Page 5 of Cursed

The bitterness in her words cut through me like shards of glass.

I struggled against the hold of her magic—but was it hers, or something else? It couldn’t be— she was dead. Dead, dead, dead!

“Mom— I don’t know what you’re talking about…” I protested weakly. “You— I found your body— Who did this to you?”

She stood in front of me, decaying before my eyes, and dragged her nails down the side of my face. I tried to flinch away, but I couldn’t move.

“You did,” she said, and a smile curved over her full lips even as her teeth were exposed by her rotting cheeks. “You won’t get away with it—”

Anger came off her in waves, a dark sea that threatened to pull me under. Her once vibrant eyes were clouded over with a gray film, but their focus was intense. I winced as her sharp nails dug into my skin, and blood welled up and dripped down my cheek in warm trails and dripped off my chin to stain the neckline of my silken nightgown.

“Plea-please…” My voice came out as a choked whisper. “I didn’t... I wouldn’t...”

She shrugged, her skin peeling back grotesquely from the movement. “Wouldn’t you? Wouldn’t you doanythingto get what you wanted?Youstole my magic. Youstoleeverything from me— You wanted what I had—”

Her words pierced me deeper than any blade. But it wasn’t true— I wouldn’t do… that.

The guilt and sadness that had nestled itself in my heart since the day we had arrived at Withermarsh flared up and filled my chest with a suffocating hopelessness. She was gone—really gone—and now all that remained was this twisted figure before me— filled with rage and hurt and twisted black magic.

She pushed her face close to mine and another gobbet of flesh fell to the floor with asplat.

I closed my eyes tight and screamed.

All at once, the phantom grip on my neck loosened and then released.

I fell to the cold marble tiles in a heap and sobbed as my body convulsed.

My stomach twisted and lurched—I retched, but nothing came up, and I pushed myself into a sitting position and drew my knees up to my chest.

The bathroom reeked of decay and sour magic, but there was no sign anything had transpired there at all. The pale gray light from the skylight revealed the bathtub was empty. There was no water on the floor—the same sage green colored walls, polished marble floors, and my silken robe hung on a hook.

I touched my cheek with a shaking hand.

No cuts marred my skin.

No bloodstains on my nightgown.

I stayed huddled there on the bathroom floor as my heart hammered painfully in my chest for what must have been an eternity. The silence was heavy and ominous, yet all I could do was reassure myself that nothing out of the ordinary had transpired here.

However, I couldn’t escape the terror that remained fresh in my mind—a vivid nightmare that still clung to my senses like a bitter taste on my tongue. My decaying mother’s image had seared itself into my retinas, and her venomous accusations echoed in my ears.

I shivered and wrapped my arms tighter around my knees.

“Get up,” I muttered. “You can’t stay here forever. Get up, get up, get up.”

Slowly, painfully, I unwound my arms and pushed myself to stand. My legs felt weak, and the room spun for a moment before finally settling. I glanced at my reflection in the mirror and half-expected my mother’s ghoulish visage to appear behind me—I held my breath, but nothing appeared. I took a deep breath and grimaced as I saw how pale and haggard I appeared—shadowed eyes haunted by images that weren’t real yet felt painfully so.

My dreams were terrible enough.

But this—it hadn’t been a dream.

I clung to the edge of the counter with one hand as I turned on the tap. Cold water splashed into the sink and I leaned forward to splash it over my face. It was a feeble attempt to wash away the intensity of what I’d seen and all the fear and disgust that lingered in ridges along my skin.

I scrubbed at my face with a towel and then tossed it onto the counter.

With a deep breath, I collected myself and walked back into my bedroom.

Outside, lightning flashed, and the dark clouds muffled the rolling thunder, creating an almost calming effect.

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