……
benedick: suffer love! a good epithet. i do suffer love indeed,
for i love thee against my will.
-much ado about nothing; act 5, scene 2
……
It takes about half an hour before Alex finally comes out to where Justin is standing. Her appearance is alarming to say the least; she's pale and her eyes are red. She's been crying he realizes, and quite a bit because she's still breathing a little shakily. His instincts kick in and he puts an arm around her, which she only allows for a few seconds before pulling away from him.
"Alex…"
She shakes her head. "I just want to go home and make the stupid potion."
Evelyn has followed Alex out, face still kind, yet grave at the same time. Justin could go into a panic right now, seeing how affected both of them are by whatever was said that he had not been privy to, but he can't. Alex is clearly getting very upset about what's going on and she needs him to be strong for her.
He thanks Evelyn, offers to pay her for the potion ingredients, but she declines. Bidding them goodbye, she tells them to take care and watch out for signs around them.
Oookay.
Alex is quiet as they walk down the street, and she doesn't look like she can handle the subway right now so Justin calls a cab and they sit on a bus stop a few blocks away and wait for it. Licking his lips, he attempts to get her to talk to him about what happened between her and Evelyn.
"I don't want to talk about it," she says, voice hoarse and scratchy. It makes his heart hurt. He tries again, but clamps his mouth shut when he sees a lone tear travel the length of her cheek. "Justin, please."
"Okay." He pulls her against his side, squeezing her shoulder and this time she lets him.
……
Justin grumbles the whole way home and after they've gone into the lair to start on the potion. Evelyn had failed to mention that in order for the Uncrossing Potion to work, they have to make it on a Saturday during the waning moon. Otherwise it's just a big puddle of smelly oils. Alex doesn't look too pleased when he tells her this.
"Well, when is that?"
Looking at the Great Wizards calendar on the wall by the table in the lair, he mutters a curse under his breath. Alex would never let him hear the end of it if she overheard him. "Next week."
Alex curses, not even trying to be quiet or subtle about it. "Perfect."
Scolding her is second nature, as is her eyes roll as she shoves him away and plops onto the bench, face buried in her arms. "I hate this," she says quietly.
"I know." Justin moves her legs and sits, taking her feet into his lap. He's not entirely sure, but he thinks he feels her muscles stiffen under his hand. "Don't worry, Alex. We're going to fix this. I promise."
"I believe you'll try, I really do." She turns onto her back, propping the round cushion under her head so she can look at him. There's sincerity in her eyes, just like when she stood on front of him, tears streaming down her face, and begged him not to forget her, not to leave her. He's always been his sister's punching bag, but he's also her hero. Justin knows that, even if she never says it. And her faith in him means more than he'll ever tell her.
There's a lot that Justin and Alex never talk about.
"But what if we can't?"
That's the only point of doubt in this whole thing. Justin doesn't like to think about when he lost the competition, about the sickening disappointment that settled heavy in his stomach until it all went blank, and ever since he's strived even harder in his studies, in his practice. He can't face the idea of another failure.
"We will." He pats her knee, hoping it reassures her just a bit. "Trust me, Alex."
After a few moments, face oddly blank, she whispers, "I do."
……
He must have fallen asleep, for the next thing he's aware of is opening his suddenly heavy eyes and Alex is no longer stretched out on the other end of bench that is really not built to accommodate sleeping. Instead she's sitting up with her legs curled under her, face pressed into his neck and her hand resting on his chest. His arm is draped over her back, fingers just brushing where her shirt has ridden up just a bit with her movements.
One thing he's aware of is how very warm she is where their skin touches. Too warm. She doesn't have a fever so he guesses it has something to do with the curse, and yeah, it kinda makes him even sleepier.
So he closes his eyes and he's out in seconds.
……
When he comes to again Alex is no longer using him as a human body pillow. She's sitting at the other end of the ridiculously small bench staring at him. Her arms are crossed, sitting on her legs that she has pulled up in front of her, resting her cheek on one elbow.
Creepy, but also? Sort of cute.
"Are you watching me sleep?"
"Psh," Alex sputters. "Ego much? I was debating the best way to go about pushing you off the seat to wake you up."
That sounds more like her.
