Cursed Through the Ages
Disclaimer: I own nothing
A/N: I wanted to say, I've begun studying to get certified as a teacher, and I plan to teach history! I'm studying Social Studies 7-12, so there's a lot of material. I had an idea to use my writing as a means of incorporating some of my studying, and this came to mind. I hope you'll enjoy it.
Chapter 1 (A Witch's Revenge)
Travelling with Beck, Jade could see him studying her close from the right. She was gently caressing the onyx gemstone that clung as a necklace around her. He knew her attraction to the gemstone; but it was what they were currently doing that seemed to bother him most.
They were moving through the woods, deep at night and trying to shielded by the trees they passed. Their pursuit would be an old cottage tucked away deep within. "I know you've probably told me a million times, but I still don't get why you're so obsessed with the occult. Do you even know what we're walking into right now?"
"It's just curiosity." She lowered her hand with a sigh. "It makes me feel closer to my mom's spirit." She heard of a coven of witches out here and wanted to talk to them, to see if they might be able to use magic to talk to the spirit world. "It's either this, or the Ouija board." Beck flattened his eyebrows and shook his head.
"Honestly, I'd personally rather the Ouija board and possession. I don't feel good about this at all." In the past, she'd learned to listen to his intuition when it said something; but this was different. She felt almost called to come out here.
"I've always thought about my mom, Beck, my real mom. Dad never wants to talk about her, and this may be the only way I'd get to know anything about her."
"By asking a coven of witches to use some magical mumbo jumbo to do what? Recall her spirit?" He rolled his eyes and started to grumble. "I'm not trying to sound unsupportive, but Jade, something doesn't feel right."
As they approached a building, Jade steadied herself and sucked in a deep breath. The building was made of stone and had broken windows as well as a door that was slightly ajar. A soft amber light flickered from within, but Jade could feel no warmth. Closing her hands firmly, she turned to Beck. "If it bothers you that much, you can wait out here. Besides, I'd rather you be out here. I need someone to be a lookout, just in case…" He looked at her squarely in the eyes, then softened with a defeated sigh.
Gingerly, he took her hands and leaned in, kissing her forehead. A warm spot was left behind as he pulled away. "Just be safe in there, okay?" Jade returned a warm smile and wrapped her arms firmly around him.
"I will." She shrugged. "Besides, I think I'd fit right in, don't you?"
"You're more into these things than you actually practice any of it, so I don't know much about the whole fitting in part." He smirked playfully and raised his shoulders. "But yeah, I suppose you could pass yourself off as one of them if you really tried hard enough." He kissed her again, then gave her a gentle squeeze. "I love you."
"I love you too."
Pulling away from him proved strangely difficult, as she felt a sudden sensation almost pleading for her not to let go. Her fingers untangled from his and she looked over her shoulder, watching him as she carefully walked onto the porch of the home and made her way to the front door.
Jade carefully poked her head into the door and felt drop. The inside looked like ruins, with broken walls and furniture, dust and cobwebs lined everything. Candles were neatly placed throughout the room, all seeming to direct her attention towards a large opening in the center of the floor.
A once neat, wooden hardwood floor was no more, for what looked to be wood rot of some sort had eaten away at it. "What is this?" She whispered to herself. She slid her right foot forward, trembling nervously as she looked back to Beck. He started to ask if she needed him to go in with her and she shook her head, still preferring him to be outside.
Jade approached the hole, seeing a bleak darkness with a faint light some distance below. A wooden ladder stretched down the tunnel that had been dug. Feeling a new sense of nervousness, she bit down on her lip and started to reach down for the ladder. "Why am I so nervous?" She shook it off and descended, holding onto another deep breath. The more she descended, the more the light from below burned bright and seemed to engulf her.
Once her feet were on the ground, she looked around to gather her bearings. Another tunnel was nearby, and once again she found herself surrounded by candles. A voice inside told her to leave, to climb back up the ladder and go home. She ignored it and brought her hand up, carefully wrapping it around the gemstone around her neck.
"Look after me, momma." For all of her bluster, this was the closest she'd truly ever been to the legitimate occult. All her interests in the gothic, the morbid and macabre were just that. Interests. She'd always wondered about practitioners, especially of the dark arts; but never had the courage or desire to seek anyone out.
