Cursed

1

You wanna know what's the worst part about interacting with people? Feelings.

Those slightly disturbing emotions that have a huge influence on your behavior, decisions and most importantly your sanity.

It is such a simple word with lots of after effects.

I remember the time I denied having feelings. The time I believed my lie. How I thought I was hurt enough to turn numb.

Well it's not true. Feelings are never really gone. You may succeed in hiding them for a while, denying the truth about them and even deleting them.

Well, I did that.

I took a gun between my fingers, looked the guy right in the eyes and shot him in between.

It felt so easy to pull the trigger that even I feared myself.

You see I had boundaries. Those were like my safety net. Away from the crazy spirit that ran down my veins for years.

I know it might seem all disturbing. But somehow it's all connected.

Let's start from the top.

Just like every story, we need a place, a spot to stabilize the readers. You don't need a name or a map. You just need a description, to dig deeper in your imagination trying to find that place.

So imagine with me. Imagine the smallest town with the tiniest amount of population. 10 is the number. Imagine the typical houses with broken bricks, scratched doors and poor lawns. Imagine the darkest sky in a winter day, the humid weather and the countless raindrops. Now imagine walking in empty streets. Feel the cold breeze caressing your skin, feel the stares people are throwing your way from behind their windows, their lips dry from the countless gasps that escape their mouths, their eyes wide open, never daring once to blink, and their hearts pounding causing a slight pain to escalade to their dry throats.

In other words, feel the fear.

That's what I felt.

I felt every heartbeat, every sweat drop that slid down their skin and I enjoyed it. I fed on it.

I smiled at the empty park. Those morning walks made the adrenaline pound in my veins.

I counted the houses around so many times that I recognized every step and every tree in those properties.

I sat on the swing and pulled off my hoodie. I held the chains with my gloved hands and swung back and forth.

"Twenty people under lock, listening to the ticking clock, they live in fear from casualties, I live in urge for royalties" I chanted as I looked up to the sky, the cold weather allowed foam to leave my lips.

I used to wonder how bright the sun would be. How awful such a heat could be to my skin.

I then looked down at the feeling of a presence.

A small boy with eyes so big he seemed to stare at your soul, lips so red they reminded me of blood and hair so grey it brightened the dark days.

I smiled wickedly at the beautiful kid, feeling a sting on my dry lips. "Glad to have your company brother" I pronounced as I tasted the blood from my fresh cut.

My voice sent chill down people's spine. My words scared them. My acts were so unusual it kept them on edge. And I loved every moment of it, I loved the way even my brother with his dull look, couldn't hide that fear.

"Father said to not sing that song" he commented taking place on the swing next to mine.

I just shrugged in answer and chanted again.

"That doesn't make sense" he added thinking it over. "We are only ten in this town, so why the song says twenty?" He asked looking at me. I wickedly smiled at the boy and pointed to the empty houses.

"How about the deceased ones Jonny? They would get mad if we forget them" I answered leaving the swing to approach him. His eyes followed my pointing finger to the empty windows."Can't you feel the way they're looking at us through the broken glass?" I close my eyes and enjoy the smell of fear, sadness and mostly defeat. "What's the matter little Johnny?" I asked in a whisper, then placed my lips next to his ear to hiss in a lower tone "Can't you see them?"

I could smell the scent of weakness and defeat growing further; I pleasured my nostrils with those odors before a sudden wave of anger made its presence. I looked up with a toothy grin to face a male figure that appeared out of nowhere.

"You summoned our father?" I said with an amused tone to the child next to me while feeling my father's fierce eyes on me.

"You can leave Johnny" he ordered not once his eyes leaving mine. "I have a few things to discuss with your sister" he added.

I waved goodbye to my brother as he was teleported away.

"What did I tell you about using your powers on him!" He scolded as I took a seat on the swings.

I placed a finger on my chin and thought for a moment "Not to do it?" I proposed afterwards.

"You know how dangerous that is and still you do it, do you think it's a game? Playing with people's lives?" He asked his voice rising within seconds.

"But isn't that what we do father?" I asked innocently. He knew the answer to that; there was no need for him to deny it. He looked at his side feeling the eyes on him, the same eyes that were focused on my every movement.

"This isn't the place to have this discussion" he held his hand up causing the curtains in the houses to drop. "Just stop toying your brother, his powers will appear just like yours" he warned and the brown color of his eyes turned to red indicating he was gonna teleport.

"You mean the same powers that got us under this curse?" I asked with a hint of sarcasm.

I made sure he heard me before he vanished into dust.

"You can come out and play" I said and left the swings. I looked at the tinted windows where the curtains were already pushed away.

A few steps away and I heard the swing moving back and forth and I smiled at the shadows behind me.