The Thousand Year Curse (The Curse Books) (19 page)

"Sort of. That's not the point. If Ollie won't tell me, you have to." I beg him, stepping down towards him and taking his hand in mine. He has to feel what's between us. He has to feel the spark.
 

"Okay." He states simply.
 

"Okay?" I question back, raising my eyebrows. I can feel the pulse in his hands—steady, never missing a beat.
 

"I'll tell you but you have to promise me something in return." He says. I had a feeling his information wasn't going to come free. I just hope it's something I can handle.

"Okay, what?" I bite, wanting all the information. I'll do just about anything.
 

"Promise me that you'll let me finish before you freak out." He says.
 

I can do that. That's easy. I fear that there will be something else. Why would I freak out? Seriously, it can't be that bad.
 

"I promise." I affirm to him, crossing my heart with my fingers. I stare right into his emerald eyes so he knows I'm not lying. I need him to trust me.
 

"You know Greek mythology? Like the stuff we're starting in English." He starts to explain pacing up and down the walk way.

"Sure." I answer. It helps that I am taking that fantasy class. This better not be about class. I will kill him if this is a joke.
 

"Good. Do you know any stories from the legends?" He asks, leading me to some foreign explanation. I have no idea where the hell he is going with this.

"I guess."

"Have you ever heard the story about Orpheus and Eurydice?" He questions me.
 

"No." I'm pretty sure I would remember a story that has my name in it. Does he know that's my real name?

"The story goes something like this; Orpheus was a Greek God. He was the son of Apollo. He was a musician. He fell in love with a woman named Eurydice. She was beautiful. The most beautiful mortal I've ever seen. She fled though. Another man, Aristeus saw her and wanted her for himself. He chased her into the woods and she was bitten by a snake and soon died. The story says that Orpheus went into the Underworld, also know as hell, and got her out.
 

"Hades made a deal that he would give Orpheus Eurydice as long as he believed that her ghost was following and didn't look back to make sure. Orpheus ended up looking back and she was brought back into the Underworld since he didn't do as he was told." I wait for the big reveal but nothing happens.
 

What does this story have to do with me? Other than my common name, it makes no sense. I haven't been in Hell. I don't know anyone named Orpheus. I'm more confused now than I was before.
 

"What does this have to do with me?" I ask him. He reaches to me and takes my hand in his, looking deep into my eyes in an attempt to comfort me. I just want the answers plain and simple. He sighs loudly his face falling.
 

"My name is Aristeus. Your name is Eurydice. The person you know as Ollie is Orpheus." A bomb goes off inside my brain. This isn't possible. I'm only seventeen! How could I be from whenever Greek mythology is? I'm not thousands of years old. I'm not even two decades.
 

"That's not possible. I'm seventeen." I shriek at Ari. His face contorts with what looks like regret but his hands never let go of mine. A mental war rages on in my head. Even his comforting touch can't calm me down right now.
 

"I know that Eury. You didn't let me finish." He says after a moment. "Ollie and I are Gods. We're immortal. We live forever since we're full bloods and it's extremely hard for us to die. About a thousand years ago I traveled into the Underworld to speak with Hades. You see nobody knows my side of the story. I loved you more than anything. I begged him to let me have you. He refused, of course. I went back to earth and had to live with my failure. Soon later I met you again. Although you looked different and acted different, the soul was still yours. You didn't remember me or anything about yourself. I talked to Persephone, Hades wife. She said her husband reincarnated your soul. That you would be put into a body and live a normal life. Apparently he was getting bored and wanted to toy with myself and Orpheus." He sighs pausing.
 

"Ever since that first time, you live and die coming back as someone new. I feel you, that's how I find you. I'm sure Orpheus has the same type of radar." He finishes.

"I don't understand." I sink onto the ground. My life is normal and boring. My brain can't keep up with Ari's words. It's not possible. It's mythology. Key word, myth!
 

"I know you don't and I'm so, so sorry. I wouldn't have come and ruined your life but I saw you and then saw Orpheus was here and I couldn't let him have you. My jealousy got the better of me. I had to be a part of your life. I'm sorry I've done this to you." Ari apologizes over and over seeming genuinely upset. Almost on the verge of tears, he clings onto my hand clutching it to his chest. This isn't his fault, unless he cursed us.
 

"What exactly have you done to me?" I ask, trying to understand it all.
 

"I've put you in danger. This whole thing, it's a sick, twisted game to Hades. The past thousands of years Orpheus and I have only both found you twice. When we both are in your life you die like the first time—the worst way. Instead of living a normal life you are killed early and sent into Hell. The first time you weren't reincarnated for sixty years. The second time it was a hundred. I didn't think I'd find you again but finally I felt you." He seems relieved to get it off his chest.

I have no words to say. How am I supposed to react knowing that I am in some freaky love triangle from thousands of years ago? Nobody is going to tell me my fate. That's bullshit. I'd love to march right down to Hell and tell Hades to screw off but I don't even know if I believe this yet.
 

"I saw you before." I tell him, remembering my weird dreams. Now that I'm thinking about it, they are more like visions or epiphanies. I think the things I saw really happened. I can't be sure but I figure Ari will tell me the truth. He won't think I'm crazy now since he's a freaking immortal.
 

"At Orpheus's?" He asks me.
 

"No, a dream. It was at a castle." I explain as he urges me to continue. "A girl died in the forest outside. You and Oll-er, Orpheus were there. He punched you in the face afterwards. He cried and left but you stayed there frozen in place watching the girl." It saddens me to remember it now. I've never seen someone so upset in my life.
 

