Piper

A story about a woman who escapes a marriage to a misogynist who cast spells on her.

Piper 

I woke up early in the morning. I smiled when I saw the sunlight streaming through my window. There’s something strangely soothing about these little rays. If you want to know who I am picture a 25-year- old blond woman. I’m actually kind of small, something I’ve complained about more than enough if you ask my friends. BTW, my name is Piper Turner. I took a few minutes to enjoy the gentleness of the sun before I got up. I put a robe over my pink nightgown and headed downstairs after I used the bathroom. 

I got up early a lot these days. The reason was to make breakfast for my brother before he left for work. Since he was letting me stay at his house I thought it was the least I could do. When I first came here, I saw that he hasn’t been taking care of his house as much as I used to take care of mine. But I didn’t have to go to work every day, so I had the opportunity. 

I was already done with my breakfast and was watching TV when Scott came down. Wearing his suit and ready for work, just like a good brother. If I didn’t know better I would have thought he only had the one suit. Actually, he had like seven in the same design. He must really like it. Or he had no taste in fashion. I’d give him a few tips if I knew anything about men’s clothing. 

“Hey, what d’you make today?” he asked as he entered the dining room. 

I followed him in and we both sat down. 

“You haven’t had an omlette in a while, have you?” I asked.
“No, but it looks delicious.”
He sat down and started eating. After a few bites he looked at me and said: “You already ate, huh?”
“Yeah, I’m good. You just stuff yourself,” I said. 

“I gotta ask when exactly do you get up? At five?” 

“No, just one hour before you do.”
“Well, this is great. Thanks.”
“You’re welcome,” I said, beaming.

My first instinct was to tell him not to talk with his mouth full. Mostly, as a joke because our Mom, like every other Mom, used to tell us that when we were kids. We didn’t listen to her for the first few years. 

The reason I didn’t was because I was genuinely thrilled by his praise, the way I always was. I was married for four years and I couldn't remember the last time my ex ever gave me a compliment. So when I got them now, it meant even more than it should. I hoped I would get past that in time. 

He finished eating and ran out the door. No, not to get away from me, but because he actually had fun at work. 

I looked at him and waited. Yep, here it was. This weird feeling that I should go with him or that I should go somewhere. I didn’t want to stay here all day. I felt it was a waste. But where would I go? I don’t know, but staying here made me feel so empty it couldn’t be right. 

Come on, a lot of people stay home all day, what’s the big deal? 

The big deal is they’re happy about it and I wasn’t. The question remains: where did I want to go? 

This was the fifth morning in a row I’ve had this fight with myself in my head. I think I’m gonna lose it. It’s one thing to have a hard time understanding someone else, but it’s so unbelievably frustrating when you can’t find reasons for your own feelings. 

You know, when I was a teenager I always assumed I’d have a career too. It was just one of those things you know you want. Then, I met Kyle and a year later I changed my mind. Although, now that I think about it, making such a huge decision is kind of weird. Usually, I took time to think about things like that. It took me years to think about being a doctor and be 100% sure that I wanted it. And that I was ready for it. Why did I change my mind about this without giving it as much thought as it deserved? And why didn’t any of this occur to me sooner? 

Well, I wasn’t married to Kyle anymore, so what was holding me back? 

Maybe it’s not a good idea. 

Of course, it’s a good idea. 

I shook my head because I didn’t know how else to get rid of the confusion. Two different opinions clashed in my mind as I tried to figure out what I wanted. Five mornings in a row I end up with the same result: nothing. Maybe I just need to think about it a little more in order to come to a satisfying answer. But I knew I wasn’t going to get it now. I picked up Scott’s empty plate and walked over to the kitchen sink to wash it. 

Guess, you’re probably wondering why I have to stay with my brother. The reason I have to is because I just got out of a pretty bad marriage. It didn’t feel like a marriage. You know how little girls show off their new dolls? Well, that’s what I felt like. Somehow, it was like Kyle, my ex, was saying, ‘Look at this pretty face I go home to’, but that was it. If he had something he wanted to talk about he would go to his friends, not me. 

