The Curse of Betrayal (11 page)

After the confrontation, Hades reaches into his back pocket and pulls out an empty container and a tube. The tube is clear and very narrow—like a straw. The container is clear as well but clouded, like it’s been used before. Hermes holds the woman down by kneeling on her arms, in case she wakes up, while Hades brings a razor down the woman’s forearm. A thin trickle of blood leaks out, and Hades sticks the tube against her skin. He positions it so the tube collects her blood, and in turn, slowly drips into the container where he stores it.
 

Nausea washes over me as I watch this woman get drained of her blood, drop by drop. I gag and almost lose the contents of my stomach. As I fight to keep the thick bile from overflowing my mouth, Hermes turns towards me, smiling his odd grin as if he can hear me struggling.
 

I hold onto the vision, not wanting it to finish, needing to see how it will end. Who is this woman? Does she live?
 

I struggle to stand, hoping to catch a glimpse of the woman’s face, but my legs buckle under my weight. The vision fades and blackness leaves me blind.
 

I scream when sight and sound come back to me. I don’t know what happened or how my vision is suddenly changing, but every aspect of it unhinges me. I can’t handle the intensity. This has never happened to me before. I’ve never dreamt one thing only to have it change later. It’s unsettling.
 

“Eury, what happened?” Ari’s intense focus is solely on me. The sheets are draped around his waist, leaving his chest perfectly bare. Focusing on Ari, I’m able to slow down my breathing, letting my sputtering heart rest.

“Another dream,” I whisper. Ari wraps his arms around my waist and pulls me into him, cradling my head against his chest. I cry as he comforts me, slowly rubbing up and down my back. “Thank god you were here,” I whisper to him, happy that I wasn’t in my dorm room alone. I need to find a way to control my mind, and I know Professor Onassis is the only one who can help me.
 

“Do you want to talk about it?” he asks after my crying slows down to just a trickle.

“No,” I say, not sure what it even has to do with my real life. “Let’s say I pulled a prank on someone here, would I go to jail?” I question, thinking back to the prank on Carter.

“What?” He’s clearly at a loss from my question. “You’re not going to jail ever so get that out of your head.” He pulls me into him again. He leans us back against the head board, and once I’m relaxed, I lie against his bare chest. I let my hand travel up and down his stomach, feeling all the contours, emphasizing each and every ridge.
 

I’m not sure how long it takes me to fall back asleep but the rest of the night is dreamless.
 

“Eury, baby. Wake up,” a deep voice rasps out to me. I flutter my eyes open and take in the bright light coming from the tall peaking windows. I glance around and find Ari standing next to me at the edge of the bed, fully dressed in his slacks and button up shirt, staring at me.

“What’s wrong?” I ask him, wondering why he’s waking me up when I was so snug. This bed is so warm that I don’t ever want to get out of it. I’m mad he’s all ready to go when I just want to snuggle all day.
 

“You’re late,” he says, and when I give him a flustered face, he continues, “for class…”
 

“Oh no.” I leap up from the bed. I throw on my shirt and shoes. I run to the bathroom and lock myself in so I can get ready for class. I quickly run a comb through my hair and then realize that I don’t have a toothbrush here.
 

I look around the room and spot Ari’s blue one lying along the sink. We’ve kissed, so I just grab his brush and clean my teeth.
 

I swing open the door to his bedroom but he’s already gone. I take the stairs two at a time and meet Ari near the front door where he’s waiting with two steaming mugs and my jacket in his free hand.
 

He’s smiling like a perfect little house mate and I walk to his side thirstily. I smile up at him and give him a gentle kiss on the cheek. He helps me into my coat, holding it for me as I put my arms into the sleeves and then pulls it up over my shoulders. Ari opens the door for me, and the polar breeze assaults my face.
 

I stop at his stoop, not sure where to go from here, and look up to him for an answer. “Here you go.” He awkwardly hands me the heated mug. He bends down and plants a soft kiss on my lips and then on my forehead before letting out a deep sigh. He takes my head in his hands and rests his forehead on mine, his eyes staring right into my soul. “I love that you used my toothbrush, by the way,” he whispers before leaving me standing on the stoop alone. I watch him sprint to the main administration building, just a second ticks by, before my brain cuts through the fog, and I again realize I’m late.

I run to my dorm, but it’s mostly empty since people have already left for class or breakfast. Once I’m in my room, I check the bathroom, but it’s clear that Kara is already gone. After quickly changing into jeans and a short sleeve shirt, I throw on my UGGs and grab my black coat, buttoning it up to my chin. Kara has a green scarf on her desk, so I quickly grab it and twist it around my neck for more protection from the cold.