Perhaps it was just the day, the anniversary of her mother's passing. Her father had withdrawn even further after the recent divorce from his second wife, and Jade was terrified of losing him too. Add to the pain of never knowing much about her mother, the desire had never been stronger than it was on this day.
And yet again, she felt as though something were calling her here. She didn't know what this feeling was, but she wanted to answer it.
Jade walked slowly down the nearby tunnel, gasping when she started to hear voices. The more she walked, the closer the voices were.
Eventually, she reached the mouth of the tunnel and moved her hand along the wall, her other hand remained around the gemstone. "Such humiliation," said a strangely familiar voice. It was incredibly familiar to her, the owner of which, Jade thought was not possible. So she disregarded it. "This recent insult…"
Peering inside, Jade saw a circle of people that resembled an ancient circle of celts. They were wearing black robes with lace sashes and silk hoods that covered their faces. The woman that was talking stood near the center, though she was not taller, there was a powerful presence about her that made her rise above the others.
Almost instantly, Jade knew this woman had to be the coven leader. "One of them put the ordeal on video for everyone to see," responded another voice, "You seek vengeance, Mistress?"
"I must know." In the center of the circle was an alter of sorts that resembled an Olympic torch. Thick smoke rose from the fire that burned inside of its bowl. The Coven Leader took some strange looking powder and raised it to her lips. She started whispering something, so Jade leaned in to try and hear; but it was to no avail. All she heard was the word, "reveal".
The woman blew into the powder, making it fly into the fire. Jade's eyes grew large and her heart started to sink as the nerves she once felt turned to fear. A vision appeared in the smoke and she saw the image of a play that was familiar to her. It had been done only a month ago and was the very play in which Trina had fallen and broken her leg as a result of a rope being cut.
An investigation was still open as far as Jade knew, but nothing was coming forward. She remembered Trina being upset over her having recorded the incident and uploading it to Youtube; but other than that, she hadn't heard much from the girl.
The vision changed and Jade was watching the scene in Lane's office play out before them. The Leader was snarling, her teeth clearly visible as she watched Tori try to resolve the problem despite the lack of concern from the others. Andre cared more about his date, Robbie seemed to deflect any attempt at questioning and Cat seemed to be truly innocent.
"The redhead doesn't appear to know anything," spoke one of the others. The Leader bowed her head a bit and uttered a new command. Immediately, the scene shifted to Robbie's bedroom, where he was talking with his puppet.
The leader looked on with dismay when Rex announced he had sabotaged the harness. Considering Rex was a doll, it was clear who the guilty party was. Jade covered her mouth, holding back a startled gasp. "It was him," the Leader said, "The boy…"
Jade wanted to flee even more now, but her feet seemed firmly planted in place. The Leader waved her hand through the air, growling at the vision. "Show me the guilty ones, the uncaring ones. Reveal them to me…"
Jade furrowed her brow as the vision in the smoke seemed to change. It showed Andre sitting at the theatres with some woman, trying and failing to make her interested in any of his advances. Then it showed Robbie, talking to his grandmother about his puppet. Finally, it showed Beck, standing alone in the woods, his hands in his pocket and head turning as he looked around the area.
"What is this?" The Leader scratched her chin and Jade felt a lump forming in her throat. Suddenly, she saw herself in the smoke. She saw the sweat on her body, the fear in her eyes and the trembling of every muscle. "Oh." Her eyes grew wider and she took a step back, feeling a full force of fear coursing through her veins. "It seems that we have a visitor. How lovely."
Jade shook her head and watched as the Leader slowly pulled her hood back to reveal Trina glaring out at her. There was a look of evil on the woman's face that Jade had never seen before. "Welcome to our little meeting, Jade. How nice of you to join us."
"No." Jade turned on her heels, letting out a bloodcurdling scream as every flight impulse in her body propelled her forward. Trina stretched her arm out, speaking plainly. "You may run, your feet swift as the wind; but even as a gust of wind ceases in an instant, so shall your run." Almost instantly she felt her feet give way and she swung her arms out as she fell forward into the ground.
