A Curse [2]

ANN

 I dragged my feet along the sidewalk, my head tilted to the side.

The wheezing cars, traffic noises, and every trace of life, macro and micro, all faded from my reality. All I could see was the endless stretch of paved sidewalk before me.

The picture remained in my head, haunting my sanity. My face was wet with tears, and my chest was missing heartbeats.

I didn't understand how I ended up outside the office building, and I couldn't bring my wrecked mind to go back to the painful past. My feet suddenly froze, and I stood rooted in the spot, my eyes fixed on the ground beneath me.

Shoulders brushed past me roughly, different scents clouded my nose, and the breeze hit me cruelly, but I couldn't move.

Philip's laughter. His ever-smiling face. His tender touch against my skin. His comforting whispers. His deep blue eyes. His words… his words when he knelt and asked me to spend the rest of my life with him. They all haunted my head. They all haunted me.

I closed my eyes, tears rolling down my cheeks like a river. My heart was beginning to break again, and no matter how much I fought with my mind, I felt bound to the memories I once called the sweetest. They had become horrifying memories that made me irk.

I dropped to my knees and lowered my head, crying into my palm. I thought of jumping into the middle of the road and letting a speeding car decide my fate. 

The thought bugged me so hard that I could feel my body moving away from the sidewalk.

All my life, everything I loved and desired had been taken away from me. My mother was lying sick, battling leukemia all her life; my father abandoned us, and the blame for his irresponsibility was shifted to me.

‘He left because he didn't want you.’ They always said.

I cackled bitterly as the voices of my mother and her siblings echoed in my head.

A curse. Yes, I was a curse to everyone when I was born. 

And when I thought my life was going to get better, Juliet came in and snatched everything away.

I fet cursed. The feeling that I didn't deserve to exist overwhelmed me.

“What is the reason for living if my life is destined to be a curse?” I whispered under my quivering voice.

My feet were shifting closer to the edge of the sidewalk. I didn't stop it. Instead, I dragged it forward.

I could hear the sharp horn of a bus get closer as I placed a foot down from the sidewalk. 

My heart raced, and chills washed down my spine as I slowly raised the other foot.

But before I could put the other foot down, a hand gripped my pale arm and dragged me off the road.

I staggered and felt my heart skip as I landed back on the sidewalk, scratching my hand over the rough ground.

“Are you crazy?” a voice growled at me.

I barely flinched at the voice but sighed in defeat as the bus wheezed past.

“What is wrong with her?”

“She has gone insane.”

Whispers criticizing me filled the air, but I remained numb, sitting on the ground in silence.

The hand grabbed my shoulders, and a musk scent filled my nose.

“Do you want to die so much?”

My lips slowly stretched into a bitter smile, my eyes fixed on the fading bus.

“Yes,” I whispered in a quivering voice.

He let out a scoff and muttered something under his breath before standing on.

“Go ahead then,” he said.

I wanted to move, but my body was broken beyond movement.

“Go on!” the man snapped, cursing again.

I swallowed hard, nursing the pain that kept smashing my heart to pieces.

“Ann!”

My head slowly raised when Kenny’s voice pierced the dark haze of bitterness that swallowed me. I looked up, and the pain increased as I watched her run towards me.

My lips pressed together, and more tears rushed out of my eyes. The cry I had been holding in burst out from my trembling lips, and a soft whimper escaped my parched throat.

“Ann!” Kenny gasped, throwing her bag to the ground and dropping to her knees before me.

“Oh, you poor little thing. You poor thing,” she clicked her tongue as she cupped my face with her cold hands.

She pressed her forehead against mine and whispered words meant to comfort me.

“I should die, Kenny. I should die,” I whispered.

“Shh!” she hushed, pulling her head back.

Her hands gripping the sides of my face tightened, and she stared deep into my eyes, burning anger in hers.

“You are not dying now, do you understand?” she spat out.

“You are going to that fucking wedding, and you will throw this cheap ring at their faces. Is that clear?” she spat as she grabbed my hand.

“It’s a 12 thousand dollar ring,” I whispered, waving the diamond crust at her face.

“Fuck the 12 thousand dollars. You'll get triple that money when you expose their evil to their faces!” she spat.

I stared at her, barely comprehending her words. 

The picture flashed into my mind again, and pain coursed through me.

“I… I don't want to live anymore. I'm tired of my life,” I whispered, breaking apart again. “You don't understand how it feels to be hated by everyone and have everything you've worked for be taken away from you. You can never relate, Ken,” I whispered, knowing well enough that she’ll never understand.

She nodded, tears rolling down her flushed face.

“I know,” she whispered. “You need to spit in their face and let the world know what they have done before you die.”

I swallowed and looked down again, her voice echoing in my head and sinking in.

“You will go to the wedding tomorrow. Let that bitch know she only stole your trash this time!” Ken groused in a low tone.

I raised my head, letting the dull sunrays fall on my pale face.

My lips stretched into a smile as I stared up at the billboard advertising Juliet’s bestselling book. I remembered writing those taglines and prologue past midnight. I remembered spending sleepless nights writing and editing the first fifty chapters of her famous book. 

She didn't just steal the man I loved. She stole the book I spent nights crafting and became a bestselling author.

How can I die after everything that fake stole from me?

Just watch, Juliet. This will be the last thing you will steal from me. Before I die, I will drag everything down to where they left me. 

Everything, including my book.