“Why don’t you just talk to me? Maybe I can help,” I once told him. 

“Right,” he sneered. 

I felt a shiver run down my spine. The idea seemed totally ridiculous to him. 

“Thanks, but if I need advice I’ll go to someone who has it,” Kyle said.

“You’ll never know that’s not me if you don’t ask me. That’s my job, to help.” 

“No, it’s not.” 

When I told my family and friends we were getting married they were not exactly thrilled. Some of them told me I was making a huge mistake. At the time I dismissed that as paranoia. I said I knew what I was doing. I felt like I was making the right choice. For a while, we were happy. After that I started to understand how he really saw me. How is it possible that I needed years to figure that out? I’m not exactly stupid. 

Still, I gave up my husband. Now I’m alone. If I’d stayed with Kyle at least I’d have someone. 

I shook my head. The thought came out of nowhere and I believed it for a second. Then, I remembered how he treated me. I was wrong when I married him. But I was right about leaving. I’d had to go through this battle of self-doubt a lot before I finally filed for divorce. 

On the one hand some part of me always thought I should have stayed. How could I possibly feel complete when I’m alone? I’ve experienced what it’s like to have a husband and I gave him up. How am I supposed to be okay after I’ve known what it’s like to have someone in my life? 

I just had to remember that I wasn’t happy, so I had to leave. Even though we’re definitely over I still sometimes felt bad. By now I knew better than to believe these doubts. Maybe not being 100% sure was just something I would have to learn to live with. Although, after four years of that treatment there really shouldn’t be any doubts anymore. 

I think it all started when we had our first fight about kids. We’d discussed it while we were still engaged and agreed we wanted kids, but some time after we got married I changed my mind. The marriage wasn’t going well enough for us to have kids. He never talked to me and acted like taking care of the house was just my job. At first, I was okay with that. But it wasn’t okay. I was his wife, not the maid. My happiness with the way the marriage was going started to decrease. 

Then, he brought up children and I said we weren’t ready for them. It seemed like taking care of them was going to be solely my responsibility too. I already felt like there was something wrong with this marriage and I wasn’t going to add to the difficulties I was facing. The fights kept getting worse and worse and every time I felt more like my decision was the right one. 

I told him what was holding me back. He confirmed that my fears were true. Apparently, that was my place. To him there was no question about it and for a second I believed him. But I still refused to have kids with him. I don’t know how many fights later I decided I was done with this relationship. My happiness had been decreasing more and more over the years. 

My view about what a marriage should be like kept changing. His view was very different from mine. One day, I went back to the way I used to see things before I’d met him: I didn’t want to be a maid and I wanted to have a career. We rarely agreed on anything after that. We weren’t going to get what we wanted from each other, so staying married would have been hell. 

“What’s going on?” Scott asked. 

I looked up from my lunch. We were eating together in the dining room. 

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“You seem to be thinking really hard. Is there something you want to tell me?” 

I sighed. 

“Well, it’s mostly just random thoughts. Something I’ve been going over for a while. I was thinking that I don’t want to be a housewife forever.” 

“What do you want to do?”
“Remember when we were kids and I said I wanted to be a doctor?” 

“Yeah, you talked about it enough.”
I would have rolled my eyes at him and myself, but I was more interested in getting on with our conversation. 

“Maybe I could go to college. I could look up some places online.” 

Scott looked positively thrilled at this. 

“That’s a great idea. I could look with you, if you want.” 

“Why are you so happy about this?” 

“Because like I told you I remember when you said you wanted to go to medical school. You were really looking forward to it. And I thought you’d be a great doctor. Then, out of the blue, you decided to stay home instead.” 

“There’s nothing wrong with that,” I said. 

Scott was about to respond, but I held up my hand and said the words for him. I’d been thinking about them a lot lately. 

“Yeah, I know, it’s not for me. A lot of women can find it fulfilling, but I think I’ll be happier in a lab coat. Which is why I’ve come to the conclusion that I definitely want to go to college.” 

