The Curse of Betrayal (35 page)

“Love you.” I shrug, and on my tiptoes, I kiss his cheek. Just as he’s about to say something, a girl from my cabin comes over to us, breaking our moment even though it was ending anyway.

“Mag said we can’t start until all the girls are there, so can you hurry up?” the short blonde asks me.
 

“Yeah, sure. I’ll be right there,” I answer and then return my attention back to Ari. “Bye,” I say, waving as he slowly walks away from where we are. He smiles and then he’s gone, a steam of air left behind him.
 

I catch up with my group near the cabins. Kara is going on and on about how fun this is going to be. I’m not really looking forward to bonding time, and I’m
really
not looking to “bond” with Magdelina.

I jump on the bottom bunk of my bed when we’re back in our cabin and lie against the stiff pillow. I could pass out, but contemplate taking a pill. Even though I feel crappy when Ari leaves me, it’s still better than before, so I forgo the pill and focus on Magdelina in the center of the room.
 

“It’s time for a murder,” Magdelina announces, sending shivers up my back. I glance around the room, waiting for someone to shoot down her announcement, but everyone actually looks excited. I look to Kara, who’s rubbing her hands together like an evil genius.

“It’s a game, Ryder.” She frowns at me, making me feel stupid. I have literally never heard of half the games these people play. Last time I checked, I didn’t live under a rock, but I’m starting to second guess that.

“I’ve got cards,” Megan exclaims jumping up on the bottom bunk next to me. She pulls out a brand new pack of playing cards and tears the plastic off, dropping it on the wood floor. She takes out certain cards, leaving only the amount of people playing in the desk—21.
 

We all get up off the bunk beds and flock to the center of the room, creating one big oval shape. Magdelina holds the stack of cards, fanning them out so that each one is seen but face down so we can’t read them. She starts walking around the group and each person picks a single card.
 

I notice most girls quickly look and then hide it so only they know what card they have. When Magdelina comes to me, I grab a card and do what the other girls do, playing along. Nobody’s explained the game yet so I’m kind of left in a fog.
 

I pull the card I got back, and it has a red seven on it. I have no idea what it means, but I pretend to. I nod to myself and then hide the card against my leg so nobody can see it. Once all the cards are gone, the room is dead silent as people read their cards and ponder on it.
 

“Damn-it. I’m detective,” Kara complains, throwing her card down on the table near the bathrooms. Everyone else trails behind her and puts their cards on the table face down. I do the same.
 

“If you’re the murderer, use this pen to stab someone. After you kill them they yell murder and everyone must freeze. Got it?” Magdelina asks, making sure everyone understands. Thank the gods she gave a run through of the rules, because I would have fully been left behind. We all branch off while Kara goes and hides in the bathroom.

“How do I know if I’m the murderer?” I run to Megan’s side and ask before the game starts.

“What was your card?” she asks me.

“Seven of hearts.”
 

“You’re fine. A queen means you’re detective and an ace means you’re the killer. All others are normal people,” she explains, relieving me. “You’re either going to want to run around so you don’t get killed or find a good spot to hide.”
 

“Thanks, Meg.” I hug her small frame, thankful at least someone helps me around her. She fixes her hair after I release her and pulls her glasses off. “Don’t want them to break.” She laughs as she puts them safely in her bedside drawer. I wouldn’t think she’s competitive, but I’m coming to learn that she is. I like this side of her. Girl’s got spunk.

We all start in the center of the room bunched together, and the murder weapon, the pen, is on the floor in the center of us all. The room is so small that I have no idea how this will go down. I just brace myself and hope for the best.

Before I have a chance to catch my breath, the game starts. Magdelina shuts the lights off, and the room turns to pitch black. Immediately, I back up into someone whose elbow nails me right on the arm. I plow through her, not wanting to get murdered and head towards a corner.
 

The blackness in the room really disorients me, so I’m beyond confused as to which way I’m going. My eyes hurt, straining to see through the murkiness. I run into another girl who pushes me off her with inhuman strength. It takes me off guard, and I’m thrown back towards a bed, my back landing square on the wood post.
 

I let out a little grunt but try to hold it in so nobody can hear me. The wind knocks out of my lungs so I sit against the wood and try to catch my breath. I enlarge my eyes as I try to see through the room, but it’s literally pitch black.
 

My technique of walking around isn’t working, so I crawl until I feel a wall against my back. I sit down and cover my head like I’m hiding from a tornado or earthquake. I cower down in the fetal position. I don’t know where the heck I am or why I’m playing this stupid game, but it’s legitimately scary. I’m terrified that I’m going to get stabbed or trampled.

I ‘m rocking back and forth, not wanting someone to step on me when I hear someone yell, “Murder!” and the room goes dead silent. Not even a second after the scream, the lights flick on, and Kara comes out of the bathroom, surveying the room with slitted eyes.
 

“Nobody move yet,” Kara says as she walks through the bodies to where the victim, who I now see is a girl named Caroline from my powers class, lay limp. She lays on the firm ground, her stomach face down and her arms reaching out in either direction like she was electrocuted or something.
 

Kara continues to walk around only on her tiptoes as her pointer finger rests on the side of her face. She reaches the pen, which is on the opposite side of the room, nowhere near the victim, when she stops pacing. Kara looks between the pen and Caroline and then claps her hands. “All right, you can move,” she announces, and everyone lets out a sigh of relief.
 

I crawl out from my fetal position and rub my now bruised arm—probably from the elbow I took in the beginning of the game. I find Megan on the other side of the room and sit next to her on my bottom bunk, waiting for what comes next. Nobody explained this part to me.
 

“Lisa, what happened when the lights turned off?” Kara finally asks, breaking the deafening hush.
 

