BIRTH OF THE CURSE

What Horris saw broke him completely. He had no idea who Stephan and Francis were, but he knew that they had pushed his daughter over the bridge. Horris put down his bag and ran towards the bridge, jumping over the railings in search of his daughter.

. . .

"Who the hell was that man?" Stephan asked Francis after they had run some meters away from the bridge.

"I don't know, but it looks like he saw our faces," said Francis in worry.

"Shit! We'll have to go back and kill him," Stephan replied.

"We can't!"

"He saw our faces," Stephan turned back. "We have to kill him, or else we're done for. If a word of what we did gets out, we'd be in big trouble."

"Exactly! So it'll do us more harm than good if we were to go back right now!" said Francis.

Stephan thought of a way out of their current predicament, but no solution came to mind. Francis, on the other hand, beamed with an evil smile, "What about Diego?"

"We don't need Diego," Stephan grinned. "There's someone more suited for this job."

. . .

Horris had injured himself on the way down from the bridge, but he didn't care; Vanessa mattered more. After searching the area for more than an hour, he finally found her body lying by the riverside. Tears filled his eyes when he placed her in his arms. Her eyes were closed, her skin white and cold.

"No... No... No..." he cried, "Nessa... you'll be fine, just breathe. Please breathe... I'm sorry for bringing you here. It's Daddy's fault... Forgive me."

Horris carried her body and headed to the hospital. There, she was pronounced dead. In less than a day, the news of Vanessa's death went abroad, shocking everyone including Horris himself—he still couldn't believe that she was dead.

Since this was the first time someone had died in Rollins, even the media were alerted. Horris stood before the camera with thick black circles under his eyes. He coughed before speaking, "My daughter was the only connection I had to this world, and now, the world has taken her from me. The world is cruel and wicked.

"She told me that life in Rollins was worth experiencing, and now, she's dead. I really wish I hadn't sent her here... If I hadn't, she wouldn't have been killed!" Horris roared.

Those who were watching the news were surprised again. According to what the school had said, she had fallen from the bridge, but her father was giving a different statement. Does it mean that the school was lying?

"Stephan, Francis, Elsa, and Matthew... I have no idea who you all are, but someone among you killed my daughter and I swear, when I find out who did it, I'll kill that person!"

. . .

Stephan and Francis sat together, laughing and eating like nothing had happened. Apparently, it seemed like they hadn't watched the news yet. Some other guys joined them at their table.

"Did you watch the news?" one of the boys asked.

"Should we watch it?" Stephan answered.

"I really think you should... You two are all over the place," the boy replied.

Francis brought out his phone and watched the news. His eyes widened as his fingers trembled. He couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"Hey, are you okay? What's wrong?" Stephan asked worriedly, but Francis did not respond. Angrily, Stephan grabbed the phone from his hands and watched the news himself.

How is he still alive? he asked himself. Ramone told me he had killed him.

At that point in time, two scary-looking men came to their table, "Stephan Edcador and Francis Williams, you are both needed at the Main Bureau."

Stephan asked the men, "Why are we needed at the Bureau?"

"I suggest you obey. Do not make me carry you all the way there myself," the man answered.

"Just please, tell me one thing then!" Francis snapped. "Are... did they also involve our parents?"

"Everyone related to Miss Rouse's death has been summoned to the Main Bureau," the guard answered.

"Shit!" Stephan cursed under his breath. He turned to face Francis, "Dude, we're in big trouble!"

. . .

At the Main Bureau, several teachers could be seen sitting in rows of chairs, adjacently facing each other. There was a small space between the aisle and a podium directly in front of the whole room. On the podium, sat Damon's father, Darius. He had a look of worry on his face.

No sooner than later, Stephan and Francis arrived at the Main Bureau. They were surprised to see Matthew and Elsa sitting next to Damon's father. Upon seeing them, Matthew glanced over while Elsa ignored their entry, staring at the ground below her.

"It's them!" Horris lurched at the two like a wolf ready to tear them apart, but he was held back by the security beside him. "They killed my daughter! They pushed her off the bridge!"

