Cursed

Chapter Twenty-Four

The cafeteria was packed, but what was new? Ivelyn and I made a bee-line to our table. Of course, we were late. I never knew how long it took Ivelyn to get ready -- hours longer than it did Addie. I had missed four classes -- I should have left her home. Except, there was this bond between us now, some sort of loyalty? I wasn't sure what it was, but it had transpired last night.

It was bound to happen.

You didn't see the carnage we saw and not get closer.

Ivelyn had been just as freaked as I was. When we got back to my house, we were frozen. It took us a half hour to get out of my car and into my room. Dara didn't come home until several hours later. Then, she and my mom got into a fight about her being so late. Ivelyn and I had our ears pressed against the door, listening to them fight.

I think Ivelyn had a fireball in her hand, ready to toss it at Dara if she tried something against my mom. It was comforting, having her here. Especially, now that she has the power of water too. Neither of us slept, fire and water power or not, Ivelyn was human in the end.

"Ready?" I asked her as we got closer to the table.

"Yeah, you?" I nodded in response. Erik was the first to see us and he shot up. Worry was on everyone face, but Erik looked beyond relieved to see us.

Right, we had missed four classes with no explanation. They all must have assumed the worst.

"What happened to you guys?" As Erik asked this, I looked over at Ivelyn. During the whole car ride, we talked about how we were going to tell the others. Did they really need to know the gory details? I didn't think so, but Ivelyn had brought up a good point. If they didn't hear this, they wouldn't understand what the Cult was capable of.

It was the same mistake we all had made.

It was easy to think Dara and Vayne were a joke, thinking they were going to "kill" me.

But after last night, I had no doubt in my mind that they would try to kidnap me. It's like they said, they would kidnap me, make it look like an accident, then Dara would kill me. It would be her final test, then she would be considered an official member of their Cult.

It was sick and twisted, but this was who my sister had become. I couldn't ignore it any longer. I had to face the music and the facts were beyond ignoring.

"We went to the abandoned buildings last night," I started to tell them. They were a lot of emotions floating around the table.

"Wait, what?" Erik blurted.

"Why don't we all sit down and talk." Ivelyn offered. We all sat down. I could see the reluctance on Erik's face, but eventually, he sat down as well.

"It's pretty graphic, but we both agreed that we can't spare any detail," I warned them, then Ivelyn launched into the story. She didn't hold back, not even a little. Then again, I hadn't suspected she would.

As she told them, I had flashbacks. All of that blood. I shivered in my spot. Taking a deep breath in, I tried to gauge everyone's reaction. Erik didn't look surprised. Mir covered her mouth and Kate's eyebrows were knit together. Addie jaw dropped when Ivelyn got to the part where Trevor chopped off the dogs head.

That had been one of the hardest parts to hear.

"That's um pretty--

"Disturbing" Addie interrupted Erik.

"Oh my God--

"That is fairly common in Cults -- animal sacrifices." Kate cut of Mir.

They all were right.