He sits up, stretching his stiff muscles out, feeling a kink take root in his neck. "Ouch."
Rolling her eyes, Alex leans over and lays her index and middle fingers against the exact right spot and rubs in a hard, deep circle for a few seconds.
"Thanks," he says, warily. Alex is the only one who is ever able to do that and she always wants something in return. Something way bigger usually, but he gives in because the last time he refused he ended up with muscle spasms for an hour. And then he gave in.
"I think I figured it out."
It takes a few seconds before that makes its way through Justin's muddled brain to process. "You did?"
She makes a face at him, making him realize that he sounded more than a little skeptical. "Yes, doubter, I did. Remember that old woman who sold me this?"
He nods. Not like he's going to forget the reason their entire family almost missed their plane any time soon.
"Well, I saw her before that," Alex says. She shifts on the seat, her eyes bright and wow, she must have been up for a while now if she's this alert. The strange just keeps on coming. "Actually, I saw her a lot. The only time I don't remember seeing her lurking around was when we were in the jungle." Her cheeks go red, just a smidge. Alex has already informed him that they're not going to talk about that. Ever again.
Seeing as how he lost his powers to his ill prepared little sister, he agreed.
"So you think she did this to you?" Her head bobs. "Why?"
Shrugging, she stands up. "Who knows? I saw her around, but that was the first time I actually spoke to her. So…" Alex reaches out for his wrist and hauls him to his feet, begins pulling him over to the middle of the room. "We need to go ask her."
Justin shakes his head. He couldn't have heard that right. "Alex, we cannot go back to the Caribbean."
She huffs. "So what-you just want me to spend the rest of my life with a curse on me?"
Okay, so maybe she has a point.
Thinking about it for a minute, Justin weighs the options and just how much trouble they're going to be in when their parents discover that they're not home after they've been grounded. And then there's the whole skipping school thing. "Does the curse hurt?"
Alex punches him the arm, as hard as she can. He can tell.
Justin rolls his eyes and grabs the controller for the IPP.
If he misses a pop quiz, he's going to kill her.
……
Of course the first person they see is Javier.
"Alex, you are back." He gives her that charming smile, with way too much teeth if you ask Justin, and tries to sidle up close to her. She steps away, closer to her brother. Javier looks stunned. Tucking the IPP controller in his back pocket, Justin merely smirks.
Not too much though. "Listen, we're looking for a woman that was selling jewelry by the front of the hotel the day we left. Have you seen her?"
He thinks about it for a moment. "Was she old? Selling voodoo dolls?"
"Yes!" Both of them exclaim.
Javier nods. "Miss Vivianne. She's lived on the island for years. She and her husband immigrated to New Orleans from Africa when they were young, and then they retired here when I was little." He leans in. "Between us," he whispers, "she's not a lady you want to tick off, so be careful."
"Is it because of the voodoo?" Alex asks, eyes very big.
He nods. "Yeah. And she hates kids."
Just perfect.
Javier tells them where they can find her, on the outskirts of the town, in a small beach hut. He warns them not to stare at the chickens, which doesn't make sense until they come up on her house and see an entire row of various chicken parts hanging on wires in front of the house.
"Ew," Alex mutters, and Justin nudges her.
With extreme trepidation, Justin walks to the front door and knocks. Alex stands behind him, peering over his shoulder but pretty much using him as a human shield.
When the door opens, Justin feels a chill run over his entire body. The depth of intensity with which the old woman is looking at him shakes him down to his very core. He feels Alex grip at the back of his shirt, moving further into him.
Clearing his throat, Justin begins to speak slowly and carefully. "I'm sorry to bother you ma'am, but we need your help."
"We?" The short word is so accented that it's hard for him to understand it.
He shifts to the side, allowing her to see Alex behind him and the charm around her neck that's brought them here.
A smile, mocking, wicked, somewhat malevolent, contorts the corners of her wrinkled lips. "Ah yes. I remember you."
Alex looks petrified. Justin takes her hand, feeling her squeeze with all her might.
"We think," Justin says once it becomes clear that Alex is not going to speak, "that this necklace my sister bought from you is causing her some trouble."
