CURSED // ZIGGY BERMAN X FEM READER

The End of Everything

TW: Blood and Violence

As the shadowy figure slowly becomes solid, the fire from the torches glows brighter. I can hear Kate's shallow breathing from behind me. Ziggy grabs my hand, and Deena tenses on my other side. 

'Rise,' Sheila bows to one knee. The shadow figure pulls down his hood. 

Who is it? 

Three guesses. 

'Soloman?' I blink, my voice sounding faraway. It's like I'm back in 1666 all over again, watching my death play out. 'But...' 

'You're the devil?' Sheila stares up at him with disbelief. 

'I am now,' Soloman smiles cruelly down at her. He narrows his eyes at us. 'And these...the ones who tried to stop us.' 

'Where's my reward?' Sheila stands to her feet, back against the wall. Her breathing becomes shallow as Soloman stares blankly at her. 

I watch in horror as he pulls out a sharp knife. 

'Your reward?' Soloman echoes, tracing the knife along the wall of names, carefully outlining each name. It clangs against the stone. 'Here's your reward.' 

The knife goes straight through her chest. Soloman pulls it out sharply, examining the blood. I can't look away as blood pools under her body as she slides down the wall. 

Someone gasps from behind me, whether it was Kate or Deena, I'm not sure. Sheila's soulless eyes stare directly into mine as blood trickles down her lip. Her head shakes slightly and she coughs. A look of regret passes across her face. 

'Burn it,' she whispers, and then she's gone. 

Burn what? Burn him? 

At this point, there's no turning back. Soloman regards us with a look of pity. 

'I'm truly sorry it had to be this way, Y/N,' He steps towards me. 'I loved your sister, you know. But...she would've rather loved Hannah Miller.' His lips tug down into a frown. 'It broke my heart, you know that? And I've never liked disappointment.' 

'Run,' I scream as he aims the knife towards me. I duck and it scrapes against the wall. Kate and Deena sprint in opposite directions, disappearing into the dark tunnels of the cave. 

I run as fast as I can away from him and Ziggy follows close behind me. 

'What are we going to do?' She hisses in my ear. 'We can't fucking stop him like this?' 

'I'm thinking, I'm thinking,' I bite the inside of my cheek. 

'You can't hide,' His soft voice sounds like nails on a chalkboard. 

Ziggy grabs onto my arm, looking into my eyes. 'It's my turn to protect you.' 

Before I can say anything, she leaps out into the open, hitting Soloman square in the face with a large rock. He crumples to the ground, but recovers almost immediately, pushing Ziggy backwards into the wall. Her head makes a dull thump as it collides with the stone. 

'Yes...I think this is the ending we all saw coming,' Soloman smiles down at her. In my moments of panic, I see a leather book sticking out of the back of his cloak. The book with the curse...

Then it hit's me. 

Burn it. 

Sheila meant the book. 

If I'm wrong, then I'm dead. 

It's worth it. I inhale deeply as Soloman points the knife at my girlfriend's heart. My own heartbeat thuds in the background as I scoop the book up, holding it directly over the glowing flame. For a minute,  nothing happens and the dull crackling of the book echoes around the walls. 

The devil stares me straight in the face, shaking his head slowly. As the book burns, ink and blood begin to leak out of its destroyed pages, melting into the sand below. Soloman lets out a piercing scream as his face slowly turns into dust. 

With a last shriek, he collapses onto the ground, one right hand still reaching for me until it disappears into the ground. 

The book is gone, leaving behind nothing but a smudge. 

Slowly, I turn to stare at the wall. The names that are etched upon the rough surface slowly begin to fade, cracks of light flooding through until there is nothing left. 

Ziggy coughs on the ground, reminding me that it's not fully over yet. 

'Are you okay?' I ask, bending down to her side. 'Ziggy?'

'Never better, Sunshine,' She manages weakly, reaching up to take my hand. I pull her to her feet, hugging her tightly. 

'Don't you dare do something like that every again,' I cling to her, breathing in her familiar scent. 

'I won't,' She says, her voice muffled. 'Where are the others?' 

'Kate? Deena?' I call, my voice echoing around the room. 

'Here,' Deena says loudly. She emerges from one of the tunnels, dragging Kate with her. They both look fine, stunned and a bit dusty, but fine. 

'Thank god,' Kate breathes a sigh of relief, staring down at Soloman's cloak. 'Is it finally over?' 

'Yes,' I let out the breath I didn't even know I was holding. 

'Are you sure?' Deena raises her eyebrows. 'Because last time-' 

'I'm sure,' Ziggy and I say at the same time. 

'Good,' Deena turns to Sheila's limp body. 'How the hell are we going to tell Sam?'