Bound Souls
Disclaimer: I own nothing
A/N: This is a different thing than I've done and I hope you'll enjoy it. For those of you who are interested in the prequel, that was "Cursed Dance". Enjoy this.
Chapter 1 (Alive but Not Alive)
"What are we still doing here?" Jade muttered harshly while watching Tori fidget around the refrigerator. Beside her, Beck scratched at the back of his head and moaned as he felt a clump of hair pull from his head. "It's been years. Dad and Andre's grandma are losing their minds."
Beck huffed as his girlfriend darted her cold eyes towards Tori and slapped her hand in the air. "It's clear she's not the one, right?"
"Maybe it's because she's not eighteen yet," Robbie replied, "Janan said the medium's sense doesn't get strong until they hit eighteen, right?" Beck looked towards Rex and felt his heart sink as the puppet's sad eyes burned into him. Rex's face, arms and legs were beginning to splinter and would soon turn to dust.
"Man it's useless!" Andre proclaimed. "If we wait until she's eighteen it's going to be too late."
"Then what do you propose we do about it?" Cat snorted. The redhead crossed her arms and turned her head away. "I agree with Jade. It's useless. Nona's heart is breaking too." Cat's brow furrowed and she swept her bangs from her misty eyes. "Jade's father, Nona, Andre's grandma." Beck turned his gaze onto Cat and frowned at the bright red skin on her forehead, injuries not visible to many. "Why is it they can sense? They can see? Maybe we should go to one of them?"
"Janan said they weren't long for the world," Beck answered with a mournful tone. "They sense and see because they will die." He felt the chill of silence come in response to him, but despite this, the group did not react.
They had years to mull over this fact, to grow used to it. Even over the years, they had to avoid their families as well and become used to living apart. They didn't want to cause pain, and anytime they went near their families, one of their relatives would have a panic attack and break down in fits of tears.
Andre folded his arms and turned a forlorn gaze onto a rash on his arm. "They can't sense Ahriman anyway. No one can."
Beck's eyebrows meshed together and his face tensed as the hole in his heart burned. Being a year older than the rest was hard on him, but it wasn't the age that mattered. He felt responsible, so he led them. Now he did whatever he could to save them, but he was beginning to lose hope once more as Ahriman continued to claim another.
Guilt strangled him and drew his fists close. Jade's hand fell on his shoulder and he turned his head away to conseal the guilt and anger in his eyes. "You can't blame yourself forever, Beck." Her whisper enticed him, but drew back painful flashes.
Thunder echoed in his head and fire lapped at his chest. The smell of blood and smoke poisoned his nostrils as lighting flashed in his mind multiple times. "I should have listened to Sikowitz. Shouldn't have let anyone in that room. Damian, I thought…I thought Ahriman was going to give-"
"What are you guys talking about?" Tori's voice caused him to jerk his head upright. The girl was walking over with a soda in her hand. Her eyes were bright and her lips curled into a smile.
Cat leaned forward and swept her fingers across the red blotch on her forehead. "Can you see this?" Tori squinted her eyes and wiggled her nose.
"What? A zit?" Beck cupped his hand over his mouth and Cat fell back with a sigh of defeat. Tori's shoulders fell and concern flickered past her eyes. "What? Did I say something wrong?"
"Don't worry about it," Beck remarked. Tori hadn't ever noticed the shape Rex was in either. Maybe the others were right, maybe it was useless and they needed to resign themselves to their fate.
"I suppose she smells nothing either," Jade whispered while rolling her eyes. The stench was a powerful one. "I don't care what Janan said. She was wrong." Jade pulled her hair over her right shoulder and moved her hand up to scratch the bright red rash on her neck. "We may as well enjoy what little time left. Besides, Janan claims the medium can only sense because they're born from another cursed-do either Mr. or Mrs. Vega look cursed to you?"
"One has to be living, so maybe Mr. or Mrs. Vega had a kid with someone else that was cursed." Robbie shrugged and rolled his head to the side. "Janan said we already know the medium, and we need to convince the person to accept their ability to sense, but…so far we just look normal to Tori, and everyone else."
"I guess it's not that bad," Rex muttered, "You guys were lucky enough to be bound to your bodies. Instead, I get bound to a goddamn puppet."
It was fine that they looked normal to everyone, although half of Hollywood Arts did. The majority, even Damian himself blamed Beck for negotiating with Ahriman. Every day, every year when another's time was up, their last words before returning to dirt was a curse on his name.
Even Rex blamed him, but Beck's curse was worse than Rex's. While Rex challenged Ahriman and was forced into the body of a puppet, Beck would be last to meet the abyss, watching as all those he cursed went before him.
"We can't just give up." He glanced down to his hand, studying the veins that bulged from the surface. He yearned for the hot blood that once flowed through them with quick pulses. "Whoever Janan told us about…can sense, they can save us. I won't give up."
He watched as Tori and Andre talked near the piano. A shallow sensation lingered in his stomach as he replayed the imagery in his head. "It isn't your responsibility." Jade's hand fell on his and a shiver ran down his spine.
Her touch was as icy as the snow up north, and a wet feeling lingered in her palm. "It is." He removed his hand from hers and watched the frown lines grow around her lips. Sikowitz's voice echoed inside his mind, crippling him.
"Beck, don't open that door!" Beck whined as he heard Damian calling for help amid the sound of bullets outside.
"But it's just Damian." Along with Sinjin, Damian had been a good friend of his. Sinjin passed and Beck was getting more involved with the new friends he'd made, but that didn't mean he was going to abandon Damian. "We can't leave him out there."
