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Cursed

Chapter Thirty-Three: Endless Dread

….….…..…..…..

In spite of our journey's rough start, in the blink of an eye I begin to see familiar sights. It amazes me how easily I can remember where to tell Leo to turn, as if destiny is guiding us down the right path. It feels less like a memory, and more like something (or perhaps someone) tugging at my soul. Whatever it is, the feeling unnerves me.

My stomach churns as I notice the dark shadow looming in the distance. There it is. The house where I was imprisoned so long ago. The place where my powers were awoken. The place where my life was changed forever. I bite my lip and tell Leo to take the next left turn into the driveway. My eyes squeeze shut, and I try to block out the sound of gravel crunching under the tires to no avail.

"Is this it?" Leo scoffs.

I nod my head silently, trying to shove my nerves down into some deep bottomless pit where they can never emerge again.

"All I see is a pile of junk."

My eyes flutter open, desperate to confirm that I was just seeing things. But the house is still there, standing proud. My mind swirls with confusion. Shouldn't it just be a pile of junk? After all, it crumbled into ruin when I escaped, and even if someone decided to rebuild it I seriously doubt they would make it look exactly the same.

I scowl, opening the car door. I let it slam behind me as I slowly inch towards the house. The boys follow behind me, the sound of their footsteps filling the night air. I hesitate, stopping a few yards away from the front door.

"See Lucky? It's just rubble. Can we leave now?"

I scowl, crossing my arms. "Very funny, Leo. Stop acting like a moron."

"Oh, so now I'm the moron? Lucky, just look at this place! It's completely destroyed! How on earth could you expect to find anything here?" Leo shouts.

"Leo, the house is right there! Are you blind?" I snap, waves of red energy sizzling off my arms.

Wait.

Red?

"Um… Jinx?"

"I don't see anything either."

I turn to my team, confused. Why am I the only one who can see it? And why aren't my hexes pink?

"See? Even these idiots can see it! I cannot believe you convinced me to drive you all the way out here for nothing! Do you enjoy making yourself look like a fool? How full of yourself do you have to be to insist that you're right even though everyone else-"

"Go choke on a silly band, snot brain!" Gizmo yells.

"Yeah, leave her alone!" Mammoth shouts, pushing Leo to the ground.

I'm about to step in when the tugging sensation returns. It compels me to turn to the door, and I obey its call. A blinding blue light shines around the outline of the house, and the doorknob glows the same sickly red as my hexes. I tremble slightly, but the feeling beckons me to come closer. As I step closer to the light, the sound of the boys arguing fades into nothingness. The outline of a glowing hook appears on the door as my hand touches the doorknob. The cold metal sends shivers down my spine as my head starts to spin.

I stumble forward into the house as my world fades to black.

…..

When I open my eyes, I immediately wish I didn't. I find myself in the living room of the house, where I must have been when I passed out. Everything looks exactly the same as I left it, only intact rather than crushed by the ruins of the house. Unfortunately, the familiar decor isn't the only thing I see. Laying next to me, close enough to reach out and touch, is the corpse of the boy from my dreams.

My throat tightens as I take in the severity of his wounds. Large gashes cover his body, thick red blood oozing onto the floor. Rats crawl around on his corpse, their squeaks sounding more like tormented screams than the cries of a normal rodent. Bile rises to my throat as I notice a ball of blue light floating above him. As though it notices my staring, it abandons its post and begins to circle me before floating away.

I jump to my feet, nearly tripping over the body in my quest to follow the light. It leads me down hallways and into rooms that I didn't even know existed, before finally leading me down the stairs and into the very basement where I was held captive so many years ago. My heart lurches, but I don't have time to consider the consequences of my actions. The burning desire to fix whatever happened tonight drives my actions, and I sprint down the stairs.

As I fly off the last step, the ball of light begins to morph into a humanoid figure. A short, stout figure emerges from the light. Her hair is dark, and her skin is the same pale, sickly gray as my own. The only difference is the crimson red lines that cover her skin. At first, I think they're tattoos. My stomach twists when I realize it's blood. I take a step back as the woman before me sparks a flicker of recognition in my mind.

I have found the witch.

"Welcome home, my little Jinx," she says with a smile that would ooze spiders in a horror movie.

My fear turns to rage, hexes sizzling against my hands. They flash from pink to red, red to pink. I push away the nauseous feeling in my gut and prepare to fight.

"Who are you?" I growl, gnashing my teeth. "Who are you, and what do you want from me?"

The witch smiles, circling me like a lioness taunting its prey. "Such a disappointment your half sister didn't inherit a meta gene. I suppose it doesn't matter for our plans in the long run, but it would've been so nice to have a two for one deal when I came to reclaim you."

The nauseous feeling returns when I think about my sweet little sister in the same situation as me- the little sister I never got the chance to know thanks to the evil witch standing before me.

"Leave Felicity out of this!" I snap, throwing a hex at the witch. She stumbles, her back hitting a cabinet on the wall.

The witch chuckles, a glint of some emotion I can't name forming in her eyes.

"Now Jinx, is that really the way you talk to your mother?"

My heart stops.

"No, you're not," I argue.

I try to breath, try to stop myself from trembling. It's no use.

