Trifecta: Ice [Complete]

Ch 11: Commanding The Curse

I continued working my way through the boxes, when there was a knock on my door.

"C-come in?"

It sounded like Karen, so I was not overly surprised when she stepped into my room.  I resisted the urge to cower down behind the remaining boxes out of her sight, but my eyes still fled to the furthest corner of the room.

"Looks like you've been working hard," she commented.

I nodded.

"Are you hungry?" she asked.

I still had no appetite, but I knew it was probably around supper time.  I nodded.

"We're having spaghetti tonight."

I used to like spaghetti quite a lot, but it sounded about as tasteless as the rest of the food I had eaten since I had been here.

Either way, if I were not obedient the curse would punish me, so I dutifully made my way towards the door and followed Karen out of the room, down the hall and into the kitchen.

By the increasing fear running from my wound through the rest of my body, I knew Serge was in the kitchen and was not surprised to find him there, although I could not look at him.  I scurried to my habitual place in the dining area and stared at the far wall.

I could hear Karen speaking to Serge.  "Need any help?" she asked.

"Sure, take this to the table," he said.  I felt my hairs raise at the sound of his gravelly voice.

A plate was put in front of me and I looked at it, long noodles and tomato sauce and a slice of thick garlic bread.  I could smell it and I was certain it smelled appetizing, yet I could not find a desire in myself to want to eat it.  It could have been stale crusts of bread and water as far as my interest was concerned.

Karen sat down across the table and I was terribly aware that Serge took a chair at a right angle to me.  I stared at the plate until I heard their forks clinking against their plates.

I swallowed and picked up my own fork and began the painstaking task of feeding myself.  My family would be upset if I starved myself and the curse would probably punish me if I even tried to do so.  I twirled the pasta and placed it in my mouth.

Karen and Serge were talking together about general pack matters, their tones probably subdued more than they would have been had I not been there.  I swallowed my bite and tried to listen past the nervous buzz in  my ears.

I took another bite and tried to convince myself there was nothing to fear.  Karen was super nice and Serge seemed to be trustworthy.  I was probably as safe here as I was at home with my own family.

But no amount of reason could banish the anxiety the curse continued to thread through me.

I remembered his picture before the cold fog obscured it.  I tried to make myself look at him.  I told myself there was nothing wrong with looking at the faces of other people, but it was as if my eyes had lost their ability to function normally.

I tried to make myself look at Karen and I had a bit more luck, I managed to see the orange knit of the sweater on her shoulder before my eyes fled to the ceiling.

It was progress.  Focus on the positive progress, I ordered myself.  I was marginally less shaky and fearful than the moment I had first been cursed. 

Then I realized I had been forgetting to eat and felt panic flood me.  I fumbled for my fork.

It slipped from my fingers and my heart stopped.