Curse Carrier Book 1 Of The Curse Carriers Series

Chapter 50: Confession

Kiri POV

"There. Good as new. No combat training for a week. Stay in your room and rest for a couple days." Dr. Blackmoore says taping off the last of Kiri's bandages. She hands him a slip of green paper that will dismiss him from any physical classes.

Kami is standing by the door waiting to help Kiri back to their room. Kiri thanks Dr. Blackmoore then uses the crutches to go back to his room. Kami walks beside him and stays quiet as Kiri learns to use the crutches. He catches Kiri if he's about to fall and steadies him when he needs it.

When they get back to the room Kami sits on his bed. Kiri leans the crutches up against the wall and sits on his bed. He catches his breath and looks across the room at Kami. He feels a little tingle of happiness having Kami back in their room.

Kami looks back at him and Kiri feels embarrassed being caught staring. Kami sits up. "I have to go to classes today. I have lunch plans so I won't be back until after supper." He tells Kiri.

Kiri looks at the floor and nods. "Okay." He says meekly. He waves goodbye as Kami leaves. Once he's gone Kiri lays down and tries to ignore the sting of his injuries. Slowly he feels exhaustion begin to pull him down into sleep.

In his dream he's back in his fight with Mizu. Only now he's seeing the fight from her perspective. She's confident she will win right up until the cloud of fog swallows her up. Then she becomes confused. She can't see two feet in front of her and the more she looks around trying to get her bearings the more frightened she becomes. When Kiri appears she panics and her curse won't listen to her. Her chest stabs in pain as the knife is plunged in. Kiri can see his own face through her eyes. His eyes are cold. The world fades into black and the strength leaves her body.

The dream than shifts from a dream into a nightmare. Mizu's face appears twisted in pain and fear. "Why? Why did you kill me? I wanted to go home!" The apparition moans. Consciously Kiri knows the water curse is fighting him for control but the vision still scares him. He knows he has to keep it together though and push Mizu's curse down into submission. The apparition's eyes bleed and her eyes melt and her skin decays and peels. "I can never go home now!" It wails.

Kiri jumps awake to find he's covered in a cold sweat. He feels a little sick and his hands are shaking. He catches his breath though and slowly his heart slows down. He lays back down and looks up at the ceiling. He doesn't really want to go back to sleep and continue fighting Mizu's curse but he's still tired. His eyes drift closed and he dozes. In his light sleep he can see Mizu's memories flickering past in brief flutters. He can only see a few seconds before the memory slips away and is replaced by another.

The apparition comes back as he slips into a deeper sleep. It howls and chases him around reaches and wailing. Kiri can feel his back hit the wall in the darkness. The apparition can't be more than a few yards away but there's nowhere left to run. "Go away!" He screams at it and mist begins to form at his feet. The apparition backs away from the fog pouring over the ground. Kiri feels emboldened by the spirit's retreat. He speaks to it softly, "I didn't want to kill you. I didn't have a choice though. Kami is important not only to me but to the whole project. I promised Kami I would stay with him. I won't let you or anyone else stand in my way!" His voice gets louder until he's yelling at the spirit.

"I want to go home!" The spirit wails.

Kiri feels sorry for Mizu. "I'm sorry Mizu, but you can't go home anymore. None of us can." He tells her softly.

The spirit wails mournfully.

"I'm sorry I took your life. Now it's time to rest Mizu." Kiri tells her. With that the apparition fades away and Kiri wakes up. He hasn't used it yet but the moment he opens his eyes he knows how to use the water element curse. He breathes a sigh of relief and sits up. When he checks the clock he sees it's lunch time. The sound of the bell must have woken him up.