CURSED // ZIGGY BERMAN X FEM READER

X // 1994

THE SECOND CURSE. THE SECOND FIER.

'Oh, hey,' Ziggy raises her eyebrows once she lays eyes on us. Her gaze lands on me for a split second before she turns to the rest of the group. 'What are you guys doing here?' 

'We're here to see -' Simon opens his mouth but Kate elbows him. 'A patient.' 

'I figured that,' Ziggy says slowly. 'It's fine, you don't have to tell me.' She unwraps her candy bar, taking a bite off the end.  

'Deena's visiting Sam,' I say, giving Kate a short look. 'Because of all that weird stuff that happened last night.' 

'Plus her boyfriend's been trying to prank us,' Simon adds, trying to get a chocolate bar out of the vending machine from the bottom slot. 'Shit,' He says as a stray piece of metal cuts his arm. 

'Let me do it,' Josh rolls his eyes. He types in a few numbers on the vending machine, and one of every piece of candy falls out. 

'Whoa,' I say, grabbing a Kit Kat. 'You've got to teach me how to do that.' 

I unwrap it, taking a large bite. Kate steals the chocolate out of my hand, breaking off a piece and handing it back to me. 

'That stuff that Sam said the other night..did it make any sense to you?' Ziggy says. 

'I've kind of forgotten all of it, to be honest,' Kate sighs. 'It seemed like just rambling, with some stuff about Sarah Fier mixed in.' 

'Right. The witch,' Ziggy says. 'Is that stuff real?' 

We all shrug. 'It's a myth.' I say. 'None of us really believe in it.' 

'Sam mentioned something about a curse,' Ziggy continues. 

'Supposedly, Sarah Fier cut off her hand before she was hanged for witchcraft so that she could take revenge on this town.' Josh explains quickly. 

'What about the second curse?' Ziggy asks, glancing down at her feet. 

'The second curse?' Josh looks between us. 'What?' 

As I reach out to grab a second candy, my arm brushes against Ziggy's. 

'The curse. It's not hers. It's not hers. It's not hers. She was hanged for witchcraft. Good and evil. Same, all the same. Constance. The second Fier. The second curse.' 

'The second Fier,' I blurt suddenly, pulling back. The others look at me with confused expressions on their faces. 'That's what Sam was saying.' 

'Yeah, but who's the second Fier?' Kate raises her eyebrows. 'I've never heard that part of the story.' 

I shrug. 'I don't know. That's just what Sam said.' 

'Huh,' Ziggy leans against the vending machine. 'Maybe we can ask her what she meant.' 

'So, uh what are you doing here?' Kate asks, casually taking my hand. I turn to her with a tiny frown. 

'Uh, my older brother was stabbed a few hours ago, so that's why I'm here....' A strange expression passes over her face, and she shifts her weight slightly. 

'Oh my god, is he okay?' My eyes widen. 'By who?' 

'They aren't sure, and he'll be fine.' Ziggy mutters. 'The attacker was wearing a skull mask, just like the Sunnyvaler's last night.' 

Kate and I exchange surprised glances. 

'Like that guy who broke into the house,' Simon says loudly.  

'It could've been a different guy,' Josh points out. 'I bet there are a ton of them going around right now.' 

'What do you mean?' Ziggy tilts her head to the side. 

'Oh, Sam's boyfriend broke into our house earlier to try and prank us,' Kate says offhandedly. 

'I'm not so sure that was her boyfriend,' I say quietly. 'I highly doubt that Sunnyvale prick would bring a knife with him. He's too dense.' 

'He had a knife?' Ziggy frowns. 'Did you go to the police?' 

'To Sunnyvale's King, police chief Nick Goode?' Simon sticks his tongue out. 'Pfft. No fucking way.' 

'Wait, that guy came by my house last night to talk to me about the incident,' Ziggy says, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. 'It was really weird. He wouldn't stop staring at me. Said I reminded him of someone.' 

I said the same thing to her yesterday. 

Coincidence? Maybe. 

'What a pervert,' Kate reaches out to pat Ziggy's shoulder. 'Well, do you wanna hang with us?' 

Ziggy shrugs. 'I should probably get-' 

There's a loud crash from down the hallway and Deena and Sam come sprinting out. 

'RUN!' 

'Did they get back together?' Simon says, dumbfounded. A split second passes and  another figures comes dashing after the two, wielding a pair of glinting, sharp scissors. His face is covered by a skull mask. 

'Oh shit!' Simon backs up against the wall to get out of his way as Kate screams loudly. Skull mask takes a flying leap at the doors, towards Sam and Deena as we scramble behind him to catch up. 

'Why the hell are we running towards him?' Ziggy yells. 

'To get to Sam and Deena!' Josh replies loudly. 

We crash through the double doors, straight for the exit, where a pool of blood is steadily flowing into the room. Deena's yelling her head off, piggybacking Skull Mask. 

'The ambulance!' Simon yells. 'Let's go!' 

He jumps in, starting it up with the key that was sitting on the dead receptionist's desk. 

'HURRY UP!' Kate shouts, leaning out the doors. 'COME ON!' 

Deena and Sam run through the doors, leaving the killer following in their wake.