Cursed (Cursed Superheroes #1)(8)

Her brows knit, probably noting my obvious subject change. But she’s too nice to call me out on my bull. “Sounds like fun. Who’s all going to be there?”

I start yammering off the details. But I’m only mentally half there, my mind back on the dance floor with Cameron.

What was he trying to show me? And better yet, how the hell did he convince me to dance when I didn’t want to?





Chapter 4





Thoughts of Cameron and curses consume my mind as Jane and I make our way back to the hot tub and climb in. I swear I can feel someone watching me, but can pinpoint where it’s coming from. The feeling is unsettling, but Cameron’s words are even more so. All that talk about curses and things getting worse before they get better. What did he mean by it? Was he just straight up crazy? Or does he know something about me that I don’t?

Or am I just going crazy?

Ten minutes later, Kara and Steph finally join us. They have shots in their hands and while I’m not a huge drinker, I decide that tonight I might need a shot or two or three…

Somewhere, I lose track of how many shots I throw back. My voice starts to sound so far away, like a faint echo, and my stomach begins to twist with nausea.

“I think I’m going to be sick,” I mumble, stumbling out of the hot tub.

Knowing I won’t make it to the bathroom, I stumble farther into the backyard and yack my guts up in the bushes. Mid vomit, I hear the town clock chime midnight.

Happy birthday to me, I mentally groan.

A hand suddenly touches my back. Figuring it’s one of my friends, I relax into their comforting touch.

“I’m so sorry,” I apologize to them through a groan. “I completely ruined the night.”

Instead of getting a reassuring answer, a low chuckle echoes through the darkness.

I tense, suddenly feeling very sober. “Who’s there?” I start to turn around when I hand clamps down on my mouth.

I throw my weight forward, but an arm snakes around my waist and drags me out the back gate. I bite and kick and scream, but it’s no use. Whoever the person is, is freakishly strong.

“Don’t worry,” the voice purrs as we descend farther and farther away from the party. “Soon, this will be over. But before it gets better, things will get worse. But that’s just how curses work.”

His words are so similar to what Cameron said to me earlier. Is that who has me? The voice doesn’t match, but maybe he’s disguising it.

I want to ask him who he is, what curse he’s talking about, and what will be over soon, but a wave of pain crashes over me.

I scream out as darkness sucks me under.





Chapter 5





You have to be strong, okay? Don’t give up. Be strong. Don’t let them break you. Cameron’s words echo through my mind as I dance between reality and unconsciousness. Every time I come to, my body is consumed by an excruciating pain. So much pain, I can barely process what’s happening to me. Punches, kicks, being beaten, needles in my skin, blood, hands around my throat, clothes getting torn, my life fading away…

Why is this happening to me…

It hurts so bad…

Don’t give up. Be strong. Don’t let them break you. Cameron’s words echo through my thoughts again.

The real fucked up part is that part of me wonders if he’s the one breaking me. I really have no idea since every time I open my eyes, the pain makes me pass back out, which might be for the better. At least I don’t know how badly I’m being broken.

Tears sting at my eyes as I realize that eventually I may wake up from this and have to deal with the outcome. That my perfect life is no more.

This is what you get for not being grateful… for wishing you could have a different life…

This is what you get for what you did to Max.

I choke on the thought. Or well, I think I do. I can’t really hear anything, other than my own thoughts, see anything, other than darkness, and feel anything, other than numbness.

Maybe I can stay numb forever.

As soon as the thought crosses my mind, I feel myself being tugged back toward the pain.

No! I want to scream out. I want to hide in the dark forever!

But no matter how hard I fight, I get pulled farther and farther away from the darkness and toward the pain.





Chapter 6





I don’t know what I was expecting when I opened my eyes, but I definitely didn’t picture myself lying in a bed with mounds of pillows under my head and a soft blanket pulled over me. Feeling strangely coherent for just waking up, I sit up and look around at the four dark purples walls, the tile floor, and the few furniture pieces placed sparsely around the room. Then I take in the domed ceiling and the door in the corner.

“Okay, so I’m in a bedroom,” I mutter. “But not mine.”

Confused beyond belief, I examine my body. With the searing pain I felt whenever I tiptoed back to reality, I expected my skin to be covered in cuts and bruises. But oddly, I can’t find a single wound. I glance at a mirror on the wall and take in my reflection. I’m not wearing the same clothes as I was at the party, now dressed in black shorts and a matching T-shirt. I cringe at the idea of someone changing me and wonder what else was done to me while I was passed out. Other than the new outfit and my skin being pale, I look the same, though.