“Good for you,” Scott said, nodding in approval.
I smiled.
Scott’s face became serious again. 

“Did Kyle make you change your mind?”
He’d asked me that four years ago when I first announced I was going to drop out of college and I’d said no. Although, now that I’m divorced maybe he thinks he’ll get a different answer. 

“I don’t remember,” I said. 

The truth was I remember what happened, I just wasn’t sure I understood it. It didn’t make sense for me to suddenly change my mind like that concerning something I was passionate about. Yet, a lot changed when I met Kyle. That couldn’t have been a coincidence. I planned on figuring all this out, but I had no answer for Scott right now. 

“During your junior year in High School you were so convinced it’s what you wanted that you managed to convince everyone it’s your future.” 

I remembered. That was before I’d met Kyle. 

“Mom and Dad used to call me Doctor Piper,” I giggled. 

But that joke stopped being funny after a while. And my decision was serious now. 

Having this out in the open made me feel really free. The decision was made. Case closed. So I decided to change the subject. 

“So, tell me a little about Jenna,” I said to Scott. 

Jenna was his girlfriend. They’ve been dating for two months, but I haven’t seen much of her. Up until a few weeks ago I’d been so invested in getting my divorce I barely had a life. And she’d been busy at work too. Luckily, it was the weekend and Scott said we could have lunch with her sometime. 

Scott and I drove to an Italian restaurant where we had our reservations. The place was absolutely gorgeous. 

“You know we’re going to spend a fortune on the food, right?” I said, turning to Scott. 

“This is a special occasion, so the money will be worth it,” he said. 

We finally spotted Jenna’s table and walked over to her. She was reading a book, but she looked up when Scott said “Hi.” 

“Hey,” Jenna beamed as she stood up and hugged him. 

I smiled and extended my hand when she turned to me. 

“I’m Piper.”
“Nice to meet you,” she said, shaking my hand.
“You too. How long have you been waiting?”
“Not long. Just ten minutes. Sit down.”

We ordered first, then started to talk. Jenna shared a lot about her family and her job with me. It was no surprise that Scott knew most of this stuff already. I didn’t want to start with something depressing like my marriage, so I just stuck to funny stories about my childhood and tried not to make Scott look too much like an idiot. 

“Hey, do you like shopping?” I asked after we’d gone two minutes without talking. 

Not that the silence was particularly uncomfortable. 

“A little, yeah,” Jenna said.

“My best friend and I are going to the mall on Friday. I don’t think she’ll mind you joining us, if you want.” 

Jenna thought about it for a second. 

“Yeah, that sounds great. I’ll give you my number and you can tell me when and where to meet you.” 

That was when the desert arrived. 

We were all laughing at a joke Jenna made when I stopped. I saw Kyle standing by the door. My first instinct was to run out of the restaurant. I didn’t know what I would do if he noticed I was here. What would he say? What would I do? And I really didn’t want to share this place with him. I was about to grab my purse and get up, hoping he didn’t see me. After everything he’s done I couldn’t imagine seeing him would be a good thing. 

Hold on. I was acting like I was the one who should be ashamed. I looked back at my plate. I needed to concentrate and I didn’t want Scott and Jenna to catch me staring. Memories of my marriage flashed through my head. I’m not saying I’m perfect, but his mistakes were definitely worse than mine. And more sadistic. I tried to be supportive and make the marriage work. But to him I was just someone who lived in the same house. I was only supposed to give him children. He never cared about my opinions on anything. He never let me help him, probably because he didn’t think I could help him. Or maybe he thought it wasn’t my place. Why am I the one who should leave? 

I relaxed a little and looked up again. 

Kyle walked by our table. I didn’t take my eyes off him. Finally, he saw me. Our eyes locked for a second. After I’d made sure he knew that I knew he was there I turned back to my brother. I hoped Scott hadn’t noticed any of this. He didn’t need to. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Kyle walking away. I breathed a little sigh of relief, but not enough for Scott and Jenna to get suspicious. 

