SWNOVELS Jinxed: Chapter 18
longer I was trapped in the house, the more desperate I grew for a couple of things.
First, I wanted to find a way out. I was confident we were missing something. Some kind of loophole that just wasn’t standing out to us, or some obscure piece of the puzzle we still hadn’t figured out. Maybe we were looking too hard in the wrong places. A part of me wondered if I was sabotaging myself, wanting to stay locked in my bubble away from reality forever. Could it really be that bad? My three guys and myself, and no real life to get in the way. Couldn’t that be the dream? Besides, the house was less viscerally scary and more mentally intimidating. A lifetime with the same people, the same room, and the same thoughts was enough to drive anyone insane.
I knew I was only fooling myself though. I wanted to get out. I needed to get out. Extreme isolation had taken a toll on each man, and threatened to rob me of parts of myself as well. I had already lost enough. Most importantly? I craved a goddamn cheeseburger like nobody’s business. My stomach longed to be stuffed full of the thickest, greasiest burgers I could think of. Sometimes I pined away in bed, dreaming about how the patty would barely fit between the buns, cheese melting over the top of it. The smell would waft through the air, and the crunch of the lightly toasted bread as I bit into it. Hunger pangs didn’t exist for us here, but the cheeseburger dreams threatened my sanity.
Every morning, I met Luther in the library, and we scoured the books. It felt futile, going over the same words every day without fail, but it was better than nothing, until I found a different course of action.
And if I never got out, what would Brynn think? The snow had been falling for several weeks by now, and according to Luther’s makeshift calendar, it was early December. Brynn would be back from Korea soon, and wondering why I had dropped off the face of the earth. I needed to get out for her.
The second thing I was desperate to figure out was how the hell Felix spent his days. The where wasn’t a mystery, because I knew he locked himself behind the door under the stairs. What was behind the door, I had no idea, and the possibilities were slowly driving me insane. There were so many, I literally didn’t even know where to begin. Was he a superhero with a lair built into the old house? He seemed more like a sexy villain than a hero. Was he a secret alcoholic, with his own distillery? Doubtful. Felix was so offended by Theo’s addictions I couldn’t imagine he had any of his own, or even knew how to make it.
On and on my brain would circle, going from possible escape routes to Felix’s secrets and back again. It hadn’t escaped me he and I were the only ones to not say “I love you” yet. But while Theo, Luther and I operated under pure honesty, Felix and I still held back from each other. The only time we didn’t was when we were fucking, still finding transparency easier in the dark.
Maybe I just needed to accept that was as far as our relationship would go. We were happy. Did we need complete honesty and sappy words?
Convincing myself never seemed to work, because I always found myself following him down the stairs. I tried to peek, but he was always too stealthy. By the time I made it to the bottom step, the door had already closed securely behind him, the knob locked.
I tried picking the lock, not that it had ever gotten me anywhere. Whatever was in his secret room, Felix was determined to guard it with his life.
I was sitting on the bottom step one morning after following him, debating whether I should go back and curl into bed with Theo or join Luther for another useless prowl of the library when a noise caught my attention. It was a sound I hadn’t heard in months, and I swung my head around to the window.
A car was making its way up the long gravel driveway, crunching rocks as it proceeded. What the hell? I got to my feet, trying to make out who was headed towards the house. Footsteps padded down the stairs.
“I heard a car,” Theo mumbled, still half asleep. “Or did I dream it?”
I shook my head, walking closer to the large bay window. “No. Someone’s coming.” A light blanket of snow covered the driveway, so the car was crawling along. I still couldn’t make out what kind of car it was. Behind me, a door opened and closed, and I looked away from my post for a moment. I wasn’t quick enough, and Felix was already locking the door behind him. 0/2 today.
“Is it the realtor?” he asked, stuffing the key into his pocket. I made a point to remember he kept it on his body. The only thing that made sense really, because where else in the house would be safe from prying eyes?
“I can’t see what kind of car it is yet.” I turned back to the window, but all I could make out was headlights.
“Well, we need to stop them before they get too close. Any ideas?”
Theo groaned. “Not this again. Don’t make me pretend to be a ghost upstairs. It was so embarrassing.”
I turned around to smile at him. “I’m sure you made an absolutely adorable ghost.”
He rolled his eyes. “Thanks but no thanks, sweet girl.”
Luther joined us, stepping out of the library to look down at us from the top of the stairs. “It isn’t the realtor. It’s a black car, not silver.”
“So who the hell would be coming here in the middle of fucking winter?” Felix frowned, joining me at the window.
I shrugged. “I guess we’ll have to wait and see.”
We all held our breaths in a collective silence, until the car rounded the last curve. A black sedan, unremarkable in every way except…
“Brynn,” I breathed.
“I’m sorry, Brynn, as in your best friend teaching in Korea, Brynn?” Luther asked.
I whirled around. “That’s Brynn’s car. She must be back for Christmas, and wondered why the fuck she hasn’t heard from me.” As soon as I realized what her intentions were, dread flooded my veins. “She can’t come in here! She’ll be trapped like we are. How the fuck do I make her stay outside?”
