Voodoo Curse

Disclaimer: Don't own Victorious

A/N:

Chapter 3 (Where None Should Go)

Jade chewed the bite of her steak slowly, absorbing the juices into her tongue as she looked towards the small makeshift stage in the steakhouse. According to Erwin, it was karaoke night at the restaurant. He was trying to get her to go up and sing, but she continued to turn him down, saying she hadn't sung in years.

During her teenage years, singing was something she enjoyed doing in her spare time. She studied music, and even obtained a degree in it. Most of her life she just wanted to be a homemaker, so when she had her daughters, she decided to stay at home and raise them.

"Who is that?" She heard Beck ask. Her eyes travelled to a woman walking towards the stage. The girl had a golden masquerade mask that covered her eyes and nose, and she wore a long purple dress with a trailing end. Her brown hair flowed like satin around her shoulders and was puffy like clouds.

"Not sure," Sikowitz replied while jerking his hamburger from his teeth. The man swallowed heavily and turned his eyes to the woman. "She comes here each week, always wears that mask and never identifies herself. She has a decent voice, but probably just doesn't want people knowing who she is outside the restaurant. We all have our reasons for privacy, I guess."

Jade smiled as the girl gingerly touched the microphone stand. "She's beautiful." She rolled her head to the right and set her fork gently on her plate. "Once people know you can sing, they start bugging the shit out of you to sing everything under the sun. It can get annoying if you only like singing as a hobby or for fun…so it makes sense."

"This is a popular place, she'd probably run into people she knows here. Hell, even I've tried asking her if she wants to enroll in Hollywood Arts."

"Oh?" She pursed her lips and turned to Sikowitz. "What did she say?" He chuckled once and shrugged.

"She just sort of smiled and walked away. I haven't approached her with the offer since."

The girl pulled the mic towards her lips and walked two steps to the right. "The song I'm going to sing for you tonight is a strange one. It's one of my favorite songs because, it is something I feel like I can relate to." She turned around and her chestnut eyes drifted to Jade's table. "It's from a 1997 movie, Anastasia. The lyrics have always stood out to me, and for a reason I'm not entirely sure, it feels like it could be perfect for my dreams..."

Jade pressed her lips together and moved her eyes to the corners of her sockets as a gentle yet haunting melody filled the silent restaurant. The girl shut her eyes and begun to sing with a soft, somewhat shaky tone.

"Dancing bears, painted wigs. Things I could almost remember…" Her eyes drifted back to the girl and her heart began to quiver. The girl's eyes filled with tears and her head shook gently from side to side. "And a song someone sings, once upon a December…"

The girl took a quick and deep breath while hugging herself tight. "Someone holds me safe and warm, horses prance thrugh a silver storm. Figures dancing gracefully, across my memory." Her eyes opened halfway and her voice rose to match the song.

Jade was captivated by the haunting melody and found herself struggling to pull her gaze from the girl. The girl extended her arm, closing her hand in the air as though grasping for something. "Far away, long ago. Growing dim as an ember-" She pulled her hand back, hovering it inches from her chest. "Things my heart used to know, once upon a December."

"Such an amazing voice she has," Beck said with a smile. Jade started to nod, tearing up as she thought back to the moments before her sister arrived. Fifteen years was a long time, but for her, her sister's curse was fresh.

Seeing Beck dressed in his Santa outfit, giving their daughter the powdered wig to play with, filled her heart with joy. "I wonder if the Care Bears still airs on television," she whispered. Her eyelids closed, splashing her tears out onto her cheeks.

"No," Sikowitz answered, "They ended a while back. Why?"

"Because our daughter was watching the care bears that day." Her heart broke when she remembered how their child had been watching from the high chair. Her unheard plea for her sister not to harm them in front of her burned still within her throat. "Our baby girl was asleep in her crib, but our oldest was in the living room. She saw us-" Her words fell apart with a broken voice and she quickly turned her head away from the singer on the stage. "She saw her mommy and daddy vanish…"

Beck bowed his head and Sikowitz took a deep breath. "Yeah," he said softly, "I remember. Poor girl was saying how 'Aunt Holly sent mommy and daddy away', so the police just figured the two of you ran off…no one believed any of us that said you two wouldn't just abandon your daughters."

