Jarrod
"Actually, I'm taking Kate..."
Pure shock slaps their smug smiles and smirks off. Tasha recovers, coughing around the word "losers" coupled with an eye roll. Pecs sizes Kate up with lusty curious eyes which instantly sets my insides aflame. It instantly registers that he wants what he can't have especially now that she's taken. A warm swift wind whips around the shop, causing the wind chimes to clang loudly.
"Calm down, Jarrod. He's just trying to mess with us," Kate says with her mind. She sends soft waves of calm that quell my rage to steady embers.
"It's a costume party. Go as you are. Trust me, you'll scare everyone!" Tasha giggles behind her red polished talons.
The bells of the shop ring out sharply as the popular crowd leave, making extra sure the glass door rattles with a slam.
Jillian rushes out of the backroom, her hands caked with clay.
"Did we have customers?" She asks worriedly, eyeing the door.
"No," Kate says quietly with a heavy sigh, "Just some rude people from school."
"Ah. No black magic, okay?" Jillian winks.
I can't help but smile. It'd be pretty tempting to see Tasha a hundred pounds more with a few warts on her nose. As for Pecs, I'd turn him into a big ugly toad. The thought of him leaping around lily pads and falling into a swamp after missing a fly makes me bust out laughing. I quickly send these mental pictures to Kate who's laughing so hard that tears are starting to stream down her lovely pale skin.
Kate
I toss and turn in my bed that is now soaking in sweat. Nightmares from our journey plays like a twisted horror movie. Rauk's eyes haunt me to my core. His dark castle looms in my mind. I can feel his punches all over again to my bound body and the sickening elixir that turned me into a sluggish shell of numbness. I remember him carrying me to the bed chamber: his hard, cold body that held mine too closely. I tried to pull away from his steely grip, but I my muscles were frozen.
"Death will be your bedfellow…"
I remember the blackness of unconsciousness slip over me like a white sheet on a dead body. But there was something else… his cold, rough palms. I desperately search the memory for what happened after he drugged me and put me to bed. I concentrate on the feeling of his palms. Blips of images are fuzzy as I try to zero in on the smallest of details. Dirty fingernails scrape across the tops of my thighs and travel upward. Streaks of pain light up my brain, but I can only lie there, too weak with the weight of his magic. The mattress heaves as he climbs across my anchor-like body. His kneecaps clamp my hips. I'm trying to fight. I beat helplessly against his chest trying to throw him off of me. I feel like a butterfly whose flight was cut terribly short by the grill of car. The rough material of my night gown claws against my back. Something is pressed against an entry. A quick stab: trickles of blood ooze between my legs as I feel him tear inside me. Muscles, skin, and screams collide. My virginity is breaking. The dull pain in my chest knows that my heart is broken too.
My eyes fly open. Did…did he… no. No, no, no. I jump out of bed forgetting to duck as I bounce my forehead against the slanted wall of the A-frame cottage. I curse as I rub my head vigorously. A knot the size of an egg is forming. Great. I instantly remember why I jumped out of bed. Rauk raped me. As soon as the thought hits, I know deep down it's true. It wasn't a hallucination or a night terror. Rauk raped me and I forgot all about it. I fall to my knees as tears pulse from my sea-colored eyes.
Where do I go from here?
Jarrod
I'm worried. Kate hasn't called me in two days and hasn't shown up to school either. I tried going to the shop, but it was unusually closed early. Jillian's car was gone too. I know that it's something bad. It's not like Kate to avoid me. Something's definitely wrong.
"Hey weirdo, where's Scary Face?" Pecs sneers slapping me on the back of the shoulder.
It's the wrong thing to do. In a flash, I grab his meaty hand in mine and twist his arm into an unnatural angle. Since the curse has ended, I have a newfound agility and strength I've never had before. All clumsiness disappeared and I feel like I can hold my head high for once. Confidence looks good on me and right now, it's making Pecs's eyes tear up like a little girl.
"Mr. Thornton! Let go of Pecs right this instant," Ms. Dooley bellows from the front of the science lab.
I shove Pecs off of me. He stumbles away, cursing under his breath as he plops down in the desk on the other side of the classroom.
I look up at her. For once, I don't care if I get in trouble. Especially if it's because of Pecs who's tortured me since day one. She heaves a sigh and continues with the lesson. Her chalk squeals harshly against the board causing us all to cover our ears in agony. It's more effective than detention.
School drags on the rest of the day as worrisome thoughts of Kate flow endlessly. I'm thinking the worst. And then I realize it's because I love her.