someone tell me what his big theory is? I'm really confused." I sighed.

Luhan smiled and walked over to me, standing behind my chair. "Pick a bowl." He smiled, and waited.

"Okay..." I said, turning from him to the bowls. I glanced between all of them, and pointed at one randomly. I saw Chanyeol smile when he saw I pointed at the bowl with the single match in it. "Now what." I asked.

"Light the match." Chanyeol smiled, clearly excited to see what would happen.

I shrugged, and reached for the match, but Luhan grabbed my arm. "Not with your hands." He said, confusing me further. "Close your eyes." He instructed. Hesitant, I listened, and closed my eyes, let out a sigh as I did so.

I heard Luhan laugh from behind me, then he spoke. "Okay, stupid question, but what do matches do?" He asked.

"They let you light stuff...like candles." I answered, and he laughed again.

"And how would you light the match?" He asked, and I shrugged.

"I would swipe the head of the match on the lighting pad." I said, and he sighed.

"Without that. How would you light the match. How would you catch fire to it?" Luhan asked, but I was completely lost.

I shook my head, not sure what answer he was looking for, and I heard someone down the table sigh, and stand, their chair sliding across the tile flooring.