That night, while I was checking my e-mails I heard a knock on my door. 

“Come in,” I said.
Scott came in. 

“Hey, are you doing anything right now?” he asked.
“No, why?”
“I wanted to remind you to check out colleges online.”
“Right, I completely forgot,” I said, slapping my forehead. 

I had no new e-mails, so I logged off. Scott sat down on a chair next to my bed while I opened a new tab. 

“What did you think of Jenna?” Scott asked.
“I thought she was nice. Funny.”
After a few minutes of web searching we were both startled when we heard a cracking sound. We looked up and saw that one of my bookshelves had collapsed. I went to see what went wrong. 

“Holy crap!” I said. 

I picked up the pieces of the broken shelf and showed them to Scott, who seemed to be just as confused as I was. The wood was split in half. I hadn’t put that many books on it, but somehow it broke. 

“How did that happen?” Scott asked. 

“I don’t know,” I said. 

I threw the broken wood away and put the books on a different shelf. Scott and I went back to the Internet. 

We found more than one medical school and spent a half hour narrowing down the options. I had a lot of things to consider. 

A few days later, I finally narrowed down the list of medical schools to one. I was ready to apply for the next semester, which started in a few weeks. 

I can’t tell you how excited I was to go back to college. This was the place where so many people’s lives are turned around and that was exactly what I needed at this time in my life. 

I thought I would go to college right after high school. I’d wanted to become a doctor for a long time. I went for two years, but then I met Kyle and I changed my mind. I have no idea why. One day, I wanted a career, the next I was happy to be a housewife. 

This, however, was a chance to live the life I wanted. When I graduated I would have the opportunity to put my intelligence to good use. 

Things didn’t go as smoothly as I expected. On my way to the registration office I tripped on the stairs. I think one of the steps actually moved a little when my foot got close to it. I got to the right floor and my purse fell off my shoulder. I picked it up, blushing with embarrassment, and continued walking. Luckily, not too many people were staring. 

I got my application and was about to take a deep breath and fill it out when my pen fell out of my hand. That didn’t make any sense. I’d been holding it tightly enough, my purse too. Although, these were normal accidents, so I really didn’t know what to say. I got back to my application. 

Suddenly, I started hearing strange things around me. I looked up and saw something that reminded me a lot of earthquakes. Several people were tripping over their own feet. Objects were flying through the air. The machine that told who was next was out of control. Finally, security told us to evacuate the room. I dropped my application and left the campus altogether. 

I don’t belong here, I thought as I got back to my car. I’d failed too many times. Why should I succeed in becoming a doctor? 

I wouldn’t. 

The whole ride home I told myself to focus on my surroundings only. I wanted to escape my thoughts and feelings. The burden was too much. I felt like I was suffocating. But it wasn’t like I could run away. I would just deal with it when I got home. Right now, I needed to focus on the road. When I was more used to my disappointment I would be able to handle it better. I would be able to think better. Right now, all my energy was focused on pushing away the agony of what had happened. 

When I got home I went straight to bed. It was the only place that could offer me any kind of comfort. I remembered that I needed to get lunch ready. I almost got up. 

To hell with that, I thought instead. Like I could eat now. And I was sure Scott would forgive me if he had to make his own meal, which he was more than capable of doing. 

Being a doctor was a dream, not just a job for me. It felt like the perfect way to put my brain to good use. It wasn’t just about making money, I wanted to help people and do something good. It was something I’ve wanted my whole life. The idea of me standing in that white lab coat as a respected professional always made me feel like a valuable human being. Like I’ve found my place. Now I failed to make that dream come true. 

Okay, so I could look for another job, one that would not give me as much fulfillment, or I could stay at home. Neither of those options seemed horrible or wonderful to me. My mother never worked outside the home, but she seemed happy with it. That was because she wanted this life. I didn't. 

I tried to cheer myself up by saying that it was okay. 

No, it’s NOT. 

