The Curse of Betrayal (6 page)

“Do you have any powers yet?” Kara leans over towards me, whispering in my ear as we walk to the other room.

“I don’t know. It’s sporadic, but I’ve broken stuff by accident.” I explain to her, not knowing if I can even do anything.
 

“You’re farther along than me,” she mutters, taking my arm in hers.
 

The room is scary looking with metal tools all over the place. There’s some familiar weight equipment, like barbells and free weights, but for the most part, it looks medieval. In front of me is a large rope dangling down from the ceiling with Ari standing directly below it and Cristos to his left.
 

First up to bat is a slightly overweight girl with pixie cut hair and electric pink eyes. She steps up to the rope and grabs onto a knot about a foot above her head. She starts working her way up, her legs never even touching the rope.
 

“We have to do that?” I angrily whisper to Kara, not believing it’s even possible. My eyes swell until they’re large puddles of disbelief.

“Yup. Pure torture.”
 

We wait until it’s our turn and Kara gets up first, after a shove from me towards the rope. I could swear Ari laughs from his position as he calls her name. My eyes find him as he stands below the rope with his little clipboard in hand looking all professional.
 

Kara glances back towards me for a second before starting her way up the rope. She climbs that thing using her arms only. She makes it about half way up before she starts to sway, and the rope swings side-to-side. She uses her feet to propel her up towards the ceiling the rest of the way. She gets to the top, rings the bell, and then floats down to the ground effortlessly.
 

She rubs her arms as she jumps the final foot or so, and I smile over at her, proud. I rush to her side and give her a big hug. “You were great!” I praise her job well done.
 

“Eurydice Mason,” Ari signals my turn. I gawk at him since he used my full name but focus on the activity at hand. I rub my hands together, trying to give myself a mental pep talk. It’s not working since I’m going berserk, but oh well.
 

I stand underneath the way too thin rope and grasp onto the knot above my head which is probably only around five and a half feet. I try to pull myself up, but I don’t have any upper body strength at all—it’s not like I worked out at home. I let out a frustrated breath before trying again and getting nowhere. I look behind me to Ari, pleading for help. He makes a gesture like pushing a button in which just baffles me further.
 

But then I remember when he explained how to sprint when we were in the Underworld. Turbo boost. I try again facing this nasty, annoying, frustrating rope. I start attempting to pull myself up and then put it into over drive, mentally. I tell myself I can do it and then push myself to. I start going knot by knot, slowly but surely, my legs dangling underneath me lifelessly.
 

I don’t know how long it takes since I try to stay focused on my adventure up to the top. I just count each knot until I get to fifty and the rope ends. I ring the silver bell and then freeze, not knowing how the hell I’m supposed to get down from here. I lower my head and look towards the ground where everyone looks like little baby ants.

My stomach flip-flops at the height, and I almost let go of the rope as I mentally go mad.
 

I’m going to die. I’m going to fall to my death right in front of Ari. How do I get down?

I close my eyes and face forward, needing to breathe and take my hysteria down a notch. One breath in, one breath out. One breath in, one breath out.

Instead of losing control like the old me would and giving up, I lower myself down the rope. I count the knots backwards. Forty-nine…forty-eight…forty-seven…
 

All the way until I can touch the ground. When my feet hit the solid floor, I let go of the rope. I look around me and see that I’ve made it down alive. I’m alive! I smile, not caring about how long it took or if I did it right.

The room has gotten pretty silent which sends an eerie chill up my back. I walk over to where Kara is standing as I rub my throbbing shoulders which are most definitely shot and will be quite sore tomorrow if I had to guess.

“What?” I ask her when I’m only about a foot away.

“You’re strong as shit.” She has these vast eyes as if she just discovered I’m some secret Hulk.

“What are you talking about?”

“You went up and down that rope not using your feet in like five minutes flat.” She tugs my hand and drags me out of the weight room.

