Cursed

Chapter 18

Lightning spread through Winter's veins and muscles as she fought the girl that stood in front of her. She screamed out in pain, but she refused to give up. She used her ice to freeze the girl's lightning, leaving frozen trails in the air.

"Are you ready to give up yet?" the girl asked.

"Who are you?" Winter screamed as she forced more ice towards the girl.

"My name is Ya'hånaå," the girl said. "I'm a magical bounty hunter. Best in the business, too." Electricity crackled towards Winter. "So prepare to die."

"No way," Winter muttered under her breath. Ice spilled across the ground in front of her, causing Ya'hånaå to lose her balance. She screamed out as she fell backward. Lightning shot up towards the sky. Winter took the chance to walk forwards, feeling the cold ice spread from inside of her to her fingers, and then leave her body and go towards Ya'hånaå. Ya'hånaå screamed her final breath and the ice spread across her skin, killing her.

Winter gasped, suddenly aware that she'd been holding her breath most of the time. She headed over to Lucas, praying that he was okay.

"Lucas?" she said softly, gently shaking him. He made a small grunting sound before slowly opening his eyes.

"Lightning doesn't feel very good," he joked, his voice hoarse. Winter laughed and helped him to his feet.

"Winter, I..." Lucas started. He looked up to meet Winter's ice blue eyes. "I lied earlier."

"About what?" Winter asked.

"About not liking you," Lucas choked out. "I lied earlier to save my pride, but I'm not going to do that anymore. I could've died just then. And then I would've never told you how I truly felt."

"Lucas..." Winter sighed. "Please don't do this. I'm dating Christopher."

"Do you really want to date him?" Lucas asked. "Maybe he's a good guy, maybe he's not. But put all of this magical stuff in the back of your mind for now. Without all of the complications of the magic stuff, would you honestly and truly choose Christopher over me."

Winter had a battle going on in her mind. She loved Christopher, but she also had strong feelings for Lucas. But she didn't answer him. Instead, she asked, "Why are you dating Summer?"

Lucas gulped. "Honestly, I don't know," he answered. "Maybe I wanted to get closer to you. Maybe I was trying to get over you. I don't know."

Winter looked away from him. "We better get going."

***

Winter pulled out her phone while she turned the corner onto her street. She had two messages from Summer.

Today 5:02 am

Summer: Where r u? Woke up and u were gone.

Summer: Don't come home.

Confused, Winter stopped in her tracks and sent a text back to her sister.

Winter: What? Why?

A moment later, Winter's phone chimed.

Summer: Weird guy outside. Magical.

Winter: Magical?? Omg Summer I'm on our street rn!!

Summer: Get off the street! Hide in a building somewhere.

Winter's heart pounded in her ears. Blood rushed to her head, making her dizzy. She pulled up her contacts and scrolled down. Her finger hesitated on Christopher, but she decided against it. Instead, she scrolled down to Lucas and pressed the call button. Then she started running towards the street adjacent to hers.

"Hello?"

"Lucas, I need you to pick me up," Winter said, breathless and panicked.

"Winter, what's going on?"

"Just come pick me up now. I'm on Main Street," Winter ordered. Then she hung up on him. Winter looked around, trying to find the strange guy. Suddenly, Winter was knocked to the ground. A scream erupted from inside of her. She kicked and wiggled and fought against whatever was holding her down. She felt a coarse rope being tied tightly around her wrists. Then her legs. Then a bag was pulled over her head and she was plunged into total darkness.