Felix grabbed my shoulders, giving me a quick shake. “Take a breath, Sav. It’s going to be okay. People outside can still see and hear us through the windows. How do you think the haunted house rumor started?”
I nodded, trying to steady my breathing as my best friend pulled her car up behind my truck, still loaded with boxes. By now they were soggy, filled with crap that seemed so essential. Months in the house had made me realize just how unimportant everything I had packed for my new life was. My single box I had brought in still sat untouched in the dining room. Brynn got out of her car, examining my truck as if it held all the answers to why the hell I hadn’t texted her for three months. It didn’t take long for me to stop checking my phone, realizing how useless it really was, but it probably took Brynn a hell of a lot longer.
She looked up to the house, her red hair standing out against the fresh snow. When she began to climb the steps, I flew into action. Whatever the cost, Brynn could not enter this house. I slammed my hands against the glass, screaming her name. “Brynn! Brynn, over here!”
She froze, turning her head to look around in each window before she spotted me. Her expression of concern swapped to one of anger. “Savannah fucking Miles, what the fuck do you think you’re doing not texting me back? You think you can just ghost your best fucking friend? Do you know how long it took me to find your ass?”
Felix was right. Brynn’s words were a little muffled through the glass, but she could still hold a conversation with me. And as she was chewing me out–rightfully so–she began storming to the front door.
At the top of my lungs, I screamed, “Stop! Don’t open the door!” She paused, still glaring at me, no doubt wondering why I was freaking out. “Brynn, you’re allowed to hate me for the rest of your life, but do not open that door.”
“Why? Are you hiding a new best friend inside? Maybe you got married while I was gone and just didn’t give a shit enough to tell me.” She slammed her hands on her hips, tossing her hair over her shoulders. But she had taken her hand away from the doorknob, and I breathed a sigh of relief.
“You can’t come in here.” I wasn’t sure how to even begin the conversation, because how did you explain to your best friend you were trapped in a cursed house, and if she came in she’d be stuck, too? I rested my head against the cool glass, wondering what the hell I was going to say. I was well aware the guys were remaining silent, letting me broach the topic as I saw fit. “This is going to sound insane.”
Her face softened, and I saw my friend again, the one who had stood by my side through thick and thin. The one who had let me cry on her shoulder, and cheered me on when I thought I couldn’t last another day. “Try me, Sav. Whatever you tell me isn’t going to be any crazier than you not responding to my texts for three months.”
I laughed, a bitter sound. “You’d be surprised.”
“Are you safe?” I should’ve known Brynn would only stay mad for so long. She knew me well enough to know something else had to be going on–whether she understood it or not. Her hair was blowing every which way, and she was trying to tame it in a ponytail. I was immediately nostalgic for the wind, remembering how it felt when it rushed against my face. The smells it brought with it. All these little things I had taken for granted, I missed terribly, remembering how precious they really were.
I didn’t respond. I turned back to look at the guys, all of them watching me carefully. Theo nodded at me, smiling.
“Sav, you have two point five seconds to tell me you’re safe or I’m busting the door down.” Brynn’s eyes narrowed, and I knew she meant business.
She couldn’t open the door. She couldn’t. I whipped back around to her. “The house is cursed.”
She burst out laughing, bending over at the waist to catch her breath. Then she looked back up at me, and started laughing all over again. When she looked back at my face once more though, she stopped. “Jesus, Sav, you’re serious? You think this house is cursed?”
I nodded slowly. “Once you step inside, you can’t leave. I’ve been trapped in here since the day I moved in.”
“Okay, look.” Brynn met my gaze, showing me her phone. “If you’re okay, blink once. If you need help, blink twice.”
“Brynn.” I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath. “I’m being completely serious. The house has been cursed since 1907.” I turned towards Felix, waving him over to the window.
He offered her a small wave, glaring at me out of the corner of his eye. But I knew he could explain it better than I could.
Brynn took a step closer to the window, and thankfully a step further away from the door. “What have you done to her? Are you keeping her in there against her will? My boyfriend is a cop, and I’ll have this place swarmed so fucking quick you won’t know what hit you and whatever drug operation you’re running out of your basement.”
Good fucking lord. Felix looked at me like he had absolutely no idea what was going on. I held up my hands, addressing Felix first. “She doesn’t have a boyfriend, and she hates the cops more than anyone. It’s a family thing.” Then I turned to Brynn, flattening my hand against the glass. On the other side, she pressed her hand–a reflection of mine. “This is Felix. He hasn’t kidnapped me. The house really is cursed, and he’s been trapped in here since 1907.”
Brynn closed her eyes, counting under her breath. I knew what she was doing. She was trying to calm herself down before she said something she regretted, or flew off the handle. She had been counting like that since we were younger, and there was a 50/50 chance of it working. Sometimes it just made her louder and angrier. “So you’re telling me, you’re stuck inside a house you’re claiming is cursed with a man older than my Great-Grandpapi?”
I smirked. “Yeah. But he’s a hell of a lot hotter.”
“Why should I believe you?” She crossed her arms, still glaring at Felix.
“You don’t have to believe him,” I interrupted. “But you can believe me. I’ve never lied to you, have I?”
