Root Of My Curse

Chapter 9 - Painful Thoughts

JESENIA

CALIFORNIA – USA

I shake his body continuously. No emotion. No pulse. Nothing. It feels like the whole world is consuming me. He's dead. I killed him. It's all my fault. Not knowing what else to do, I scream. I scream like a fucking banshee. And it hurts. So much. It's like it's all happening again, and I don't even have the right to feel this way.

Hands try to pull me back, a weak attempt. I cry out and latch onto his body. "N-no!" But to no avail, the hands return, trying to pull me off. I reach up desperately to touch his face. My shaking fingers skim his cold, dead skin, a spark shoots up into me, before finally being pulled off. The hands around my waist drag me off Marcel, kicking and screaming.

"Get o-ff m.. let m-me g-go.. " I gasp out. Desperate to get to him, I jerk my elbow backwards into the person's stomach. With a manly grunt, he lets me go. I shoot up towards him, desperate to be near him again.

This time my fingers grab onto his face whilst shaking him again. His eyes remain emotionless, so I slap him. Nothing. I slap again, wanting, no, praying that he would just wake up and laugh at me. But he doesn't. I cup his face gently, feeling the tears drip down my cheek like a river. I didn't want to kill him.

A jolt shoots up from my fingers to his face once more, making a small light of electricity appears. My cries become more silent, and only whimpers come out as I look at him in confusion. The marks from the witch's ritual appear once more as more light transfers into him. I sniff through my clogged nose and start moving my finger down his face, creating a trail of light on his contrasting dark skin.

Silence falls over the room as I continue to touch the mysterious trail of light. What the hell? The lights start spreading across his face, down to his blackened skin from my poison. I want to step back, but it's as if I'm in a trance that I can't break out of. The tingles on my fingers intensify, as well as the light, which is now spreading down to his abs.

My stomach turns at the sight of his skin being lit up by the unknown source. What is happening? "Nini, step away" I hear a voice say cautiously. I almost smile at the nickname but am too consumed in Marcel. Shaking my head, I move my hand off and look at the intense red markings. The rune that the witch didn't tell me what was is glowing.

I place my hand flat on his muscled chest. The light slips out from my palm, and the electricity is starting to hurt my arm from the intensity. Something inside of me says to keep going, so I place my left arm on his stomach. At once the jolt intensifies once more, making it hard to hold on. My breathing gets heavier, but I continue seeing as the light is almost at his feet.

Keeping my heavy eyes on his feet, I put more pressure to his chest. A sharp intake of breath catches me off guard. Thinking it's Marcy, I keep my droopy eyes on his feet. The sinking feeling in my heart and stomach starts slowly going away. Suddenly something beneath my hands moves up and down. I stiffen immediately, scared to look.

It feels like my heart drops when I hear a slight grunt. My eyes widen, and I snap my head as fast as I can, still feeling sleepy. Please be real, please be real. I'm met face to face with a grimacing Marcel. I remove my hands off him like it burned me, looking at him. My emotions and thoughts run wild, and all I want is to jump into his arms.

"Marcel?" I ask in a small voice, not believing the sight before my eyes. He gives me a goofy, but sleepy grin, flashing me his pearly white teeth and nods. I exclaim out in happiness and throw my hands around him. Not being to hold it in, I sob into his chest from the happiness and relief. "I t-though- y-ou were..." I'm cut off by my pathetic attempt at speaking by a shushing Marcel. He buries his head into my neck, holding onto me tighter. "I know, Nia. I'm okay" he murmurs into the crook of my neck. "You're n-not, I k-killed you!" I cry out. "I thought I l-lost you..."