"They never investigated?"

"No. It was just assumed you guys ran off." Jade clenched her fists beneath the table and felt a surge of anger and pain leaving her heart. "The police taped off your house, leaving it as a crime scene…then forgot about it. No one ever bought it."

"Can we see it?" Beck asked suddenly. Jade raised her head up and shot him a skeptical look. He glanced back at her and shrugged. "If it's still there, if no one owns it, then maybe there's something that could help us figure out what happened."

"So much time has gone by," Jade remarked. "What good would going there do?"

Sikowitz looked between the two of them and laughed. "That's not a bad idea," he replied. "A couple of my students want to check the place out tonight, so you could certainly join them." Jade raised an eyebrow and Beck immediately questioned the man.

Sikowitz raised his shoulders and moved his hamburger towards his lips. "Your old home is abandoned, left untouched. There's talk about it being 'haunted', among other theories-such as people having once practiced witchcraft there…"

Jade rolled her eyes and scoffed loudly. "Well at least one theory might be right." Sikowitz frowned and lowered his hamburger a bit.

"Yeah well…I've never bothered listening to them. It's hard enough losing a couple of your closest friends, it's another thing hearing a bunch of wild tales about what could have happened to them, and never knowing the truth." Jade's heart sank and her stomach tightened to the point she no felt a desire to finish her meal.

"Regardless, when asked, I told my students I wouldn't join them. They wanted to see this 'haunted house' for themselves, and I…" He breathed in shakily and cleared his throat. "I can't. Even now, with you guys here, I still don't know what to make of it all." He raised his head. "There is something there, though. Something you guys might actually want to look at."

"What?"

"Scorch marks or something." Her heart jumped to her throat and Beck's jaw fell open. "According to the old news reports, the only thing suspicious were the scorch marks in the center of the living room, where your couch was, and a sticky substance that was glued to the carpet nearby."

"Sticky substance?"

"Yeah, it was very black in color and I think they said it had a gum-like texture or something. You couldn't get it out of the carpet."

Jade's stomach turned over and she saw Beck's skin starting to turn green. "What the fuck did we drink?" He asked. Sikowitz raised an eyebrow. Beck put an arm over his abdomen and waved his hand violently through the air. "I'm done. I can't eat anymore."

"She gave us hot chocolate." Jade frowned and pushed her half-eaten steak forward. Sikowitz covered his mouth with his hand and let out a contemplative hum. "There was something really off about its smell, but she was my sister and I didn't think she'd do anything to hurt us…it tasted fine, but when Beck dropped his cup and it spilled out…it didn't look right."

"Nothing about this whole thing is right." Beck tugged at the black leather jacket he was wearing and his expression fell flat. "Such as, us not only having fifteen years of our lives practically erased…missing fifteen years of our childrens' lives…but we're wearing the same damn outfits we wore when we were fifteen."

"You don't have to tell me twice." She was wearing a dark eighties style jacket and long, skintight jeans. "It's 1980 all over again. I'm just fortunate we reverted back to a time before my Pat Benatar phase. 2015, I think popping up dressing and looking like Pat Benatar would turn heads."

Beck laughed once and rolled his head to the right. "None so much as Prince would. I remember back in my high school days, I had posters of the Beach Boys, the Beatles, and the Rat Pack all over my walls."

"I wonder if people are still into all of them?" Jade's eyes darted to Sikowitz with hope and earnest. The man put money down on the receipt and started laughing. Jade pursed her lips and pushed his upper arm. "What? What's so funny? People are still into them, right? Honest question." He wiped a tear from his eyes while continuing to laugh.

It was not long before it was apparent that he would not answer. For he was still laughing even as they left the restaurant. "If I told you Michael Jackson was accused of sodomization, went from being black to being white, and died a year ago, what would you say?"

"Get out of here!" They shouted in horror. "One nightmare at a time, Erwin."

That evening, before attempting to meet their fathers, they arrived on Rosewood Ct where their home still stood. Three teenagers were waiting for them after having been informed by Sikowitz that they were to be joined by a couple new students.

Neither of them were sure what to expect or what to say to these students, or if they knew the names of those that once lived in the house. Even if they did, they would likely think the similar names were just coincidental.

