Curse Breaker (2)

22

Myers was an outcast from Veymaw for as long as I can remember.

A neurotic elderly man who rarely left his cottage in the woods, he was labelled and mocked by most of the villagers. I never blamed him for not wanting to venture out, though that didn't mean I wasn't as wary of him as everyone else.

The only memory I had of Myers was a distant one of visiting his cabin with my father when I was a child. I could never remember why we went there, or what was discussed. All I recalled was the overgrown doorstep and vines that clawed all the way to the windows. I remember thinking we'd arrived at some sort of abandoned fortress.

But the lost memory Josul conjured suggests that wasn't the only time my father took me to see Myers. And that brings up all kinds of questions I didn't even know to ask.

As we wait afoot the overgrown cottage, Killian at the door and Lei, Casimir, Cadence and I sheltered in the treeline, part of me hopes nobody answers.

Killian knocks again, three hard bangs that echo through the small clearing. He raises his hand to knock a fourth time, but the door budges open an inch before his fist makes contact.

I hold my breath as Killian straightens his shoulders.

The door doesn't open more than an inch. I squint my eyes to try see through the gap, but it's pitched black. "Who's there?" A small, suspicious voice crawls through the gap.

Killian doesn't hesitate. "Killian Li."

The door slams shut, almost. Killian's reflexes are lightning fast. He juts his foot out just in time to jam it open.

"It's important."

"I already told you last time I don't know anything. I can't help you."

Last time? I exchange a glance with Casimir. Is that what Killian had been doing when he came to Myers' the day of the storm in Veymaw? Casimir's eyebrows furrow as he leans closer, listening to the conversation.

"You know something, Myers, something that could help us all," Killian says. "We just need your help."

"We?" Myers hisses the word, trying to pull the door shut again. Killian glances over his shoulder towards me, eyes dangerously dark. I take a step out of the forest, leaves crunching underfoot. Lei catches my arm but I shake her off, walking till I'm inches away from Killian in front of the door.

"Myers?" I lean closer, peering through the small slither. Myers face presses to the gap in the wood so only his left eye is visible. "We just want to talk."

His eye dart all around my face in erratic movements. "I do not know who you are, child."

"I'm Freya Raune." The name ignites no recollection in his eyes. "You knew my father. He was murdered last Red Moon the night after he took me to visit you in this very cabin."

Myers doesn't respond, but his eye never leaves me. His gaze makes my skin crawl, the memory of visiting his cabin the day of the storm coursing through my body as a warning. He'd been so erratic, his conversation disjointed and confused--like he wasn't truly there. When I'd mentioned the deserters, it was like a switch had been flipped. If Killian hadn't shown up that day, I don't know what would have happened.

But in the memory his words echo through.

Your mother was a pretty lady.

"I visited you again, not so long ago, before the cloud hit Veymaw for the first time. Do you remember?" He doesn't answer. I exchange a glance with Killian who tips his head forward ever so slightly. A nod. "You gave me something that day, something from... from Torrinne. Why?"