"Beck, no!"
Another blast of thunder echoed in his head. He moved his hand to his abdomen as his stomach dropped. The worry in Jade's eyes pulled at his heartstrings, and he forced himself to look away. "You know it is. Every person still there at Hollywood Arts, every person whose family can't see them but they're cursed to live among the living until Ahriman claims them…I negotiated, thinking Ahriman would give us all a chance to live again. I was fooled and cursed everyone."
"Beck."
"That woman." His breathing grew heavy as he felt a fire surrounding him. "Janan said the medium can see and smell us in our current state, that the medium can sense the supernatural. She's strongest at eighteen, and somehow she can free us. So if I can help save everyone from the fire, then damn it Jade, I'm not going to give up!"
Jade's fingers ran through his hair and tears ran along her cheeks. Robbie and Cat turned their heads to their feet and Rex shook his head. "I know you feel like its your fault, Beck. You're the one that spoke to Janan before any of us." Beck's eyes slid towards Jade and he took a deep breath, holding it as she pulled her hand away. "I'm not going to deny outright, but it is clear that no Vega in this household can sense us."
"Well we've only looked at Tori," Robbie stated, "I mean she's the one that isn't eighteen yet. Maybe that's the reason. Didn't Janan say the medium wouldn't be able to sense until she's eighteen?"
"No she's supposed to sense something before that, but when she turns eighteen is when it becomes more intense." So it was likely Tori just did not pay attention because her senses weren't sharp enough to be noticeable.
"So what, we wait for another two years?" Robbie crossed his head and snorted. "That sound like so much fun. Maybe we can just tell everyone that's rotting away that the savior is just two years away." He threw his hand into the air and rolled his eyes. "What if we're wrong? Maybe there's someone else in LA, maybe Janan lied and there is no promise. No damn salvation. Ahriman's going to claim all our souls, sap our energy and send us into hell!"
"Tori's good at a lot of stuff," Cat muttered, "It has to be her. Besides, she might be the only one to believe us. Though, if she can't see the decay…"
"Hey!" Tori's voice interrupted them. They turned back to see her walking to the couch. "The Walking Dead is about to start, you guys want to watch?" Beck's face turned sour as the others groaned.
"I can't stand zombie shit," Rex growled. "And the name zombie? Where the hell did that title come from? More like cursed souls destined for a black abyss."
Cursed dead have been around for years, theirs was not the first instance. Usually it happened when a soul tried to make a deal with a reaper to have a second chance, and they discover the reaper is simply a demon that will devour leave them bound to their decaying bodies only to be devoured at some point down the road.
It was very likely that this type of curse was inspiration to the person who thought up the zombie genres, but Rex had a point, the name 'zombie' was terrible. Also the media's portrayal of zombies made Beck sick to his stomach.
Tori slid her hands along the back of the couch and slanted her eyes at the puppet. "Robbie, when are you going to stop using that puppet? It's creepy."
Robbie opened his mouth to say something, but stopped when Trina's voice rose above them and made them flinch in shock. "Jesus! It smells like death in here." Beck raised an eyebrow and turned his head over his shoulder to see Trina descending the steps.
She was dressed to go out, wearing a flashy red dress and sparkly red heels. Her cheeks had a light pink blush and she wore light peach mascara. Trina's nose crinkled as she met Tori's gaze. "You should tell your friends to take a bath or something." Her Chanel purse slipped from her shoulder so she grabbed it and swiftly returned it to its place.
"Don't be rude." Tori slid her hands to her waist and glared at her sister. "Besides, I smell nothing." Beck's jaw dropped as Trina rolled her eyes and made her way to the door.
Trina always avoided them, to the extent they rarely saw her. That was more prevalent in recent months, but they never put any stock into it.
"Just go on your date," Tori remarked.
"Since when is she dating?" Jade scratched at her forehead and looked to the others with concern. A scowl spread across Trina's face and Jade flinched. "I uh, didn't mean that to sound rude."
"I've been going out with Sinjin for three months now," Trina answered. "Try not to sound so surprised." Jade's eyes widened and Beck's chest throbbed. They weren't expecting to hear she was going out with him, of all people.
"S-Sinjin?"
Trina's lips curled into a frown and her nose scrunched. "Oh and Jade?" After a minute, she rubbed her own neck and twisted her lips in disgust. "You really should do something about that rash, it really looks bad."
Jade's hand shot up to her neck and her lips separated an inch. Beck curled his lips into a smirk as Trina left the house. He looked towards Tori, watching the girl shake her head. "Hey Tori, how old is Trina?"
Tori gave him a look as though he'd just asked an incredibly stupid question. He was taken aback by this, but said nothing and let her speak. "Eighteen. I thought you guys knew that. She turned eighteen three months ago, just before Sinjin asked her out. I thought you paid more attention to her?"
"She hardly pays attention to us, so we do the same." Now it was time to pay a little more attention. If Trina was the one that Janan spoke of, they'd have to convince her to help.
No easy task of course, especially not if she was dating Sinjin, but Beck was going to see it through. Those of them left needed this, they needed a savior. If that was Trina, then he was determined to convince her of it no matter the task.
So Trina is the medium. We'll have to delve more into what that means and exactly what it is a medium can sense-which is essentially the spiritual realm. Most ignore, then there are those like Trina who are in denial of their senses. Then there's the question of how she can break them of the curse, but this Janan holds the key to that.