Lunar's Curse

Of course I wouldn't be getting a day off today. I didn't mean to be selfish but I really didn't feel like working. I needed to work though. For the bills. For my grandma. For my sake.

Just a few streets away from school, Coffee Coven sat on a quiet street. It was hard to mistake that cheery green sign that read 'Coffee Coven! Come for the best coffee you'll ever have!' for anything else. Coffee Coven usually had good business since it was so close to school. A lot of students would come for coffee breaks (or smoothie breaks) between classes.

Today was one of the quieter days. I pushed opened the door and entered the coffeehouse. The bells jingled at the sudden movement and the man behind the counter and the display of baked goods looked up at me.

“Hello Fraser,” I greeted politely. Fraser is the owner of this family run business. He doesn't need to work anymore but he once told me that he liked it. The aroma of coffee and everything else in this place made him happy.

“Myra,” he greeted. He took off his apron and placed it under the counter. “It seems to be a slow day today,” he said. I nodded in agreement. I'm very polite around Fraser because he rarely hires anyone for this job. Surprising as it is, this job gives a good pay mainly because Fraser is wealthy. Sometimes, he gives me extra money on my pay day because he feels bad for my family.

Not that it was much of a family to begin with.

I sat down behind the counter as a Fraser left and put on my slightly dirty apron. I sat down on the counter chair. The coffee house was dimly lit. The walls had a dark green wallpaper. The chairs and the tables were green too. On the ceiling, there were one of those old fashioned fans, spinning slowly.

Slight old fashioned design but it was nice and comforting.

After a few minutes of nothing, my eyelids started to close. I wasn't exactly sleeping on the job—I just closed my eyes. And adding to that, there was no one here to order anything.

Of course, Justine thought differently.

The door opened with a loud jingle. My eyes opened and I jerked up, hoping that it wasn't Fraser. What would he do?

But to my relief, I caught sight of long blonde hair first. Not Fraser.

“Naughty Myra,” Justine scolded, waltzing in the coffeehouse. “Sleeping? And to think that I thought you were hard working!”

“I am hard working,” I said, getting up from my seat. I grabbed a cloth and went in front of the counter to the display area. “I'm cleaning the glass.”

“Yeah, when I come in,” Justine said, rolling her eyes. She had her hands on her hips as she looked down on me. “By the way, have you seen Alex?”

I gave her a look. “Do I look like I've seen him?”

Apparently, she didn't catch the sarcasm in my voice. She started biting on her nails. “Well, I was just wondering, you know. I know you haven't even met him yet but he's like, so obvious to spot out. I mean, you'll just look at him and want to throw yourself on him like a rabid animal.”

Again with the Justine imagery. The rabid animal part made me want to gag. The things Justine could say...

“I'm sure I won't feel that way with any guy,” I said, turning back and wiping the glass. “Especially the 'throwing myself on him like a rabid animal' part. That's so not me.”

Justine pouted. “Are you serious? Not even one? Wow. You might be even more hopeless at dating than I thought. No offence.”

“None taken.”

“But are you sure? Like, did you check?” Justine asked, sounding quite frantic. Justine may be boy-crazy but she's not so crazy that she'll ask me again if I said no. She's not crazy enough to ask me to search for him.

But there she was, looking too much like those desperate girls I've seen often enough in school. Almost like she was begging for her boyfriend to stay with her forever and beyond.

I stopped wiping the glass and stared at her. Her expression, her posture, everything. She seemed so wrong. Justine was never like this before. Everything from the way she talked about the Alex person and the way she looked when she talked about him was wrong. So awfully wrong and a sickening feeling in my stomach started.

The Hurting took over. Except this time it was worst that it ever was before. I fell to my knees, doubled over, and clutched my stomach. I gritted my teeth as the pain completely enveloped me. I clenched my fist and tried to prevent a scream from escaping my throat.

“Myra? Myra!” I could still hear Justine's panicked voice but she seemed miles away. Miles away from the pain and the red completely obscuring my vision.

And in the midst of all the pain, there was a voice repeating something over and over again in my head. At first, it was just a low whisper. Then it slowly grew louder until I heard every word as if spoken from right beside me. As if spoken from Justine.

The wolfen hunger for the taste of fresh blood. The trapped Lamia hungers for vengeance and destruction. Only the fey's young daughter can destroy the Lunar's Curse or else be trapped forevermore in the world of everlasting night.

I didn't understand what the voice was telling me but it didn't sound good or even sane. The voice was raspy and said in a light-heart insane way. The voice was definitely not my inner thoughts. In fact, I wouldn't even think things like that.

After repeating the words almost ten times, the voice began to fade along with the red tinged world. My sight returned and the Hurting went away. I was suddenly very aware of Justine almost screaming my name and me lying face first on the floor.

I groaned and sat up. There was a discomfort in my stomach as an aftermath of the Hurting.

“Jeez!” Justine cried, seeming like her normal self again. “I thought you were having a seizure!”

I debated on whether to tell her that in order for me to have a seizure, I'd be flailing around and not groaning in pain on the floor.

“You know,” Justine said, “you're lucky no one came. That would have given Ella and Amanda some crap to say about you.”

My anger flickered. Why were Ella and Amanda so important in her life? I couldn't care less what Ella and Amanda had to say about my little episode. Not when I heard a strange voice in my head.

Was I going insane...like my grandma?

No. I couldn't. If I did, then who would pay for the bills? My grandma was senile. She couldn't work. And she couldn't go out in public before I turned eighteen or else I would get stuck in a group home or orphanage. I still had to keep her instability a secret. It was my responsibility.

I was too old to complain about it but I wanted to. What were the sixteen year old students doing now? Partying. Going on the internet. Acting like Justine. No one (or rarely anyone) was worrying about the crap I had to worry about.

I wrapped my arms around my legs and buried my face in them. I didn't want this anymore. I didn't want this stupid life of mine. Where were my parents when I needed them? My grandma never explained, even when she still held onto some kind of sanity.

“Hey,” Justine said, her voice softer now. “It's okay.”

It was not okay but I didn't have the strength to tell her that it wasn't. Nothing was okay. Everything was wrong. Everything in my life was so screwed up.

The bells jingled again. God, I hoped that it wasn't Fraser. For him to see me curled up on the floor... No, I didn't want to think about that.

From Justine's expression, I could tell it was a customer. That relieved me but only slightly. I didn't want to serve anyone right now. Not when I had to serve my grandma. Maybe Justine could help me run the store but then I would have to give her a bit of my pay...

I looked up at the costumer and I sucked in a deep breath.

It wasn't just any costumer. It wasn't Amanda or Ella either. But the sight of him made my heart start racing—in panic. Not because I was lusting after him. No, it was nothing like that. It was the kind of quick heartbeat that was anticipating something bad. It was the one that sang fear.

Why should I be afraid of him? So far, he did nothing but freak me out. But there was just something so intense and unspeakable about him that I couldn't explain.

Xavier stood by the doorway, looking at the both of us, a gleam in his eyes that read: hunger.