 
Before we exit, I catch Ari’s eye as he winks at me, a proud smile on his face. I don’t know what I even did, but apparently, it’s a big deal, and I did pretty damn good. I smile back owning myself as I follow Kara out of the room.

Trial number two—running. See this one, I feel a little better about since Ari taught me about that turbo charge trick or whatever. Plus, I would really love to show off in front of Magdelina—the man stealer.
 

When we get to the other side of the gym, a group of guys surround Magdelina while the girls form their own group standing on the other side, sneering at the attention the boys are giving Magdelina.
 

Kara meets my gaze and rolls her eyes, and I love her so much more for it. I don’t know whether she liked Magdelina or not before meeting me, but she’s definitely on my side right now. We hang out together while we await instruction.
 

“I don’t get it,” she starts to say as we lean against the brick gym walls. “I’m old enough. I should have powers already.”

“I just started noticing mine this summer.” I try to make her feel better.

“I’ve even tested running and shit. I know what to do. My body just doesn’t work.”
 

“I’m sure you’ll get it soon. You’re almost eighteen. It will happen.”

“Promise?” she asks me with optimistic eyes.

“Pinky promise.” I reach my pinky out for her to take, and she links hers with mine. I pull my hand up to my face and kiss my fist and then wait for her to do the same.

“You’re kind of awesome,” she tells me, smiling with her perfect white teeth.

“You are, too, Kara.” I smile back, loving how our friendship is growing by the hour. Magdelina takes charge of the class, and my good mood instantly falters.

“All right, everyone, over here,” she sings out to us. Her voice grates on my every last nerve. Just the pitch and sound make me want to punch something—preferably her face. This lady is turning me violent. “We’re going to do the sprinting in heats. Groups of five at a time will go and the top two will move into a winner’s heat. The last five standing are the most advanced. Got it?” she asks and a few people mutter “yes.” I don’t even bother to address her.
 

I hang in the back of the crowd with Kara, wanting to see a few heats before I have to go. I’m starting to second guess my abilities, and I’m dreading running in front of all these people. It’s embarrassing. Kara links her arms with me, giving me the comfort I definitely need.

“All girl group,” Magdelina yells, while her eyes search through the crowd for mine. When they meet, I hold the look, not wanting to come off as weak but that only antagonizes her. “You two. Let’s go,” she snarls, pointing between Kara and me. I feel bad that I’ve dragged Kara into the bad side and know that Magdelina will hate her just by association.
 

“You got this,” Kara whispers, giving me a pat on the back before lining up next to me. I place my front foot on the white line and my back foot is a few feet behind, giving me leverage to push off when we start. I try to hype myself up, but honestly, I’m more nervous than anything as anticipatory butterflies roam my stomach, making me nauseous.

Before I even realize we’re starting, a large boom goes off. Everyone else goes, but I stand up straight, looking around to see if someone was freaking shot! Mikey screams at me from the sidelines to run, so I turn and run—like a human. I look stupid as people lap me over and over again. I remember what Ari told me and turn on my special turbo-speed. I kick it to high gear and start moving faster, gaining more and more speed with each step.

I think I see Kara fly by me, lapping me, but who the hell knows. It’s all going so fast and in such a blur. Before I know it, another shot goes off and I stop dead in my tracks once I’m over the white line.
 

That was a nightmare come true.

I bend from my waist and breathe in and out, catching my breath. I’m so incredibly out of shape it’s a joke. I try to regain composure, but my heightening frenzy is only making my lungs shrink.
 

Kara comes to my side and rubs her hand up and down my back, soothingly. I can tell by the pained expression on her face that that didn’t go down too well for me. I bow, not really caring—it’s only gym class after all. I keep telling myself this so I don’t completely break down.

“One and five, you were the fastest.” Magdelina says, shooting me a happy smirk. “You two,” she points at me and Kara, “pretty much the worst running I’ve seen all day. You can go sit on the bleachers and wait,” she sneers.
 

Bitch.