I know I don’t have time to stop at the student center, so I delve into my stash of goodies and find a box of pop-tarts my dad bought me before coming here. I rush to first period while eating my pop-tart and drinking from the mug Ari gave me.

 
I get to class, and I’m the last to enter, even behind Ari. I rush to my seat and plop down, dropping my bags. I sit there breathing heavily as I try to regain my composure.
 

I rush from class to class in a funk all day long until it’s lunchtime when I finally have a little breathing time. Not to mention, I’m beyond excited to get some real food in my belly. The pop-tart held me over for all of one class period. Kara finds me in the lunch line and immediately starts grilling me about last night.
 

“Dish, girl.” Kara has that gossipy gleam in her eyes.

“Nothing really happened. I just told him how I didn’t want to have sex until the curse was gone and then we just made out and slept together,” I explain to her. “Hey, why didn’t you come looking for me? What if I was kidnapped?” It dawns on me that she didn’t know where I was the whole time.
 

“Remember when I walked into the woods because ‘I saw ‘something.’” She uses air quotes around her words. “Ari called me over secretly and told me his plan,” she explains, making my eyes broaden at the elaborate scheme.
 

“What a sneak you two are,” I mumble to myself while throwing a bag of chips on my plate. Megan spots us in the food area and backs out of the lunch line, rushing to my side.
 

“Where’d you go last night?” she asks me. I look to Kara for an explanation, but she just shrugs her shoulders, not being helpful at all. I can already see a pattern emerging.

“I forgot something at Ari’s house so I had to get it,” I say, praying that’s a decent cover up.

“Oh, that’s cool.” Megan trails behind Kara and me to the line like she’s got a rope tied around her waist connected to my back.
 

“How was the rest of the sleepover?” I ask them both, wanting to know what type of fun they were having while I was with Ari. I feel kind of bad that I ditched them, but I try not to let it bother me. The time I spend with Ari is far and few between. I need to soak up as much as possible.
 

“We just watched
Across the Universe
and then went to bed.” Kara sounds disappointed as she relays the information. “What the heck! Nice scarf, thief.” Kara touches her green scarf that hangs around my neck.
 

“Do you mind?” I ask her, feeling awful that I borrowed it, if she has a problem with it. I put my tray down on the counter and start to take it off, but Kara stops me.

“Dude, no. What’s mine is yours since I know we’re on that level now.” She winks at me.

“You’re the best roommate.” I hip check her and let her cut me in line.
 

“I’m your only roommate.”
 

“Still,” I say as she pays the lunch lady. I tag along behind and pay for my own food, and then we wait for Megan. We start walking towards our table, which is already filled with the regulars.
 

“We’ll have to have another sleepover and make it even better,” I tell them as we get close to the table.
 

“For sure,” Megan says as she puts her tray down across from me. Everyone is sitting in almost the same exact seats as yesterday—me next to Kara and Megan across from us with Lisa. I don’t get a greeting from Lisa, only a subtle glower that I most definitely return. I listen in on the conversation with everyone but mostly focus on eating my meal. The hour ends fast and I head to my next class.
 

I quickly get changed in the locker room, making small talk with Kara and the girls. I grab my lime-green shorts and throw them on, along with my long sleeve gym shirt with the letters
RHS
across the chest. While I’m waiting on the other girls, my cell beeps, telling me I have an email.
 

January 18
^th

Hi there, baby girl.

Junior and I made it home fine, please don’t worry.

I miss you, too.

The house is pretty dang lonely but you know me, I’m keeping busy.

Promise me you’ll step outside the box and make friends and have fun.

You know how I worry.

Anyway, email me back. I love hearing from you.

And I love you… lots!

Daddy

Sent from my iPhone

“What’s with that look on your face?” Lisa brings my attention back to the locker room. All of the girls are staring at me, and I can tell they were probably talking to me as I was daydreaming.

“Sorry. Email from my dad,” I explain as I shut the phone and lock it in my locker. Kara gives me a meaningful smile, and then we make our way to the gym. As we walk, it feels kind of weird.

We all step forward at the same time and have this cohesiveness that takes me off guard. I look from my left, where Kara is, to my right, where Megan and Lisa are. We look like a cute little group of friends, and I brand this moment into my memory.

A moment of belonging.
 

Of course, the second I step into the large gym, Magdelina and Ari are off talking to the side together, and my perfect life crumbles like a chocolate chip cookie. The thought of them together makes me want to barf, so I turn in the other direction, ignoring them, and sit next to Kara on the bleachers. Coincidentally, Mikey is on my other side, giving me a full grin as I sit between the two.
 

“Hey, Ryder.” He scoots an inch closer to me so that our legs touch.
 

“Hey, what’s up?” I look over at him, trying to be friendly.

“Not much. I hope we’re in the same group.”

“What do you mean?” I ask back, dazed.