The Island Curse

The Other Side of the Island

Tara's words lodged in my mind as Kieran navigated the jeep down a bumpy back road. We were driving to a side of the Island I had yet to visit, but in the gloaming, I could see little of this new scenery except for dark outlines and shimmers of shapes. It reminded me too much of my run home after the party. It was almost as if someone watched our journey, and I rubbed my arms to make the hairs settle back down.

"You alright?"

I looked at Kieran. He kept his gaze locked on the road, giving me a chance to admire his strong profile. With shadows hulling out his cheeks, he looked older, harsher, and still so handsome. The longer I stared, the more the ache of want grew, and I was grateful for the darkness to hide my blush.

"I'm fine," I replied, reaching across to turn up the heat.

"Oi, it's already an oven in here," Tara fussed.

I twisted in my seat to stare at the girl in yellow. "You're crazy. It's freezing."

"Just crack a window back there," he advised her when she opened her mouth to protest. I did my best not to grin when she did as instructed, muttering all the while beneath her breath.

"What did you mean back there?" I was still turned so I could peer into the backseat. Tara leaned into the crisp breeze from the window, careful to keep from looking directly at me.

Kieran shifted beside me. "What are you talking about?"

"Tara said she hoped I could forgive y'all when this was all over. I'm sure you can understand the multitude of questions that statement brings up."

"You might as well tell her Kieran," Tara sighed. She looked down at the time on her phone and back out the window. Then she scrubbed a tear from her cheek. "She's going to know in about five minutes anyways."

I returned to a forward facing position and held my hand in front of the hot air blowing into the car. Blue lights from the dash lit up Kieran's face, highlighting the rivulets of sweat running down his face, and I wondered if maybe I was the one who's internal thermostat was not registering correctly.

"Do you..." The two syllables were halting and uncertain. I leaned forward to make sure I could hear everything he said over the road noise. "Do you remember when you said you thought your family was cursed?"

"I do."

"Well, yer right. Except, it's not just yer family. It's all of our families."

Tara leaned between the front seat. Her thick brows were drawn in a V shape. "But, if you want full disclosure, it's yer family's fault."

"Tara, that doesn't help the situation."

"Sure doesn't hurt it either," she fussed, letting go of the front seats and falling into the back with a thud.

"What kind of curse?" I demanded, my voice breathless with excitement. It was noticeable enough that Kieran turned his attention from the road for one moment, his lips slanted in amusement.

"Yer an odd one, Isla. Of all the reactions, that's not-"

"Kieran! The road!"

I jerked my eyes to the front and screamed. A lone figure stood in the center of the road, unmoving as the jeep barreled towards him. With a shouted curse, Kieran cut the steering wheel sharply, the figure flashing in the headlights before being swallowed by the night. The back of the jeep fishtailed, and the world tilted sideways as the left side tires lifted off the ground. Our shrieks of terror rose up together, shattering glass acting as percussion.

Once. Twice. Three times the vehicle rolled until it wobbled, upright, to a stop in the middle of a field. I kept my eyes cinched together, not prepared to see what damage had been wrought. But when hands fumbled at my seat buckle, I snapped them open and found Kieran struggling to free me.

Sweat on his forehead had been replaced by blood, and his sweater was torn at the arm. I reached for him, hoping to calm him, but the single touch made him jerk back. In the darkness, I could only see the whites of his eyes, but I felt when his hands went around my face. Just a single moment of hesitation before he crushed his lips against mine.

It wasn't a sweet kiss- no butterflies or hearts. Instead, it was as if someone had put a hook behind my belly button and jerked upwards. I gasped against him, but it was over as soon as it started, and when he pulled away, we stared at one another, seeing nothing in the darkness but feeling everything.

"Now that you two have gotten that out of the way," Tara said, holding her head, "can we get out of this death trap?"

"What the hell was that?"

Kieran jumped out, helped Tara down, and rushed around to my side. He cradled me like fragile glass, but I didn't protest. Between my multiple near death experiences today, I was concerned my luck was running out.

"Is anyone going to answer my question?"

"We don't have time," Tara said, grasping at Kieran frantically. She pointed into the darkness. I heard the whooshing of waves against the coast. We'd traveled further than I thought.

"We have to go. We could be too late."

"It's going to be fine. Al will be fine." Kieran didn't sound convinced by his own words, and when he started moving, it was at a pace just below running.

"You know who that was."

"I know."

I shivered and limped behind them. "I don't."

Within minutes, we really were running. Kieran's hand found mine to give me support as we weaved through the tall, brittle grasses, but once we returned to the road, we were going too fast for hand holding to be feasible. But he looked behind his shoulder every few seconds to check on me while Tara pushed ahead, her speed astounding.

The road ended in sand, and the ground sloped down. There was a cove, smaller than the one near my home. Towering bluffs pressed in on both sides, and the moonlight fell through the narrow opening to sea, turning the water to opal. There were several people in the water, all of them facing away from us with their arms lifted.

"No," Tara screamed. She stumbled and fell to her knees. Kieran dragged her to her feet.

"Keep moving. We aren't too late yet."

Tara's words were incoherent, but she regained her momentum. I frowned, studying the water trying to decipher what I was seeing. Only, it didn't make sense. Maybe even less sense than what I'd seen in the caves, and I stopped. My hands went to my mouth, and I started moving backward. Neither Kieran or Tara noticed this. They were too intent on rescuing Al, but I couldn't go down there.

A hard body stopped my progress, and before I could turn around, my shoulders were caught in a vice as someone whispered in my ear. "Yer going the wrong way love. You don't want to miss this."