"How did you see that?" He grabs my shoulders hard, his intense stare boring into me. His nails bite into my skin stinging me as he searches for the answers. Too bad, I don't know how or why I saw what I did.

"Honestly, I'm not sure. It just kind of happened. I had another dream, too." I say gasping for air. Panic readies itself to attack me as the severity of the conversation crashes down on me.
 

"Please, tell me." Something tells me these dreams aren't normal. They way he is begging me for more tells me they're real. Maybe he just thinks I'm loosing it. For all I know I could be.
 

"It was in a cave or something rocky. I woke up and found you and Ollie talking in a big kitchen. I don't really remember it well but I remember you saying it was your turn or something. I didn't really get it but I remember your eyes."
 

Finally he reveals, "you have a gift Eury."

"I don't even know how to do it. It just happens." I say. It's not a gift, it's just a weird thing that keeps happening lately. It will stop. I am normal!

"Maybe you can remember it all." His face lights up. He definitely seems happy but there's more to it. He has a look of hope.
 

"Maybe..." I say but I'm still skeptical.

"I'm sorry I just kind of laid it all on you. I understand if you want me to leave you alone." He starts walking away but I grab his arm to stop him.
 

"No, I like that you're honest with me." I tell him wrapping myself around him.
 

"I will never lie to you." He whispers into my neck. I believe him, one hundred percent.
 

He pulls me back holding the back of my head so we are face to face. "I'll let you think this all over. It's a lot, I know." He says at the end.

"Okay." I answer, pulling him in for another hug. he breaks contact way too fast leaving me. I start walking back towards the house but turn to say one last thing. "Thank you, by the way."
 

He just nods before hopping on his bike. I'm not sure where he is going. Does he even sleep? I wonder if he is like a vampire or werewolf. If Gods exist, do other fairytale creatures?

After Ari leaves, the sounds of the world all come back all at once. It's like my world was put on pause. The birds flutter about. The squirrels start moving around. I hear the familiar sound of grasshoppers all over the place. It's almost too much noise at once. I rush back into the house to get away from the commotion.
 

A serious headache pounds into my temples as I try to think about my life, yet fail. I go in the kitchen, grab a glass of water and two Advil, popping them real quick and go into the living room.

"Goodnight dad." I say kissing his cheek.
 

"Night sweetie." Dad says reaching his arms over the back of the couch to hug me. "I liked that boy. He was a nice one."

"Yeah, he is." I confirm, retreating up the stairs to my room. The whole night is a blur, like I'm going through the motions without any feelings. My brain doesn't even register my thoughts anymore.
 

I shut the door tight, leaning back against it. I start having a serious anxiety attack unable to inhale air. My life isn't real. This isn't happening. This just can't be real. It's literally impossible. Damn, I can't breathe.
 

CHAPTER 13

dream from hell

Boiling hot lava rushes around inside of my head slowly burning me from the inside out. This must be a lie, this isn't real. The bomb Ari dropped on me continues to explode. I sit on my bed, an hour later still in utter shock.
 

I am a nobody. I am nothing special.
 

I have to figure out if this all is even true. This so called ancient myth I'm involved in. Flipping open my laptop, my fingers make short work of typing Orpheus. There are thousands of hits so I click the first one. The page is mostly about his music and poems. Thinking back to him in the band and him playing the guitar to me, it all connects. That song he played in the cabin—the lyrics are right here in Bullfinch's Mythology, word for word.
 

I type Eurydice into the search box. Porn sites come up which is not what I want so I decide to fix my search. I search
Eurydice greek mythology
which reveals better results. It says she was a wood nymph, whatever the hell that means. It says basically what Ari had told me earlier.
 

For some reason, it doesn't sound like me. I guess it isn't me technically, just my soul. I have more questions now than I started with.
 

For my last search I decide to find out who Ari used to be—Aristeus really. This site says he was a bee keeper. When it explains his role in my death, he sounds crazy. He was infatuated by my beauty and tried to basically steal me from Orpheus. It definitely isn't the same version that he told me.
 

Instead of dwelling on my questions, I need to forget it all. Before I change my mind, I run over to my closet. I haven't gone for a run in a while but now seems like as good a time as ever to start.
 

I throw a sweatshirt over my head and grab my sneakers, tying them tight. Before leaving my room, I grab my cell and head phones cranking it all the way up.
I Just Wanna Run
by Downtown Fiction fills my brain and it's all I can concentrate on. Finally, my thoughts are silenced.

Instead of going out the front door, I slip out my window. There's a ledge so I can reach and drop down the short distance. There's no need to freak out dad with my manic behavior.
 

I start jogging down my street headed towards town. It's eight at night but I'm not worried about it. My town is notorious for having a negative crime rate. It's not like anyone would want to take me. I'm a nobody.
 

The beat of the music in my head pounds out any stray thoughts that come along.
You're Not Sorry
comes on and I run faster trying to get away from my alleged past.

I get into a crazy flow. I want to stop running but my legs won't let me. They just keep going and going, forcing me to continue.
 

A car speeds out of nowhere. The headlights blind me and I jump back towards a grass yard but it's too late. The car skids to a stop and I manage to jump at the perfect time.
 

I land on the hood with a thud. My body slides off when the car finally stops moving. I can't move my body. My legs are jello. They're so worn out after I literally just beat the life out of them. Although I may just be paralyzed from the car.