When they approached the students, Jade took a moment to observe them. The one that appeared dominant and stronger was the dark-skinned boy standing in front. His shoulders were broad and his arms were crossed over his firm, muscular chest. He had a pleasant smile and his hair was styled with cornrows.

Beside him was a thin boy with thick glasses and curly black hair. He carried a puppet in his hand, which Jade thought was rather peculiar. Standing near the boy with the puppet was a girl with fire red hair and pink clothing, she had the friendliest smile and eyes that danced excitedly around the area.

"Oh look it's them," the girl exclaimed while running to meet them. "Hi! I'm Cat. Cat Valentine." Jade jerked back, blinking for several seconds before smiling back and shaking the girl's hand.

"Jade um-West." She frowned at Beck, who merely shrugged. The two of them had already agreed that it would be best not to use the same name. They were a teenage couple, so having the same last name might seem odd to people and induce others into asking a bunch of questions they didn't want to answer. "This is my boyfriend, Beck"

"Great!" Cat turned and waved at the two boys. "Andre! Robbie! Come on, come meet Beck and Jade." The boys introduced themselves as they walked over, and Cat spun back around. "Honestly, I'm glad you two are joining us. I don't like going into abandoned homes, it's spooky and sometimes it feels like we're intruding. You know what I mean?"

"Yeah we do." Beck leaned into Jade and lowered his voice to a whisper. "At the very least, with us here, it's not as much breaking and entering as it could be." Jade shut her eyes and mustered up a wide grin as she tried not to laugh.

"Door's locked," Andre muttered, "So we probably won't be getting inside."

"Locked?" Beck rubbed his chin and started to smirk. "Are you absolutely certain? Let me try." He put his hand into his pocket and walked up to the door. His smirk grew and Jade watched as he quickly removed his house key and unlocked the front door after jiggling the knob several times.

The door pushed open and Andre's jaw fell open. "Well what do you know." Beck turned and spread his arms out. "It wasn't locked, just stuck." He motioned to the inside of the house and looked towards Jade. "Shall we continue?"

Jade held her breath and closed her fingers together before her waist. Her eyes travelled to the overgrown weeds in the front yard and then towards the cracks and chipped wood running along the walls of her home.

The windows were boarded up and graffiti covered the place. Tears started to fill her eyes as she choked back a frustrated sob. She followed the others in and Beck placed an arm around her shoulders.

Sikowitz had been right about the inside, everything looked almost as it had so long ago, as though they only stepped out for a single day. "Oh god," she said while releasing a breath.

The high chair was positioned before the television, the portraits and paintings on the walls still hung, albeit crooked. The nearby fireplace still had ash from the logs they'd been burning that day.

In the corner of the room stood the Christmas tree, covered now with dust. The train beneath the tree had fallen over and the horse which once rested on top of it was broken in two and laying a few inches away.

Her heart shattered as she watched the three kids move about the living room. Her hand tightened around Beck's, clenching so tight she feared ripping his hand from his body.

He pointed with his other hand. "There's the couch, dear…" She gasped out and threw her hand over her mouth. The couch was on its back, the two end tables also lay on their sides. The vase that had been on them lay shattered on the floor, with long dead flowers crinkled beneath the porcelain debris.

It was the only area that had been disturbed, which wasn't surprising in the least. Jade felt her knees beginning to cave and she walked towards the couch, struggling not to fall to her knees and weep.

"Look." Beck knelt down and hovered his forefingers over a mark on the ground. "Scorch marks." The mark was large and shaped like a star, with an empty center where the couch once had been. "Erwin was right about that."

Jade pulled her hands to her chest and shut her eyes. "I can't believe the police never investigated foul play."

"This mark looks only barely like what would have been left behind by an explosion. I'm guessing there was no fire."

"An unexplained reaction? Spontaneous combustion or something?"

"Possible." She could remember feeling like she was going to burst, but didn't think that actually happened. If it did, then she couldn't help to wonder if they should have died. "The thing is, your sister said 'sleep'. I don't know if she intended to kill us…whatever happened was because her boyfriend was stupid."

"Yeah…"

A flashing light startled her and she spun around sharply, but restrained herself from shouting. Cat was standing near the markings and taking a picture of the scorch mark. "Sorry," the girl said while smiling innocently, "I didn't mean to startle you."