The old woman nods and moves from her doorway. With slow, methodical steps, she leads the way to a small wooden table, streaked and cracked with age and weather, and mismatched iron chairs in a variety of colors beside her fence. Still holding her hand, Justin all but drags Alex along with him. Her eyes are trained on an enormous glass jar full of what look like pig's feet and he jerks her hand hard. The last thing they need is to insult the only person who can help them. Possibly.
"What leads you to my door?" Vivianne asks in her thick brogue that sounds like a deep southern dialect layered over French. "In need of chicken feet?"
The fact that she finds this funny says a lot.
He opens his mouth, but Alex beats him to it. "I can't get this thing off," she says, fire in her dark eyes. "And I'm having these weird…" Casting a sidelong look at her brother, she drops her voice, tone dripping with embarrassment. "I keep getting these bizarre urges and I don't like it." She crosses her arms over her chest and levels that patented 'don't mess with me' stare she uses frequently on him on the older woman. "Not one bit."
To Justin's amazement, Vivianne chuckles. "You remind me of myself when I was your age." She crosses her withered hands on the table in front of her and her various bejeweled rings catch the bright early morning sun. "When I saw you at the resort," she begins, "I could feel the unresolved issues in your heart, and I felt your magic."
Justin and Alex exchange a worried look, but say nothing.
"My husband, he was a wizard. A very powerful wizard." Vivianne's eyes go distant, dreamy. "He gave up his powers to be with me."
He feels like he's heard this story before.
"We were never blessed with children," she continues. "And I always felt that my husband was more hurt by that than he let on. He made it his mission to help those in need, particularly those who are forced to keep secrets of any kind. He traveled the world helping people who were persecuted and ridiculed for things they could not help. He died four years ago. Now I carry on for him."
This is the woman that Javier is so scared of? Justin shakes his head, firmly deciding that the older boy is every bit the idiot he believed him to be.
"Well that's nice and all," Alex says, setting Justin's inner panic alarm off, "but I don't have any 'unresolved issues' that need to be dealt with."
Vivianne nods slowly, reaching across the table to pat Alex's hand. "Not all pain is known to us. Sometimes, it takes a while before we're aware of the symptoms ourselves."
Justin stares at his sister, shocked, concerned. He hates the thought of her being in pain, actual pain, that he had been unable to see.
Shaking her head, Alex sits up straighter in her chair, showing all the classic signs of getting worked up. "I really don't think so."
"The necklace won't come off," Vivianne repeats, her voice firm in a way that makes Alex close her mouth. "And it won't until the feelings it's brought to your attention are dealt with."
"What?!"
Alex has stood up before Justin even realizes she's stood p, knocking the chair she was sitting in backwards, shaking with fury and murder in her eyes.
He grabs at her. "Alex, calm down."
"No!" She starts crying now. Rounding on Vivianne, she starts shouting. "This isn't fair! You don't even know me, never even spoke to me, and what-you sought me out to give me this cursed necklace all because you 'recognize' that I'm in pain? That's a bunch of crap."
Justin stands and takes hold of his sister's shoulders. She's scaring him. He's never seen her so upset in his life. Not even when he forgot her. Then she was just scared. Now she's scared, angry, and hurting.
It terrifies him.
"Alex, calm down." Her face is all red, she's still sobbing, and he's worried she's going to pass out if she doesn't control herself.
She collapses against him, clutching at his shirt and soaking his neck with tears. "I can't do it, Justin, I can't. Please help me."
If there's a point beyond so completely and absolutely scared out of your mind, Justin thinks he just reached it.
He turns to Vivianne, desperate. "Please, can't you get this off of her?"
For the first time, she doesn't look amused by any of this, or placating, or like she's merely humoring them through Alex's denial. "I'm afraid not. I put a very specific enchantment on that particular charm, one that would draw your sister. I could see it in her aura from a thousand yards. There are some very strong feelings she's been burying. Until she sorts them out, her own magic will just continue to intensify Erzulie's call."
Alex works her hands between their bodies and pushes herself away from Justin. Gasping for air, she pleads with her eyes for him to just do something.
He shakes his head, feeling more helpless than ever before, he holds his hands up in defeat. He hates, hates, that he can't make this better for her.
"I'm sorry," Alex whispers. Then she turns and runs toward the beach.
Now what?
……