Cursed: The William Brothers Saga (UNEDITED)

Chapter 16

Song of the Moment: Thiskidsnotalright by AWOLNATION

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I was in the white office again. Sistine sat on the desk in a black dress that looked straight out of a Victorian horror novel. A huge book sat beside her.

"I found this awhile ago." She lifted it and turned it around so I could see the cover. The History of Leonboto and Its Inhabitants. This was the book Sara talked about. "'Leonboto is considered the First Universe. The Zodiac Gods oversee our follies and successes. What more can I share without oversharing?' This is fascinating." She didn't even open the book. She must have had a lot of time with it.

"What do you want, Sistine?" I demanded. I was tired of her popping up whenever she wanted to.

"Do you honestly still believe I'm a dream? An illusion?" I didn't answer. "I'm as real as a fucking heart attack, brother mine." She was dead. She couldn't be.

"You're just trying to screw around with my head." I denied her existence like the plague.

"You're going to see me for what I am, and you are going to deal with it. I may be dead, but I've never felt so alive." She cackled.

I woke up with a jolt. Dreams of Sistine were becoming too frequent. Blood Furies may not have been a problem anymore but the threat of my sister was greater than ever. I still didn't believe she was here, ready to take us out. I definitely didn't believe in ghosts.

I glanced around the room expecting someone standing, waiting to pounce. There was no one. Johnny slept in a separate room and so did Dan. I listened for noise but was met with deafening silence. No one was awake in the house except me.

If Sistine really was back, this meant that I had no choice about enrolling. Sistine was after Sara and I needed to make sure she didn't get her. I could only think about how my sister was here. How did she travel with us after she died? I hated to admit that maybe she really was a ghost, vengeful and ready to punish us for killing her. The thing was that she had already punished us. She used that stupid mask to curse us. We lost our souls and our humanity. I was a shell of the man I used to be. When I gained Noctum, my life had ended-just like hers.

The terms of the curse ran through my head. When the first drop of blood hits the Earth, the soul will be ripped from its home and a demon of Sincarnë will inhabit the host. They will be cursed to crave for souls and flesh for eternity unless they Claim a Pure Soul. Only then will the host have peace and return to where they belong. Only one of a Turn can escape the curse of a true Orphan of the Light. The rest will be Damned to twice the amount of eternal hunger. When we were sent back to 1410, Johnny told me what the Luna Mask revealed to him. We had interpreted most of it. Our souls were taken away and we were given Havoc and Noctum. We crave flesh while our demon crave the souls of our victims. Since we were both cursed at the same time, only one of us can be free of our curse while the other suffers. The only term that puzzled me was how we Claimed the Pure Soul. Do we devour the soul? Do we devour them whole, flesh and all? I was terrified at the thought of harming Sara. My brother and I had already put her through enough pain. 

I picked up my phone off the nightstand to check the time. It was three forty-two in the morning. Great. It was officially Sunday. I might as well get up. It would be easier than trying to go back to sleep.

I climbed out of bed and grabbed a change of clothes out of the closet: jeans, a plain grey t-shirt, and my black jacket. My white-socked feet dragged across the carpet to the bedroom door. I opened it slightly and quietly to avoid disturbing Dan and Johnny. Once I knew the coast was clear, I tiptoed down the hall to the bathroom with clothes wadded up in my arms. Fuck, I forgot my sneakers. Now I had to walk back to my bedroom. I tiptoed all the way back and snatched them from the end of my bed before tiptoeing my way back to the hall bathroom. I quickly changed clothes, brushed my teeth, and raked through my messy, dark hair with my fingers. Once I was fine with my appearance, I turned off the bathroom light and left the house stealthily. There was no way they could've woken up because of how good I was.