Beck folded his arm over his knee and raised his head up. "Why are you taking photos, Cat?"

"I wanted to show my grandmother, that's all." Cat lowered her phone and pointed to a spot nearby. "Look at that, there's something dry and sticky there. Won't come off."

Beck moved over, humming gently as he stared down at the large stain. "It's consistent with a spill." He rolled his eyes and sighed. "Like someone spilled a drink or something." He ran his fingers over the stain and tried tugging at the carpet. His brow furrowed and he raised his eyes to Jade. "Definitely stuck to the carpet. I don't think any amount of cleaner or stain remover is going to get this off, Jade."

"Oh excuse me!" Cat knelt beside him and took a pair of scissors from her pocket. Jade's eyes widened and Beck watched in silence as the girl cut a small patch of the carpeting out. "Sorry, don't mind me."

The girl put the patch of carpeting into a small plastic bag and shoved it into her purse. Beck opened his mouth, but closed it and dropped his head with a sigh.

"Look at this," Robbie called from the television. He pointed to the VCR left in the stand. "It looks like a cable box." Jade squinted her eyes and Beck brought his hand to his forehead.

"It's a VCR," Cat replied, "They used those back in the 90s."

"I know, I'm just saying…" Robbie tapped his chin and started to hum. "I wonder if we could sell it to like an antique shop or something." Jade's heart sank and anxiety rushed up her spine. "There's like a lot of vintage dishes in the kitchen, and figurines."

Cat picked up a small music box from nearby and shrugged. "I don't know if it would be a good idea to take things from the house." Jade smiled at the girl, watching as she turned the music box back. "Who knows what happened to the former inhabitants. Grandma always says we need to be respectful to the 'other side' and stuff."

"That's all fantasy and make believe."

"Not according to Grandma. She's very into spirits and the afterlife."

Andre walked out of a nearby hallway and jerked his thumb over his shoulder. "Guys, there's a nursery back here. Not to mention an old, incredibly smelly diaper stuffed into a trash bin." His lips curled and his nose shriveled up. Jade saw her husband swallow and his lips twitched as though he were trying not to laugh.

"You think that's weird." Robbie gestured to the kitchen. "There's still food in the refrigerator." He brushed his hand along his arm and sighed. "Plus I'm getting really uneasy here, like the longer we stay, the more sick I feel."

"We probably should leave soon," Cat remarked. "There might be a reason you feel that way, and it might be the reason nobody's ever touched this place. I want to talk to grandma about it, but she thinks that theory about magic being practiced or used here is accurate."

Cat folded her arms over her chest and furrowed her brow. "She says there are a lot of places in the world that are abandoned but no one has ever touched them because there's a certain feeling that remains…" Robbie and Andre pursed their lips and turned bored gazes onto the girl. "Whether magical or spiritual, that makes people sick to their stomachs. Don't take anything from this house that doesn't belong to you, not without paying respect."

"What about you? You cut that carpet out."

"But I did what Grandma says and told the spirits of the house my intention and gained permission from the other side."

"I thought you didn't believe in your grandma's stuff, Cat?"

"I believe a little bit. I believe in not disrespecting the spirits-and if Grandma's right, and witchcraft or something happened here, then you don't know what items might be cursed or what you might take with you if you steal from the house."

"Fine." Robbie rolled his eyes and Andre shook his head. "We'll leave everything here," Andre retorted. Jade couldn't help but to smile as she was impressed with the girl's tact and diplomacy. It was strange to hear someone so into the supernatural and the spiritual, though, at least someone other than her own sister.

As the two boys started to leave, Jade approached Cat with the hopes of getting to know the girl. "I didn't know you were into the spiritual kind of stuff, Cat." The girl smiled slightly and shrugged.

"I'm not as into it as my grandma is, but I think it's really fascinating. She says there's a lot that we don't realize about the spiritual world." Cat approached the scorch mark on the ground and tapped her chin. "Like this mark here? It looks like something that has to do with voodoo, I've never seen anything like it in my grandma's practice."

"'Practice'? You mean your grandma practices witchcraft?"

"Oh no, but she's wiccan. That's different, she says. There's wiccan, there's witchcraft, there's voodoo, and it goes on and on."

