Chapter Four
The smile fell from my face. My stomach bottomed, sank into a pit of coldness. The Evol was staring at me with a big grin. Someone must have let it out of the bowling alley. I knew it would happen eventually, but couldn’t eventually have been…longer? Say, after midnight?
Before I could think, do, or say anything, Aaron’s hands brushed across my neck, then rested on my shoulders for a brief moment. I didn’t realize he’d moved until he blocked the Evol from my sight. “The necklace looks good on you, Am,” he said with a sweet smile.
I tried to return it but knew it fell flat. “Thank you.”
His hands went to arms, rubbed up and down. “What’s wrong?” he asked, frowning.
I opened my mouth to respond and then closed it. I couldn’t tell him the truth, at least not all of it. He would never believe it.
Everything was perfect—except a creature that wanted to steal his love from him. I couldn’t let it happen. No, I corrected myself, I wouldn’t let it happen. The Evol was getting closer and preparing his bow. I had to do something. “Whatever happens next,” I started, glancing over his shoulder, “just…I love you,” I said quickly.
Aaron’s tone was wary when he responded. “What’s going on? What do you expect to happen?”
“Nothing. I just wanted you to know that.”
His smile blossomed and sent butterflies fluttering in my heart. “I love you, too.”
The Evol was twenty feet away and closing in fast.
Aaron deserved to love, and someone—even if it that someone wasn’t me—deserved to be loved by him. It was going to take his love and I had no power to stop it.
You can’t have his love, I thought. And if you get it, I’ll just keep giving him mine.
Tears streamed down my face in hot waves. I buried my face into Aaron’s shoulder to hide them and wrapped my arms around him, holding him as tight as I could. When his arms came around me in return, I held on even tighter. “I love you,” I murmured, over and over again.
“It’s ok—”
I frowned and pulled back when Aaron’s voice died away. It didn’t sound…natural. Looking up, I saw that his face was completely frozen, as if he were paused. I brought a finger up to his cheek, tapped lightly. His skin was still warm but hard as a rock. “Aaron?”
The tears came faster. My heart beat harder. “Aaron?” I said again. I glanced over his shoulder and then gasped when I was face to face with the Evol. “What did you do?” I demanded. “Unfreeze him—or whatever you did. Just undo it!”
“This curse was placed upon the Carter tree, for love be something they never see. One heart was broken, and more should fall, a loveless life was doomed to them all,” the Evol said, reciting the poem, or curse, that my mother had told me earlier. The curse that started all of this. The curse I hadn’t believed in.
I shook my head and then stepped in front of Aaron, ready to…do something. I didn’t know how to fight a demon, or if it was even possible. But I’d find a way. “You can’t have his love. I won’t let you take it.”
He notched the arrow, started to draw back. That same wispy spiral cloud went from Aaron into the Evol’s arrow. “How will you stop me?”
“I—” I didn’t know! There wasn’t enough time. No one told me how to stop it. They just said I had to, that I’d know when the time was right. The time was now and I still had no clue! “A trade. Take my love. You can have it, but you can’t take his.”
The spiral didn’t stop, but it slowed. “You would give your love for him? Even knowing he may someday break your heart with it?”
“Yes!” I pressed against Aaron, trying to keep him as covered as possible, even though it was pointless. Blocking the Evol’s path didn’t stop him from stealing Aaron’s love. “He deserves love. I…” I shifted enough to glance at Aaron, to run a finger down his cheek. “Maybe I don’t,” I said quietly and turned back. “But he does. So, yes. I’ll trade mine for his.”
The anti-Cupid gave a small bow. “The curse is broken and you are free, so take your love and let it be. Your love was spared this time ‘round, but the curse still will be passed down. For every generation a lesson must be learned, to love with everything, else be spurned.” The bow and arrow vanished in a wink. “You’ve learned your lesson well, Amelia of the Carter line. Treasure love, for it can heal and break many curses, even when it causes pain.”
My hand wrapped around Aarons. “But is his love safe?”
The Evol nodded. “It is. As is yours.”
“Thank you,” I whispered, closing my eyes. I let out a nervous laugh. I was thanking a demon. A demon that’d been bent on stealing Aaron’s love. And mine. When I reopened my eyes, the Evol was gone, and Aaron’s fingers were wiping away my tears.
“It’s okay. I love you, too,” he said against my ear. “I hope those are happy tears.”
“They are.”
“Good.” He bent down, slowly pressed his lips to mine. They were soft and warm. Gentle. One of his hands went around to the back of my head and his fingers threaded through my hair. After a minute, both hands were around my waist and he spun me around. The world spun, but I didn’t think the spinning was the cause. He lowered me back down until my feet touched the ground, then he deepened the kiss. When he broke contact, I tried pulling him back but he just laughed and rested a hand on my hip. “Come on.” He hooked his arm around my waist. “Let’s have our date.” His gaze dropped to his watch. “We still have an hour before Valentine’s Day is over.”
I glanced over my shoulder. The Evol was there again. It gave a small wave, then bowed once more before turning into a heart and vanishing into thin air. Taking a deep breath, I leaned into Aaron’s side. “Yeah. Let’s have our date.” Butterflies fluttered in my stomach; warmth spread over me like a blanket. My heart gave a solid knock and then stopped for a full second. Heart Stopper was back. And maybe, just maybe, having a cursed love wasn’t so bad after all.
The End
From The Heart
Love may come easy,
It may come with pain.
It can come without warning,
It can end in the same.
It should be given freely,
Without any fee,
It should always be treasured,
For it’s something we need.
Love can be a blessing,
It can feel like a curse.
But it begins and ends here,
Because it came first.
Lanie Jordan writes stories. She also has one cat. There are three living with her, but she only claims them as hers when they’re sleeping or being good–neither of which happen very often.
She writes about a lot of things, from demons and angels to aliens and ghosts and weirdo people who do weirdo things that she can’t even wrap her head around.
Despite the love/hate relationship she has with her plot bunny, she still loves writing and plans to keep doing it until her fingers fall off (which won’t happen anytime soon, she hopes).
To learn more about Lanie Jordan, you can find her at these places:
Website and/or blog: https://www.laniejordan.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Lanie_Jordan
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