Jade flipped onto her back, looking up as Trina started to approach her, her shadow growing long across the floor. She wasn't sure why she was so terrified of this woman when never before had she been. For in this moment, she felt like she would surely die.
"W-What are you going to do? What do you want?" Trina narrowed her eyes and Jade began to wrap her arms around her face. Heavy pants fell from her lips and she turned her head to the side. "I'm not afraid of you."
"You are afraid, because you see my power before you. What you see, you do not understand; and what you do not understand, you fear."
"I'm sorry, I'm really sorry. For everything."
Trina leaned her head back and let out a shrill cackle. "Do you honestly think I care about your apologies?" Trina reached down, grabbing her shirt and yanking her to her feet with a guttural growl. "For years I have suffered at your whim. You have trampled me, your friends have insulted and abused me. No more will it occur. After tonight, it ends."
"You're not going to kill me, are you?"
"Kill you?" A look of hate flashed before Trina's eyes and she started to chuckle. "Dear girl no, I'm not going to kill you." Trina released her, letting her drop to her knees and grab her throat. "No, I'm going to curse you."
Her heart froze and her eyes shot open as she heard the others begin to chant. "W-What?"
"You've always been interested in the darkness, in the macabre and the morbid. Well now, you will see for the first time the whims of your desires." Trina turned on her heel and began to raise her outstretched arm, then let it fall. "An eternity of torment will be your punishment. Jade West. Beck Oliver. Andre Harris. Robert Shapiro. Cursed, you shall be, throughout all of time. Cursed to live through the ages, no memory of your lives today…Each death you receive, Jade, you will awake in a new era until you reach the present day, upon which you will awaken to live through millennia all over again. You will be cursed to be fully aware of your state, trapped in an endless cycle of rebirth throughout history…alone, without a single soul to care for. Jade West will no longer exit. Through millennia you will wander, perpetually lost without a clue for whence you came. No longer will you remember love, friendship, family or life-for what was not important to you shall never be."
"No, please, no."
She got on her knees and clasped her hands together, pleading to Trina. Tears welled up in her eyes as Trina reached her hand forward, then pressed her fingers against her forehead.
In an instant, darkness filled her and she felt her body land hard on the ground. As her consciousness faded, she saw a small bit of light in a dark world. "What?" She tried to move for the light, whimpering and speaking weakly. "M-Momma? Momma? Help. Beck? Someone…" Before her senses faded, she could hear Trina continuing her curse, dooming the guys in a way that seemed different. Still, she could not focus on anything aside from the darkness taking over.
Their memory appeared before her, her friends, her family and her lover; but one by one they began to fade until all that remained was a memory.
A woman with long dark hair sat beside a five year old child tucked away in a tiny bed. The woman caressed the child and gazed down lovingly at her, whispering softly as she raised a necklace into the air. "I want you to have this, sweetheart." The child's eyes grew bright and she reached up slowly, her fingers curling around the gem. "It was given to me by my mother, who received it from hers and has been in the family for a very long time."
"What is it?" The child asked. The mother chuckled softly and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
"It's silly, but my grandmother claims it has mystical capability."
"Like what?"
"Well." A clever smile spread across the woman's face as the child moved the gem down to her chest. The mother placed a hand over the child's hands and gem. "If ever you get lost and cannot find your way home, if ever you lose yourself, all you have to do is hold onto this and you will be safe. You will recall."
"Recall?"
"Yes, sweetheart. You will remember. Always keep this by your side, don't ever let go."
"I won't, momma!" The girl shook her head abruptly and clutched the gem tighter. "I promise. I'll always take care of it!"
"I'm sure you will, honey." The woman leaned over and gently kissed her daughter's forehead. "Now, close your eyes and go to sleep…I love you."
"I love you, Momma." The child rolled onto her side and shut her eyes. As the woman stood up, Jade saw the vision begin to recede. She wasn't sure how; but she could feel a teardrop leaving hear eye just as all consciousness was lost.
So there you have it, the boys have a bit different curse to contend with. Rather than traveling through the ages like Jade will, forever cycling through millennia of existence; the boys will be trapped living the life and dying as a particular famous individual in ancient history that suffered an excruciating and violent death. They will have no memory of who they truly are, but they will remember dying each time they are resurrected as that individual throughout all of eternity.