Santa's Curse

Chapter 1

"Are you fucking kidding me?!" I couldn't have stopped the words from flying out of my mouth had I wanted to. The nerve of that egotistical, narrow-brained... "Moron!"

"Caw...What's wrong, Jackie?" This came from my raven and familiar, Jason, as he landed on my shoulder. "You know, you really need to find another hobby." I'd lost count on how many times he'd told me that one.

I was sitting on my front porch, watching the thorn in my side since grade school, Victor Stranovich, walk out of my sister's shack yet again. Trying to sneak off, as if being caught with Jadine disgusted him. If he was so ashamed of being with her, why go to see her so often? Oh, wait, I already answered that question, didn't I? He's a moron. I had seen him over the past week, buying all sorts of trinkets and baubles that were beautiful, but more my tastes than hers. More evidence on how much of a moron the vampire truly was.

But every time I'd seen her, there was no evidence of any of it—no new jewelry on her, none of the beautiful bloodstones or uncut amethyst, nor the miniature blown glass skulls, just none of it. And I knew damn well he hadn't been purchasing all of those items for himself. For one, they were way too feminine. Secondly, vampires had no use for any of the magical items he'd bought. If he wasn't buying them for her, he must have been getting them for some other poor sap.

"Just what is that you would have me do, Jason? Open up a charm shop? Oh, I know, start an herb garden."

"No, but how about getting you a boyfriend of your own? Or a girlfriend. This is just plain unhealthy." Jason's rattling, screechy voice was really working my nerves. "And that look you're probably giving me is wasted when you're not even visible."

I really was doing just that. I had been so busy listening to him tell me about myself, I had completely forgotten. I concentrated for a few seconds to make myself visible once more, then gave him that look again, since it could actually be seen this time, because those comments most certainly deserved it.

"You know damn well I do not do relationships. I don't trust anyone enough for that, and I won't be caught being naïve like Jadine. Unlike her, I wouldn't have anyone around looking out for me." Would have been nice if someone did, but no sense in dwelling on that. "When I get an itch that needs scratching, I'll hook up with someone and be on about my merry way. No worries on getting knocked up. My eggs are happily sealed until I find my mate, which I seriously doubt will be happening anytime soon."

"Go and get yourself a friend, then." I think he was plain determined to work my last nerve, and he was doing a damn good job at it.

"I've got a friend—you. And, before you even say it, no, I don't want one that walks on two legs. Tried that before, didn't work out too well." I'd had a few friends throughout my lifetime, but most of them just used me to get closer to my sister. Mostly witches that wanted to soak up all that extra magic coming off Jadine in waves. She'd never just listen to me, though. Whenever I'd tell her not using her magic was really doing her more harm than good, she thought it was me being jealous.

Maybe I used to tease and make fun of her out of jealousy, but not anymore. Now, I was just afraid the dumb twat was going to spontaneously combust or some shit. I tried talking to our parents about it, too. They thought I was being paranoid. Amazing how they could see me as such, but couldn't see their firstborn as the hypochondriac she was.

Which left me to pick up the mantle of protecting Jadine from obstinate assholes that just wanted to use her, and also to protect myself from conniving bitches that just wanted to use me to get to her. Ironic, when you think about it, given how I was the baby sister. I always thought it was supposed to be the big sister's job to do the protecting.

"I'm going in," I said as I stood from my old wicker chair. Jason was forced to fly from my shoulder in the process. "You coming?"

"Caw. No." Jason responded as he hovered in the air, flapping his wings. "Me and some other familiars are going down to hang at the pet cemetery tonight to talk about our insane masters."

"Ha, ha." I flicked my wrist and gave his wing a playful zap as he flew away cawing in laughter. A strange sound that was, too. It would probably scare the hairs off a human male's chest, but it only gave me a slight smile.

I originally had every intention on confronting Victor that very night, but I hesitated and entered my little cottage, instead. The outward rickety door creaked as I opened it. The outside, along with most of the other homes, looked old and broken down, but the inside held every modern convention one could have asked for.

The façade worked to keep us hidden away from human's judgmental, prejudiced eyes. No one had any desire to go through another Salem Witch Trials, or any other nasty persecution they could think up. So, we kept to ourselves in our very own communities in the guise of either Amish, Mormons, or Native-American Reservations. A glamour had been placed on each community to appear as what they said they were, keeping mundane passersby none the wiser. My community took on the look of an Amish one.

Most humans kept away, but we did have a few who ventured into town every now and then. If they were simply curious and didn't cause any trouble, they were allowed to roam around and see us as Amish humans going about our everyday lives. If they had come to just mock the Amish culture, or were Jehovah's witnesses come to attempt to 'convert us,' they ended up as vampire cuisine.

I bypassed the kitchen, den, and living room, as my destination was my bedroom. The only stop I made, once I made my way up the half-spiral staircase, was to Jason's room to double check that his window was open for him to fly in whenever he made it back home. I was going to give Victor one more day. Once I laid down on my king-sized bed—that held more pillows than necessary, so that I wouldn't think about how empty it almost always was—I thought about the real reason I kept hesitating when it came to Victor.

Something I'd never admitted to anyone, including Jason, was that I had some kind of twisted crush on the asshat. Which was stupid, really. But I couldn't help but feel that maybe, just maybe, he had been picking on me all this time because deep down he had feelings for me and was too much of an idiot to know how to show it. Now that he was going after my sister in such a dodgy way? It not only made me sick to my stomach, it also hurt my heart.

"Victor, if you don't shape up and prove yourself worthy of my sister, you'll end up with a fate even worse than the others."

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