Curses

Abocu

At the end of the day, the kid was just a distraction diverting from the real thing.

"The east is on the brink of death. Please, I need to go for my sister to live, they have her. She is one of the infected"

He desperately pleaded. I say she was already death. No one could survive the curse of Yomi. Esvani was the first in the west that the wave touched but there was no guarantee that it wouldn't spread throughout the land soon. I held my tongue and waited for Fort. There was a knock on the door.

I gestured him to back off and he scurried away to the other end of the wall. When I peeked through the peephole and found his face, I opened the door, only for his spine along with his head to rip off from the body, splashing blood on my entire clothe and the insides of the house.

On the tip of the Kids feet rolled a finger. The boy screamed and cried all the more. I looked to and fro and found the swaying branches of the tree. I had half a mind to check but stayed put considering if it was a tactic of some sort. I stayed vigilant on the door, shifting my eyes to the windows for any sort of movement, nothing.

Perhaps it was a gift, perhaps a warning. I read the signs engraved in his skin but couldn't make out much except for the word 'Kimo' on his bareback. That was how mangled his body was.

I clicked my tongue and took a deep breath. I glanced at the boy and he was curled up on his knees. I sat on the chair and faced him.

"How desperate are you?"

He looked up at me. At that moment, as I looked at his face, I realised just how young he was. His puffy round cheeks, with doe eyes. Nature had its own way of throwing innocents at the harsh reality of the world. No one could survive it, not even as young as him.

"Huh?"

His words ended with a tremor, his hands uncontrollably shaking with every passing minute I looked at him. At this point, he might as well pee on the floor.

"I said, how desperate are you?"

He looked at the mangled corpse by the door then at my face.

"What am I supposed to do?"

I smiled. There you go, that was the spirit.

Kimo was a place in the East. The East had six kingdoms, each divided by the walls of Goddess Warung Mami, the Goddess of protection in favour to the six royalties that resided within during the invasion from the West. Unfortunately, it couldn't save itself from the curse that went rampant thousands of years ago.

"What is your name, boy?"

 He stammered before he answered.

"Yol"

"Tell me everything"

His story started from screwing a pencil into the eyes of the high Lords and running away from the place with a bag and his sister. Who knew their travel would result in his sister being taken by the curse and worst of all, by the Retention. They were cruel.

"It wasn't the curse of Yomi"

I lifted my brow, intrigued. He continued.

"It was the curse of Vaisha"

There were ten curses in the tablet of the Iu, passed by the Spirits for judgement on this world. The curse of Vaisha was one of them. I had never seen one since the days Nu-an when the fight first broke. Unlike other curses, this curse spread from the inside, first affecting the nervous system than clotting the blood. The curse would only spread if one of the laws was broken written in the stones of Paimoni in the mountain of seven stars.

The place was on the East. I looked at him and he looked guilty that they were the reason for the start of a new tragedy.

"She- she is my only hope, please"

I sighed. This was not on my job list but here we are. At the night break, I went outside and used the collar to call upon the name of the demon who started this mess to begin with, I was just a stripper doing my job.

"It's not so cool, Yth"

He gripped my hair and yanked. I grinned ear to ear beholding his face. That metal face he always covered.

"Slaves don't call their masters by name"

True. I chuckled, nodding my head, I leaned towards him. He was damn tall and huge.

"Sure, but am I really one? You forced it upon me"

I heard him sigh and threw me forward. He lacked any kind of gentleness, rough in every way possible, sturdy and red hot at best.

"Got anything useful?"

I shook my head.

"Till now, no. but I do have a lead. Tell me about the group Retention, their hiding place"

He looked at me long and leaned on the wall, stealing my cigarette. Yol was fast asleep in the cot after hours of sniffling and shedding tears.

"It's not lawful"

"You already broke one"

He glared at me. I leaned on the wall next to him and brought his hand up to take a drag and blew the smoke on his face. He shook his head and sighed yet again.

"Is the egg really worth it? You have a job here"

All mirth left my face, my gaze shifted to the sky. Because of the streetlights below, it obstructed from beholding the view above. There was a heaviness in my chest at the mention. I decided to insert the good old rusted key in the lock of my heart and pour out the treasure.