Jade looked towards the marking on the floor and took a deep breath. "You don't think that could have been just from a fire?" Cat shook her head.

"No I mean, maybe?" The girl looked to the fireplace and started to hum. "The only problem is, where would the fire have started? What could have caused an explosion, right? Absolutely nothing else in the house indicates a fire ever took place, none of the old news reports say anything about a fire-though there was speculation. The couple that lived here just up and left, and this is the only thing suspicious about the whole scene."

She squinted her eyes and pulled back the corners of her lips. "You don't think it's odd at all that a couple would leave their two baby girls behind, taking absolutely nothing from their home? Not even their car?"

"I think that is odd, but that's the thing." Cat walked towards the door and stopped just before the frame. Her foot tapped the ground and her eyes rose to the ceiling. "The news reports all say that the couple informed the woman's sister that they were taking off and wanted her to look after their children for a little bit. They never returned."

Jade bared her teeth as a new sensation of rage began to simmer within her. "Liar," she said with a hushed whisper. Beck put his arm around her shoulders and she began to shake violently.

"Hey look," someone said from behind. They turned to see that Andre had returned to the house. In his hand he was holding a small white gingham stuffed dog. Jade's eyes shot open and her heart burst with a vengeful fire. "This was by the kitchen door, it's an old gingham dog-those things were popular back in the eighties and nineties. We could certainly sell it."

Cat put her hands to her hips and slanted her eyes. "Andre no, what did I tell you?"

"That's not yours!" Jade exclaimed at the top of her lungs. She broke free from Beck's arm and slammed Andre into the wall, pushing the stuffed toy from his hands. Andre screamed out as she grabbed his shirt collar. "Leave it alone. Leave everything in this house alone."

The toy belonged to her oldest daughter, it was the first stuffed toy she'd gotten for her little girl. The toddler always had it with her, so seeing it abandoned with the house was far too much.

Beck pulled her from Andre, who quickly raised his hands and backed up. "Sorry," he replied hastily, "I didn't mean to make anyone mad." Cat stared at Jade for the longest time with a contemplative expression on her face. She leaned her head back slowly and turned to Andre.

"I told you not to try and take anything from the house, Andre. You don't know what might be attached to the object you take." The girl ushered him out the door, leaving Beck and Jade behind.

Jade tentatively picked up the stuffed dog and made her way to the corner of the living room, sitting beside the Christmas tree and staring straight at the high chair. She hugged the dog close to her chest and pulled her knees towards it.

Tears poured from her eyes and a sob shook through her body as she dropped her face to the stuffed toy. Beck stood in front of her, looking at her with a deep frown. His eyes glazed over and his head shook from side to side.

"This isn't happening," Jade whimpered, "This can't be happening." She gasped out and saliva spat from her lips. "Tell me it's not happening."

"I wish I could say it isn't real." He sat beside her and bent his knees upwards. His arms perched above them and his hands hung over them. He cast a lingering gaze to the door and a single tear ran down his left cheek.

Jade leaned into him, placing her head on his shoulder. Her gaze travelled to the mark on the ground and the trembling in her body increased further. "I want to clean my house up," she muttered. Beck pushed his hand through his hair and chuckled sorely. "It's dusty, it's unclean, it's tainted."

"We're going to fix this, Jade."

"How?" She rolled her head upright and looked up at him. Her eyebrows crashed together and curled up like a cat arching it's back. Her lips pouted out and her tears dropped to the stuffed dog. "How are we going to fix it? What if we never fix it?"

Beck looked at her, studying her eyes for the longest time. He sucked his lips inwards and his chest started to expand. After several lingering seconds of silence, he released a heavy breath and turned his eyes away.

"I don't know. I hate seeing you this upset." He closed his eyes and scratched his head. "God this has been the most screwed up Christmas. Why did we agree to come here? What were we hoping to find?"

"I…I wish we hadn't come here."

Well, what are your thoughts here? Seems we meet Andre and the others, Cat's grandmother may have some knowledge towards spiritualism and other things-I wonder if she might be able to help Beck and Jade. Sikowitz, I may just start referring to him as Erwin since that's what Beck and Jade call him, seems he has a pretty strong tie to the couple. Any thoughts on the mystery girl from the beginning? Oh we shall soon see their children. Next chapter, actually.