Cursed

14

She woke to the roar of a car. It suddenly skidded to a halt. Perhaps the driver had seen her lying unconsciously in the middle of the street.

On hearing the footsteps approaching her, she opened her eyes. At first her vision was so blurry, it was impossible to make anything out. She could see the intense glare of the head light. And before the light she could see an outline of a man running toward her.

Suddenly the memory of the chase struck her, and whimpering, she curled up in a ball. She closed her eyes immediately. Rain was still pouring down. Her clothes were completely drenched. The icy water and the chills of horror almost snuffed life out of her.

"No, please...please..." she whispered. Scared of the evil that had chased her, Amanda didn't even dare to open her eyes. She couldn't bear looking at the pale face of the lifeless spirit that haunted her, played with her and made her do things of unimaginable horror.

"It's okay, it's okay."

Instead of the unearthly murmur of the diabolical spirit, Amanda heard a clear manly voice.

She opened her eyes, only by a little bit. After realising there really was a man looming over her, and the call of being okay wasn't another imagination, Amanda let out a sigh of relief.

"I'm not going to hurt you, miss." The man spoke. Slowly he walked toward her.

Amanda brushed the water off her eyes, and looked at him curiously. Her wary eyes locked on his human features. When she was convinced of he not being the evil spirit, she breathed a sigh and strained her muscles to stand up.

The strain was too much for her exhausted self to support. Just when her knees buckled, the man rushed to her aid. She collapsed on his firm body, not caring if this stranger was a nasty man. She was just glad he was human.

"Who are you?" She whispered, shivering.

Before he answered, Amanda felt her senses diminishing.

"Don't worry. You're going to be just fine."

Amanda buried her face in the stranger's chest. The warmth of it was a great soothing. And somehow in her heart she knew this man wasn't going to hurt her, at least not as much as the evil spirit had.

Then the cold finally reached her core, and forced her into unconsciousness.

^^^

Amanda's eyelids were heavy. She opened them only half way through to see a faint beam of sunlight breaking through the window. The curtain danced to the dictations of the wind flowing in through the half-open window.

She rubbed her eyes, and pressing against the soft mattress, she rose ever so slowly. She rested her back against the wall. Looking at the unfamiliar room, her eyes widened. But then the memory of her rescue flashed across her mind, and she gave a sigh of relief.

"You're awake." The stranger was standing in the doorway, his shoulder resting against the door.

He started toward Amanda, but stopped when he saw her flinching from fear. Amanda knew the stranger had saved her, but she couldn't help but feel scared. After being haunted by an emissary from hell for so long, fear had thoroughly possessed all her senses.

"Listen, I'm not here to hurt you." He said, walking slowly toward her. He waited for a minute and spoke only when she'd calmed down. "What were you doing out there in this storm?" the stranger said. His dark green eyes were filled with concern.

When Amanda didn't answer, he took another step forward and paused. On realising she no longer was showing many signs of fear, not of him anyway, he kept going on.

Amanda looked at him. His every step toward her seemed to limit her breath. She stared at his features, his dark green eyes, dark brown hair. He was tall, and looked a little older than her. There was an ugly cut on his right hand but he didn't seem like a person living a rough life. He wore pretty decent clothes, and the room was clean.

"Max," the stranger said while extending his hand.

Realising she'd been staring at him for an entire minute, Amanda suddenly looked away from him. She whispered her name.

"Ama?" Max asked.

"Amanda." She whispered again, this time a bit louder.

Realising Amanda was still feeling insecure, Max withdrew his hand, and sat on the other end of the bed. "Amanda," he said, "are you from this town?"

Amanda shook her head nervously.

"Then where are you from?" Max asked.

She looked at him, readying herself to manage another whisper. Talking felt like such a massive effort when fear had sunken deep in heart.

But when she looked at him, ready to answer, no word sprung out of her mouth. Fear shone on her face once again, and her eyes went wide.

"I... I," she stuttered. "I don't remember. Anything."

^^^

"What do you mean you gave yourself over?" Ms Carter asked. "Foolish Jason, very foolish!" she yelled, and had to take support of the wall. The sudden tension had drained her energy.

"Are you serious, Jason?" Louis asked. She walked over to him, and looked in his eyes, yearning to see the slightest hint of fallacy. But Jason had told the truth.

"Would you two stop making fuss about some crazy dream? We've a bigger problem if you haven't noticed. Amanda is missing!" Arthur shouted.

"Oh my God what would I tell Mr Hamilton now?"Ms Carter said. She blinked the tears out of her eyes.

"Mr Hamilton?" Arthur asked, but no one answered. "I'll call the cops." Arthur slipped his phone out of his pocket.

"No, don't call the cops. Let her be gone!" Suddenly Jason jumped on Arthur, knocking his phone out of his hands.

"What's wrong with you?" Arthur yelled at him, and pushed him away.

"She must not return to Wisconsin," Jason stated. His deep stare was as serious as a soldier at war. "She must not. Or the spirit will bind her again."

Disregarding his words, Arthur picked up his phone and called the cops.

"Don't do this." Jason jumped at him, this time, with his full might. "Amanda... the spirit," he shouted like an insane boy.

But what good was Jason against a man built like a Greek statue? In only a minute Arthur had him pressed against the wall. "I've had enough of this shit! Ghosts don't exist. You're almost a grown man now, stop talking like brainless kids."

"Stop it, Arthur!" Louis yelled and pulled Jason out of Arthur's firm hold. "If he says no, we won't inform the police." She then looked at Jason's neck. It was slightly red because of the way Arthur had held him. "What's wrong with you?" she flared.

Arthur couldn't believe his eyes. Had his boss just ordered him to leave cops out of a missing murderer case?

"This boy has no sense. This old woman talks about things that can't exist. A mentally ill person has gone missing, and I'm being told not to inform the cops. What's wrong with me? What's wrong with all of you?" Arthur shouted. He took a step toward Louis and looked into her eyes. "What's wrong with you, Miss Louis?"

Louis stared back at him. Unlike his strong stare, Louis' was weak and unfocused. She looked dazed as if she was trapped in a torrent of distant memories. "There are things in this world, Arthur." Her look became more intent. "Things that make no sense, things that defy all logic. But such things that drive us insane do exist."