Cursed

Chapter 5

Cassie's POV
"Cassie, let's play a game," Hunter suggests, taking a large bite out of his sandwich. "Like truth or dare or somethin', I dunno."
"Go on then, I'll choose um, truth," I answer.
"Chicken."
"Fuck off..."
"Fine, erm, do you ever want to run away? Y'know, our life is so shitty and we're treated so badly, would you want to just go somewhere else and leave it all behind?" He asks. I've been thinking about this for a while now, though I've never told anyone. My mother died when I was around eight or nine and for some reason I have little to no memory of her, and since then life hasn't been great. Dad's been stressed, I mean, can I really blame him? He's been forced to look after me - the troublesome, rebellious, disobedient me - by himself for eight years now.

"I mean, not really. Y'know, it's nice to fantasise and all, but other than that I wouldn't actually do anything." Lies. I've been planning my escape for months now. It's only a matter of time until I leave this god forsaken place. Maybe if I'm lucky I can find other people like me, that is if I'm lucky. It's going to be difficult, I know that all too well, but it doesn't matter, it'll be fine. Hopefully.

"Alright then, your turn, truth or dare?" I ask.
"Dare."
"Risky, but sure. I dare you to burn down the school," I laugh.
"What? No way am I doing that?!"
"And you called me a chicken."

Rolling his eyes, he asks for a different dare. We play the game for a bit longer, awaiting the end of lunch and the beginning of another hour of hell. Class always sucks: miss behave, you get hit; don't know the answer, you're humiliated in front of your classmates; being bullied by another student, the teachers don't care, they'll watch until the kid knocks you out then they'll just call you parents who have to look after you from there. Oh, what I'd do to just be able to attend a Pure school for a day. The students have rich, influential parents, the teachers supposedly don't dare lay a finger on them. And they'll break up fights immediately and they'll help the kids until they get along. Can't you see why I desire to live a better life?

By the time I get home, I'm worn out. Our village is far too poor to afford buses or trains or any vehicles really. My house is on the opposite side of the village to the school, making the journey last about thirty minutes at least. And then pile on top of that my exhaustion from school, I rarely even have the energy to do my homework after school. But today I've conserved as much of my energy as possible. I haven't misbehaved, I did all my homework last night and stole Dad's mug of coffee in the morning. All so I can have the energy to run away tonight. Dad's not home yet, so I quickly scribble a note to tell him that I'm leaving. Then I gather as much of my stuff as I can fit into my backpack as well as some food and drink from the fridge. I make sure to leave enough so Dad has some food for the time being and then I leave.

The woods, the most logical place to start my adventure, is at the North end of the village. Conveniently, that's the part that my house is located in. Tall trees tower over me, like a wall that I've been forbidden to pass and I still am, but today the rules matter no more. Little light is let through by the emerald green leaves and I can barely make out where roots, rocks and other obstacles are.
As I continue to walk, I hear strange noises coming from the shadows.

"Maybe this was a bad idea, I should go back..." I whisper to myself, looking around. Which way am I supposed to go?

I'm lost.

Breathing heavily, I keep walking, my pace quickening as the odd noises grow louder and louder and louder and louder and-!

And then they stop.

But it's still dark and I still can't see anything. I know something is lurking near here, but what? In the distance, I spot an opening, where there's light. If I head towards there I can lead whatever is following me into the light and be able to identify what it is. Carefully, I maneuver through the trees and over the roots and stones until I can feel the warm sunlight shining against my skin. Looking around, I notice something red emerging from the shadows with golden, shining eyes.

"W-what, what are you?!" I say, trembling as I back away. Suddenly, a small crimson dragon emerges from the shadows, glaring as it circles around me. Trembling in fear, I try to shoo it away only for it to pounce on me.

"Cassie!"

"Cas!"

Two different voices call out. One coming from where I came from and the other from where the dragon came from. Immediately, the dragon retreats and returns to the shadows only to appear again in the arms of a young teen. Her golden eyes match those of the dragon though her short lilac hair and calm expression makes her seem less intimidating than the small creature.

Then, out of nowhere, Hunter appears, tackling the girl to the floor and trying to attack the dragon.
"Get away from my friend!" He yells, "Cassie run!"
Still pinned to the floor, the girl struggles, desperately attempting to kick Hunter off of her.

"Hunter leave her alone!" I say, trying to pull him off.
"No way, you gotta run, her and the dragon might be dangerous."

Suddenly, in a blast, Hunter is launched into the air and onto his back. The girl scutters backwards, the dragon flying into her arms to check if she's okay.

"I-I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you, I-" She begins, shakily standing up.
"I told you! She's dangerous, god that hurt," Hunter grunts, rubbing his back.
"I said I was sorry, you just wouldn't get off of me, I got frightened."

"You have every right to be," he says.
"What...?"
"Look at her cut Cassie. Pink blood. You're a half blood, you could get killed for that. Leave us alone, and I won't report you."

A half blood? I was told that every last one of them was killed after the war. I recall that a fire in a village is what finished them off.

Glaring at him, she wipes away the blood from her cheek, then walking off with the dragon.

"Wait, doesn't she seem oddly familiar Hunter?" I ask, watching as she freezes up.
"You're just being weird, let her go, I don't want to deal with her anymore-"
"Their souls!"

Before I can say anymore, she's racing away, leaping over roots and vines and rocks with almost complete ease until:

Thud!

"Are you okay?" I ask, finally catching up to them.
"Cassie, what are you doing? Let's just go home already!" Hunter groans.

The girl sits on her hands and knees, staring down at a deep looking pond, shaking her head at my remark.

"Shit... Cas!" Only a second later and she jumps in, eventually rising with the dragon in her arms, and coughing up water. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to drop you like that. Come on, let's find a place to rest for a bit and I'll see if I can dry us off with a spell."

"You two need any help?" Hunter laughs.
"No, I do not need your assistance," she spits, pushing herself onto land.

"I know a spell that can dry you off, do you want me to do it now?" I ask.
"Really, well-"
"What was that about not needing any assistance?"
"I meant from you," she groans.

"I'll do the spell if you explain to me what's going on with your souls."

She stares blankly. Out of her pocket, she pulls out a wand and in a moment they're completely dry.
"It's fine, we're alright now. Thank you for the offer though. Goodbye."

And before I know it, the peculiar pair are gone, leaving Hunter and I lost. In both ways. The two confused me so, so much, and then there's the fact that I don't know where I am.

"Let's go home," Hunter says.

"No..."

"What?!"

"No, I can't go back! I came here to run away, not to go back home just because we saw some weirdos. I'm gonna go find them."

"Cassie, wait-!"