“No.” All at once the fight left her body. “You know you sound absolutely mental, right? I have half a mind to come in there anyways, and drag you out by your toes.”
“I know how crazy it sounds, believe me. But why would a kidnapper let me talk to you at all? Why would my truck still be out front, loaded with moving boxes? And if I could get out, why would I be talking to you from behind a fucking window?” I ran my hands through my hair. “It’s ludicrous, I know. But it’s real. And I need your help. We need your help.”
She nodded. “I’m not sure what to believe yet. But I’ll do what I can to help you and Grandpa Felix get out.”
“It’s not just us.” I jerked my thumb over my shoulder. “Two other guys are trapped in here with us. Luther and Theo.”
“Wait.” She held up a finger. I waited for everything to click into place for her. “You’re trapped in a house with three guys who haven’t seen a woman in God knows how long?”
“Yes.” I waved my hands in the air, trying to get her to focus on the task at hand. “Look, I need you to help us get out.”
Brynn turned her attention back to me, but I knew she was still thinking about the living arrangements, and how exactly it all worked. “What can I do? Name it.”
“I need to figure out how to break the curse. The books we have inside here are limited, and I can’t find the information I need.” Even if Brynn couldn’t come in the house, maybe having a link to the outside would be helpful in gathering the information we seemed to be lacking.
She sighed. “Okay. I can only imagine the crazy looks I’ll get at the library, but I’ll do it. Can you tell me anything about the curse? Who did it, why they did it, what they said…”
I looked towards Felix. “Well?”
I didn’t want to tell his story for him, not when he was right here.
Felix nodded and turned to Brynn. Bit by bit he explained exactly how he had gotten trapped in the house, leaving out big chunks about how he was chasing love. I knew it was easier for him to put the blame on himself than to admit why he did what he did. He could atone for his own actions, but he couldn’t do anything about someone else’s. While Felix talked, Luther made his way down the stairs, coming to rest with his arm wrapped around my shoulders. I watched Brynn’s face as her lips pressed together, and her forehead creased in a frown. By the time Felix was done, her face was a mixture of resolve and disbelief.
“I don’t know what to say,” she murmured, rubbing the back of her neck. “I shouldn’t believe a word of what you’re saying, but…”
I heaved out a sigh of relief, except something wasn’t quite right. She stared past me, chewing on the inside of her cheek. I was about to ask her what was wrong when her face paled, and her eyes widened.
“What? Brynn, what is it?”
She met my eyes. “Don’t you remember those stories Granny would tell us growing up? There was that one her Great-Granny told her, when she was young. About how our family had powers people couldn’t understand, but we had lost our privileges. Great-great Granny had cursed a man, a powerful, influential man who had run her and her family off land they had lived on for years. No remorse, so she cursed him and the house he built on the land. Since she had used her powers for evil, instead of for good, the magic had slowly disappeared, generation by generation. I thought it was just a fucking story Granny made up to go along with the haunted rumors.”
Felix’s eyes snapped to hers, an expression I had never seen before flashing across his face. “You’re telling me…your family did this to me?” His body flushed hot with anger, and I wanted to touch him, calm him down. But before I could reach out, he spun around to face me. “Did you know?”
My heart stopped beating for a few seconds. “Felix, how could I have possibly known? We were kids, and thought her granny just made up those stories to scare us.” I shook my head, not understanding his fury. “Why would I be trapped in here with you if I had known?”
“You knew!” he bellowed. “You damn well had to have known. You just said her grandmother used to tell you stories. How could you not have known?”
I glared at him, watching his dark eyes flash with anger. “I. Didn’t. Know.”
He stalked over to me, standing a breath away, looking like he wanted to shake me or strangle me. Luther pulled me back against him, and Felix shook his head, storming off to his secret room without a second look back.
We all watched as he slammed the door behind him, the lock clicking with a finality. I looked back at Brynn through the cloudy window. “I’m sorry,” she said, her lips trembling.
“It’s not your fault. None of this is.” I pressed my hand against the glass again, and waited for her to press her hand against the other side. I needed to reassure myself as much as her.
“I’m going to fix this, Sav. I’m going to go right to my granny and see what the hell we can do.” Her eyes were clear, serious with their intent. “I’m going to get you out here.”
“I love you,” I whispered, tears clouding my eyes. What had I done without her for all these months? “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me yet.” Brynn pulled away from the window, brushing her wet hands off on her jeans. “I’m going to see Granny the minute I leave here. I need you to do something for me though.”
I nodded. “Anything.”
“Don’t give up. Not yet. Not ever.” And with those parting words, she blew me a kiss and got into her car. It took far less time for her to escape the driveway than it had for her to find her way towards us.
When her taillights disappeared, I sank to the floor, cradling my head in my hands, and sobbed. Luther joined me on the cold floor, tucking me against his chest.
“Shh…” he reassured. “Come on, sweetheart. Don’t be sad. It’ll be okay.”
I let him hold me. But I didn’t respond, because I didn’t know how to explain to him I wasn’t crying because I was sad. I was crying because for the first time since I had stepped foot inside the house, I had hope.