The Soulmate Curse

Perseverance - Part 2

"Finn?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry about kissing you in the mess hall," said Zhen. "I shouldn't have."

"Why did you?"

"To make Darren jealous."

Finn laughed. "That's so not you."

"What can I say? You make me do weird things."

"I went to the moon to steal from a mega corporation," said Finn, laughing. "You make me do weird things."

Finn shifted her weight until she was lying down, her head on Zhen's right lap. Zhen gently stroked her hair. She shut her eyes, most of the tension leaving her body.

"When we were up there," said Zhen. "You said we were soulmates. What makes you think so?"

Finn was quiet for a long time. Zhen didn't push. Maybe she'd crossed a line with the question. She was just about to speak again when Finn finally answered.

"I come from a Wiccan family with a curse. The curse says that every Darrow woman finds her soulmate," Finn said, looking up at her. "There's a certain way that you make me feel that makes me think you're it."

"There's so much to unpack in that statement," said Zhen. "But let's start with how I make you feel."

"That's the easy part," she replied. "You make me feel amazing. Like nothing bad can touch me when I'm with you."

Zhen gently brushed the area above Finn's bruise. She sighed. "That's obviously not true."

"What about you?" Finn asked. "I've always wondered what I make you feel like."

"From that description, finding your soulmate doesn't seem like a curse," Zhen said, sidestepping Finn's question.

"You haven't heard the curse part," said Finn. She closed her eyes. "Once we get our soulmate, we're cursed to betray what we have somehow."

"That does sound pretty curse-like," said Zhen. She stopped stroking Finn's hair. "If I really am your soulmate, does that mean you'll betray me?"

"I never wanted to," said Finn in a whisper. Then, a little louder, she said, "My grandmother thinks the curse was broken when my mum fell in love with your dad. That could be something."

Zhen thought about what she'd said for a few minutes. If what Finn was saying was true, or rather, if she believed that what she was saying was true, then that was even more of a reason why she couldn't mess up this thing between them. More reason she had to make sure she kept whatever she felt for Finn and however Finn made her feel to herself. That she kept her promise to stay friendly, nothing more.

"We should probably go," Zhen finally said.

It was late afternoon. Zhen carefully got up and refilled her bottle, then helped Finn up. Once Finn was standing, she gently pushed Zhen away, insisting that she could still walk on her own. As they followed the creek, panic was leaking into Zhen's psyche. The creek would widen in some sections, requiring them to skip over stones, then it would get smaller. This went on for a while, until they came to a small waterfall. The water fell into a small, very shallow creek. The small ridge they stood on wasn't that high. They decided to scale the boulders to get to the bottom, then continue following the creek. Finn insisted on going first, but Zhen's was resistant to the idea.

"If I go first," said Zhen. "I can ease you down slowly."

"I'm fine, Zhen," said Finn. "Besides, you're wounded too."

"Not nearly as bad as you are, Finn. Let me help. You promised we'd be smart about this."

"Fine," she finally yielded.

Zhen lowered herself carefully down the nearest boulder. As she did, she thought she felt one of the large rocks shift under her weight. She tried to stop, but she was already in the middle of the descent and close to the bottom. Besides, the boulder didn't shift again. Maybe it was just settling deeper into the ridge. Or maybe she'd just imagined the movement. She got to the bottom and called out to Finn to join her. Finn was lowering herself slowly when Zhen saw the edge of the boulder. The damn thing wasn't attached to the ridge. There were small stones in a crevice between the boulder and the ridge and that crevice was getting larger and larger with every move Finn made.

Finn was already too far into the descent to stop and all that Zhen could do was watch as the boulder detached from the ridge and fell with Finn still holding on to it. Zhen's stomach fell with the boulder. Her body went cold. Everything went silent. She watched as the worst thing she could ever imagine happened right in front of her. The rock fell right on top of Finn, both landing in the middle of the creek. Zhen collapsed to her knees. The air forcefully and painfully expelled from her lungs. Her eyes were wide. Her nails piercing through her the skin of her palms. She couldn't believe it. She couldn't believe she'd just watched the love of her life get crushed to a pulp.