CHAPTER FOUR

controlling the crazy

“I hate her so much,” I complain to Kara in the locker room after class. I can’t stand the way Magdelina kept smirking at me, antagonizing me, yet when Ari was around, she put on this little happy face and ignored me altogether. I lean against the locker, crossing my arms and groaning out noisily in frustration.
 

“He loves you, just remember that,” Kara whispers before bending at the waist to untie her shoes.

“But he hooks up with her? Like I don’t get it.” I try to work it out in my mind as I speak aloud since I don’t get why he would do this to me. Did he think I’d never meet her? Did he think he could get away with this?

Probably. It just feels a lot like betrayal.

“Why don’t you just talk to him about it?” Kara suggests, lifting her tee over her head, revealing her perfect little body.
 

“This is why I love you!” I exclaim, loving how rational she is. I jump up and give her a huge hug. She giggles and then places her hands on my shoulders, separating us.

“I’m the best. Tell me something I don’t know.” She shakes her hips as she shimmies into her short grey dress.
 

“I’m going to go find him,” I tell Kara as I grab my bag from my locker and slam it shut behind me. I grab the small dial and hook it to the locker, giving it a twirl before dropping it against the metal.
 

“Good luck, girl,” she encourages me, giving me a small nod. I run out of the locker room and realize I have no idea where he is at this time. I find some girls from gym class loitering in the hallway. “Hey, where’s the teacher’s office?” I ask a pixie haired girl.

“Office is that way.” She smiles over at me. “You’re the new girl, right?”

“Yeah. Ryder.” I reach my hand out to shake, and she takes it cordially.

“Kristin,” she says, and then I go my separate way. I’m directed to the coach’s office by a few other kids I ask along the way and come up to a tall wooden door that’s closed shut. There’s no window on it, only a plaque on the wall stating
office
. I knock on the door and wait for it to open.
 

“One second,” Ari’s deep voice rings out from behind the barrier. I wait, anticipation welling inside me. I cross my arms nervously, not sure what to do while time seems to stretch on forever. I turn around, ready to leave and talk to him another time when the door creaks open.

First, I see Ari and his green eyes staring at me like I’m the last person on earth he wants to see. Next, my eyes are drawn to the woman behind him, fixing her clothing and hair like she’s all disheveled and sexed up. My eyes expand, and I see red. Instead of ignoring my rage, I let it take over.

“Are you freaking kidding me, Ari?” I pierce daggers at him while backing up a few steps, needing the distance between us. I can’t believe this. But I have to; my eyes saw it as clear as water.
 

“It’s not what it looks like, Eury.” He reaches his hands out to me, but I back up farther, wanting him to stay away from me. He pursues me, coming to my side to talk, but I can’t deal with this right now. I turn on my heels and start walking towards the hallway. “Eury, please,” he says from behind me, but I ignore it and push faster, holding back my emotions.
 

I keep going, never looking back. I faintly hear harsh whispers behind me, but I don’t even care what’s going on. I need to get out of here. I run the rest of the way outside of the gym. Once I shut the door behind me, I let myself slow down and try to contain my rapid heartbeat.
 

I turn back, and when I see that no one is following me, I slow my pace completely. My head starts to clear, and I realize that I have no idea where my next class is. I have one more class to get through before I can allow myself to break down. I grab the schedule out of my pocket and check for a room number.
 

Great: administration building. I start walking towards the building with my head all jumbled up. I swear, it’s negative degrees with the icy wind volleying through campus, but I don’t even feel it. I get to the admin building and head up the stairs to a group of offices.
 

My class, developmental training, is apparently a one-on-one conference with a trainer, who’s basically like a guidance counselor. Dread consumes me thinking that this person is going to ask about my life and dig into my inner psyche. I don’t like talking to people about my life, let alone this weird situation with Ari and Ollie.
 

Especially right now—after seeing Ari and Magdelina together, behind closed doors probably after a heated make out session. My brain is messed up and filled with crazy emotions that I’m not even ready to sort out. I’m not sure anyone could understand how I feel right now. And my emotions are all over the place. At any second, I may burst.