I sat up and for the first time felt anger over what happened at the campus. I couldn’t fool myself. I really wanted this and I couldn’t change the way I felt. 

Actually, I was relieved that I was upset about this. Because it told me that my dream really did mean something to me. I wouldn’t be able to make myself forget like I just tried to do. Maybe I shouldn’t give up on it. How many enormous changes were done right the first time? 

My heart almost stopped when I heard two loud popping noises. The light in the room dimmed a little. I looked up and saw that two light bulbs had exploded. I’ll worry about that later. I wanted to finish making this decision first. 

I still worried that I might fail. Don’t we all? Still, if doing the work was the hardest part, then I wasn't so scared. I was willing to do the work. That was actually part of the fun. I’ve gone to college before I was married and was doing really well for two years before I quit. I would have to start all over again, but I could still be just as good as I was before. This time I would see it through. 

The next day, I was still a little shaken from what happened yesterday, but I was definitely not giving up on my dream. I would go back or I would even try another college. Although, I still had to figure out what the hell happened to begin with. The whole place was falling apart, that couldn’t be normal. 

The doorbell rang and I went to look through the peephole. I felt serious rage when I saw my ex-husband standing there with a cardboard box and what was obviously a barely suppressed grin. Either he wasn’t the best actor or I was better at reading facial expressions than I thought. I made sure my face showed nothing when I opened the door. 

“Yes?” I asked with both politeness and rudeness in my voice. 

“Here are some things you forgot at my house,” he answered, handing me the box. 

I looked in the box before taking it to make sure he wasn’t lying. Nope, these are my things. 

“Thanks,” I said, wanting nothing more than for him to leave. “So, what’s going on?” he asked. 

“Did you forget we’re divorced?” 

What is he doing?
“You still seem pretty happy about it.”
“Yes, I am.” 

Being alone is definitely better than being with someone like you.
I only said that last part in my head. Suddenly, the box I was holding exploded as if Kyle had put fireworks in it or something. I let go and the two of us immediately backed away. Kyle left after that and I just kept wondering what was going on. 

After I finished picking up the contents of the box Kyle gave me and taking them to my room I got myself ready to go back to college and apply. Once again, there were problems. While I was getting dressed I stubbed my toe. 

When I put everything in my purse I tripped on my way out of my room. I have no idea what the hell is going on, but these things wouldn’t stop. Looks like I would have to put registration on hold again. At this rate, I could get into an accident long before I reached the campus. But I couldn’t keep putting this off. I went back into my room and sat on the bed. Obviously this wasn’t going to go away on its own, so I needed to figure out what was causing this. I was going to do that anyway, but I intended to go to college first. Guess, it would have to be the other way around. 

Okay, I think it’s obvious these accidents are caused by magic. When I went shopping with my friends we’d talked about a lot of things, including magic. I guess that conversation was still fresh in my mind because that was the first thing I came up with. They couldn't all be real. And the box exploding, that wasn’t normal at all. I started to go back at the beginning and take one accident at a time. I got out a piece of paper to write everything down on, so I could look it over when I was done. 

Wait a minute! 

The first time these weird things started happening was on the same day I started researching colleges. I remembered it clearly because deciding to go back to college had been a big deal. That was when things started to happen. In fact, Scott and I were on the computer at the time. When did it happen after that? When I actually went to apply. Was there a pattern? Were the two connected? I wrote all of that down. 

All of a sudden the two water bottles beside my bed started flying around. I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up as I tried to get out of their way. It wasn’t easy to concentrate anymore. But if I figure this out I’ll be able to keep these things from happening. 

So, now I was sure that it was magic. The next step was figuring out how that happened in the first place. Someone must have put a curse on me. Someone who hated me. Kyle seemed like the only suspect, but he didn’t know anything about magic. I was about to rule him out when I remembered something he told me while we were dating. He’d tried a few spells when he was seventeen. He also said that it wasn’t something he was really interested in, so he stopped practicing magic before we even met. I think I would have known if my husband had been practicing magic on a daily basis. But he could have easily hidden one curse from me. Apparently, he hadn’t gotten rid of the magic book he had. 