Darius moved his gaze from Stephan to Francis, trying to observe their facial expressions. If they kept their gaze on Horris then glanced at everyone in the room, it would mean that they were innocent. But if they glanced at him and quickly turned away, then Horris' accusations were right.

Stephan and Francis did the latter, indicating that they were guilty. Darius already knew the truth about the whole situation, and he had made up his mind on whose side he was going to take. To him, money spoke louder than words.

"Stephan, have you seen this man before?" Darius asked.

Stephan hesitated before answering the question. He stared into Horris' eyes and all he could see was the man's intent on ending his life. He turned his head to face Matthew, who shook his head slightly while gazing intensely at him.

"No. I have never seen this man in my life," said Stephan.

"He's lying!" Horris roared. "Say the truth! Swear on your mother's name! Say the truth and you will be saved!"

"I beg your pardon," said Francis, "but who are you exactly?"

Darius smiled and answered, "This is Vanessa's father. Apparently, he thinks you both raped and murdered his daughter."

Francis put on a sad face, "I'm really sorry for your loss. After I heard of her death, I couldn't believe it. It broke me."

Horris was dumbfounded. He walked towards Francis, "You killed her. Tell them you killed her."

Stephan realized what Francis was doing and decided to play along. "Sir, Vanessa was a friend to us—our course mates can testify to this. We would never do anything to harm her."

Stephan's father rose to his feet, "Mr. Rouse, I heard from Darius that you suffered a kind of psychological problem back in your school days. You two attended the same college, right?"

Horris was speechless; he had no idea what to say. He turned to face Darius with a sad face, "Why are you doing this? They killed my daughter! They killed Nessa!"

"You think they did. You wanted them to. I know you don't want to believe it, but she's gone. She's gone for good," Darius replied.

"I saw them..." Horris cried. "You can check the CCTV footage! Yes, there was a camera there!"

Darius turned to face a man by his side, "Play the CCTV footage."

The man played the footage, but what was shown on the screen wasn't something Horris had expected to see. In the footage, Vanessa could be seen leaning on the railing of the bridge when all of a sudden, she slipped and fell over it.

Horris couldn't believe what he was seeing. He examined the faces of everyone in the room and started to laugh. They looked at him as if he was crazy.

"That video is fake! These two boys tried to kill me! They sent a guy!" said Horris.

"And where is the guy now?" Darius asked. "Do you even know his name? How are you so sure that you weren't hallucinating?"

"Darius!"

"For the sake of our friendship, I'm willing to let you go this time, but if you ever try to taint the name of my school or its students again, I promise I won't take it lightly with you," Darius replied.

Horris was broken inside and out. He had no idea what to do anymore. He had filed a complaint at the police station, but they, like the rest of the world, did not believe him.

Horris chuckled then turned to face Stephan and Francis, "You two, I place a curse on you. You will not live to see your parents die. Every night, as you sleep, maggots will crawl out of your flesh, your eyes, and your ears. You will begin to rot from within slowly and slowly until you die painfully.

"Your screams will be heard from the seventh heavens! Your parents will weep tears of blood as you die!"

"Shut up!" Stephan's father rose in anger. "One more word from you and I'll rip your head off!"

"No need! I'll do it myself!"

"What?" the others said in unison.

Horris put down his bag and brought out a weird-looking book with thorns coming out of it. He revealed a knife, making a small cut on his finger and allowing his blood to drip on the pages of the book.

"Amutaha Hamusura Atamura Ashikuta..." Horris recited incantations again and again.

All of a sudden, a cold draft of wind blew across the room, filling the hearts of its inhabitants with a kind of fear they couldn't fathom.

"What are you doing?" Darius asked. "Stop this now!"

"It's too late," Horris answered. "Nessa is dead. I have no other reason to stay alive. Since the world took her away from me, I'll take you all away from the world! All of humanity will face the consequences of your children's actions!"

"Grab him! Stop him!" Stephan's father commanded one of his bodyguards.

"The way I die here today, you all will die the same way." With that said, Horris slit his throat before bursting into flames.

The sight was so horrid it scarred the minds of everyone in the room. Fear chained their hearts and gripped their souls so tightly that they could only watch as the man burned to ashes right before their eyes.