"Not what? After all, I did create you. I gave you life. Gave you those powers. Granted, that little girl's real father helped, but he was such an easy target with some help from… well, I suppose it doesn't matter. Oh, denying me after all this time fills me with such des-"

"Cut it out!" I cry. I can feel my heart beating again, only this time it won't stop. It thunders against my chest, pain emitting from every heartbeat.

This can't be happening. This can't be real.

"If you're really my mother, why did you abandon me?"

She scowls. "I wasn't the one who abandoned you. That was your father, once he realized what I truly am. The other girl was his new wife's child, but he didn't want to take any chances so he abandoned her too. Reclaiming you would've been so much easier if he would've raised you like we planned. My siblings and I had to track you down between all those foster homes, and when the Parks wanted to adopt you? Well, we had to step in before then."

I throw another hex at her, but my arm shakes and it ends up hitting a cabinet instead.

"Seriously, buzz off!" I snap. "You may have given birth to me, but you're not my mother! I wasn't looking for you!"

The witch frowns. "Why? Is it because you think I abandoned you? Shouldn't I remind you that the Parks did as well?"

My blood runs cold, and I swallow the lump in my throat. They may not have chosen to abandon me like all the other parents I've had, but that was only because I left before they could make that choice. And the reason I left is because I knew they wouldn't want me anymore if they saw me like this. If what the witch is saying is true, that this otherworldly abomination is my mother, then my gray skin and pink hair must be my true form rather than a forced transformation. Definitely not was I was hoping to learn by coming here, but it is a sign that the Park family probably won't want me back if they ever find me.

"What do you want from me?" I finally ask, fighting back the tears.

The witch smiles cruelly. "Only for you to fulfill the purpose of your creation- to free me from my endless torment."

"Jinx!"

Leo's voice rings through my ears. Suddenly, my arms ache as though an invisible force is grabbing them and shaking me.

The witch sighs, a pained expression on her face. "Well, I always knew we were speaking on borrowed time. Don't get too comfortable, we'll sever those ties yet. I'll be back to end things once and for all."

A chill runs down my spine at her words, and suddenly I'm hit with a sense of dread so strong that I nearly throw up.

…..

My eyes snap open. The first thing I see is Leo hovering over me.

"Jinx! You gave me a heart attack!"

My heart is still pounding, and the sickening sense of dread refuses to go away. But I'm alive. Not that the witch tried to hurt me, but who knows what her plans would've been if we spent more time together.

What did she mean, when she said she'll sever those ties? How am I supposed to "free" her? Who is the boy from my dreams, and what does he have to do with this? Is he even alive?

The questions swim through my head as I try to figure out where the heck I am. The feeling of dread only grows worse as I realize that we're still in the basement.

"I thought you couldn't see the house?" I manage to say.

Leo frowns. "It showed up after you walked inside. Seriously, what were you thinking? You completely passed out!"

A styrofoam plate sits at the top of the stairs by the door, just as one always did during my captivity. I try not to gag as the scent of meatloaf wafts through the air.

"Come on, Leo. We're going home."

…..

Leo helps me to my feet, and we silently exit the house. I still have questions that need answered, but I doubt I'll find the answers here. I don't want to find the answers here, either.

As soon as we exit the door, I'm nearly knocked off my feet by Mammoth.

"Jinx! You're alive!" he cries, tackling me in a hug.

"What were you thinking, snot-brain?" Gizmo asks, on the verge of tears himself. Unlike Leo's similar comment, Gizmo seems more concerned than angry. "We thought we lost you!"

Their presence calms me down, and I start feeling myself return to normal. "What, were you idiots too scared to go in?" I ask affectionately, a smile returning to my face.

"We wanted to!" Mammoth complains. "But Leo wouldn't let us!"

Any chance of my good mood returning vanishes the moment the words leave Mammoth's mouth.

I narrow my eyes. "What do you mean, he wouldn't let you?"

"That pit-sniffing bozo said that since he's your boyfriend, he's the only one who's allowed to save you," Gizmo grumbles, crossing his arms.

I scowl, pushing away from Mammoth. I glance over at Leo, who is already waiting in the car.

"Absolutely not," I growl. "He doesn't get to decide that."

Leo glances in our direction, and even from a distance in the dark I can tell that he's impatiently gesturing for us to join him.

"I'll talk to him about it when we get back. I promise."

….…..

Annnnnnd I'm back! Sorry for not updating in nearly a year. Since last time I've graduated high school and started college, and I'm just now starting to adjust to all the changes going on in my life. One of my resolutions this year is to finish at least one of my fics, and since we're getting close to the end of this one there's a good chance I'll be putting in a better effort to update regularly.

The witch/Jinx's biological mother is loosely adapted from an existing DC character, so if anyone has any theories on who she is I would love to hear them. Key words being "loosely adapted", though, since I like to play around with comic canon like Teen Titans itself did (hopefully that doesn't upset anyone who does happen to be familiar with the character). I dropped a few extra clues in the chapter, but it was extremely difficult to restrain myself from adding more (lets just say there was a very obvious, very stupid video game reference I was dying to make and leave it at that).

Quote of the day!

"He's trying to lure me into a false sense of security! Well, joke's on him! I've never been secure in my life, and I'm not about to start now!" -Sylvie Ashling, Epithet Erased

May the odds be ever in your favor,

~Spectrobes Princess