The bottles dropped to the floor. If something worse happened, I didn't know how I would protect myself. 

A few picture frames fell off the wall. I told myself to keep thinking. 

 

And we haven’t spoken about magic in four years. I certainly wasn’t going to put it past him to take the book out one more time to curse me. 

How can I be sure? 

I shook my head to get rid of the question. I would use my brain, that was how I could be sure. I’ve been doubting myself a lot over the years. But I was getting better at crushing these thoughts. 

Hold on! 

Now that I think about it, none of them started until after I met Kyle. 

I also remembered my sudden change in personality when I met Kyle. I didn’t realize it at first, but I see it now. Everyone said it wasn’t like me. I quit college, stayed away from my friends and for a few months I was even okay with Kyle being the boss in our house. Before I met him I never would have agreed to something like this in a marriage. 

I thought I was trying to decide between staying with Kyle and leaving him. They seemed like two thoughts, but they weren’t. Only one of them was genuinely coming from me. The other couldn’t have been me. I thought about it. It didn't sound like me at all. That was why I quit college so suddenly when I was twenty. It had to be a spell. Nothing else made sense. The doubts didn’t come from me. He probably cast that spell while we were still dating. 

The lights went out. 

I remembered the person I was when I was younger. I was on my way there again, but since I was still having doubts I didn't think I’ve completely broken the spell yet. I’ve changed gradually over time, though. I was wrong, there were two of them. And if it took me this long to figure it out, maybe the first spell wasn't completely broken yet. And the second one didn’t happen until after I left. 

I also remembered yesterday when Kyle brought my stuff over. You probably guessed as I have that this little visit wasn’t out of compassion. 

What happened after that? Right, I wanted to tell him that I was happier being single than I was married to him. And the only reason I was thinking like this at that particular moment was because he’d asked me. It made sense that he would have come to Scott’s house with an excuse and pointed out that the divorce was my idea to see if the spell was working. 

It always happened whenever I thought of something that made me feel like I was worth something. Like when I tried to apply at medical school and today when I tried again. And right now. 

When we first met I wasn’t experienced enough in relationships to really see the kind of person he was. I would have figured it out while we were still dating if he hadn’t cursed me. 

The curse’s effects were scaring the crap out of me. Every few seconds I heard something being smashed. The thought of putting my discovery on hold was very tempting. But it wasn’t an option. 

Still, why would he curse me to begin with? If he hadn’t cast that first spell I probably wouldn’t have married him. Nothing’s changed since we got together, but I would have broken up with him a lot sooner if it weren’t for the spell. The other one didn’t start until after we were divorced. I wasn’t in his life anymore, so why would he bother? 

I will have to go see Kyle and somehow convince him to reverse the spells. 

The minute I stopped thinking about this, everything went back to normal. I didn’t hear anything crashing anymore. The house was still. The lights were still out, but I knew nothing bad was going to happen anymore. I would have to think of a way to get rid of the curses, but that could wait until I was calmer. My heart was going a mile a minute. My mind was experiencing fear and relief at the same time. The fear was subsiding very slowly. But I was relieved that I’d figured out what was going on. I was also relieved that I was done figuring things out and didn’t have to worry about the second curse for a while. 

I was literally shaking when Scott came into my room. I hadn’t even heard him coming home. He was holding a flashlight. 

“Are you okay?” he asked. 

I didn’t answer. I just stood up and walked over to him. He put the flashlight down on my bed and pulled me into a hug. For a minute I ignored what I just figured out. 

“What happened?” Scott asked.
“I’ll tell you in a minute.”
I was too scared to talk. Scott waited for me to calm down a little. He went to the circuit box and fixed the lights. We sat down to talk. I told Scott what Kyle did and just as I suspected, he was furious. 

“I’m going to see him tomorrow and get rid of these spells,” I announced.

 “You want me to come with you?”
“No, I don’t think that’s necessary.”
“What if the spells keep you from getting far?” 