“Well, I ran towards the wall, but someone tripped me, so I used air, and hung around the ceiling since nobody else can get up there,” Lisa explains, pointing to the ceiling above our bunks.

“Megan, where were you the whole time?” Kara asks, looking at her with an intense stare.

“I stayed in the center of the room, near Ryder’s bunk bed, because people were running over each other,” she quietly chirps out.

“Hmm,” Kara ponders. “Sara, what voices did you hear before the murder?”
 

“I heard Professor Magdelina’s, Caroline’s, and Lindsay’s,” Sara answers, nervously picking at her cuticles.

“Ryder, were you in one spot the whole time?” Kara asks me, her eyes boring into my soul like a true detective. I actually feel myself heat up as I try to conjure up the truth.

“No. Um, I was running around, but then someone threw me across the room really hard, so I just sat down so I didn’t get hit again,” I explain, hoping that I’m doing this right. To be honest, this feels like a real murder. My palms start to sweat as I sit there, trembling on my bed.

The emotions in this game are ridiculous. I’m insanely fearful, nervous, and my anxiety is peaking, making me nauseous.
 

“Professor Magdelina, where were you the whole time?” Kara’s eyes turn icy and harsh, glaring a little at our cabin leader like she knows the truth.

“I was walking around, so I guess all over.” Her voice hypnotic and smooth as she jerks her shoulders nonchalantly. If I had to guess, it was her. But I think I’d suspect it was her evilness every single time.

“I think the murderer was Professor Magdelina,” Kara announces, looking to Magdelina for clarification. Kara points to Magdelina when she declares her the killer like she’s casting a spell.
 

“Got me.” Magdelina smiles in all our directions, clapping her hands together slowly. What a shocker: Magdelina is the evil murderer. I’m not surprised.
 

CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN

the hunt

Ten o’clock is lights out, so everyone begins to shut down for the night. My duffel is now tucked underneath the bed, and I tug out my thick flannel pajamas. Since I know we’re sneaking out in just a few short hours, I bundle up some black, thick clothes near the bottom of my bed so I can easily change without alerting Magdelina.

Right at the foot of the bed, I align my sneakers so I won’t make noise and wake up someone else. Magdelina calls time, so everyone is required to turn off lights and cell phones.

I’m worried that I’ll get a call from Ollie or miss the meeting with my mom so I turn my cell on silent and put the brightness on my screen all the way down so it’s blackish grey. I can barely read what’s on the screen, but it’s just enough that I’ll see a call. I tuck it under my pillow so it’s close to me and I can constantly check it for Ollie.
 

 
I don’t want to fall asleep, because then I’ll miss the manhunt game and my meeting with Ollie, so I try to keep my mind busy.
 

I decide it’s the perfect time to fall into a vision, so I start my process. I shut my eyes and let my breathing take control of me. I don’t want to go into a dream I’ve seen before. Lately, my dreams have been awful with images I’d rather forget anyway. I let the seconds trickle by, not caring how long it takes to fall into the blackness, because I have two hours to kill.
 

As I wait for the vision, my mind wanders to a life where both Ari and Ollie were with me so I picture both of their faces. I don’t mean to do it, but I picture kissing each one of them—at separate times, of course. I try to picture loving them both. I focus on my conflicted emotions I’m feeling now, and the hatred I have of the curse.

As I imagine my tortured life of loving two men, the edge of my vision blurs. They darken and fade away completely. Before I get too excited, I imagine Ari and Ollie in front of me, which sends my vision on overdrive as it drops me into a black hole.
 

I open my eyes after the vertigo subsides. I don’t recognize my surroundings per se, but they have a familiar feel like my mind knows I’ve been here before. I’m in a field that’s covered in dandelions. Some are yellow while most are white. With the wind thrashing around, the seeds from the flowers flutter around, making the dream feel ethereal—like a real dream.
 

Just as I let out a sneeze from the wind bringing the pollen into my nose, I hear someone else sneeze farther away. I look around and spot myself, yards down the field alone, picking flowers. There’s a tall brown horse beside me grazing in the grass, neighing as my dream self talks to him.

“Lovely, I just don’t understand. How am I to love two men? Surely, Athena must be joking,” I say to the horse who neighs in response. “But why would my best friend lie to me?” I ask the horse, the confusion evident on my dream self’s face.

Of course, the horse doesn’t answer my dream self, so she leans back in the flowers, laying her head in them and opens up a book she pulls from her satchel. She flips through the pages, seemingly skimming it—maybe looking for something. A few moments later, the horse gets frightened, lifting its front legs up and whinnying.
 

I spin around to see what spooked it. I spot my mother, Athena running through the fields towards my dream self. At first, I’m amazed that it’s her. I mean after my dream self mentioned the name, I had a suspicion it would be but still. I never thought my mother was involved in my past. I’ve never been half god, so it doesn’t make sense to me.
 

“What are you doing out here in this chill?” Athena asks my dream self as she rushes to her side.

“I was just pondering what you’ve told me,” my dream self explains.

“About that…I’ve brought someone you should speak with. Come with me, dear.” Athena reaches down and clutches my hand. She pulls me through the fields behind her. I follow behind them, wanting to know what’s going on. It feels strange—like it’s a fake dream.

They get to a poorly lit, large red barn. It’s turning into dusk here, and the light is becoming gray as the sun fades behind the hills. It’s difficult for me to see clearly with the light faltering away, but I try to get as close as possible so I don’t have to strain. They enter the barn, and I stumble into a bale of hay.
 

“You don’t know these men, but you will love them both,” Athena says looking between Ari and Ollie who stand still inside the barn, their expressions hopeful yet bleak. They both look extremely dirty, and their hair is disheveled. “We need to stop it,” Athena says.