Breaking the Curse

Chapter 7

Captain Jack and his deputies drove around the forest where the kids pointed them to, looking for any clues to Sebastian's disappearance. They had asked his neighbors, his teachers, his classmates, but no one had seen him since yesterday.

They were about to give up when they spotted a wrecked bike on the side of the road. It was half-buried under some leaves, but Captain Jack recognized it as Sebastian's.

He parked the car and got out, followed by Deputy Thomas and Deputy Mike. They walked down the slope and reached the bike. It was badly damaged. The front wheel was twisted, the spokes were broken, and the chain was loose.

"Damn. Is this his bike, Cap?" Deputy Thomas asked.

Captain Jack nodded. He took out a vial from his pocket and swallowed two pills. He had a headache that wouldn't go away.

"You think he got hurt when he crashed?" Deputy Thomas asked, examining the bike.

"Maybe. But not so bad that he couldn't make it home. And a bike to these kids... that's like a car. They wouldn't leave it here. They would try to fix it or carry it home." Captain Jack said, looking up the slope. He squinted in the sun.

"Hey Cap, there's a trail here," Deputy Mike said. "Do you think we should follow it? It leads into the forest. The one that's supposed to be haunted."

Captain Jack looked at him. He felt a surge of dread.

"Yeah, we should," he said. "There's a kid missing, and maybe he's in there. Maybe he needs our help."

He grabbed his flashlight and his gun. He motioned for his deputies to do the same.

They followed the trail, which was marked by small footprints. The footprints led up a hill toward the Forbidden Forest.

-___-

Margaret paced in the kitchen, clutching the wall phone to her ear. She smoked a cigarette nervously, waiting for someone to answer. The phone rang and rang and –

"Roy, thank God. It's Margaret–" Her face fell. It wasn't Roy, her ex-husband. It was a muffled female voice.

"Who is this?" Margaret asked, confused and angry.

"Cheryl," the woman said, with a sweet and girly tone.

"This is Margaret – Margaret, Roy's ex-wife. I need to talk to Roy right now. It's an emergency," Margaret said, taking a drag of her cigarette.

"He's not here. He'll call you later," Cheryl said.

"No, not later, now, you bitch --" Margaret was cut off by a click. The line went dead. Margaret felt a surge of fury. She slammed the phone against the wall, cracking it.

She dialed the number again, stabbing each button with her long nails. The phone rang again. But this time, it went to voicemail.

"Hey, you've reached Roy. I'm not here right now, but --"

Margaret's rage boiled over.

"ROY, it's Margaret. Some teenage whore named Cheryl said she's your girlfriend and hung up on me. You better call me back in the next goddamn hour or I'll report you for not paying child support. I swear to God I will make sure you rot in jail where you belong, you fucking piece of shit --" BAM! Margaret slammed the phone down and broke it into pieces. But then, RING! The phone rang again. That was fast, she thought. She grabbed the phone.

"Roy," she said into the mic.

But there was no answer. Only static. The kitchen lights flickered, then returned to normal. Margaret stared.