“The first one is almost broken. I can control it, so don’t worry about that. Besides, if you come with me I’ll look too vulnerable. He won’t respect me enough to reverse the spells.” 

Kyle respects powerful people. Sure, the second curse made me want Scott there as backup, but that might not be the best idea. 

Great, now I had to go see Kyle. I spent most of the evening trying to figure out what to tell him. 

I took a deep breath I knew I’d need and knocked on Kyle’s door. If I had a way to scare the crap out of Kyle that would have been funny, but not particularly smart. Besides, I was not a very scary person. I had to resort to a different approach. 

He answered and looked curious for a second. When he realized it was me at the door he looked like he’d seen something really stupid. 

“What?” 

“Hi. There’s no reason to pretend to be friendly, so I’ll get to the point. I came to talk to you about the magic you used on me. And don’t deny it, I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t absolutely sure.” 

He probably knew that about me. 

“Magic?” he asked, looking at me like I was crazy. “Get out of here.” 

He tried slamming the door, but I pushed it open and walked into the house. There was no way I was living with two curses for one more day. And I certainly didn’t want to give him a chance to use more magic on me. I closed the door behind me. Kyle didn’t look worried. I guess, he didn't think I was threatening. 

“What do you want?” he asked.

“I know you put a spell on me to suppress my personality before we got married. And you put another one to keep me from having the life I want. You never wanted me to have a career and I’m not leaving until you remove the spells.” 

He didn’t say anything for a second. He probably realized I knew too much and he wouldn't be able to get out of this. 

“Did you think I’m not smart enough to figure out that you cursed me?” 

“Well, it took you five years,” he smirked. 

I didn’t let him intimidate me. 

“You can thank the first spell for that. We’re divorced now. I don’t see what cursing me is going to get you.” 

“You should have stayed with me. What kind of a woman leaves a good husband and a good home?” 

“What kind of a husband abuses his wife with magic?” I asked, calmly. 

The entire time I was looking around me. Judging by what I’ve seen from the second curse, the next thing that happened would be horrible. I was preparing myself to react to whatever came. 

“Like you can live on your own,” Kyle said. “How long are you going to stay with your brother?” 

I threw a quick glance around the room. 

“I need his help after what you did to me, but I’ll move on. I’m not coming back to you, so please remove the curses.” 

“No, and one day you’ll realize that you threw away a great opportunity. Maybe this way you’ll realize it sooner.” 

I was starting to get angry, but anger won’t help me right now. 

“I’ve made a choice to live alone,” I said.
“Get out.” 

“I demand you remove the curses.”

We’ve been arguing for a while and nothing’s happened yet. But it will. 

My heartbeats kept coming quicker by the moment.

“Kyle, please. Besides if you don’t remove them, the second curse could hurt us both.”
“That’s not going to happen. I only cursed you.”
“It affected other people before,” I said, remembering what happened at the registration office.

I kept looking around me. I saw that the roof was about to collapse. I pressed myself against the door, but it didn’t look like it would do the trick. Not if the whole roof collapsed and I was still inside the house. 

“The roof,” I screamed and pointed up.
I opened the door and ran out.
Kyle, however, wasn’t fast enough. There was the deafening sound of bricks falling down. My stomach clenched when I thought of Kyle still inside.

I made sure I was standing as far away as possible. When the noise stopped I walked back into the house. There was a huge pile of wood and bricks in the middle of the room. The roof had buried Kyle. 

At the same time I noticed that I felt freer than I had in years. When he died, the curses were broken. I no longer felt something suppressing me. My mind was free and I could think anything I wanted. Like I could finally breathe. 

I should think about this later. I was going to have a lot of time to enjoy my freedom. He was wrong; the curse affected him indirectly. I couldn’t see Kyle beneath the rubble. He was dead. I suddenly felt cold. 

I went back to medical school and applied. My family and friends were thrilled. Twelve years later, I became a dermatologist and had my own office. 

A few years after the curses broke, Scott and Jenna got married.