Holly

Studying Hard

He left. He has been gone for a week and the bastard hasn't shown me his face once. I go from raging inside and trying my best to imagine punching him. Then, I feel incredibly sad and want to cry. He told me to stop trying to break the curse and I told him to stop stalking me. So he stopped stalking me.

And so, I stopped trying to break the curse.

Just kidding, did he really think I would stop? I'm not Abuela's nieta for nothing. Kaia was willing to meet me at the library. Not because I'm going all Bella Swan and trying to do research on a mythical monster everyone knows about. I need to ask Kaia a few questions.

"Where does Atticus stand in all this?" I ask after she sits down.

"What do you mean?"

"Does he not want you to break the curse? Arius says it's dangerous."

She sits down and bites her lip in thought. "Well, it is dangerous not to break the curse and it is dangerous to try and break it."

I drop my shoulders and sit back in my seat. "So, I'm screwed either way." No wonder he doesn't want me to get involved. But he is the one who agreed to a deal to begin with. What is wrong with him?

"Kind of. I'm not surprised Arius hasn't answered any of your questions. Atticus said he is really stubborn and loves keeping secrets."

"Why is it dangerous not to?"

"There are more of their kind. Multiple devils but I don't like that word. They all believe that a special person is supposed to break the curse. Some can't find that person, so they try to steal those who are close to other devils to try and get the curse broken. They usually end up killing that person or worse. It is something no one wants to happen to them."

"A special person? What does that mean?"

She just nods. "If they do try to break the curse, it is really hard to even know how to do it. Everyone is cursed for different reasons, usually for doing something terrible. A right has to be wronged in a way and even that is hard to put it. It is nearly impossible to break the curse and usually involves a sacrifice."

I know she just brushed off my question but I let it slide. "Of course, it does. And all of this is what Arius is keeping from me?" I throw my hands in the air. "Why the hell won't he tell me anything?"

"I have no clue why he is like this but if you are going to break this curse then you need my help. Atticus and Arius's curses are connected. One cannot be broken without the other."

"So, they did something bad together."

"Exactly." Kaia pauses and bites her lip again. I can see she is nervous. "The thing is... Atticus told me why they were cursed. When they got the curse, a lot of their memory was taken in bits and pieces. Atticus could never remember his real name."

I give her a look. "I bet To Kill a Mockingbird was your favorite book."

"Shut up! It is so good!" she laughs.

"It's so boring. I hate any book the teachers made us read." 

"Ira says you fought with the teachers every chance you got."

"They deserve it."

She laughs. "Anyway, Atticus was able to get some of his memory back. He doesn't know his family name either."

"I bet you gave him one and it's Finch."

"Moving on. He remembers that his dad and Arius's dad were very close. Business partners in a very dangerous crime industry. Whenever their... assets went bad, they would take their sons to an island and force them to kill them."

I am speechless. When I heard it was something bad, I thought it was that they were kids and broke their mom's favorite vase or something. I didn't think Arius had killed someone.

"Their assets?"

"Human trafficking. It isn't like the boys enjoyed it. It was something they had to do. Atticus says he remembers a storm taking down their ship on their way back from killing another group of women. Everyone went down with it. He remembers waking up like... in their form."

I cover my mouth with my hand, still taking in what I am hearing. "How old were they?"

"He said they may have been about 15. Holly," she turns to me with a serious look, "I think they need redemption. You and I are meant to help them find it and correct what was wrong."

"I don't think I know how."

"That is why we are going to figure it out together." I nod.

Soon after talking more about Atticus and Arius's relationship with each other, we go our separate ways.

I feel like the world is on my shoulders. I am sure Kaia feels the same. The worst part is that I haven't seen him. I don't know where I am supposed to go from here and I can't even see him.

I feel the pain in my chest again as I think about his absence. I walk the same streets we walked after the party so long ago. As I approach home, I look out at the sea. It is still and a light blue. Most people love the color baby blue. I'm bored of it. It is nothing compared to dark blue.

I enter the house and see Abuela sitting in her rocking chair looking through the window at the ocean.

"Abuela?"

She turns her head to me and smiles. "Hi, love. Sit with me." I sit in the chair across from her and she looks back out the window. "Do you remember when you were little and used to play out in the water with your dad?"

"Yes, I do." I say, turning my head to look out the window too.

"The water wasn't this close to the house then. You and your sister used to run up the beach to the house. It took your little legs a while to get back."

My sister. I don't think about her much. She was always distant from us. She found success with some boyfriend and lives in a big city far away. "The ocean was different then." I say. So was the family. When dad and Roslyn lived here.

"The ocean has changed. A lot of people have changed since then." She turns to look at me. "Roslyn called me. She wants to see you."

I scoff. "And not mom or you?"

She shakes her head. Normally, when someone is rude to our family, Abuela is ready to hit them with her cane. This time is different. Abuela loves Roslyn just as much as she loves me. She could never actually curse her.

She reaches into her pocket and pulls out a flight ticket and a check. "Here. I think you should go visit her."

"Abuela, I don't want to see her."

"Please, love? She is your sister. Maybe she has changed."

I stare at the papers in her hand. Maybe going inland is what I need. Getting away from here and the places that make me think of Arius. The pain in my chest has grown stronger and I can't help but want to get away.

I reach out and take the papers from Abuela.