Max and Arin running away from the curse (Part-I)

Early in the morning, I heard sex noises. A woman was moaning louder and dirtier than a whore, a man was grunting, and the continuous annoyance made me leave my bed with a bitter taste in my mouth. Max is not with me; he has to attend some of his business meetings related to the preparations for the festival. He is quite worked up about it, and I don't want to be the clingy lover wanting him all for myself. Even though I do want him all for myself.

I am changing. I haven't told him yet.

Last night, I could hear the prayers made to the dragons. People in town have started with rituals. I still am not sure how the rituals work, but it is working. I heard an Ella praying for good fortune, a Markham praying for wealth, a Som for a girlfriend who is shying away from him, and many more. The countless voices droned inside my head for a long time, until I forcefully shut them out.

Then I realised that I was able to hear them all praying and I was able to shut them out of my head. Something I couldn't do until yesterday.

This morning, I feel how minutely the weather is changing. I can feel the temperature rising, and the humidity growing. Soon, there will be rain. I can even sense which way the wind is blowing, and how the morning breeze is carrying different smells — scents of flowers, food, sweat, sex, forests, and the river.

As I washed my face with the cold water and savoured that feeling when my facial muscles were numb for a millisecond, I heard the hisses from under the water of the river. I heard the red dragon swimming freely, hissing from time to time as she detested the noise made by humans, and grunting as she dodged the offering thrown in the water.

But I couldn't tell Max about it, because I didn't meet him until now. Now that he is with me, his questions worry me. Once again, I considered what it would be like if I confessed to the changes in me.

They are all waiting for me to break their curse, a curse that was most likely set to motion by none other than myself. I still don't know what that curse is, and how they are suffering. I am not aware of the form of the curse and how to break it. Hell, I don't even know myself well yet.

And they are waiting. They have not done anything out of place to push me, force me, or manipulate me to break the curse for them. What happens when they find out about these changes? Their expectations grow, they come forward hoping for more, and I smash their hopes. There are many turns that can be taken after that, but none of them look promising to me.

But it is Max. If not him, then whom shall I trust? I need him. He is the only person who can help me, protect me, save me from my self-destructive fate. I get ready fast. Today, I am supposed to take Jace and his girlfriend sightseeing. We will finalise the places we want to shoot in and discuss how we are going to present it. I go downstairs to meet Max. When I find him, my chest feels lighter, better.

But when I come closer, just by looking at his face, I know something is wrong. The way he looks at me, the way he asks me questions, and the way he averts my eyes when they are almost about to meet, everything screams the same thing. Something is wrong.

And then she comes. Amy Weathers. I was about to get irritated and suspicious. Never, in any of my videos, had I ever shown my face. Yes, there are some thumbnails, but they are not clear enough to recognise me. Byrne has said this so many times, that each word is now etched in my brain like a permanent tattoo. "You have to be careful with photographs. You know why. This is the era of technology and every single snap we take preserves itself forever. You cannot afford the same mistakes from your past."

The information takes a second or so to register itself in my head. Amy Weathers. Of course, the 'Weathers' I was waiting for. She is supposed to be my ears and my eyes. I considered telling Thomas Byrne why I don't need her help anymore, about my heightened senses but decided otherwise. It is tempting, but I don't know how to explain it. Besides, there must be some way she can be of use.

I send her with Vee. he is the first person I need to find out about. My list has many people whose names I still don't know. Maybe this girl will be able to fish those names out. I send her away, and pay my attention to Max. he is deep in his thoughts. I feel it again – something is wrong. He suddenly asks, "When are your friends coming?"

"Are you excited to meet them?" I ask laughing. "Or are you worried about their approval?" this can't be it, or can it? Max, the ever-so-confident owner of a great personality and the brightest smile, is worried about getting approval from my friends. I shake my head.

"A mix of both." He asks me with some hesitation, with an anguished expression on his face as though the thought pains him physically, "What if they tell you that you're making a mistake by leaving Amy for a man?"

And then it hit me, the pain of seeing me with someone else is causing the distress. I feel the strong surges of his emotions. Frustration and fear are chewing him up from the inside. Adding that to insecurity and guilt, he has created a dangerous concoction of overwhelming emotions inside himself. Even worse, he is not sure how to let it out. It is all bottled up, like a ticking time bomb.

I pull him for a kiss and smile. "What do you think will happen then?" I asked him for real. I can sense his emotions, each one of them with all their intensity and severity. Our eyes lock. 'Please, let go, don't think too much. Let us take it slow and wait until you start to believe that this is not a mistake. I am back and I am not going anywhere.' All these words remain unspoken.

I feel the surge of guilt again, mixed with insecurity, sadness, and hopelessness. My lack of power, or the presence of Jace, is what is causing this despair — it remains a mystery to me. I wish the changes in me would allow me to read his mind too if something like that is possible for someone like me.

"There is something that you should know," he says. Suddenly, he seems desperate. Desperate enough to do something dangerous, break some rules, challenge the fates. He scares me. I have returned after what seems like a century. I don't want to take a risk that would send me away again.

"Is it necessary?" I ask him, hoping he will say no, or he will end up saying how much he loves me. All this is because of that one emotion that is surging towards me from him. Love, an extreme, obsessive, protective, possessive kind of love that never faded with time, as everybody predicted. On the contrary, the distance has turned it into an insatiable beast that lives in both our hearts and bodies.

"It is necessary."

I look at his eyes again, this time, to find the sadness building up inside him. His eyes are transparent, unlike mine, they truly are the windows of his soul. I touch his cheek ignoring the crowd around us. People are watching us, in their eyes, we are probably the poster boys of gay pride. Two handsome men in love with each other, I can hear the squeals and giggles around us. Young women cheering us silently, elderly cursing this generation, somebody mentioning sin.

I wish they knew what real sin is and what its consequence is.

"Would you tell me about it, whatever it is, if we were alone now, making love, far away from this place and this curse that binds us here?"

He shakes his head.

"It is about the curse, isn't it?" I ask, this time my heart feels heavy. What if the curse breaks us away again? I try to swallow my fear in order to protect Max from it. "Am I supposed to know about it from you, like this?"

He shakes his head and averts his eyes. I realise he is on the verge of crying.

I grab his hand and drag him behind me to someplace away from the prying eyes. I notice Vee entertaining Amy Weathers, while a mist in the shape of a man hovers over him. I fix my gaze on Max and say, "If I know about it, everything will change. Let us live for a while, just you and me before the curse ends us once again. Let me be with you, for one last time."